Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

October 23rd…

The English and Japanese versions of Repent and be Saved were officially released!

At once, Hao Shuaiqi downloaded the English version of the game and live-streamed himself restarting it on the increasingly popular live-streaming platform, Link Live.

However, this time, he did not take the ordinary route through the game. Instead, he went for speed.

Ever since Hao Shuaiqi started live-streaming the game a long time ago, he had been getting an increasing number of subscribers. At the moment, he had already reached over a hundred thousand. One could say that he was quite a famous UP Master on the up-and-coming live-streaming platform, Link Live.

Every day, someone would ask during his live-stream, "When is the English version of this game going to be released?"

Hao Shuaiqi's videos of Repent and be Saved, which he posted on Aili Island, had become extremely popular as well. Foreigners' comments on Hao Shuaiqi's live-streams had also become the topic of conversation among locals.

Now that the English version of Repent and be Saved was finally out, Hao Shuaiqi naturally grabbed the opportunity to broadly advertise it to his viewers.

The viewers of his live-stream were over the moon.

"I've been watching the live-stream of this game, it looks extremely challenging! Thank you, UP Master, for introducing us to such a fun game!"

"This is great! There's an English version at last! You can only imagine how much I've endured while trying to play the Mandarin version."

"I have to say that this game's English version is really not bad. I took a quick look at it. The important parts were translated very appropriately and accurately. It brings out the meaning of the original game very nicely as well. The developer is kind indeed; they pay so much attention to the details. I'll give it a good rating!"

"I was never interested in traditional Chinese culture, but this game has got me hooked!"

"The UP Master has completed the game several times already. I don't think this game will be a problem for me!"

Many players were also posting good reviews about the game on the official platform's overseas channels and various overseas forums and websites.

It looked like the foreign versions of Repent and be Saved were doing well!

…

Tengda Network Technology Co., Ltd…

Li Yada had been keeping an eye on the foreign websites' figures. The more she observed, the more emotional she became.

"I did not expect the foreign websites' figures to be even better than the local ones. Boss Pei is awesome!"

Li Yada was utterly impressed.

The official platform had helped Tengda produce Repent and be Saved in multiple foreign languages. Even though the translations were top-quality, Li Yada could not be a hundred percent certain that the game would catch on overseas.

The reason was simple—the cultural gap was too wide!

The local games market was worlds apart from the overseas games market. Many games that were popular in China failed overseas. No matter how hard other developers tried to market their games, it almost always proved useless.

On the other hand, games that were completely unheard of in China became extremely popular overseas.

Thus, developers who focused especially on the overseas market began emerging in China. They worked hard to understand foreign gamers' interests and were put in charge of acclimatizing local games to overseas culture. In fact, this line of work was quite profitable.

The 'acclimatization' process covered style, gameplay, the game's details, marketing techniques, and other aspects. It involved a holistic alteration of the local game's design so that it could suit the tastes of foreign gamers.

Sometimes, in order to achieve greater success, developers would change the entire setting of the game and adopt a Western style that would look more pleasing to the foreigner's eye.

Thus, it was extremely rare for the exact same game to be popular both locally and overseas.

Games that could achieve this would undoubtedly become the pillar and money tree of any games company.

This was also why Li Yada was incredibly surprised that Repent and be Saved could achieve such success overseas.

"Frankly, I did not expect Repent and be Saved to be so popular overseas.

"The entire game is based on traditional Chinese culture. It included elements that only local players would resonate with, such as the Bridge of Forgetfulness, the Three-Life Stone, Mengpo, and the like. These things would mean nothing to foreigners.

"Yet, foreigners seem to like this game a lot. It's obvious how successful this game is.

"This is all thanks to Boss Pei's hard work!"

Thinking about the hard work that Boss Pei had put into the game filled Li Yada with respect.

"First of all, the game's design…

"Repent and be Saved is a hardcore, action-based game that appeals to foreigners. Boss Pei risked local gamers being turned away and made the game extremely difficult. Did he plan for this game to be released in the overseas market from the very beginning?

"Second, the advertising method…

"Many foreign UP Masters live-streamed Repent and be Saved on Link Live with a dictionary next to them at all times. This allowed the game to gain popularity overseas and become a common topic of discussion among all gamers.

"The chances of foreign UP Masters recommending any local game of their own accord were low. However, this was dependent on the game itself.

"Given how outstanding Repent and be Saved was, it would have been discovered and recommended by other foreign UP Masters, even if not Hao Shuaiqi.

"Last of all, Boss Pei told me not to rush into producing the game in other languages.

"On one hand, we had to patiently wait for the game to gain popularity among foreigners. On the other hand, we had to give the translators more time to bring out the game's meaning and culture accurately and beautifully.

"All of these factors contributed to Repent and be Saved's success overseas!

"Perhaps this is what people mean when they say 'a general planning in the seclusion of his tent can determine a distant battle's outcome'. Boss Pei had thought about every single thing; his plan was perfect!

"It looks like there's a lot more for me to learn!"

Li Yada could not help but feel emotional.

Just as she was overwhelmed with emotion, Pei Qian arrived at the office.

Li Yada quickly stood up. "Boss Pei, the foreign versions of Repent and be Saved are—"

Pei Qian's expression darkened as he quickly raised his hand to stop her. "There's no need to tell me."

Li Yada nodded at once. "Ah, alright, Boss Pei."

Indeed, Boss Pei had expected this. There was no need for her to report the good news now.

Pei Qian felt speechless.

Sigh, I'm receiving bad news first thing in the morning!

"Boss Pei, the project team doesn't have anything to do now. We're only fixing minor bugs. I'm planning to get them to work on improvements to the game or new downloadable content. What do you think?"

"Downloadable content? No!" Pei Qian was shocked. He quickly put an end to this dangerous thought process.

Pei Qian turned to look at Li Yada seriously and said, "Everyone has already been working so hard. Why aren't you all taking a break?

"The employees are Tengda's greatest asset. You cannot overwork! What's more, constantly generating output and not accepting input would impede your creativity.

"As game designers, you have to play more games in order to expose yourselves to different materials. Only then would you be able to create games that would impress gamers, understand?

"Tell everyone not to do anything this week. Er… ask Bao Xu to bring everyone out to play online games.

"Bao Xu, you will be the Gaming Leader from now on. You'll be in charge of bringing everyone to play games!

"Come up with a plan and give everyone a task. I don't care what games you play; everyone has to play for at least forty hours this week. If they don't play for long enough, I'll hold you accountable!"

Bao Xu, who had been lowering his head as far as possible and trying to blend into the background, suddenly jumped.

F*ck! My head is already almost touching the monitor! Why is Boss Pei still assigning work to me?!

Bao Xu quickly stood up. "Alright, Boss Pei."

Pei Qian stomped into his own office.

Everyone looked at one another, at a loss as to what to do. Then, they turned to look at Bao Xu.

Bao Xu was speechless. He shrugged and asked, "What are you looking at me for? Quick, get moving… don't make my job difficult."

Everyone looked at one another once again and then quickly put down the work that they had been doing. At once, they began to play games.

…

Back in his office, Pei Qian was using his sub-par English to read the comments on the English version of Repent and be Saved. He sighed.

Ai, I already expected this outcome before the English version was produced, but… I was helpless!

Pei Qian had thought that the cultural gap would have stopped ninety percent of foreign gamers from playing the game. Yet, now, he realized he had been too positive.

He had not expected foreigners to put themselves through so much torture just to suffer in a game. What's more, they had made so many Chinese UP Masters popular while they were at it!

On seeing how well-received the game was both locally and overseas, the official platform had decided to translate the game into other languages. That was how everything developed so smoothly.

"Forget it, I'll leave it to fate."

There was nothing Pei Qian could do about this anymore.

Now, it was time to sharpen his weapons just before the battle. He looked through all the activities planned for 1024 Digital Day.

Pei Qian watched some shows in the afternoon and then took a nap as he waited for the farewell meal he had planned for Chief Editor Xia and his team.

…

…

In the evening, one each of Tengda's seven-seater cars and ordinary cars arrived at Ming Yun Private Kitchen.

Xia Jiang alighted from the car, looking pale and unwell.

The people behind her looked unwell, too. One of the burly men in the camera crew was walking unsteadily. He looked quite weak as if he had just vomited.

It was obvious that most of them were not adjusting well to extreme activities.

Just thinking about the memorable experience she had at Jingzhou's amusement park, Xin Tiandi, made Xia Jiang feel uncomfortable.

The rollercoasters, drop towers, pendulum rides, and the haunted house…

Xia Jiang had no idea how she endured them all. Even now, her legs felt weak.

Pei Qian was already waiting for them at the entrance of Ming Yun Private Kitchen. When he saw how downcast all of them looked, he could not help but smile with joy from the heart.

Hehe, a point back to Tengda!

I'll see if you dare to stab me in the back again!

Satisfied, Pei Qian began to wonder if the official platform would send any more people over, now that he had driven all of these reporters crazy from soup to nuts.

"How are you, Chief Editor Xia? Did you all have a good time today?" Pei Qian displayed a warm, genuine smile.

Xia Jiang forced a smile and answered, "Yes…"

Pei Qian nodded, pleased. "That's great! Have a good meal and sleep well tonight. I've arranged for all of you to go skydiving tomorrow. It'll be very fun; you can't miss it!"

Xia Jiang was speechless.

…

…

The next afternoon…

The staff arrived at the hotel which Xia Jiang and her team were staying at. All they could find in their rooms was a trophy, a certificate, and a hundred thousand yuan left behind for Boss Pei.

Beside the trophy was a letter.

"Boss Pei…

"Thank you for hosting us so well during this period. We've had an unforgettable experience in Jingzhou!

"We have a lot of work to do. Our leader has just assigned another interview to us. We have to go back as soon as possible. Boss Pei, we know that you're extremely busy, and we're genuinely sorry that we did not get the chance to say a proper farewell.

"Don't worry, Boss Pei. We will make sure we produce a good write-up of your interview! May we have opportunities to work together again in the future!"