Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

January 12th, Thursday…

At Shang Yang Games…

Wang Xiaobin came to Lin Wan's office and knocked lightly.

"Boss Lin, the downloadable content of the remaining two games will be officially released if there are no problems with. Is there a need to inform Ye Zhizhou?"

Lin Wan thought for a moment and said, "There's no need for that. He's in Los Angeles now with a huge time difference. He's busy with tactical analysis for FV Team. Let's not disturb him. What's more, he had already seen the content of these two downloadable content when it was first finalized. There shouldn't be any big problems. Just publish it directly."

"You were the one who led the development of the downloadable content of these old games. You've worked hard. Have a good rest for the next two weeks."

Wang Xiaobin was a little embarrassed by the praise. He said, "Sigh, I was being forced to put a square peg into a round hole. If Boss Pei had not forced me to do these jobs, I would not have thought that I could develop these downloadable content myself."

"Ocean Stronghold's downloadable content is basically Brother Huang's idea. I'm just cooperating with him."

Lin Wan smiled. "There's no need to be overly humble. Humility is a virtue, but it will also affect confidence."

"Boss Pei obviously wants to nurture everyone into polymaths, able to take charge of everything on our own, and not just be a replaceable part."

"Summarize your experience this time. Boss Pei might give you more similar missions in the future."

Wang Xiaobin nodded. "Alright, I'll get back to work."

He returned to his desk, checked it one last time, and officially updated Repent and be Saved and Ocean Stronghold to the new versions.

The old game update plan this time was divided into two parts: The Lonely Desert Road and Game Designer had been updated earlier because there was not much content; Repent and be Saved and Ocean Stronghold had been updated more. Thus, it had been delayed until this month.

Ocean Stronghold, in particular, had almost a whole new story mode.

This downloadable content was a story about Qin Yi entering the nest when he was the captain of a special team before he became a commander. The story outline was completely provided by Huang Sibo. It was said to be closely related to the game plot of Mission and Choice.

Wang Xiaobin did not know the specific plot of 'Mission and Choice'. He only followed Huang Sibo's request and the information that he had given him. He seriously organized people to develop this downloadable content for advanced warming up.

Wang Xiaobin had completed the task given to him by Boss Pei now that all the downloadable content had been developed. He could finally relax.

"I'm not sure how Ye Zhizhou is doing. He's not going to only come back after they win the championship, right?"

Wang Xiaobin had always been unhappy about Boss Pei transferring Ye Zhizhou to Los Angeles to be a tactical analyst.

The person-in-charge of Shang Yang Games and the person-in-charge of GOG's international server actually went all the way to Los Angeles to do tactical analysis. It was really like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Initially, Wang Xiaobin had many questions to ask Ye Zhizhou during the process of developing the downloadable content. However, he could not ask them because there was a huge time difference between the two sides. What's more, Ye Zhizhou seemed to be very busy over there.

However, Wang Xiaobin did not dare to say anything. After all, Boss Pei had personally requested it.

"It's just an E-Sports competition organized by IOI. I don't understand why Boss Pei values it so much. Could there be some special considerations?"

"Forget it, I'll just do my own thing."

Wang Xiaobin released the downloadable content of the two games and then paid close attention to the players' feedback.

…

At the same time, in Sloth Apartments…

Qiao Liang had just woken up. He swiped his cell phone in boredom as he ate the regularly delivered Fish-Catching Take-Out.

"GPL competition will only start at five in the afternoon. Should I play games or make a video this afternoon?"

"Okay, I'll continue playing games."

"However, there hasn't been any good games to play for a long time."

"FV team will only compete in the global finals competition on Sunday morning. It's really frustrating to wait."

Qiao Liang only used half a second to reject the idea of creating a new video and happily decided to slack off.

However, there were not many good options even if he wanted to slack off. That was because there were not many big projects worth paying attention to recently.

Every time this happened, Qiao Liang would want to take a taxi to Tengda Games' headquarters, put a knife to his own neck and threaten Boss Pei: I'll die in front of you if you don't come up with a new game soon!

Of course, that was just a casual thought. He would definitely not do that.

Qiao Liang knew very well that Boss Pei was actually a person with very high standards for himself. Every new game that he created would not only have to change its genre but also have a breakthrough in the previous game.

He would not be like many game manufacturers who would replicate themselves endlessly after a successful game. They change their appearance and continue to make money.

Boss Pei's development habits had indeed allowed him to improve in the game design field. He would also be able to bring dazzling works to gamers every time. However, this also meant that the investment was getting bigger and incubation time would be longer.

In fact, the new downloadable content of The Lonely Desert Road and Game Designer had already hinted that the next game would be a sci-fi game. The many Easter eggs and details buried in the game made Qiao Liang's heart itch.

However, after waiting for so long, Boss Pei's new game was still nowhere to be seen. His enthusiasm from before was almost gone.

Bored, Qiao Liang browsed Aili Island's website for a while before opening his fan group.

"Eh? Repent and be Saved and Ocean Stronghold have also updated their downloadable content?"

"…Crazy!"

"Why are these old games updating non-stop? Can't you focus all your manpower on creating new games?"

"Sigh, forget it, forget it. I won't be so calculative as long as this downloadable content can maintain its standard."

Qiao Liang complained a little, but he knew in his heart that his thinking was still unreasonable.

Such a large-scale game would take a long time to develop even though he really wanted to play a new game as soon as possible. What's more, more people did not necessarily mean that the game could be developed at a faster pace. It was not a linear relationship. One programmer might be able to finish the work in 100 days but 100 programmers could not finish it in one day.

What's more, updating the downloadable content for old games was something only developers with a conscience would do. There was nothing to criticize.

Qiao Liang immediately opened the two games and checked the update announcement.

Compared to the downloadable content of The Lonely Desert Road which was five times more expensive than the game itself, the downloadable content of these two games could be said to be kind hearted.

Repent and be Saved's downloadable content was priced at 18 yuan. On the other hand, Ocean Stronghold's downloadable content was updated for free like before. However, there was an additional epic weapon.

Qiao Liang paid before looking at the updated announcements for the two games.

Most veteran gamers had absolute trust in Tengda afterall. Tengda's pricing in the game would definitely exceed the value of the game. It was a sure win situation.

Repent and be Saved's updates were mainly about the gameplay. There was a new "Reincarnation Mode". It was mainly meant for elite gamers who had already cleared the game many times as easy as strolling in their own backyard.

In the 'Reincarnation Mode', a new cycle would be opened every month based on the moon in reality.

After entering Reincarnation Mode, the character would return to its initial state. However, all the monsters and drops in the map would be randomized within certain rules. In other words, it was possible for players to encounter stronger monsters from the later stages in the game and drop stronger equipment early on.

Of course, there were certain rules to prevent unknown bugs from appearing.

In addition, players could choose to adjust the difficulty of the game at the Buddha statue or randomly generate the entire world (for the parts that they had yet to challenge). There were seven restrictions within a month.

If they could complete the 'reincarnation mode' within a month, they would provide players with a permanent character appearance, including a full set of clothing and weapons.

The content of Ocean Stronghold's downloadable content was said to be a brand new story mode and a brand new epic weapon. There was no further explanation for the rest. It was probably waiting for gamers to experience it themselves in the game.

"It looks like Repent and be Saved's downloadable content is more interesting. Even if Ocean Stronghold updates its story mode, it would only take an hour or two. The game is already so old. It can't possibly take another four or five hours to complete the plot, right? Wouldn't that be burning money?"

Qiao Liang opened Repent and be Saved first.

As an experienced gamer who had suffered many times, Qiao Liang knew Repent and be Saved's contents like the back of his hand. He knew exactly where the monsters were and what would drop.

It was not because he had a good memory, but because he had been tortured too many times.

Anyone who died dozens of times in the same place would have a deep impression of this place.

The downloadable content of the game might not be substantially updated but it was obvious that the designer had put in a lot of effort to create this new model. What's more, it has indeed improved the game's playability and interest.

It might be a randomised mode, but different monsters, Bosses, and props might cause a game bug or cause the entire game flow to be stuck when they randomly appear in certain places. The development team had obviously given it some serious thoughts in order to avoid these problems. They had set the rules to avoid such situations as much as possible.

It was still the same map but the location of the monsters and the dropped items had changed. The previous shortcut route was naturally not useful. The veteran players could push through the entire map from the beginning with a sense of novelty, and the process was filled with surprises.

It was really worth it considering that it was selling at only 18 yuan.

It was easy to imagine that the Reincarnation Mode of Repent and be Saved would become a monthly mission for veteran gamers. They would be able to show off their veteran gamers' identities with a few more souvenir weapons and appearances.

Qiao Liang played for a while. He was very satisfied with Repent and be Saved's new mode. He saved the progress for now and to savor the game slowly.

Then, he opened Ocean Stronghold to check the downloadable content.

While Ocean Stronghold was widely known for its 888 yuan Red Kilin and rich PvP mode, the plot of the game was definitely not bad.

When the game was first released, many gamers became enamoured with it because of Ocean Stronghold's unique plot in domestically-produced FPS games.

Strictly speaking, the plot of Ocean Stronghold was very simple. Players were interacting with a little girl who did not know how to speak the entire time other than shooting. However, it was still very outstanding after enough details were produced even with such a simple plot.

Boss Pei had already shown his talent in the game plot design so early on.

The content of the downloadable content could not be more than the original plot, right? Qiao Liang pondered.

The game's flow would be quite short if he considered the scale of the original plot and reduced it slightly…. He would be able to finish it in a short while.

Qiao Liang entered Ocean Stronghold's story mode with such thoughts running in his mind.