Penguin Tower.
A heavy cloud hung over the entire conference room.
Before the release of "Siming Summon," most people believed it would only have a minor impact on their FPS games. They expected things to return to normal within a few days.
However, after its launch:
"CFF's" daily active users dropped by 15%, and the decline continued!
Sales of the latest artifact skins for "War of Inverse" hit an all-time low!
"Ace Soldier's" reputation plummeted, drawing such vitriolic criticism from players that it was taken down!
In just a few days, "Siming Summon" had crushed domestic FPS games with an absolutely ferocious momentum, delivering an immeasurable blow to Penguin's gaming division.
This had even alerted higher management.
Everyone had underestimated Lu Li's potential.
They had casually extended an olive branch to Lu Li before.
At that time, Lu Li, riding the fame of "Undertale," had ignored them. Now, any possibility of cooperation was even more remote.
The directive from above was clear: "Learn from its essence, artfully process it, and cash in!"
If they couldn't be friends, they would compete through legitimate commercial means.
"The plan is already made. We'll be developing an FPS mobile game soon. We can borrow some ideas for the NPC designs, and your operations department will handle the promotional work," Cai Qingsong said, looking at Chen Liang.
"Understood. If it can be developed within three months, we can start creating promotional copy now, but..."
Chen Liang hesitated, then glanced at the empty seat next door. "Isn't it a bit improper to bypass Director Bai like this?"
"You know Director Bai's principles."
Only creating originals – that was Bai Zhiyuan's principle.
Therefore, any content that involved imitation was directly routed around her.
"It's such a waste not to capitalize on this IP when its popularity is at its peak!" Chen Liang lamented, his voice filled with distress.
"Exactly, exactly!"
Others chimed in with fervent agreement.
Since you're not using this IP to make money, then we won't hesitate!
...
"Punching Ouda Ouda, I've punched you in the void eight hundred times a day and it's still not enough!"
"How can you sleep after dropping such a vicious bombshell??"
"Lu Li, you old scoundrel, give me back my Ghost!!"
"Dear designer, I am a beautiful young girl of eighteen, and I have admired you for a long time. I hope you can give me your address so I... I can come to your house and bring you some local specialties."
"..."
When Lu Li woke up that morning, his phone had exploded.
Private messages had directly frozen his SIM card.
Helplessly, he had to discard it and log into the web version of Weibo. Private messages and comments bombarded him.
"The comic's effect is quite good."
"Same old feeling, the usual reaction after being broken and infuriated."
"The emotions are very genuine, I love the original flavor the most."
He evaluated them calmly, then with a look of enjoyment.
This was the feeling he craved.
Be angry!
Be resentful. This feeling of being remembered (stabbed) was wonderful!
【Hello Teacher Lu Li, I am Xiao Sang from the official Weibo of Longteng University's Design Institute. On behalf of our university, I sincerely invite you to our school...】
A special message suddenly appeared in his view.
Lu Li paused for a moment. Longteng University, a top institution ranking just below Qingbei University.
In recent years, with the country's increasing emphasis on the gaming industry, many universities had specifically opened elective courses for game designers.
These courses were highly popular among young university students.
The official Weibo private message invited Lu Li to give a class at Longteng University, or to hold a lecture.
He was to discuss his understanding of game creation as the most sought-after game designer of the new era, and to inspire the young students.
After a moment of hesitation, Lu Li replied—【I am deeply honored. You set the time, just notify me.】
Despite his unique preferences, he remained a designer who loved games.
His desire for China's gaming industry to rise was no weaker than anyone else's.
Even more urgent, in fact.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have chosen to publicly release the source code of "Undertale" for others to study, and to open up fan-creation copyrights.
Nor would there have been so many high-quality fan works.
And a thriving ecosystem of fan games.
Lu Li could refuse any collaboration offers from major studios, but he couldn't refuse a sincere heart.
Games could never be revitalized by one person alone.
Even if he worked tirelessly to make games, it would be but a drop in the ocean compared to the entire gaming industry.
The rise of a nation's industry relied on the collective efforts of every practitioner over many years.
Even with the system, he wouldn't be arrogant.
Now, there was some soil suitable for young designers to grow.
He felt it was his duty to fertilize this soil.
Ding dong!
【Time: November 7th, on Longteng University's anniversary celebration; Location: xx. School staff will communicate the details with you in advance!】
November 7th was still some time away.
By then, his third game might have already been released.
Speaking of the next game, Lu Li suddenly remembered something. "System, check resentment points."
【Ding! Resentment points balance: 27.18 million】
Hiss!
Hearing the system's reply, Lu Li gasped.
In a single night, nearly thirty million resentment points had been extracted.
And that didn't even include the portion from foreign players.
Their progress was one day behind domestic players, and they could harvest another wave of foreign players' emotions tonight.
"Siming Summon" should ultimately harvest him 100 million resentment points. Back, you never come back! had rendered many foreign streamers speechless – the elderly on subways holding phones.jpg
However, they hadn't reached that point yet.
The fastest progress at the moment was the successful defense of Baigong.
"It's better to be early than late; this timing is just right."
Lu Li randomly clicked into a streamer's channel named "Tommy."
He adjusted himself into a comfortable sitting posture, a smile curving his lips.
The show was about to begin!
ps: From now on, I will use this game name (protection). Your understanding is appreciated!