Thinking about it, what Mr. Pei said made a lot of sense.
All of their previous successful projects truly hadn’t succeeded by “playing it safe.”
In fact, whether at Tenda Games or Shangyang Games, every game they made took unconventional approaches and enormous risks, yet each time they achieved great success.
In contrast, those game companies outside that only sought stability, making minor adjustments to old games or just changing art assets and selling them as new games, constantly seeking stability and profits, often received mediocre responses and dismal sales.
Because seeking stability meant standing in place.
When other game manufacturers were seeking innovation and change, seeking stability meant falling behind. Previously successful experiences would quickly become outdated.
Lin Chang was also filled with respect. Although he wasn’t very familiar with the gaming industry, Mr. Pei’s words seemed to contain profound philosophy.
“So what’s your suggestion, Mr. Pei?” Lin Chang asked.
Pei Qian coughed lightly and said, “In my view, the newer the company, the more it should pursue innovation boldly.”
“If a new company, at its founding, thinks about following old paths and copying previous successful experiences, then it will never have the courage to innovate in the future. It will only deviate further down the path of ‘getting by.'”
“So, whether at Shangyang Games or Late Journey Studio, design as you would normally design, forgetting the fact that you’re at a new company.”
“Just like before, first determine the game type, and take it step by step.”
Lin Wan nodded: “Mm, in that case, there are actually only a few directions to choose from. Since we’re not making mobile games, we’re left with just computer single-player games or online games.”
“If we follow Mr. Pei’s suggestion to challenge ourselves, we should definitely strive to make a single-player game on the level of ‘Looking Back is the Shore,’ ‘Struggle,’ or ‘Mission and Choice.'”
Pei Qian pondered for a moment: “Are those really the only paths we can take? Think again?”
Lin Wan’s examples only made things worse, reminding Pei Qian of his bitter past experiences.
Each of these three single-player games had larger investments than the last, but each also made more money than the last.
Although this wasn’t enough to prove it was a failed path, Pei Qian didn’t want to walk it again in the short term.
So, he needed to find another path.
Lin Wan showed a very confused expression: “Huh? But those are the game types we have. Computer games are basically just single-player and online games, and mobile games…”
Pei Qian prompted: “Haven’t you heard of… VR games recently?”
Both Lin Chang and Lin Wan were stunned, looking at each other: “VR games?”
After hesitating for a moment, Lin Wan said: “I’ve heard of them, but… aren’t these games still just at a conceptual stage? Apart from some foreign manufacturers who have made a few exploratory, conceptual VR games, hardly anyone is making them now…”
Lin Chang looked completely puzzled and silently took out his phone to search for the keyword “VR games.”
Last night, Pei Qian had searched for some related information online and learned about the development of VR technology in this world.
In summary, VR technology in this world was about one or two years ahead of what he remembered. Compared to the development of mobile phone technology in this world, VR technology was actually relatively slow.
A crucial milestone for VR technology was the birth of the first modern VR headset. In Pei Qian’s memory, this should have been the Oculus Rift, originally launched in 2012, a VR headset device made with $2.5 million in crowdfunding. From that year onwards, public interest in VR gradually ignited.
According to Pei Qian’s impression of the development, it wasn’t until 2016 that VR devices from major manufacturers such as HTC Vive and PSVR were successively launched, truly igniting the VR craze.
It was also for this reason that many people called 2016 the first year of VR gaming.
However, the development of the VR industry quickly encountered bottlenecks, and the enthusiasm gradually receded due to technical reasons, but that’s a story for another time.
The current situation in this world roughly corresponded to what Pei Qian remembered from around 2013 to 2014.
Foreign companies had already developed usable VR glasses through crowdfunding last year, but this product hadn’t received much attention, not only domestically but even abroad for the time being.
On one hand, this was because the technology still had certain defects. The resolution was quite low, with single-eye resolution of only 640*800, and even when combined for both eyes, it was only 1280*800. The screen-door effect was very obvious—in layman’s terms, the screen was full of pixelation with large, visible pixels—and motion tracking was also very imperfect.
On the other hand, there was very little content that current VR technology could support, whether games or movies, as not many manufacturers were developing or filming such content.
With equipment but no content, the vast majority of consumers naturally had no motivation to spend $300 to buy such a toy.
Domestically, the VR field was currently a blank slate. No companies were producing VR glasses, none were developing VR games, and there weren’t even cheap VR alternatives like “cardboard boxes + smartphones.”
Pei Qian was thinking: Based on the development speed of the entire VR industry, it would take at least three more years to reach the level of enthusiasm of the “year one of VR.”
During these three years, the entire market would be relatively contracted with low enthusiasm.
Moreover, the prerequisite for playing VR games was buying VR glasses, costing at least two to three thousand yuan; and to smoothly experience large VR games, a high-performance computer was needed, possibly costing at least six to seven thousand more.
Most players couldn’t accept this level of investment.
So Pei Qian thought that making VR games at this critical juncture should be foolproof!
If they waited two or three more years, the situation might change.
They needed to seize this critical moment and hurry to lose money.
Lin Chang searched on his phone for a while and finally got a general understanding of the current state of VR games.
“Mr. Pei, to develop VR games, wouldn’t we need to collaborate with these foreign VR glasses manufacturers?”
Pei Qian smiled: “Why collaborate? Can’t we just develop our own? If Shenhua Group can make phones, can’t we make VR glasses?”
Lin Chang was taken aback, then thought about it and realized that did seem to be the case.
VR glasses weren’t actually that technologically complex; the difficulty of production wouldn’t be higher than for phones. Shenhua Group not only made phones but also smart hardware, so developing VR glasses wouldn’t be too difficult.
But he quickly realized that the current issue wasn’t about technology or money at all!
Lin Chang said: “Mr. Pei, isn’t this too risky? Currently, no traditional game manufacturers are making VR games. If we were to make them, we wouldn’t have any successful experiences to reference!”
Pei Qian asked: “If we’re aiming to innovate, why do we need successful experiences to reference?”
Lin Chang’s mouth opened slightly, momentarily at a loss for words.
Lin Wan said: “Don’t interrupt; let Mr. Pei finish explaining the entire project idea before commenting.”
Lin Chang: “…”
Lin Wan was clearly seriously considering the feasibility of the VR game project. After thinking for a while, she said: “So, Mr. Pei, what kind of VR game should we make? First-person shooter? Interactive movie game? Or perhaps simple strategy games would also work.”
“Considering the characteristics of VR devices, making a first-person shooter would probably be the best choice, right?”
Compared to computers, VR had disadvantages in many aspects due to immature technology, such as resolution, operation, and motion sickness issues that urgently needed to be solved.
The only advantage was immersion.
Therefore, game types like shooters and interactive movies played in first-person would provide an experience far superior to computer games. Strategy games were more of a stretch; only simple operations and not-too-complex content could be made. Although they used a god’s-eye view, the god’s-eye view in VR mode would still look more spectacular than on a computer, so it was barely feasible.
Pei Qian fell into a brief silence.
If they made a first-person shooter or an interactive movie game, they might actually create something noteworthy.
Because first-person shooters could use controllers for aiming, combined with strong immersion and a bit of horror atmosphere, they might actually create a masterpiece that players would rave about.