March 25th, Monday.
In the blink of an eye, the weekend had passed.
Yan Qi went to work as usual, grabbed a cup of coffee, and sat down at his workstation.
He had initially planned to continue arranging the development of subsequent content for “Millet Departure,” but on second thought, he decided to search online for the latest discussions about the game.
What he found left him stunned.
On Saturday, he had posted an announcement explaining that the “Millet Departure” project wasn’t short of funds at all, telling everyone not to worry too much.
He thought the matter would blow over, but looking now, not only had it not passed, it had actually escalated!
First, He An voiced support for Tenda, and then, inexplicably, the entire domestic gaming circle began a faction-choosing activity!
Several game developers, including He An, expressed strong support for Tenda, severely criticizing those with ulterior motives who were smearing Tenda and disrupting the domestic gaming industry. However, some game channel merchants and gaming company bosses who were at odds with Tenda also spoke up, appearing to make reasonable comments while actually steering the narrative and taking sides, trying to pull Tenda down from its pedestal.
At first, everyone maintained restraint, but soon, the powder keg atmosphere grew increasingly intense!
After all, the gaming industry was never one big happy family, and some manufacturers had long-standing grudges against each other.
Now with old and new grievances exploding together, the discourse naturally became increasingly uncivil.
The argument initially revolved around “Millet Departure,” with the focus of discussion being: Tenda constantly talked about revitalizing domestic games, but given their capabilities, prestige, and resources, what contributions had they actually made to domestic gaming?
Dream Realization Venture Capital had invested so much money in some random companies, but had no money to invest in “Millet Departure” or other domestic independent games?
Tenda clearly had such strong reputation and prestige, yet they hadn’t considered speaking up for the Morning Dew Gaming Platform?
As the arguing continued, the topic strayed further and further, turning into mutual attacks and tearing apart between manufacturers. Of course, some fabricated accusations were naturally pinned on Tenda.
This scene was, frankly speaking, quite undignified.
But this was exactly what the anti-Tenda alliance needed.
Because dignified methods couldn’t possibly cause any harm to Tenda!
This current approach looked very shameless, but they weren’t particularly concerned with saving face anyway—this was a kind of “low moral ground advantage.”
Despite being clearly in the wrong and not having player support, as long as they persisted in making trouble and worked hard to muddy the waters, they could always cause some negative impact on Tenda.
And this time it looked like they came prepared. Someone must have been pushing things behind the scenes; otherwise, it would have been impossible for the arguments to reach this level in just the short two days of the weekend.
The mastermind behind this had seized upon Tenda’s weekend vulnerability—they don’t work on weekends—to launch a fierce attack!
And Tenda truly had shown no movement during the entire weekend, and even by Monday, they still hadn’t made any statement.
Yan Qi was watching all this with growing anxiety.
In his view, Tenda’s behavior was somewhat incomprehensible.
They just needed to openly declare to the public that the “Millet Departure” project was funded by Tenda, and that even the idea for the game had been inspired by Mr. Pei—wouldn’t that resolve everything?
Then all these questioning voices from the outside world would naturally dissipate, and those clamoring puppets of the anti-Tenda alliance, along with their paid trolls steering the narrative, would naturally have their faces slapped.
If possible, Yan Qi would have personally stepped up to leak this news.
Unfortunately, Mr. Pei wouldn’t let him speak, and it seemed that Mr. Pei also had no intention of speaking up himself.
What exactly was Mr. Pei waiting for?
This was truly extremely puzzling.
Just as he was caught in this dilemma, his assistant walked over: “Director Yan, there’s something.”
“The official gaming platform just called and said they want to arrange an urgent special interview with you. They’ve probably seen the promotional video for ‘Millet Departure’ and are particularly interested in our project, so they want to do a report.”
“Do you want to accept this interview? If so, when would be a suitable time? The official reporters can arrive as early as tomorrow.”
Yan Qi was stunned for a moment: “Huh? A special interview?”
“Accept it, of course we’ll accept it! Let’s schedule it for tomorrow, the sooner the better!”
Being interviewed by reporters from the official platform was naturally something every game developer would dream of!
Once this interview was published on the official platform, “Millet Departure” would naturally have no shortage of attention, and there would definitely be a large influx of players.
Although it had been confirmed that “Millet Departure” would be an exclusive game on the Morning Dew Gaming Platform, the official platform had a special nature and didn’t directly compete with these private platforms.
The official platform didn’t prohibit or exclude the existence of other gaming platforms. According to regulations, exclusive games from other platforms had to be launched on the official platform after three months. However, even after launching on the official platform, it only provided an additional entry point. If players wanted to play the game, downloading the main game wasn’t enough; they would have to download the original platform as well to play.
In other words, according to regulations, although “Millet Departure” was exclusive to the Morning Dew Gaming Platform, it would have to be on the official platform after three months. However, players who downloaded “Millet Departure” from the official platform would still need to download the Morning Dew Gaming Platform first.
This arrangement both protected the exclusivity of games on these gaming platforms, allowing platforms to continue expanding their user base through game exclusivity, while also maintaining the authority of the official platform and integrating resources to a certain extent.
Therefore, maintaining good relations with the official platform was beneficial for both the game “Millet Departure” and the Morning Dew Gaming Platform.
Yan Qi also wanted to take this opportunity to express his view through the official platform once more: “Millet Departure” project really doesn’t lack money! This meaningless arguing and faction-choosing can stop now!
……
……
March 26th, Tuesday.
The official platform’s interview team came to Jingzhou once again, heading straight for the “Millet Departure” project team.
The interview team consisted of five people, with the lead text editor still being Xia Jiang.
After all, she was considered one of the more senior reporters on the official platform, having previously interviewed Tenda Group and the Independent Game Incubator Base, and published many excellent articles.
Sending Xia Jiang over showed that the official platform took this interview quite seriously.
Of course, Xia Jiang personally was also looking forward to this interview, because “Millet Departure” did indeed appear to be another 3A action game that combined Chinese cultural heritage with excellent production values, following “Turn Back to Shore.” The personal experience of its producer Yan Qi—”making mobile games to survive, making single-player games for ideals”—also made for excellent interview material.
“Editor Xia! Hello, hello, I’ve heard so much about you.”
“I’ve read all your previous special interviews with Tenda Group and the Poverty Road Project, and I deeply admire your professional integrity!”
Yan Qi was already waiting downstairs and warmly shook hands when he saw Xia Jiang.
He wasn’t just being polite; he had indeed read those two interviews and greatly appreciated the “blank space style” of interviewing.
Being able to outline Mr. Pei’s image by interviewing people around him, and having that image so closely match Mr. Pei’s true character, demonstrated formidable interviewing skills that couldn’t be underestimated.
Just thinking about how the interviewee had changed from Mr. Pei to himself made Yan Qi feel excited, as if he were walking on the broad path pioneered by his predecessors.
This Editor Xia was definitely a harbinger of good fortune!
Back then, she interviewed Tenda, and then Tenda quickly took off, flourishing vigorously.
Now she was interviewing the “Millet Departure” project team—perhaps this game would explode in popularity too?
Yan Qi enthusiastically led Xia Jiang and the other staff members of the official platform interview team inside, seating them in a pre-arranged conference room.
The other staff members were busy setting up the scene, while the photographers were busy finding camera positions and testing equipment.
Xia Jiang had already prepared her interview draft. Since the interview hadn’t started yet and there wasn’t anything else to do for the moment, she decided to chat casually first.
She looked Yan Qi up and down and asked, “This ‘Millet Departure’ project…”
“It’s funded by Mr. Pei, isn’t it?”
Yan Qi: “…Huh?”
This question caught him completely off guard.
Yan Qi’s expression froze, as he hadn’t expected Xia Jiang’s first question to be this.
How did she know?
This information should have been strictly confidential, right? Could it be… there was a mole among the core personnel?
Or had she obtained information from Tenda beforehand?
That shouldn’t be possible… there weren’t even rumors about this in the public sphere.
Most likely it was just a guess.
“Why… why do you ask that?” Yan Qi was somewhat startled but quickly composed himself. Instead of answering directly, he chose to counter-question.
Xia Jiang smiled. Actually, seeing Yan Qi’s reaction, she already understood.
She hadn’t expected that her impromptu test would actually yield results!
Xia Jiang smiled and said, “I guessed it!”
“Now the matter of ‘Millet Departure’ has caused quite a stir. Those companies in the anti-Tenda alliance are using this to attack Tenda, almost causing the entire domestic gaming circle to take sides. If it were other companies investing in ‘Millet Departure,’ they would have already come forward to identify themselves by now. How could they still remain so patient?”
“For someone doing good deeds without seeking recognition, besides Mr. Pei of Tenda Group, I really couldn’t think of anyone else.”
“Your current expression is exactly like Director Qiu from the Independent Game Incubator Base, as if cut from the same mold.”
“But I think… you’ll probably be like Director Qiu, refusing to admit it even if it kills you, right?”
Yan Qi was momentarily speechless.
Well now, so this is what a professional journalist is like?
You already understand everything, what else do I have to say?
But… Director Qiu’s Independent Game Incubator Base, also known as the “Poverty Road Project,” was actually Mr. Pei’s enterprise too?
Yan Qi had no intersection with the “Poverty Road Project” because his initial game “Empire’s Edge” was a pay-to-win mobile game, not an independent game, and he had a relatively complete development team, so he couldn’t get investment from the “Poverty Road Project.”
His main impression of the “Poverty Road Project” was that it had previously provided many excellent independent games to the Morning Dew Gaming Platform, giving the platform a major boost.
Of course, judging by Xia Jiang’s expression, this matter probably didn’t have hard evidence either.
Qiu Hong was the same way, refusing to admit it no matter what.
As long as they didn’t admit it, Xia Jiang, as an official editor, couldn’t directly write this in her report; she could only imply it.
And implications… ultimately had limited influence.