Evening.
Qiao Liang exited “BE QUIET” and stretched lazily.
These past few days, disputes about this game had been boiling over online, but Qiao Liang hadn’t participated—he simply played the game in silence.
Because he understood clearly that participating in such arguments was meaningless.
Emotionally speaking, Qiao Liang naturally stood on Mr. Pei’s side.
Not just because Qiao Liang was Mr. Pei’s friend, but also because he was a hardcore gamer.
For these hardcore gamers, they pursued more complex and extreme gaming experiences. Both the initial puzzle-solving activities and the later eye-tracking game to activate purchase permissions were right up Qiao Liang’s alley.
The key depended on how you looked at it.
If you saw it as a barrier, a means to deter players, then it did feel uncomfortable, but if you treated it as a preliminary free game, wasn’t that fine?
“The Lonely Desert Highway,” “Game Developer,” and the eye-tracking game were all free now, which Qiao Liang considered quite generous.
Qiao Liang understood clearly that games, as cultural products, could never please everyone.
If some players thought that developers making games they liked meant they were conscientious developers, but games with mechanics they disliked deserved mindless abuse, that would certainly be unreasonable.
Similarly, while “BE QUIET” requiring players to complete preliminary activities to gain purchase rights objectively had the effect of deterring players, this in itself was beyond reproach.
Because Tenda had never promised that “players can freely purchase our games under any circumstances,” and of course, there was no need to promise such a thing.
The relationship between game developers and players was always one of mutual selection. Players could completely choose not to play a certain developer’s games, and developers could choose to give up money from some players. As long as the transaction itself was voluntary, not forced buying or selling, both parties’ positions were equal, and neither could condemn the other on moral grounds.
Moreover, Mr. Pei, as such a maverick designer, wasn’t the type to kowtow to players anyway.
So, emotionally speaking, Qiao Liang supported Mr. Pei’s actions.
As a developer providing quality games at favorable prices, even making two previous games free, yet getting criticized just for setting prerequisites for purchasing the game?
There was no logic to that.
However, despite saying this, Qiao Liang still found some aspects of this matter difficult to understand.
Although setting these prerequisites was entirely the developer’s freedom, was it necessary?
What benefits could this bring to the developer?
This was the question that puzzled Qiao Liang.
At this moment, his brows furrowed tightly as he tried to solve this riddle based on his understanding of Mr. Pei.
“I get the feeling that Mr. Pei’s action isn’t about ‘play it or not, I don’t care,’ but rather ‘if you can’t solve this simple little problem, you definitely won’t be able to enjoy the game, so you might as well not buy it.'”
“This feeling seems familiar.”
“Where have I seen this before?”
“…”
“I know! It’s in ‘Turn Back to Shore’!”
Qiao Liang suddenly realized that “Turn Back to Shore” was the same!
Except one deterred players after entering the game, while the other deterred them before entering; one was about refunding after being tortured, the other was about not paying at all after being tortured.
Mr. Pei’s current approach was moving the deterrence stage from “Turn Back to Shore” to before the game purchase!
Qiao Liang had a sudden revelation.
“Yes, this way, everything makes sense!”
“Mr. Pei’s move is essentially the same as the operation in ‘Turn Back to Shore,’ just in a different form.”
“Games are an interactive art form. Simply put, designers pose riddles, and players solve them.”
“The essence of hardcore games is sacrifice for gain.”
“Sacrificing those shallow, superficial spiritual pursuits to gain profound, deep spiritual pursuits!”
“Just like in ‘Turn Back to Shore,’ first you must endure torture, withstand the frustration of dying repeatedly, sacrifice the mindless pleasure and grass-cutting satisfaction in games, and truly focus on honing your skills.”
“Afterward, you can experience growth in the game and gain a completely different kind of enjoyment from other games.”
“This is about sacrifice and reward, delayed gratification. Without the game’s high difficulty, players couldn’t possibly experience the pleasure that comes after growth.”
“And ‘BE QUIET’ is the same way. It’s also a game of sacrifice and reward. First, you must sacrifice some time, suppress your desire to play immediately, and seriously think about solving these puzzles; only then can you truly appreciate the joy of this game.”
“As for why the specific approaches between the two games differ…”
“It’s obvious. ‘Turn Back to Shore’ is a single-player game that doesn’t affect others’ gaming experience. But ‘BE QUIET’ is an online game.”
“If a player completely unsuited to this game mode enters, they will inevitably disrupt others’ gaming experience.”
“And to ensure everyone’s gaming attitude and intelligence are roughly on the same level, to ensure the vast majority can enjoy the game without having the experience ruined by teammates who can’t adapt to the gameplay, all players must undergo a simple ‘training’…”
Qiao Liang became increasingly certain that he now understood Mr. Pei’s true intentions!
The logic was sound, but to convince everyone, he needed to find some material from within the game.
Besides, revealing all this now seemed somewhat premature.
On one hand, he hadn’t fully grasped the complex game mechanics of “BE QUIET” yet, so making a video now would lack sufficient material and the script would be rather dry; on the other hand, the controversy around this game hadn’t yet reached its peak.
After consideration, Qiao Liang decided to continue grinding the game over the next few days to collect materials.
Next week, he will update a video on “Masterpiece Reviews” to properly discuss “BE QUIET,” this unconventional networked horror game, and explain the profound meaning behind the ARG game Mr. Pei designed for promotion!
By then, he believed many players’ confusion about the game and misunderstandings about Mr. Pei would be resolved!
…
…
March 14th, Monday.
Chang You paced back and forth in his office, extremely anxious.
On the OTTO Technology official website’s phone details page, the button had changed from “Pre-order” to “Purchase.”
Not having to rush to buy the phone seemed like a good thing, but not for Chang You.
Because it also meant the phones weren’t selling well!
All the money received from phone sales had already been reinvested in restocking inventory. Now, OTTO Technology could be described as penniless.
If it were any other company, they definitely couldn’t operate this way.
Chang You understood deeply that OTTO Technology was now relying on a strong backer for support. Only with Mr. Pei backing them up did they dare to stock so much inventory.
But precisely because of this, Chang You felt even more that he was letting Mr. Pei down.
How would they sell these ten thousand-plus phones?!
To make matters worse, Mr. Pei had specifically instructed Chang You to just manage inventory and nothing else, not to actively consider marketing strategies, nor to reduce the phone’s price.
This left Chang You anxiously sitting in his seat, helpless.
He didn’t even dare to go online to read comments. Despite being known as “Big Mouth Chang” with excellent psychological resilience, he now found it difficult to bear the mockery and sarcasm because he carried the weight of Mr. Pei’s trust.
As Chang You was pacing anxiously around the room, his phone rang.
Looking at it, he saw it was Hu Xianbin calling.
Chang You’s eyes instantly lit up, and he hurriedly answered.
“Manager Chang, the GOG mobile version is scheduled to officially launch tomorrow. We previously agreed to collaborate, just reminding you,” Hu Xianbin’s voice came through the phone.
Chang You was overjoyed: “Okay, no problem! I’ll immediately instruct them to proceed according to the previously prepared plan!”
Hu Xianbin continued: “I just spoke with Director Lin from Shangyang Games. They’ve been busy developing ‘BE QUIET’ and haven’t had much time, but they should have prepared promotional activities for ‘Hot-Blooded Battle Song’ by now. You can call and ask, and perhaps coordinate to update everything together tomorrow.”
Chang You hastily replied: “Good, good, I’ll ask right away!”
After hanging up, Chang You directly called Lin Wan and received affirmative confirmation that Shangyang Games had already prepared promotional activities for OTTO phones in the “Hot-Blooded Battle Song” game.
Chang You instantly felt more at ease while also feeling a wave of gratitude.
Tenda truly was a warm family!
What was Tenda’s core competitive advantage? Ultimately, it was still games!
The gaming business was Tenda’s bread and butter, as well as the foundation for all other businesses.
Chang You knew clearly that for Mr. Pei, Slackin’ Internet Café, Headwind Logistics, OTTO phones… all these businesses could lose money, but games alone couldn’t!
And this time, being able to secure Tenda’s gaming department’s new game, GOG, to develop an exclusive high frame rate mode for their phones was like a reassuring pill for Chang You.
Chang You immediately notified his subordinates to replace all the previously prepared promotional materials!
For instance, they added a large section on the OTTO E1 phone’s product detail page: Tenda’s new game “Glory of God” GOG designated phone, with exclusive deep optimization and ultra-high frame rate mode, bringing you an unprecedented, exhilarating gaming experience!
These promotional materials had been prepared long in advance, but couldn’t be used earlier.
Because GOG hadn’t been fully developed yet, and this information couldn’t be leaked.
But now, they could finally use them!
The PC version of GOG was still in development and testing, but Li Yada had decided before going on vacation that the GOG mobile version would launch first.
Currently, the functionality between the mobile and PC versions isn’t fully synchronized. The mobile version had slightly less content but could be launched a week earlier.
At the same time, launching the mobile version first could help avoid IOI’s current strong position in the PC gaming market.
Chang You had also hoped that Lin Wan’s team could make “BE QUIET” into a mobile game, but Lin Wan said development time was insufficient, and the difficulty of converting “BE QUIET’s” operation mode to mobile was too high, so they had to put it aside for now.
Chang You even hoped to bring all successful games like “Sea Fortress” to the mobile platform, but this was also shelved because neither Tenda Games nor Shangyang Games could spare the manpower.
But Chang You wasn’t anxious—after all, they were all Tenda’s games. Whether converted early or late, he would benefit.
Although only “Hot-Blooded Battle Song” and GOG could provide exclusive optimization and high frame rate modes now, it was enough.
Due to some historical issues, “Hot-Blooded Battle Song” still had many hidden wealthy players whose purchasing power was extremely suppressed because it was difficult to spend money in the game.
If they advertised OTTO phones in the game, people would be interested!
After arranging everything, Chang You was no longer anxious.
He seemed to understand a bit why Mr. Pei had kept emphasizing not to do marketing independently, not to reduce prices, but instead to frantically stock up inventory as quickly as possible.
Because soon, OTTO phones would experience an explosive period of sales!