Previously, H4 Club and DGE Club had played training matches for three days, so many people had exchanged contact information. Team Leader Su found team member Huang Wang quite interesting, so he had added him as a friend.

Later, the DGE Club went off to challenge other clubs.

But today, Huang Wang posted a celebratory status!

Although there were no pictures, just the words “reserved the entire Nameless Restaurant” were enough to make people feel unbalanced.

After the previous food blogger incident, the Mass Review website had given Nameless Restaurant a wave of promotion, making the restaurant well-known, and Team Leader Su had heard of it.

And they had even reserved the entire restaurant?

This was a privilege only Tenda’s internal employees enjoyed!

As for why they were holding a celebration banquet, did that even need to be asked?

The DGE Club had crushed all the major GOG clubs across the country, essentially becoming undefeated nationwide, individually crushing each club. With such achievements, they certainly deserved a celebration banquet.

But for the crushed clubs, this status update had a completely different meaning.

Team Leader Su felt he was being provoked, and the memories of being crushed surfaced once again.

“The competition is coming soon, increase training intensity!”

“Those tactics we learned from the DGE Club, practice them again thoroughly!”

“When the weekend competition comes, our H4 Club absolutely cannot embarrass ourselves!”

Team Leader Su was furious.

On the other side, the IOI Club members were forcing down smiles on their faces while practicing solo queue.

Two team members whispered to each other.

“Team Leader Su seems to be raging again. What happened with the GOG division?”

“Not sure, probably still about being crushed by that new club earlier. I heard they were devastated during that period.”

“All I can say is those GOG division people are too bad; they’re embarrassing our club.”

“Let’s not say more. Warm up your hands; we have training matches with other clubs soon.”

“No worries, we’re not noobs like the GOG division. For the IOI competition hosted by Tenda this time, we’re determined to win the championship!”

…

…

July 21, Thursday.

At a café near Handong University.

It was time for the monthly teaching session again.

He An took a sip of coffee and began explaining today’s lesson.

“Today’s success experience is about supply and demand theory, which applies not only to the gaming field but also to other fields.”

“Today’s lesson is a summary and generalization of the previous content. Before we start, Mr. Ma, let me test you first—do you remember what we covered in the previous three lessons?”

Pei Qian thought for two minutes and answered: “Choosing marketing methods based on game content, selecting game types with high market share, and appropriately inserting personal ideas into games.”

He An was pleased: “Yes, good! You remember very clearly!”

Pei Qian internally responded with a scoff. How could he not remember clearly? Most of it was related to his own painful lessons…

He An continued: “The previous three lessons progressed from easy to difficult, and all discussed the production process of a game.”

“First, choose the right game type based on market demand, then correctly express your ideas during game development, and finally select the corresponding marketing method according to the specific situation of the game.”

“Today’s content will be more difficult: how to analyze market demand.”

“Today’s lesson is the major premise of the previous three lessons, and also the most fundamental step.”

“Mr. Ma, you must remember that every step in the game development process is important, but the first step—correctly analyzing market demand and choosing the right direction—is most important!”

Pei Qian nodded, listening attentively.

He had to admit that although many of Teacher He’s examples were about Tenda, the content of his lessons was indeed full of valuable information. It was equivalent to covering all the key aspects of game development from concept to production.

This kind of systematic knowledge couldn’t necessarily be bought with money.

Pei Qian felt he was gaining a lot, though it would be better if Teacher He didn’t always use Tenda’s games as examples…

He An continued: “A good developer must learn to analyze players’ needs and create corresponding games to sell to them.”

“But the key point is that sometimes players don’t know what their needs are.”

“They think they want A, but what they need is B. At this time, if you give them A, they might feel that what you’ve made isn’t the A they had in mind, and they still won’t buy it.”

“So the concept of ‘giving players what they want’ isn’t wrong in itself, but if you follow this concept honestly, you’ll still fail miserably!”

Pei Qian was silent for a moment: “Then what about ‘deliberately not giving players what they want’?”

He An was momentarily speechless, then, after a pause, said: “Then I can only say you’re amazing.”

Pei Qian pressed on: “Teacher He, I’m serious. Is it certain that ‘deliberately not giving players what they want’ will always fail?”

He An thought carefully and shook his head: “There’s an extremely small possibility that what you think players don’t want is exactly what they claim not to want but secretly desire deeply. In such cases, not only will you not fail, but you’ll be hugely successful!”

“But such situations… are too rare, they can be encountered but not sought after!”

Pei Qian: “…”

Too rare?

Can be encountered but not sought after?

Then how come I encounter it with every game?

He An continued: “To understand this problem deeply, you need to understand the three levels of meeting needs.”

“The first level is interpreting needs.”

“The second level is exploring needs deeply.”

“The third level is creating needs.”

“Most producers can’t even reach the first stage; they’re still at the ‘repeating needs’ stage.”

“So-called ‘repeating needs’ means that whatever players want, they provide, but such developers often fail. Because sometimes players themselves aren’t clear about what they want.”

“What they think they want is often misaligned with their true needs. Moreover, different players have different positions, tastes, preferences, and naturally different demands.”

“If you merely ‘repeat’ the needs raised by players, you lose control over the entire project, which is the worst strategy.”

“To give a simple example, some players might see epic weapons in other games, notice they sell well at high prices, and suggest that your game should have epic weapons too.”

“If you just ‘repeat’ player needs, thinking players need this thing and it can make money, so you implement it, the outcome is often failure.”

“Have you considered whether only a small portion of players want epic weapons, while most players detest them?”

“Perhaps what this player wants isn’t an epic weapon, but an attractive appearance or privileges that distinguish them from other players?”

“Perhaps you created epic weapons but didn’t design appearances that satisfy them, so they won’t buy into it?”

“If you don’t think about these questions, failure is inevitable.”

“You must first distinguish which player needs are usable and which aren’t. If you can’t do this, you’ll never make progress.”

“So, the first level is interpreting needs. From the many needs of players, interpret their real demands, break down a general wish into specific parts, and carefully analyze whether these demands conflict with the game itself or the demands of most players.”

“Only after carefully verifying its safety can you implement it.”

“The next level up is exploring needs deeply.”

“Sometimes, players can’t even express what they want, or aren’t even aware of what they want.”

“For example, through data analysis, we might discover that many players drop off on the third day, but when we conduct a survey, we collect no useful opinions.”

“At this point, we need to analyze why so many players leave on the third day. What are they dissatisfied with? What do they need?”

“Through various clues, dig out the hidden needs in players’ hearts that they might not even be aware of. This is the second level.”

“If you can achieve this level, you’re already considered a successful game developer in the general sense. It means your direction won’t be wrong, and you can make a game increasingly better.”

“As for the third level…”

“Creating needs that players didn’t originally have—this is the pinnacle level!”

“I won’t elaborate on this, as it’s too profound and complex, and the cases often can’t be replicated.”

“Because once newly created needs are widely accepted by players, they’re no longer new needs.”

“On this point, I’ve only just begun to grasp it myself. Talking too much might mislead you, making you think you can take shortcuts or reach the top in one step.”

“Mr. Ma, for now, it’s enough for you to learn not to repeat needs, but to seriously interpret and explore needs deeply.”

Pei Qian was silent for a moment, then tentatively asked: “Then… Teacher He, could you mention someone who has reached the level of creating needs?”

He An: “Mr. Pei from Tenda Games.”

“Taking something most people originally didn’t like and turning it into something most people like—Mr. Pei’s skill in this regard is unique among game developers in China!”

“Mr. Ma, since you’re a good friend of Mr. Pei, if convenient, you might ask him about his insights in this area. But as I said, don’t rush to learn this—it’s very dangerous.”

Pei Qian: “…”

He didn’t know what to say for a moment.