Qiao Laoshi’s opening left Pei Qian completely stunned.

Old Qiao, I didn’t even pay you, did I?

Do you really need to praise me against your conscience like this?

Look at what you’re saying in this video—is this even human language?

“No king rules forever”? So those respected foreign game companies will fall from grace, and Tenda Games will lead domestic games to ascend the throne and take their place?

This is just…

Pei Qian didn’t even know what to say.

“Mission and Choice” was just a game. Was it necessary to forcibly assign it so much meaning?

Pei Qian felt the unbearable weight of existence.

But then he thought again—Qiao Liang praising it so excessively would objectively have a “kill with kindness” effect, right?

After all, although “Mission and Choice” cost quite a lot of money, Pei Qian felt the game still fell short of being truly “godlike.” Moreover, many players had a contrarian mentality; the more you praised something, the more likely they were to dislike it.

So… Qiao Laoshi’s video this time might have the opposite effect?

Pei Qian continued watching.

…

“Some viewers might say, ‘Oh, old Qiao, you’re exaggerating too much! Although this is a good game, it’s merely a high-quality game with a decent plot. It’s inappropriate to forcibly assign it so much historical significance.'”

“I can only say, if you think like this, you’re oversimplifying the matter!”

“Perhaps many years later, when we look back at the entire development history of Chinese single-player games, we’ll realize: when did we have our first decent ‘work of sincerity’; when did many beautiful indie games begin to emerge; when did we produce a masterpiece that could stand shoulder to shoulder with foreign AAA titles; when did our collection of classic Chinese games include more and more impressive works…”

“In fact, for the entire development of Chinese games, these are all extremely critical nodes, all major turning points of fate.”

“Just like many years ago, when the original ‘Mission and Choice’ was released, no one would have believed this game would usher in a dark age of Chinese games lasting several years.”

“Similarly, many years later, when the remastered version of ‘Mission and Choice’ was released, no one would believe it signaled the dawn of a golden age for Chinese games.”

“At these critical junctures, we stand at the crossroads of fate, witnessing thousands of changes, seeing the choices made by fate, yet in our memories, they seem rather dull and ordinary.”

“At that time, we thought it was just an ordinary day.”

“But in fact, from that day on, perhaps the entire world had already quietly changed.”

“Actually, before ‘Mission and Choice,’ we already had several excellent games, such as ‘Look Back to Shore’ and ‘Struggle.'”

“But in my view, all previous games cannot compare with ‘Mission and Choice’ in terms of historical significance for Chinese single-player games.”

“Because ‘Mission and Choice’ has truly surpassed history in three aspects!”

“First, this game was once called a ‘national gaming disgrace,’ but the remastered version has completely washed away that shame, turning it back into a beacon of Chinese games.”

“It’s like an army that once attacked a place but retreated in defeat—the only way to wash away the shame is to regroup years later, attack again, and plant its flag at the site of its former defeat!”

“This is exactly what I said before: ‘Mission and Choice,’ as a remaster of the once ‘national gaming disgrace,’ has extremely strong symbolic significance!”

“Second, ‘Mission and Choice’ is a highly polished industrial game that has opened up a whole new possibility for Chinese games!”

“In the field of artistic creation, mentioning the word ‘industrial’ might seem strange. In fact, ‘industrial’ means specialized division of labor. In films, there are ‘industrial films,’ and similarly, in games, there are ‘industrial games.'”

“What we call ‘industrial films’ and ‘industrial games,’ in more popular terms, are ‘Hollywood blockbusters’ and ‘AAA titles.’ Their characteristics include highly professional and streamlined production, high production costs, targeting global markets—they are products of a highly developed entertainment industry!”

“And this is precisely the necessary path for Chinese films and Chinese games.”

…

Reading to this point, Pei Qian felt dizzy.

He recognized all these words individually, but put together, he had no idea what they meant…

Industrial films?

Industrial games?

That’s not right—this project just had more funding allocated during development, but the development process remained the same. I didn’t change anything, did I?

The previous games “Look Back to Shore” and “Struggle” were both fine, so why is it only “Mission and Choice” that “opened up a whole new possibility”?

Pei Qian scratched his head, completely unable to understand.

But he was also very curious about what kind of praise Qiao Liang could come up with, so he continued watching.

…

“Why is ‘industrialization’ so important?”

“Because it’s in contrast to ‘workshop-style production.'”

“What we call ‘workshop-style production’ means the creation of artistic works doesn’t have a systematic framework and development. Whether it’s film or games, their success largely depends on the abilities of the director or producer, which means the creation of artistic works carries extremely high risk.”

“If you bet right, everyone’s happy; if you bet wrong, you lose everything.”

“In other words, this ‘workshop-style production’ has tremendous uncertainty.”

“Many foreign AAA titles are ‘annual releases.’ They can consistently produce AAA games in the same series, with quality that’s basically guaranteed. They have a fixed player base, and the developers bear much lower risk.”

“In contrast, domestic single-player game companies don’t have any similar ‘annual release’ games. They often rely on inspiration and ideas, bearing extremely high risks.”

“This industrialized production model aims to standardize processes in various fields and cultivate talent in various specialties, so that the quality of artistic works doesn’t fluctuate too much depending on the designer’s ‘ideas,’ but rather maintains a consistently high level.”

“This way, the development of the entire industry is healthy, orderly, and stable.”

“Most of Tenda’s previous works, although they appear incredibly brilliant, are all products of ‘workshop-style production.’ They may look glamorous, but in reality, these games all heavily rely on Mr. Pei’s endless stream of ingenious ideas!”

“Whether it’s ‘Look Back to Shore’ or ‘Struggle,’ while we marvel at these games, we shouldn’t forget that these classic games are extremely difficult to replicate, and other game companies basically cannot draw experience from them.”

“But ‘Mission and Choice’ is different from other games. This game doesn’t take an unorthodox approach but is steady and balanced. As long as Mr. Pei is willing, he can release a second or third installment in the future, simply continuing the story. As long as the quality is good, many players will still pay for it.”

“This worldview could even be further expanded—developing an annual FPS game series would be no problem at all.”

“This indicates that when designing ‘Mission and Choice,’ Mr. Pei was already trying to eliminate the game’s dependence on his own inspiration and striving to move toward an industrialized production model!”

“Finally, there are the innovative aspects of ‘Mission and Choice.'”

“Although attempting an industrialized creative mode, Mr. Pei still innovated in many areas.”

“For example, as a relatively old game mode, real-time strategy games have many problems from today’s perspective: they require too much skill, making them difficult for most people to get into; their excessive competitiveness reduces enjoyment… These factors seriously constrain the development of the RTS game genre.”

“Even the company that once created ‘StarCraft’ and ‘Fantasy Warfare’ had no good solution when facing this problem. Although continuing traditions could satisfy the demands of core players, clearly, even in the minds of these designers, they didn’t believe the remastered game would be a big hit, so they didn’t invest much budget and instead adopted a perfunctory, deceptive, exploitative approach.”

“‘Mission and Conquest,’ on the other hand, explored how RTS games should be designed in the current context.”

“It reduced game difficulty, making it easy for ordinary players to get started;”

“It weakened operational requirements and enhanced tactical gameplay, encouraging players to think more rather than just act, so they wouldn’t lose interest;”

“It used excellent artistic style and refined storytelling to create a realistic world for all players, using plot to drive player emotions, allowing players to empathize with the protagonist during gameplay and creating a strong sense of immersion;”

“Endless mode, versus mode, and an editor—these elements enriched the gameplay and extended the game’s lifespan;”

“Especially the application of the latest artificial intelligence technology, which opened new doors for RTS games!”

“Of course, many viewers might not have played through this content yet, or might not be interested in the game’s endless mode and editor. But regardless, these features greatly raised this game’s ceiling, greatly enhancing its playability!”

“Therefore, ‘Mission and Choice’ is definitely not just about ‘spending more money.’ More importantly, it can be said to be the first domestic game to attempt ‘industrialized’ production, setting a great example for all Chinese game companies!”

“The example of ‘Mission and Choice’ proves that although our country’s game industry still has a big gap compared to foreign countries, at least we’re on the right path!”

“Hopefully in the near future, more and more creators in our film and game industries will take the path of ‘industrialization.’ Only then will our cultural industry truly reach the summit!”