To ascend, I had no choice but to create games

Chapter 479: Chapter 282: New Game Theme (Part 2)_2

Having pacified everyone’s emotions, Fang Cheng returned to his seat and began to check the latest situation.

In a word, there wasn’t much going on.

The sanctions were still in effect, and the people in North America still couldn’t play the games.

North America had also launched game cabins, but the price was as high as one million US dollars, and the realism peaked at only 9%, with very few games available inside.

Although it didn’t look promising, North America had two ‘pets,’ Korea and Sakura Country, to whom they offloaded the North American game cabins, using this to alleviate financial pressures.

However, Gao Tianyun didn’t care at all, because the second generation of game cabins had already started production. The new game cabins were also priced at one million, but in RMB.

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The new game cabins were cheaper and performed better. The original game cabins could be upgraded to the new ones for free, with the promise of lifetime free games inside, and credits for Fang Cheng Studio’s online store equivalent to the price difference, which could be used to place orders directly with Gong Gong.

At this point, Gao Tianyun lifted his head proudly.

“My price is lower than yours, my quality is better than yours, my games are more fun than yours, what do you have to compete with me?”

“It’s not that I’m targeting you, but you’re all so bad, not a single one of you is capable of fighting back!”

Moreover, Xu Qingling gave Fang Cheng another piece of news, Druid Entertainment was in touch again regarding acquisition matters.

At first, they were as coy as a blushing maiden, sending an email every three days, as regular as clockwork.

However, later on, they became more anxious, sending emails daily, each one more earnest than the last.

Although Fang Cheng thought their ideas were far-fetched, he was still curious and asked, “Why are they in such a hurry?”

“Their stock price has halved again,” Xu Qingling said. “Druid Entertainment has been exposed for faking online numbers and game sales, and as a result, they were shorted by specialized institutions. Now they need something to stabilize their stock price. Boss, what are your thoughts?”

“It doesn’t matter, just ignore it. Anything else?”

“According to some inside information, we’ve been targeted. Several large game manufacturers claim our game cabin data was stolen from them, and they are seeking compensation. Essentially, they just want our startup data for their own game cabins.”

“Ignore them, they can’t stir up any trouble.”

After a moment of thought, Xu Qingling said, “But I’m still a bit worried, they might copy us.”

Overseas, plagiarism is not uncommon.

If a game like ‘Vampire Survivor’ becomes popular, a slew of similar competitors can spring up overnight.

Bigger companies have more programmers, better channels, and sometimes even add more updates and play modes than the original, pushing the original company.

Most players don’t care who the original creator is or who copied whom; they only care about which game is more fun.

After all, players have limited time and resources. Under those constraints, they will only choose the games with the best value for money.

Fang Cheng remained indifferent.

“Let them target us, I’m already an enemy to the entire world; one more or one less doesn’t matter.”

Fang Cheng’s relaxed attitude eased the minds of the studio’s staff, giving them a boost in confidence.

Having dealt with the matters at hand, Fang Cheng handed over a compressed USB drive that had been prepared earlier to Huang Ping.

Looking at the USB drive, Huang Ping’s heart started to leap with joy.

This is what I’ve been waiting for!

Even though Fang Cheng’s disappearances could be annoying, whenever he returned, he brought back a great new game framework. As a game planner and enthusiast, what could be more exciting than being able to play a good game ahead of everyone else?

Xiao Douzi immediately took leave, rented a room in the hotel next door for a few hours, took a bath, and then came back devoutly to start copying the game.

Watching Xiao Douzi grow increasingly ritualistic, Fang Cheng felt that his employees were getting weirder.

The early gameplay of the game was ready, and the main content was completed. The game’s completion level was already very high, and it could be sold as is for 128 a set and would sell like hotcakes.

So, the pressure was on Huang Ping and the others. They had to push their potential to the limit and perfect every detail of the game.

The game was still compatible with both platforms, but after playing the beginning, Huang Ping felt his boss was pretty wicked.

Because the theme of this game was cooking.

The game’s main storyline had already been planned out, which was to open a small store, learn to cook, and manage the restaurant operations simultaneously—it was a type of simulation management game.

Opening a restaurant isn’t a huge market category and has a low ceiling, usually incorporated as a respite within larger games.

However, with the addition of virtual reality, this gameplay could be reinvigorated, allowing players to enjoy the happiness of cooking and running a restaurant.

And the best platform for this game would be the gaming pod, which would undoubtedly stimulate another wave of sales and further the development of virtual reality.

Creating a game while simultaneously laying the groundwork with the gaming pod’s rhythm, the boss truly had foresight and was a role model for all of us.

While Huang Ping was brainstorming and drafting plans, Fang Cheng watched him, squinting his eyes.

He always felt the other party had misunderstood something.

But this probably wouldn’t lead to a backstab… right?

Because the gameplay was straightforward, and the main storyline was clear enough, all players needed to do was to run their shop and gain recognition as a Food God on the culinary competition show.

With various mini-games and random events added in between, players were bound to get so caught up in the fun that they wouldn’t want to return to the real world.

Moreover, the selling point of the game was that every dish had its unique flavor, and the recipes could actually be recreated in reality, which would certainly satisfy players’ palates to the fullest.

Once the game’s promotional video was released, players were left wailing in despair.

In the promotional video, there were dishes like succulent Dongpo pork elbows, luxurious Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, juicy Peking duck, and authentic crab yolk tofu…

Original flavored Bingfen, a pot full of mushroom soup, not to mention the exotic ingredients that are impossible to find in reality—just the sight of them would make your mouth water.

The game’s filters did a great job of restoring the colors of the food, and just by watching the video, you could imagine the sensation of crunchy, tender roasted pork belly melting in your mouth, so delicious it felt like your soul might escape.

The five-minute video was a veritable exhibition of delicacies, showcasing exquisite dishes from all over the world, which further infuriated North American players.

[We want to eat authentic Kung Pao Chicken!]

[General Tso’s Chicken!]

[Douzhi, Jiaoquan, Luzhuhuoshao!]

[Uh, I know you’re a Huaxia expert, but I still feel your tastes are a bit weird.]

As a result, Landick faced a new wave of internet meltdown, which caused Druid Entertainment’s stock prices to drop once again.

Seeing this video, other companies asserted that their countries also had great cuisines, and they could also create similar games based on the gaming pods.

A mini-craze for culinary games stirred up, as many game developers realized this seemed to be a blue ocean.

Virtual games could restore the sense of taste, and culinary games didn’t need to create open worlds or invest too much in art resources—as long as the food was done well, that was all that mattered.

Furthermore, the large companies also had their advantages, as plenty of delicious dishes appeared in their IPs.

Who wouldn’t want to taste roasted bog crabs, radioactive deer stew, or deathclaw steak, even if it killed you, since it was all in the game anyway.

Food that you could only see but not eat before could now be replicated through virtual reality, and as long as the taste was right, players would eat happily, and game companies would be delighted counting their money.

Why didn’t we think of this sooner?

A new round of game development began, and the big studios started their own process of imitation (or plagiarism), with many attempting to replicate Fang Cheng Studio’s video to the pixel level, striving to create their own respective games quickly.

A contest of arms among the game developers commenced, with each one exerting their greatest effort, and what they were about to offer the players was a gastronomic feast of games.

In eager anticipation, a few games were launched ahead of others, but nobody considered them a threat.

Because those were British cuisine games.