To ascend, I had no choice but to create games

Domestic games had become somewhat disconnected from the mainstream gaming market due to certain reasons in the past.

The lack of game consoles as a medium meant that domestic players had little general recognition for premium, single-player games, which reduced the original gameplay quality. Instead, comparisons, strong competition, and loot boxes became the means to generate profit, eventually leading to the flourishing of web games and mobile games.

Paying for traffic, server rolling, game shills… For a time, the gaming industry played by the rules of capital, but in recent years, it had evolved and unleashed other possibilities.

Recently, the big sales of several games by Fang Cheng Studio proved that creating premium, single-player games could be profitable too.

It was hard to say whether this open policy had anything to do with Fang Cheng Studio.

However, the relaxation of restrictions was an undeniable fact.

Among various opinions, some argued that relaxing regulations would lead to foreign games strongly impacting domestic ones, with numerous superior games flooding in. The shallow defensive moats of domestic games wouldn’t even cover the toes, and they could be destroyed in the blink of an eye.

Others claimed this was essentially an event of WTO accession, which would only make domestic games more prosperous and even allow for cultural export to every corner of the world.

Regardless of the opinions, things had already happened, and major manufacturers could only try to adapt to the new environment to avoid being crushed by the rising waves.

As a large gaming company, Tianyi had been aware of this matter before the Chinese New Year.

They began to actively lay out plans, preparing to use the Rong City branch as a pilot.

According to their strategy, they would import a batch of foreign games for domestic distribution and operation, and the Rong City branch would establish a separate project team dedicated to localizing these games.

After gaining sufficient experience, this workgroup would be split and reorganized, committed to the global release of games and various localization studies.

Due to several failures, the Tianyi Rong City branch no longer had any quotas for game project proposals.

Moreover, although they were the publishers, according to the senior management, they needed to follow the directives from the other side, and even when submitting their own suggestions for modifications, it was expected to be minimal.

It was truly like giving money and playing the role of a subsidiary.

Although he was somewhat displeased with the headquarters’ arrangement, the branch president, Zhang Ping, knew there was no alternative.

For game studios, making good games was the highest principle.

For gaming companies, making money was the highest principle.

All the games introduced by the headquarters were profitable and highly popular. Thus, for the headquarters, the most important task was to do well in the localization of these games.

Therefore, although greatly dissatisfied with the headquarters’ plans, Zhang Ping still had tidied up a spacious office early on and sent people to Shuangliu Airport to pick up and welcome the newcomers.

This time, the collaborating partner was a second-tier gaming company from Gaul, called Cat and Mouse Entertainment.

The founder was a devoted fan of “Tom and Jerry,” which led him to name his company after it.

The golden era of Cat and Mouse Entertainment was ten years ago, but due to money-squandering during its peak, the company’s financial chain broke. Many sought-after game IPs were painfully sold off, leading to a decline to mere licensing of old games and living off the past.

There hadn’t been many hits in recent years, but several games still had first-class costs. Properly localized, making a profit should be no problem.

The delegation from Cat and Mouse Entertainment comprised no fewer than eleven people.

They didn’t look like Gauls; their serious, no-nonsense expressions seemed more characteristic of people from Prussia.

Upon arriving at Tianyi, ignoring jet lag, they entered the conference room, booted up their game, and began an incessant explanation.

They spoke in authentic French, and very quickly at that, which made the invited French translator struggle to keep up with their pace. They often had to ask the speakers to pause before explaining their meaning.

During these moments, the Gauls would look indifferently at Zhang Ping, silently exerting pressure.

Zhang Ping knew this was likely their way of putting pressure on his side.

But they were supposed to be partners in cooperation, and the Gauls’ use of such petty tactics to torture them irritated Zhang Ping considerably.

However, if the games they brought were good, he was willing to accept it.

But the issue was that what they brought was not something new, but an old game from a few years back, “Magic Dynasty”.

A few years ago, when battle royale games became explosively popular, “Magic Dynasty”, as a battle royale-like game, had its moment of fame, and still had a following to this day.

Mages, knights, clerics, druids… these familiar fantasy archetypes were all present in the game, along with distinctive classes like Mercury Men and Prisoners.

This game indeed was quite good, but on balance, Zhang Ping would rather they had brought something like “Murderer” or “Invasion Action”, newer hits with potential that wouldn’t compete with Fang Cheng Studio’s offerings.

Interrupting the ongoing presentation, Zhang Ping spoke up, “I’ve already seen your introduction, so I’ll cut to the chase. I admit ‘Magic Dynasty’ is a classic battle royale game, and I would have been very happy to operate and release it if this was a year ago, but the issue is, recently, we’ve already got some excellent battle royale games domestically, and their online player count just broke a million.”