novelAlta Chapter 59
Chapter 59
Chapter 59
The popularity of ‘Outlast’ continued to rise on live streaming platforms, video sharing platforms, and major gaming communities.
While video game journalists and media sites began publishing their reviews and scores for the game.
On the critics’ side, ‘Outlast’ received a positive average rating of 8.5 out of 10. It also received a high average user score of 9.1 out of 10.
Amongst the 3 games developed by Nebula Games so far, it had the lowest scores.
(For obvious reasons, ‘Mirror’ is not included)
However, in terms of sheer popularity, ‘Outlast’ stood head and shoulders above them.
‘Undertale’ opened up the concept of metagames and could be considered a pioneering title in the genre.
So its popularity was understandable.
‘To the Moon’ gained significant attention by piggybacking off the Sci-Fi game competition.
And both of them also received signal boosts when Chen Xu got heated against a few well-known figures in the gaming world.
‘Outlast’, in contrast, received very little aid from external factors, but generated much more discussion among the community. It was also the fastest to go viral among the 3 titles.
(Again, ‘Mirror’ is excluded because gentlemen games is a strange and mysterious genre)
But what truly sparks discussion among Chen Xu’s peers is the sales figures.
Only Chen Xu has the actual sales numbers, but numerous 3rd party organizations were providing their estimations.
According to them, ‘Outlast’ is expected to have sold around 250k copies within the week of launch.
In terms of horror games, this was a triumph.
Before ‘Outlast’, the sales record of horror games was held by an old IP, sitting at 120k copies sold in the first week. It was priced at 149 yuan and had an established fan-base to lean upon for nostalgia driven support.
But in terms of the wider gaming landscape, many found this sales performance surprisingly underwhelming. Especially considering its current popularity.
This led to many heated discussions among industry insiders.
[ Chen Xu really missed an opportunity this time. How can the sales be so low when it’s going so viral? ]
[ Mmm, compared to ‘Undertale’ and ‘To the Moon’, it’s not particularly close. ]
[ I guess that’s just the curse of horror games, it’s such a niche market. ]
[ I just don’t get why he would choose this genre, imagine what else they could have spent their time and effort on. ]
[ Horror games are such a tough sell. If he had just stuck to making fantasy and sci-fi stuff, he would have been on a hot streak. ]@@@@
[ Maybe he wanted to challenge himself. Traditional RPGs are too competitive right now, so he wanted to stand out? ]
He then lit up a few auspicious candles he bought online to add to the atmosphere.
After all, successful pulling requires ceremony.
The familiar golden lights flickered before him as he used all his pulls in one go.
Terrible luck as usual. He would ask Yang Xin to get him a refund on those fake candles later.
50 pulls and not a single special item like the [Fear Converter]. Tsk tsk.
But on the bright side, he got plenty of [Memory Capsules]. Those were always useful.
As for skill books, arguably the most important aspect of the gacha, he got 2 rare pulls. One for [Level Design], and another for [Game Balance].
Maybe washing his hands before pulling was the issue.
A final tally of his pulls:
[Concept Art]: 17 books
[Level Design]: 11 books
[Game Balance]: 9 books
[System Balance]: 9 books
[Narrative Design]: 3 books
[Music & Sound Design]: 3 books
[Cinematography]: 4 books
The rest were all Memory Capsules.
Chen Xu let the capsules sit in his inventory for later use. Ultimately, they were the key to bringing his favorite and most memorable games to life in this new world.
As for the skill books, he used them all immediately.
“Time to think of a new direction...” Chen Xu mused as he leaned back in his chair, letting the mysteries of the skill books seep into his mind and body.
Overall, ‘Outlast’ was undoubtedly a success, making his company a hefty return on investment.
But it was still peanuts in the grand scheme, and after eliminating costs and other fees, he was left with an available capital that wasn’t massive, but enough to be flexible and effective.
The real concern was the future of Nebula Games. Chen Xu would need to flesh out the strategy of the company, direct the development of new projects, figure out the time management, and do something about his online gaming platform.
Chen Xu absentmindedly scrolled through his newsfeeds while pondering his next move...
Truly, he was a busy man.
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