On live streaming platforms, video platforms, and across major player communities, the popularity of Outlast continues to soar.
Even various media websites have gradually released their review scores for Outlast.
In terms of media reviews, the scores were uniformly around 8.5. Player reviews, on the other hand, averaged approximately 9.1.
This was actually the lowest score among the three games Nebula Games had developed so far.
Of course, Mirror (Game) wasn't included in this comparison.
However, in terms of popularity, Outlast was entirely different from the other two games.
Undertale had the merit of pioneering the meta-game genre and could barely be considered a trailblazer, so its high popularity was understandable.
To the Moon had attracted massive attention due to the Sci-Fi Game Design Competition.
Moreover, the earlier two games had also drawn significant online attention because of Chen Xu's public debates on the internet.
In contrast, if we set aside these factors, Outlast actually generated even more discussion topics, and it was also the fastest-spreading game among all of them.
Still, Mirror (Game) remained excludedâafter all, the combat prowess of gentlemen was forever unknown.
But compared to the popularity of Outlast, its sales figures sparked heated discussions among many industry designers.
Only Chen Xu knew the true sales numbers of Outlast, but third-party institutions had also conducted their own statistics.
According to data released by these third-party institutions, Outlast, which had been launched for a week, had sold approximately 250,000 copies.
Judging purely by sales volume, this number was not low at all.
Before Outlast, the horror game with the highest weekly sales was an old IP, which had sold 120,000 copies weekly.
Of course, that game was priced as high as 149 Yuan.
It also had support from a loyal fanbase and nostalgic sentiment.
But the key point was that Outlast had such immense popularity, making it the most sensational horror game in recent years.
Yet it only achieved these sales figures.
This naturally caused industry designers to discuss animatedly.
'Chen Xu really made a miscalculation this time! Outlast has such high popularity, yet the sales are so low.'
'Yeah, it can't compare to Undertale or To the Moon back then.'
'No choiceâ the horror game market is simply too small.'
'I really can't understand why Chen Xu would choose to make Outlast.'
'Exactly, why would Chen Xu choose to enter the horror game genre?'
'Right. Making horror games is really thankless work. I thought Chen Xu would continue making games like To the Moon and Undertale.'
'Maybe he wanted to challenge high-development-cost games, but since the traditional RPG field is too competitive, he had no choice but to go for the horror genre?'
In a game industry forum, a group of designers posted threads discussing Chen Xu and Outlast.
Just as their discussion was reaching its peak, a single message instantly left them speechless.
'Weekly sales of 250,000 units, and priced at 65 YuanâOutlast has already completely recouped its development costs! And given the current popularity and player feedback, reaching a million sales shouldn't be difficult, right? In that case, Nebula Games' gross revenue from this game might surpass 100 million Yuan!'
Instantly, the designers discussing the topic fell silent.
Who was this person?
Didn't they have any situational awareness?
As game designers, didn't they know Outlast was already a highly successful horror game?
They just wanted to boast a little, to express that Chen Xu and Nebula Games weren't all that impressive.
Who was this guy? So lacking in situational awareness?
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Inside Nebula Games' office, Chen Xu leaned back on the sofa, put down his phone, and looked at the UI interface in front of him with a regretful expression.
The effect of the special item he had previously obtained had been confirmed: the 6 million points labeled on it referred to the converted number, not the pre-conversion value.
Of course, even so, 6 million pointsâequivalent to fifty consecutive pullsâwas still a substantial gain.
Unfortunately, once the point conversion from the card reached its ceiling, the accumulation speed immediately slowed down.
It was even a bit worse than To the Moon.
After providing the initial 6 million points, he hadn't even saved up enough for a single ten-pull since, and that was with continued contributions from To the Moon and Undertale.
This was exactly why Chen Xu had decided to go for a sixty-pull.
Underperforming!
Because of this, Chen Xu also took some time to reflect and summarize.
Finally, he reached a conclusion.
He had harvested the leeks too aggressively.
Fear emotions provided points very powerfully.
But the key was, players had to dare to play the game.
Now, what was happening?
A large number of players who bought the game had requested refunds, and many others had entered the game only to wander around the entrance of the asylum before immediately quitting.
How could such players generate fear?
In the end, Outlast was simply too scary.
'Miscalculation!' Chen Xu couldn't help but sigh.
Originally, he had hoped that with Outlast and the ăFear Converteră, he wouldn't necessarily get rich quickly in one go, but at least achieve sudden wealth.
But judging by the current trend, results were proving difficult to yield.
Never mind, he might as well just spend all these points now.
Getting up from the chair, Chen Xu first went to the restroom, then returned.
First, he drew the curtains shut, then turned off the computer display.
Gacha pulls required a certain sense of ceremony.
As the points were consumed, golden light shimmered before Chen Xu's eyes.
After a while, when all the points were exhausted, Chen Xu fell into silence.
Terrible luck!
Fifty consecutive pulls, and none of the special items like the ăFear Converteră appeared. Instead, he got quite a few Memory Capsules.
As for skill books, he only obtained two Rare Skill Booksâone for Level Design and one for Numerical Design.
He had even washed his hands before going to the restroom!
Final loot: Art Concept Art: 17 books, Level Design: 11 books, System and Numerical Planning: 9 books, Story Interaction: 3 books, Music and Sound Effects: 3 books, Camera Work: 4 books.
The rest were all Memory Capsules.
Chen Xu temporarily stored the Memory Capsules in his item inventory.
He'd keep them for later use when developing a new game.
After all, he had used quite a few of these before, and he had to admitâthe effect was genuinely good.
As for the remaining skill books, he decided to use them all up immediately.
After all, keeping them wouldn't make them bear offspring and earn interest. Otherwise, he might have considered saving them.
'But next, I really need to consider a new direction.'
Leaning back in his chair, Chen Xu began to ponder.
In terms of money, Outlast had also brought in substantial profits.
Though the capital currently available wasn't huge, it was sufficient.
The real issue was the company's future planning, time management, and the operation of new projects and platforms.
Scrolling through recent news from the gaming industry on his phone, Chen Xu contemplated his next steps.
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