Chapter 73: Development Direction (Special thanks to veteran player 'Weixia Guozi' for becoming Alliance Master)

Chapter 73: Development Direction (Special thanks to veteran player 'Weixia Guozi' for becoming Alliance Master)

With Chen Xu's post on the official Weibo account going live,

it sparked endless grumbling from countless players and was reposted across various gaming communities.

Under Chen Xu's official Weibo post, an army of players gathered.

The sentiment expressed by these players was essentially the same: 'Yeah, right!'

Communication, tolerance, patience?

It sounded reasonable, but somehow felt like they were being misled.

Among the players, some believed Chen Xu's explanation, while others didn't.

But one thing remained unchanged: Overcooked, a game that looked incredibly cute and heartwarming,

quickly flooded major live streaming platforms, video websites, and related gaming communities after Valentine's Day.

Suddenly, everyone was talking about this unique cooperative game.

Sales figures for Overcooked also steadily climbed.

One week after launch, sales officially surpassed 450,000 copies.

Compared to previous titles such as Undertale and To the Moon, or even Outlast—a game that the gaming industry wasn't particularly optimistic about—

Overcooked's 450,000 sales didn't seem as high as imagined.

However, it's worth noting that of these 450,000 sales, 340,000 came from the Nebula Games Platform.

This meant they had given away 340,000 copies of the game.

Even more importantly, unlike Outlast and To the Moon, Overcooked had, as previously planned,

brought a significant number of new users to Nebula Games.

Although, to be honest, these users currently had little stickiness,

they were still users.

At the very least, the Nebula Games Platform was now installed on their computers, and they had registered a Nebula Games Pass.

This was something Outlast had completely failed to achieve.

Moreover, in terms of playtime, Overcooked significantly outperformed Outlast.

After all, very few players actually had the courage to play through Outlast.

Most players who bought Outlast essentially considered watching a playthrough the same as playing it themselves.

But Overcooked was different.

Playing it with close friends created an entirely different kind of enjoyment.

With the success of Overcooked, both Nebula Games and Chen Xu entered the spotlight for many people.

Previously, whether it was Undertale sparking a meta-game trend in the independent gaming community, or Chen Xu winning first prize in the Sci-Fi Gaming Competition with To the Moon,

these achievements, while impressive, weren't seen as particularly significant by most companies in the gaming industry.

But the consecutive popularity of Outlast and Overcooked created a completely different level of buzz.

………………

The office of Nebula Games.

Chen Xu, leaning back on the sofa, grinned as he looked at his points.

Undeniably, Overcooked had performed quite well.

The rate at which points accumulated was even comparable to Outlast when he'd used items.

In just one week, he'd already saved up enough for 20 consecutive pulls.

Looking at the current points displayed on the UI interface, he decided after some thought not to pull yet.

The previous dozens of consecutive pulls had scared him straight—

nothing but common items and rare items.

Better to save up. With a larger pool, something valuable would eventually drop.

As for his next new work, he hadn't quite decided what kind of game to develop yet.

His current abilities were sufficient for now. He could wait until he had a real need before doing any pulls. After all, points wouldn't grow wings and fly away.

Additionally, with the New Year bringing new energy, the company had already expanded once during National Day last year.

But personnel were still slightly insufficient.

Next, they needed staff dedicated to game operation. Unlike Undertale, To the Moon, and Outlast, Overcooked was an online multiplayer game, and future updates would include the Workshop (modding platform) and new versions.

Someone needed to handle game operations, and the platform itself required operational staff.

Moreover, in the future, he would definitely develop true multiplayer games, which would require an even more robust operations team.

After all, he needed to cultivate an operations team that embodied Nebula Games' philosophy.

For any game, operation was absolutely critical—especially for multiplayer games, where operation could sometimes even outweigh the game's quality.

Secondly, the development team also needed further expansion.

Music, animations, and art—the office had previously mentioned they were feeling the strain. Recruitment was necessary.

Approximately 15 more people were needed.

The office space also needed expansion; it was already getting cramped.

Fortunately, an entire floor above their current office in the building seemed vacant. He'd contact the landlord later to arrange a sublease.

After roughly finalizing these plans, Chen Xu called over the office staff and instructed them to begin recruitment.

Filling all the positions quickly wasn't realistic, but Chen Xu wasn't in a rush.

A couple of months would be fine.

However, during this period, aside from handling recruitment, Chen Xu received an unexpected call—the number belonged to Meng Zuo from NetDragon, someone he'd met briefly before.

But clearly, the other party wasn't calling just to socialize.

Instead, Meng Zuo was representing NetDragon in expressing interest in acquiring Nebula Games.

After all, the success of several consecutive projects—though none were Major Productions—had all been major hits.

Especially recent titles like Outlast and Overcooked, which had generated considerable popularity.

As one of the giants in the gaming industry, NetDragon naturally had taken notice of Nebula Games.

And the very next day after NetDragon expressed their acquisition interest, TengHua somehow obtained his contact information and also requested a discussion.

In the current gaming industry, these two companies were direct competitors.

Simply put, whenever TengHua planned to do something, NetDragon would try to interfere.

The reverse was equally true.

Yet Chen Xu, the target of both companies' pursuit, wasn't thinking too deeply about it.

Selling? Definitely not.

But this was a perfect opportunity to see how both companies truly viewed Nebula Games.

"But regardless, the pace of development needs to accelerate!"

Chen Xu hung up the phone, chin resting on his hand, lost in thought.

In terms of big money, Nebula Games currently didn't have a huge amount.

But with steady, methodical growth like this, funds weren't an issue.

So far, cumulative sales of multiple games—Mirror (Game), Undertale, To the Moon, Outlast, and Overcooked—had already surpassed ten million.

And sales were still steadily increasing.

Among these games, some had high development costs, others low.

But overall, every single one was profitable.

After accounting for the company's regular expenses—employee salaries, bonuses, rent, etc.—

Nebula Games' corporate account held nearly 200 million yuan in liquid assets.

The average development cost for large-scale games on the VR platform ranged from roughly 50 to 150 million USD.

Of course, that was the average. Top-tier blockbusters could go even higher.

For AAA-tier games on the PC platform, development costs generally ranged from 10 to 40 million USD.

In theory, funding such projects was possible, but for Chen Xu, it still carried some risk.

After all, that was just the development cost.

Marketing and promotion weren't included.

Surely he couldn't develop a blockbuster and then skip promotion entirely?

Moreover, the current team size was indeed stretched thin, making expansion essential.

And even if he were to develop a AAA-tier game next—especially one for the PC platform—

it would inevitably need to boost visibility for his own platform.

What was the fastest and most effective way to bring the Nebula Games Platform into the mainstream players' awareness and attract users?

The best method, undoubtedly, was exclusive games.

A conventional strategy, but a highly effective one.

But if he pursued exclusivity, sales would inevitably be impacted.

Originally, Chen Xu's plan had been to continue focusing on mid-to-small-scale projects, progressing steadily.

Gradually stabilizing the Nebula Games Platform while expanding its game library.

Now, however, he needed to carefully reconsider his future development direction.

<>