Chapter 218: Slow Burn (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Pass)

As Minecraft launched, countless players immediately entered the game to start playing.

But soon, numerous posts appeared online, expressing opinions about Minecraft.

First was the pixel art. Many players who had previously doubted Minecraft's pixel style completely changed their minds after actually entering the game.

Although it was pixel-based, the materials weren't harsh to look at. Combined with lighting and shadows, the graphics of Minecraft weren't top-tier, but definitely above average.

The only topic that sparked widespread discussion among players was building houses.

Many players were experiencing this type of game for the first time.

In fact, many had never even played with building block toys.

Building blocks were actually quite a luxurious toy.

You used to think only children played with Lego, but later realized it was actually wealthy people who did.

Even sets with fewer blocks started at hundreds of Yuan, while more complex sets with more pieces could cost thousands.

Because of this, the 'building block' gameplay of Minecraft intrigued many.

Of course, curiosity aside, at this stage, players who could actually create beautiful structures were extremely rare.

For most players, the houses they built were nothing more than matchbox houses or dark rooms.

And survival mode players were even more direct.

At first, they enthusiastically collected materials and built houses.

But when they finally saw the result...

What the hell is this?! Is this ugly thing really something I built?!

Quick, tear it down—it's too embarrassing!

Thus, these players embarked on an unconventional Minecraft survival journey.

Why build a house?

Just find a large mountain, dig a cave into it, place a bed, crafting table, storage chest, and stick in a torch.

At night, if you're afraid monsters might enter, just seal the entrance with materials from your inventory!

At this stage, players officially became cavemen, entering the primitive age.

………………

After Minecraft launched, many game designers closely followed its developments.

But overall, the game's performance could only be described as lukewarm.

Although players praised Minecraft, they didn't seem particularly impressed.

Even in terms of ratings, Minecraft currently held a score of 9.0.

This left many industry designers puzzled.

"Chen Xu's Minecraft doesn't feel that impressive at all!"

"What do you expect from a pixel art game?"

"I feel something's off. It can't just be simple block-building, right? Otherwise, why is Chen Xu promoting it way more than Don't Starve? He's treating it like a blockbuster!"

"Now that you mention it, that's true."

"Could Minecraft have deeper content?"

"Don't be ridiculous. What depth can a pixel block game possibly have?"

As Minecraft's Early Access trial rolled out, industry designers were baffled.

Especially as the Early Access period progressed.

Players did discover more gameplay elements—villages in the game, livestock and other creatures that could be tamed...

And some skilled players finally built not matchbox houses, but beautiful small duplex villas.

But overall, player evaluations of Minecraft remained merely "acceptable" or "good."

The game's popularity was lukewarm. Only due to the buzz from Early Access did it manage a 50-50 split with TengHua's Voyage.

It even seemed less popular than the previous Don't Starve, leaving many industry designers confused.

Meng Zuo, who had previously discussed with Chen Xu and decided to delay Wasteland, stared at Minecraft's gameplay footage in his office, lost in thought.

Although it had only been five days of Early Access, could this game really pull off any surprises later?

After all, even though it was Early Access, players had already experienced much of the content.

Five days was enough for some games—even 3A blockbusters—to clear the story via a story-driven playthrough.

Yet Minecraft remained lukewarm.

And Meng Zuo didn't think Chen Xu had lied to him before.

As a game designer with numerous acclaimed titles, he couldn't believe Chen Xu would misjudge a game's quality.

So what unique features did this game really have?

Compared to these designers without a stake in the outcome, Zhu Yi, the lead designer of Voyage at TengHua, let out a sigh of relief upon seeing Minecraft's online热度.

Lately, he'd had an ominous feeling.

After all, the sandbox genre was pioneered by Chen Xu.

But judging from the current situation, Minecraft seemed like just another decent title.

He'd tried it himself—it felt strange. If you asked if it was unplayable, no, it was actually okay. But if you asked if it was fun, he couldn't pinpoint why.

It completely lacked explosive highlights or an attraction anchor. From a content standpoint, Zhu Yi didn't think it could threaten Voyage's performance.

Thinking this, Zhu Yi couldn't help but break into a smile.

Especially since NetDragon's Wasteland had unexpectedly withdrawn. Although officially it was delayed for further polishing, everyone in the gaming industry knew the truth.

With Minecraft lukewarm and Wasteland retreating at the last moment, Zhu Yi sensed an upcoming sales boom.

………………

All kinds of discussions didn't affect Chen Xu much. He remained calm, continuing to build structures.

But others at Nebula Games were slightly impacted.

"Mr. Chen, the sales don't seem very optimistic right now!" Qin Yi said.

"Yeah, pre-order sales are only 810,000," Ruan Ningxue added, a bit nervous.

Although it was Early Access pre-order, five days had already passed, and they'd conducted extensive promotion.

810,000 pre-orders wasn't particularly impressive.

"No need to panic—it's all under control. Haven't you all genuinely experienced Minecraft's charm too? There's still a major promotion wave coming," Chen Xu said, approaching them and glancing at the relevant backend data with a smile.

From the current data, although Minecraft's热度 appeared lukewarm, backend data never lied.

Player time in-game hadn't decreased—on the contrary, it had increased. This showed that the game's热度 was gradually rising.

This was normal. Minecraft was a slow-burning game.

Unlike other games, it didn't deliver immediate shock value.

But the longer you played, and the more you discovered, the greater the sense of achievement and enjoyment became.

And promotion-wise, this was just the beginning!

After all, when sandbox games first launched, players were still in the exploration phase. The game's true fun hadn't been uncovered yet.

In fact, players hadn't even felt Minecraft's real charm.

And that—Chen Xu planned to reveal in the second phase of promotion.

Once players had genuinely experienced Minecraft's gameplay and then felt its true attraction, the sense of shock would be entirely different. What they'd seen so far was just the tip of the iceberg.

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