Chapter 354: Preparations for a New Project (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

After the new 'Warzone' mode launched, its popularity steadily climbed.

Before this, many players didn't have much expectation for this new mode.

But after actually trying it out, they instantly felt the fun in it.

It even directly boosted the sales of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

Why?

Because the 'Warzone' mode is free.

And there were still quite a few players who hadn't purchased Call of Duty: Modern Warfare itself.

There were actually quite a number of players in this category.

Commonly known as the Wait-and-See Faction.

Of course, for the Wait-and-See Faction, it wasn't entirely about lacking money.

For them, it was more like an attitude towards gaming.

Or perhaps they were the type who didn't have much time to play games, but had already bought many, couldn't play them all, so they simply played the ones they owned little by little, and finally waited for sales to buy those they were interested in.

Then, this cycle repeated, making them a so-called Wait-and-See Faction.

But now it was different; the 'Warzone' gameplay mode was free.

Coupled with its current popularity, many of the so-called Wait-and-See Faction also chose to download and try it out.

And this experience instantly caused trouble.

All those previously satisfying FPS games were clearly overshadowed by Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

And it wasn't just that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare had superior graphics on the new generation Cosmic VR Platform.

Even on regular VR platforms, the graphics were equally excellent.

Although it was a multiplayer online mode, why did it start with all players spawning at one point, followed by a 60-second preparation time?

Naturally, it was to leverage the capabilities of the VR gaming pod for real-time loading of the spawn point's external map interface.

So, many players immediately felt its unique visual impact upon entering the game.

Combined with various modern vehicles and weapons like Claymore mines, RPGs, Cluster Bombs, Precision Airstrikes, and UAVs, it couldn't help but make many players who hadn't played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare before feel an itch in their hearts.

Now that 'Warzone' was already so fun, the story mode seemed to have even more awesome large-scale scenes.

Just how fun must this game be?

Just imagining it, seeing the nuclear bomb explosion, the fall of the White House, and the collapse of the Eiffel Tower with one's mind's eye – how incredibly shocking must that be!

Many players who had played 'Warzone', looking at the game before them, finally couldn't resist and pulled out their wallets to purchase Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

This also left many players filled with emotion.

Those wicked little hands reaching for their wallets always came so unexpectedly!

……………………

As for 'Storm Action', which launched after 'Modern Warfare', it was purely a huge tragedy.

Whether domestically or overseas, the popularity of 'Storm Action' was completely overshadowed by Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

Atrai was completely bewildered by this.

Why did they delay the release before?

Wasn't it because Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was too strong?

Why did they launch now?

Wasn't it because previous investigations suggested this new mode wouldn't have much impact?

Why was the popularity so high?

And wasn't the decision made because players' reviews of this new mode weren't high?

What happened to "not interested"?

Damn it, after launch, the most enthusiastic players and the loudest cheerleaders were you guys.

Can there be any trust left between players and game companies?

Atrai was practically on the verge of collapse.

As for sales, it wasn't too bad.

After all, it launched on the Zeus Platform, and its inherent quality wasn't terrible.

But this was completely different from what was expected.

It's important to know that Atrai's investment in 'Storm Action' was truly substantial.

As a well-known IP, buying the IP alone was a huge sum, followed by production costs. As a game for the new generation Zeus Platform, 'Storm Action's development could be said to be even higher than current top-tier AAA-tier games.

Next was promotion; in the early stages, 'Storm Action' was constantly competing with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and this competition involved real money.

Later, they wanted to avoid the spotlight and escape the hype to cut their losses in time.

But now?

It seemed there was no difference between now and then; avoiding it for a month was like avoiding nothing at all.

As for Howard Warsaw, although the project failed, he had to take the blame whether he wanted to or not. After all, first, the 'Storm Action' IP itself had no issues; Atrai certainly had no issues on their end, and even if there were issues, they were still considered "no issues."

So, who was ultimately responsible?

It had to be him, the designer!

However, the only thing that brought Howard Warsaw a little comfort was that this time, with 'Storm Action's launch, someone in the Marketing Department would have to take a big share of the blame, just like him, and their share would be even larger.

After all, who told you to conclude that 'Warzone' was "not worth worrying about"? That blame might not have been yours originally, but now it's definitely yours.

……………………

As for Chen Xu, he had long stopped caring about the situation with 'Storm Action'.

After all, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare had already sold exceptionally well.

Whether 'Storm Action' lived or died had absolutely nothing to do with him.

The launch of 'Warzone' was merely to provide players with an updated mode.

And incidentally, to add another profit point. After all, compared to regular Quick Play, the Battle Royale mode, which was slightly slower-paced and more entertaining, was actually quite easy to monetize.

The acquisitions of several game studios had basically concluded.

The industry also paid some attention, but most of the focus was currently drawn to 'Warzone'.

After all, this brand-new mode had astonished the gaming industry, especially designers in the FPS field.

They were all studying and analyzing whether this new mode could be applied to traditional FPS games.

Whether the popularity of 'Warzone' mode was a victory for this gameplay style, or a victory for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare's modern warfare setting combined with large-map gameplay, all of this required analysis.

Of course, these were the more rational game designers. There were also some game developers who didn't care as much.

'Warzone', right?

Forget everything else, large-scale maps, squad or solo elimination until the last one standing – just make it first to ride the wave of popularity.

Chen Xu couldn't be bothered to pay attention to these game developers.

Blindly making Battle Royale games without a clear positioning would only lead to a dead end.

In his previous life, four years after Battle Royale was born, EA's Battlefield, Ubisoft's new IP Hyper Scape, and even Valve's Counter-Strike all tried to launch Battle Royale modes, but ultimately all failed.

Chen Xu didn't pay any mind to this.

His current focus was mainly on the preparations for the next new project.

Inside Nebula Games' project team.

The entire first floor was filled with Cosmic VR development machines.

Chen Xu, Qin Yi, Ruan Ningxue, and other core development team members of Nebula Games.

Were looking at a demo on the large screen in front of them.

This was a simple DEMO used for demonstration.

A train on the tracks moved forward, constantly emitting thick smoke, with masked bandits jumping onto the train from behind.

Horses galloped across the wilderness, and streetcars appeared in the already modernized city.

(End of Chapter) <>