Chapter 712: What Is Nebula Games Up To!? (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

"What's going on? Nebula Games actually made an animation?"

"Wow! I take back what I once said about them being an animation company held back by games—Nebula Games is clearly not held back at all!"

"Wait, they're actually collaborating with WIS? Haven't WIS's animations been top-tier in recent years? Why would they partner with Nebula Games?"

"Ahem, friendly reminder: WIS and Nebula Games aren't even in the same league."

"WIS: We didn't want to either, but Nebula Games just paid way too much!"

Online players and the usual spectators were all surprised.

In reality, their assumptions were correct—although WIS had indeed gained quite a reputation in the animation industry in recent years, they still fell short compared to traditional animation film studios.

Moreover, producing a high-quality animated series required enormous funding. Even with WIS's current scale, investing heavily into such a project could result in devastating consequences if the commercial performance failed—bankruptcy might be an exaggeration, but it would certainly cause Major Damage (idiom).

That's when Nebula Games came in waving stacks of cash. Technically, it was contract manufacturing, but the sheer amount paid was simply irresistible!

While players were still discussing this, the first season of 'Dragon's Blood' quickly launched on major video websites.

Many players who hadn't paid attention to this beforehand were now drawn in and started watching.

After viewing it, numerous players felt it was actually pretty good.

Although the story didn't feature the shocking twists and emotional impact of something like BioShock, it started as a classic dragon-slaying hero and princess adventure tale.

However, with the introduction of the moon goddess Serimoni, Invoker Carl, and the demon Terrorblade, it evolved into a meticulously planned revenge story. Especially Invoker Carl's powerful magic, his towering residence, and the library inside—players familiar with Warcraft couldn't help but associate him with the old charlatan: Medivh.

With the premiere of the first season, many viewers were captivated.

There were two main reasons.

First, compared to the previous life's version of Dragon's Blood, this version, thanks to no budget constraints, expanded the content after receiving Chen Xu's script—originally eight episodes were extended to ten, including backstory such as the disaster of Luna Plains, making the overall production significantly more refined.

At the very least, in terms of graphics and visual presentation, it belonged to the top tier available today.

Second, and just as important, this animated series, created to promote DOTA, was available for free viewing—this naturally boosted its rating.

"Feels really solid!"

"Definitely. I'm actually curious about what happens next."

"But honestly, Carl is kind of annoying. Isn't this just a husband taking revenge on his ex-wife?"

"Isn't Serimoni even more detestable? Forcing Carl to worship her along with her daughter, and when her daughter refuses, she just lets her die? When that old hag got beaten up by Terrorblade, I was literally clapping!"

"Wait! Don't you see the key issue here? Why is Nebula Games—or rather, Mr. Chen—making this animation? Surely not just to fulfill some animation dream?"

"+1! Obviously, this is serving a new project, a new game! The background and worldview in the animation must be the same as the game's. And characters like Invoker Carl, Davian, and Mirana are clearly the main characters of this new work!"

………………

As the episodes launched, more and more players focused on the impact brought by 'Dragon's Blood'.

Judging from the game's setting, this was clearly a fantasy blockbuster!

After all, there were gods, demons, and dragons involved.

Could it be an ARPG?

Many players, including game designers in the gaming industry, speculated exactly that.

Such themes were naturally suitable for this genre, and Nebula Games had already proven their capability—The Witcher: Wild Hunt was a prime example of success.

As for MMORPG, no one even considered it. After all, World of Warcraft was still wildly popular—why would Nebula Games recklessly enter the same battlefield and compete against themselves?

However, as more information leaked out, it soon caused a massive uproar among players and the industry.

According to further revelations, this game titled 'DOTA' was actually a PC platform title.

Even more surprising, rumors suggested it was a game derived from an RPG map based on Warcraft.

This immediately left many players bewildered.

"What's going on here? Turning an RPG map into a stand-alone game? Is this just a mini-game or a small project?"

"No way! If it were a small project, would Nebula Games go all out making a full animation just for promotion? This 'DOTA' game is the first one ever to receive such treatment!"

"Looking at the promotional content, it seems to be a multiplayer competitive game, and with a God's-eye view—so it's RTS?"

"Probably not. And apparently, the game only has one map!"

"What exactly is Chen Xu doing?"

Players across various online game forums were in an uproar, all expressing confusion.

Even major game developers closely following the gaming industry, especially companies like Atari and FOW preparing to launch their own blockbusters soon, were equally puzzled.

The fact that Nebula Games wasn't releasing a new project on the VR platform was indeed unexpected, but not shocking.

Although current industry discussions suggested that PC's popularity seemed to be fading under VR's rise, the massive user base still represented one thing—money.

Thus, many best-selling games would still release a VR version while adapting controls and reducing graphical fidelity like resolution, then release a separate PC version for sale.

What truly baffled many, however, was that Nebula Games' new project would adapt a Warcraft RPG map—and they were sparing no expense.

The idea of making Warcraft RPG maps stand-alone wasn't unheard of. Some maps had huge popularity and player counts. But the problem was that most RPG map content lasted only one to two hours, at most five or six.

Perfectly sufficient as a map, but insufficient as a standalone game.

Added to that were potential copyright issues. Even when popular RPG maps were turned into standalone games, they might make some profit, but they were far from becoming hits.

Yet now Chen Xu was pursuing this path, and crucially, it wasn't based on Warcraft's universe. In fact, Nebula Games was actively trying to distance itself from Warcraft.

The worldview, the characters—none of it had any connection to Warcraft. This was truly thought-provoking.

In FOW's Glory Warrior project team, Grayson stared at the different versions of maps on his computer screen, deep in thought.

Grayson felt unlucky. His first major project, 'Lost and Cursed,' had clashed with Nebula Games' DLC 'Blood and Wine' for The Witcher: Wild Hunt. Later, his post-apocalyptic series co-developed with Alex was overshadowed by The Last of Us.

Yet in a way, he was also fortunate.

Although each time he was crushed by these monsters, scheduling quirks had prevented his projects from being completely ruined.

So should he tempt fate this time?

Grayson was torn. Although Nebula Games hadn't revealed anything, as Zeus's top subordinate, FOW could easily obtain information about this 'DOTA' game—including employees poached from Atari and FOW, and the maps they had created.

Judging from these map versions, Grayson admitted the concepts and ideas were somewhat interesting. But would players accept and embrace this gameplay mode?

For any other game developer, Grayson would boldly charge ahead. But with Nebula Games, he just couldn't be sure.

………………

Compared to Grayson's dilemma at FOW, Chen Xu at Nebula Games was in much higher spirits.

The development progress of 'DOTA' was going extremely smoothly.

Moreover, most of the Heroes (attack type) had already been steadily produced.

The promotional plan had also been largely finalized.

The timing was perfect—right before the Spring Festival. And significantly, this year was the Year of the Monkey. Coincidentally, there was a Hero in DOTA that fit perfectly for promotional use.

That Hero was: Monkey King.

Of course, besides Monkey King, there was another particularly fun Hero.

In real life, environmental protection policies discouraged fireworks, but surely this game could allow it?

The three Techies brothers would be among the initial Heroes Chen Xu planned to introduce in the first version of DOTA.

Additionally, other fan favorites among both veteran and new players—such as Butcher, Dwarf sniper, Carl, Storm Spirit, and others—were also on the list.

(End of Chapter) <>