All sorts of controversial voices emerged. Before Nebula Games even made a move, it was the players who erupted.
Not just domestic players, but also international players.
Miscellaneous topics such as radical feminists, despite criticizing Vice City, were actually more about instigating non-target audiences to stir up trouble.
For players, it felt like eating a pile of crap.
How could all these freaks and monsters pop up now?
If the game's protagonist is female, she definitely can't be pretty; she has to be squash-faced?
Thor, who was born strong and capable of lifting ten large bear pelts and fighting giants alone, just has to become a greasy, pot-bellied fatty?
Fine, Thor getting fat is one thing – after all, the image of a strongman can still fit. But Loki’s wife, a female giant in Norse mythology, turning into a black female giant?
Players have always been disgusted by all the so-called political correctness.
Soon, discussions among players filled the comments under these news articles and in related communities.
'They can blame shooting incidents on games, I'm absolutely stunned!'
'Why are radical feminists and animal protection organizations everywhere? I didn't have strong feelings about them before, but now I really feel sick!'
'They can't afford to offend arms dealers, so the gaming industry can just be a scapegoat, right!'
'Game: Yes, yes, it's all my fault, just dump all the blame on me, that's right!'
'No words. Seeing all this in the scorching heat, my hands and feet are cold, and I'm breaking out in a cold sweat!'
'Ahem, bro upstairs, don't be so dramatic. It's almost winter now!'
'The funniest part is some people are saying Nebula Games is racist? Get lost! Have you even played the game?'
'Exactly! If you're going to talk about violence, fine, but racism? Carl is black, Tommy is white, Niko is Eastern European, and Wu Zimu, who helped Tommy, is Asian. The racial buffs are fully stacked, how can you still call it racist?'
'Right, and if they say it only has violent elements, then they clearly haven't understood Vice City at all, have they?'
Undoubtedly, Vice City is an epoch-making masterpiece.
A milestone work.
Although the open-world setting was already nearing maturity, not every game developer could execute it well.
While Vice City didn't reinvent the wheel like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild did back then,
it was definitely a culmination of open-world games.
The entire game, from its story to its gameplay, undeniably captivated countless players.
Coupled with players' inherent dislike for all this messy stuff, the gaming industry has evolved from being seen as a scourge in its early years and a toy for boys to becoming a top entertainment industry today. This transformation has inevitably changed some of its characteristics.
Sometimes, games aren't even made for players to play.
Instead, they are made to tick all the boxes and appease certain groups, allowing the game development conglomerates to gain privileges in certain areas.
But precisely because of this, true players detest such phenomena even more.
Imagine if Tifa in Final Fantasy became a muscular Barbie, Aerith became a squash-faced, dark-skinned transgender person, and Cloud became a short, ugly, depressed patient – would anyone still play that game?
Players' various comments online also attracted the attention of many game industry developers, who watched to see how Nebula Games would handle this storm.
Soon, major developers realized how Chen Xu was dealing with the situation.
Firstly, there was news of Nebula Games expanding its legal department and renewing cooperation agreements with three renowned international law firms.
Secondly, a large batch of negative revelations quickly appeared online. For instance, a game media outlet that had publicly declared Vice City to be racist was itself exposed for past racist behavior, with former employees even coming forward to state that they had experienced workplace bullying due to their skin color within the company.
Other instances included lawsuits for related infringements and other misconduct.
Of course, on the surface, these incidents had nothing to do with Nebula Games, but a closer look would confirm that Nebula Games was fanning the flames behind the scenes.
Nebula Games was no longer just a simple game company. Its resources and scale were unparalleled.
The simplest way to deal with this chaotic public opinion was to apply the principle of 'the bird that sticks its head out gets shot'; take care of the leading figures, and the rest will naturally scatter.
Initially, the so-called animal protection associations, radical feminist organizations, and environmental protection associations might have had good intentions.
But the reality is that various so-called animal protection and feminist advocacy efforts are merely tools to achieve their own interests.
Against such entities, it was simple for Nebula Games, with its current capabilities, to dig up dirt.
Moreover, the various organizations weren't as unified as most people imagined; they were more like fragmented clubs, simply rallying under a common slogan.
Through the exchange of resources and interests, these groups, despite portraying themselves as victims or the weak, would find themselves opposed by others, even without Nebula Games having to fully intervene.
Many game developers who had initially been watching how Nebula Games would resolve the situation fell silent for a moment.
This... Nebula Games is just too unreasonable!
To elaborate, there wasn't much to say; it was purely an overwhelming, righteous碾壓.
But to say it was simple, not just anyone could do it.
After all, to roll over them like that, you needed to throw money around and have connections!
And unlike Nebula Games, most game developers make games to make money, don't they?
But Nebula Games was employing mutually destructive tactics; 'You mess with me? Then I won't keep my earnings, I'll mess with you too.'
Who could withstand that?
If you wanted to cause trouble, you had to ensure your own reputation was clean, that your connections and background weren't afraid of Nebula Games' retaliation, and that you wouldn't be abandoned as a pawn.
But if you didn't meet those conditions? Then sorry, go to hell!
Equally surprising was that several major overseas game companies also stepped forward to publicly endorse Vice City.
This left many ordinary players bewildered, as the relationships between these companies and Nebula Games weren't great, with some even being significant competitors.
However, for industry designers, it was much clearer. The controversy surrounding their games wasn't exclusive to Nebula Games. Which first-tier game developer could claim they had never been targeted by opportunists? This time it was Nebula Games, but who could guarantee it wouldn't be their turn next time?
So, with Nebula Games leading the charge so aggressively and already on the verge of winning this battle, they naturally had to follow suit, shouting support and making their presence known.
After all, they were game companies, and it was players who brought them profit. Regardless of their true thoughts, they had to outwardly appear to be on the players' side.
The inclusion of various political correctness elements, with some developers even stacking buffs, meant that no matter what, they would only publicly frame their actions from an artistic or broad perspective, never openly stating it was for political correctness – this was an unwritten rule.
………………
A month and a half after Vice City officially launched.
The previous controversies had largely settled, with only minor discussions remaining.
However, many game industry designers also noticed something.
Vice City's popularity had begun to subtly decline.
For the first time in nearly two months, Vice City dropped from the top spot on the sales charts to second place.
It was replaced by a blockbuster launched by an overseas game company.
From player communities, video platforms, and live streaming sites, it was also evident that Vice City's popularity was indeed declining compared to before.
This was actually normal.
No matter how rich or vast Vice City's content was,
it was still a single-player game, and the content pool is only so large.
Players would eventually finish exploring it.
As time progressed, after playing for so long, players no longer felt the same excitement and novelty as before.
'I wonder if there will be new DLC content later. I feel like there's no fresh content to play.'
'Indeed, while the major cities and main quests were brilliant, once finished, there's always a sense of emptiness.'
'Hmm, same here. I've completed all the quests and side missions.'
'I actually feel alright. The game still has a lot of hidden content, I feel like I can play for a long time!'
Players debated heatedly online.
Some players still claimed the game could immerse them for dozens or hundreds of hours.
However, other players felt that the current content of Vice City no longer offered much novel content to keep them interested.
Until Nebula Games' official Weibo account announced the latest news, instantly re-energizing all players.
(End of Chapter)
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