First Round of Voting Results

Sun Guoping's question hit the nail on the head for Chen Hang.

"Well, about that..."

Chen Hang paused for a moment, then let out a wry laugh:

"Whether it's effective or not, it's all up to you, Old Senior."

The reason he called today was precisely for this matter.

As Chen Hang said.

As the Director of Marketing for the Yiyou Platform, the success or failure of a game was largely directly related to Sun Guoping.

After all, Sun Guoping could ensure a certain game remained on the platform's homepage for an extended period by adjusting the layout.

It's important to remember that this isn't the era of "good wine needs no bush."

A game's popularity is directly tied to its promotion and distribution.

This was the fundamental reason why so many domestic developers bowed and scraped to Sun Guoping—

He could arrange promotional resources for them!

And these kinds of private dealings naturally led to more.

If Zhang San's game company pleased Sun Guoping, then Li Si's game company, seeking promotional weight, would naturally come knocking.

Even some game companies, though unwilling to flatter, Had no choice but to go along with the crowd and join the sycophantic ranks to ensure their own games' promotional weight wasn't swallowed up.

It was a classic case of the bad driving out the good.

Chen Hang and Sun Guoping had engaged in these kinds of underhanded dealings many times before.

Of course, Sun Guoping had also received plenty of benefits from Xingmang Games.

But this time!

Facing Chen Hang's renewed "hint."

Sun Guoping hesitated for a moment:

"Hmmph—this—"

"It's like this, Director Chen,"

"This time, our CEO Yan has issued an order to strictly ensure the randomness of page rotations for games participating in the event,"

"To guarantee the exposure weight of every game, ensuring it's open, fair, and just."

As he said this.

Sun Guoping's tone carried a hint of helplessness as he continued:

"I know that our Xingmang games are always well-made and we have extensive experience."

"In principle, we should receive corresponding support."

"But—"

"With direct instructions from the president, it's difficult for me to act..."

Old fox!

Hearing this, Chen Hang curled his lip from his end of the phone, scoffing inwardly.

What company orders, what leadership directives.

Your company has always emphasized prohibiting the abuse of power for personal gain.

How much personal gain have you reaped over the years?

Chen Hang knew.

Sun Guoping's reason for saying this had only one purpose—

Make him pay more.

Chen Hang was tempted to call Sun Guoping insatiably greedy.

But he was in no position to refuse.

After a brief silence, he chuckled:

"Hahahaha, I understand! I understand, I understand!"

"CEO Yan is making bold changes, and as a veteran of the company, Old Senior naturally has to offer his full support!"

After laughing, Chen Hang changed the subject, seemingly dropping the matter and shifting to casual conversation:

"By the way, Old Senior, are you still enjoying those few packs of tea I gave you last time?"

"This time, I had a friend get me two more cakes of Lao Ban Zhang."

"When you have some free time, Old Senior, I'll come pick you up, and we can try them?"

He's learned.

Sun Guoping nodded in satisfaction upon hearing Chen Hang's words.

He knew full well that Chen Hang's invitation to appreciate tea was merely a pretext.

He nodded: "Sure, I have some free time these couple of days."

"You pick the place, and I'll tag along with my junior brother to experience this King of Pu'er, Lao Ban Zhang."

Chen Hang laughed heartily at this, waving his hands repeatedly: "Ah—Old Senior, please don't tease me."

The two chatted pleasantly and hung up the phone, everything left unsaid.

In the blink of an eye!

The first week of the Development Festival had passed.

Shen Miaomiao hadn't been in the best mood these days.

It wasn't for any other reason.

It was solely because the popularity of Vampire Survivors had exceeded her expectations!

Ever since the Development Festival opened on the first day!

Discussions about their game had become increasingly fervent among players!

Not only were streamers on various platforms engrossed in it.

Like lunatics, they controlled the little character that could only move up, down, left, and right, playing for entire nights and restarting over and over.

They were having a blast.

Players were also acting as if possessed, diving deep into the game.

A quick check on platforms like Little Black Box and Tabtab, popular player forums.

It seemed like one out of every ten gaming posts was discussing Vampire Survivors.

Some shared ultimate weapon combinations, some reviewed character strengths, and some analyzed gameplay strategies.

There was even someone who had written a guide thousands of words long—specifically analyzing what to do at each stage of the game to ensure the fastest possible acquisition of an ultimate weapon!

Shen Miaomiao was speechless!

Are you guys crazy?!

With nearly six hundred games participating in the event simultaneously!

Whether it was graphics, genre, gameplay, or scale.

Over ninety percent of the games were crushing theirs in every aspect!

And the most crucial point!

This game was something she had personally led the production of!

How could this trash, designed by a gaming novice like herself, actually become popular?!

Am I a game design genius?

But I just want to be a slacker!

A really lazy one!

"Sigh—"

Thinking this, Shen Miaomiao sat in her office and sighed.

Today was the day the results of the first round of voting would be announced.

She guessed their game would once again be ranked among the top...

Just as she was thinking this!

Knock, knock, knock—

Her office door was knocked.

Shen Miaomiao knew who it was without even opening her eyes.

It was the person she least wanted to see right now:

"Sister Chuchu, come in..."

Shen Miaomiao slumped in her chair, rolled her eyes, and decided to give up.

She adopted an attitude of detachment from worldly affairs.

"Um... CEO Shen, the voting results from the Development Festival have been released. I'm here to report them to you."

Shen Miaomiao's guess was entirely correct.

The person pushing the door open was her chief secretary, Chu Qingzhou.

"Ah, okay, report..."

Shen Miaomiao didn't want to say an extra word, sounding rather listless.

She wasn't an idiot.

Considering the current buzz around Vampire Survivors among players, even if their Golden Wind wasn't first in this initial round of voting, it definitely wouldn't fall out of the top three.

Thanks to her using the Settlement Time Reduction Card.

She had kept the actual profit settlement time within an hour.

Otherwise, this game would likely, nine times out of ten, make money again, leaving her with no losses whatsoever.

Thinking of this, Shen Miaomiao waved her hand:

"Go ahead and tell me, what place did we get?"

"Top six? Top three? Or first?"

As she spoke, Shen Miaomiao looked at Chu Qingzhou.

However!

This time, Chu Qingzhou actually shook her head.

Her face, surprisingly, didn't hold its usual excited expression.

Instead, she was frowning deeply, looking worried.

Seeing this, Shen Miaomiao's heart tightened: "What's going on?"

After a moment of silence.

Chu Qingzhou took a deep breath and slowly said, "CEO Shen, the first round of voting results announced by Yiyou Platform today show..."

"We're ranked 428th."