"Sure!"
Gu Sheng wiped his hands and signaled that Chu Qingzhou could bring her in.
Perfect timing.
Even if Little Nezha had not come looking for him today, he had planned to talk to her about their future direction.
Over the past few days, he had been dwelling on a question raised at the exchange conference—horror games were clearly such a perfect fit for sensory pods, so why was there no place for them in the current sensory pod market?
So, Gu Sheng first asked Lu Bian and Da Jiang about it, then combined their answers with the information he had gathered online. At last, he had a fairly clear picture.
It turned out that when sensory pods had first entered mass production and begun shifting from the high-end market toward the mid- and low-end markets,
horror games had once been hugely popular.
Famous domestic studios like Langya Games and established foreign companies like Comera Games had all released sensory pod horror games.
And the moment they launched, they caused a sensation in the sensory pod market.
People were amazed by how immersive horror games could be inside sensory pods, and they screamed their heads off at the unexpected Jumpscares.
But what made them could also break them.
After getting a taste of Jumpscare's success, the major companies kept doubling down. Meanwhile, all the copycat developers also became obsessed with the idea of throwing monsters in players' faces.
After all, this stuff barely required any design costs. You did not even need to think.
Open a door, there was a ghost.
Turn a corner, there was a ghost.
Look up, there was a ghost.
Turn around, there was a ghost.
All kinds of monsters existed solely to scare players. Sometimes, they would even crouch in some random corner without any logic at all, just waiting to pounce when a player passed by.
Over time, the drawbacks of all that homogenization began to show—
Players developed resistance, and they grew tired of it aesthetically.
Although the forms of ghosts and monsters continued to evolve, from the early terrifying masked men to later skeletons and even Chinese hopping vampires, one after another,
the core never changed.
The mark of Jumpscare had already been branded deep into every game designer's soul.
It was like SpongeBob, who had grown accustomed to making delicious Krabby Patties. If even one pickle slice was missing from a burger, he would be at a loss and might even completely forget how to cook.
And so, the sensory pod horror game market gradually declined.
Then, one day, it was finally cast aside by the three major categories of Shooter, Driving, and Sports, becoming a discarded relic of the sensory pod era.
Not only did it lose its former glory,
it could not even compete with board and card games. It had nearly vanished entirely from sensory pods.
Gu Sheng felt deeply moved after learning the full story.
By the mindset of a transmigrator, he should have found it strange.
Could it be that among all the game industry professionals, game developers, and game designers around the world,
not a single one had a flash of inspiration and thought of ways to frighten players beyond Jumpscares?
But in truth, there really had not been.
It was like if someone in this world, just like Gu Sheng, had transmigrated into his previous life.
That person would have been baffled—sensory pod technology had already begun spreading in my world, so why does this world not even have a prototype?
Was this thing really that difficult?
Wasn't it simply developed on the foundation of computer technology?
The principle was the same.
So after understanding the situation, Gu Sheng was not particularly surprised. He merely felt a little emotional.
Heaven had treated him well.
It had not only allowed him to continue pursuing the game industry he loved in this world.
It also hoped that he would become a beacon for this world's gaming industry.
He would contribute to the industry here and make this world's games more colorful and diverse.
Following Chu Qingzhou to Shen Miaomiao's office door, Gu Sheng nodded to thank her.
Then he raised his hand and knocked.
Knock, knock, knock—
"Come in." Little Nezha's voice came from inside.
Gu Sheng pushed open the door. "CEO Shen, you wanted to see me?"
"Ah, yes! Come on in!"
When Shen Miaomiao saw Gu Sheng, she hurriedly stood and welcomed him inside.
As he entered the office with Chu Qingzhou, Gu Sheng immediately spotted the fifty-yuan bill framed on Shen Miaomiao's desk.
He raised an eyebrow. "What a unique decoration."
The smile on Shen Miaomiao's face stiffened.
Damn it, wasn't this all because of you?
But the darkness on Shen Miaomiao's face was fleeting.
Casually flipping the fifty-yuan bill facedown on the desk, Shen Miaomiao forced out a smile. "Have a seat..."
Once Gu Sheng and Chu Qingzhou sat down, Shen Miaomiao spoke.
"Director Gu, now that our profits are gradually stabilizing,"
"I had Sister Chuchu bring you here today because I wanted to discuss the development plan for our next project,"
"Do you have any ideas?"
Of course Gu Sheng had ideas.
He wanted to make a sensory pod game.
But he was also somewhat hesitant.
After all!
Sensory pod projects burned money at an alarming rate.
He had heard a representative from another company say at the exchange conference that their company had burned through more than three million in just half a year researching sensory pod games.
And that, in the eyes of major companies, was still just small-time experimentation.
But a project on that scale did not seem like something they could afford to covet yet.
Gu Sheng was an old hand in the gaming industry.
Logically speaking, if he proposed entering the sensory pod market now, any CEO would probably refuse.
The risk was too great.
One wrong move, and they could crash and burn.
With that in mind, Gu Sheng hesitantly said, "Uh... I do have an idea, but it isn't mature yet."
"That's fine. Go ahead."
Shen Miaomiao indicated that it was no problem.
I like hearing immature suggestions.
"Uh..."
Gu Sheng pondered for a moment.
"I'd like to move toward the sensory pod market."
Hiss—
After he said that,
Shen Miaomiao had not reacted yet, but Chu Qingzhou was the first to suck in a sharp breath.
What an immature suggestion!
After all!
Sensory pod games were widely recognized as the biggest money pit in the gaming industry today!
Granted!
Golden Wind had established a foothold in the domestic gaming scene by relying on three hit games.
The company's revenue was also steadily improving.
But even they could not withstand the demands of sensory pods!
One careless move, and the initial capital they had painstakingly accumulated could vanish without even making a splash!
Thinking of that, Chu Qingzhou chose her words carefully before speaking.
"Director Gu, isn't it a little too early for us to consider this?"
In fact, Chu Qingzhou's attitude toward Gu Sheng had changed drastically by now.
From her initial disdain and distrust to her current admiration and respect.
It was evident even in her tone of voice.
But now,
faced with such an aggressive development plan, Chu Qingzhou could not help but raise an objection.
After all, given Golden Wind's current capital, rashly stepping into sensory pods could very well result in losing everything and even endanger the company's survival.
Trying to play with sensory pods on a budget of just eight hundred thousand or a million was far too immature.
At the very least, they should wait until their capital reached the ten-million range before considering it.
However!
Before she could even finish speaking!
Shen Miaomiao's voice rang out from behind the executive chair.
"I think Director Gu's proposal—"
"Is excellent!"
In that instant, Chu Qingzhou felt her mind go blank!
Huh?
Wait a minute?
Why did this feel so familiar?
Had she seen this scene somewhere before?
Before you continue