Pre-Release Preview Stream
At this moment, Meng Shu, located in Shencheng, was looking at her private messages and felt a headache coming on.
Since "Dark Forest" became popular, he receives 99+ private messages and comments every day.
Besides praise, there were also insults and business collaborations.
But most of the questions were related to the game.
At first, he would watch it carefully.
But as time went on and work became increasingly busy...
He has gradually stopped reading comments and private messages.
I only open it occasionally to take a peek.
But that's all.
Because there's simply no way to finish watching it!
Just as Meng Shu closed the webpage and rubbed her throbbing head, Supervisor Lian from Infinite Network Entertainment called.
After the call was connected, there was no warm greeting or businesslike hello.
Let's be frank and speak openly.
[President Meng, have you received the marketing proposal we sent you via email? According to our planning department, perhaps we could use the same marketing approach as "Skyhill," adopting a pre-sale preview format?]
After hearing this, Meng Shu remembered that such a thing had indeed happened.
After he finished reading the proposal, it was already late, and he planned to reply the next day.
He actually forgot about it the next day.
Only after Supervisor Lian reminded him did he find the Word document on his computer desktop. He then opened it while nodding in response.
"Sorry, I received the proposal and have read it through. The content is very detailed, and it can be done this way. The success of the last game shows that pre-sale previews are indeed a way to increase player anticipation, so let's continue to use it this time."
"Also, what's going on with H Corp and C Corp from Japan? They say they hope to secure a pre-broadcast qualification, but don't we already have independent VTubers we're collaborating with?"
Upon hearing this, Supervisor Lian immediately responded.
[President Meng, when we were doing pre-sale previews for "Skyhill," those two Japan companies refused to take the job because they thought our price was too low. So, as a last resort, we contacted other individual virtual YouTubers.]
[But now that they see so many people have become famous because of the live stream of "Skyhill," they've regretted it and want to make up for it, which is why they contacted us.]
[And this time, we don't need to pay them to stream; on the contrary, they want to pay for pre-release streaming rights so they can generate traffic before the official release.]
We'd like to discuss with you how to proceed.
Meng Shu looked at the document, rubbed his chin, pondered for a while, and nodded.
"These two virtual YouTuber companies must be quite large, right?"
[It is indeed quite large.]
Supervisor Lian responded calmly.
[They're basically a global virtual YouTuber company, headquartered in Japan, with branches in America and other countries. Their virtual female YouTubers are money-making machines; if possible, collaborating with them would definitely be worthwhile.]
I see
Meng Shu nodded, now somewhat enlightened as he hadn't known much about the virtual YouTuber world.
However, he quickly returned to his usual calm and even picked up his water glass to take a sip.
"They don't need us to spend money on promotion; in fact, they're spending their own money. So let's not turn down the money. You decide."
"Also, have you finalized the game's price?"
Supervisor Lian responded immediately on the other end of the phone, accompanied by the sound of papers turning over.
[Hmm. Let me see. I've got it. Since this game is currently the standard edition, and considering the PVP online mode you mentioned later, President Meng, the company has decided to release a deluxe edition. The price is 499 yuan for the standard edition and 699 yuan for the deluxe edition. Players who purchase the deluxe edition will receive the PVP mode you mentioned for free.]
Who set the price?
Meng Shu frowned and interrupted Supervisor Lian before she could finish speaking, asking in a deep voice.
[This price was set by the company's marketing department. They calculated advertising costs, fees paid to overseas companies, taxes, profit sharing, and other expenses. Finally, they considered a profit margin of at least five times these costs before determining the final price.]
Upon hearing this, Meng Shu shook her head.
"Didn't you consider the affordability of the player base? Not everyone is a salaried worker with a certain earning capacity; there are also students and freelancers. And even salaried workers probably wouldn't spend that much money to buy a game. Because even if they did buy it, they wouldn't have much time to play it. At this price, many people might choose to buy it at a discount or watch a video game playthrough, which would be counterproductive."
"Pricing needs to be appropriate; if the price is too high, it will filter out a group of players. I won't comment on how your marketing department is thinking about how to recoup costs, but you also need to consider whether players have the purchasing power. 499? 699? Compared to a three-fold profit from a high price, I prefer low profit and high volume."
"Games are a long-term sales process; they don't just stop selling after a certain period. They can sell for a year, two years, three years, and even have discounts during holidays, so there's no worry about finding buyers. Therefore, your initial high pricing will actually make some players hesitate, some players will be unable to afford it, and it will also give them the impression that you are being greedy, which will affect the reputation we have built."
"Moreover, I already said that the PVP Mode is free, and you're still doing this. I don't agree with that at all."
Supervisor Lian hesitated for a moment on the other end of the phone before asking.
[President Meng, what do you think the price should be? Given the quality of your game, too low a price wouldn't be good either.]
"Of course, I also have companies to support. So let's stick with the price of Skyhill, 298 yuan. The price in other countries is also about the same as the average, so don't set high prices randomly. Also, there's no need to differentiate between a standard edition and a deluxe edition, just stick with the standard edition. Once the online mode is developed, we can update it for free directly, without all these complicated procedures. I make games not only to make money, but also because I don't want to lose my reputation."
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, followed by a deep, resonant response.
[I understand, President Meng. I'll go discuss it with the department head right away.]
A few days later, the Cyber Platform opened the store interface for "Control Failure" and made pre-orders available.
To avoid a repeat of the server overload that prevented players from purchasing the Skyhill last time, some players chose to buy it in advance.
However, unlike Skyhill, this pre-order doesn't offer any pre-order bonuses; it's simply an early sale.
Meanwhile, Meng Shu, on her own Danmu Network account, announced the promotional methods and timing for the pre-sale preview, one after the other, with Infinite Network Entertainment.
Many streamers who received pre-broadcast qualifications expressed their joy on their social media posts.
Even the main website of the Danmu Network created a special app splash screen ad to promote it.
They even created a separate reminder webpage, listing streamers with live streaming qualifications, so players could choose who they liked to watch.
Then, by booking the live stream, the Danmu Network can send SMS notifications on the day of the broadcast.
As a result, with the promotional investment from various platforms such as video websites, news websites, classified information websites, and game portals, the game "Control Failure" became known to almost everyone who surfs the internet.
Even many people who don't play games have heard of it.
Some gamers are naturally very excited.
Even people who don't play games went to the Danmu Network to watch the short film "The Staircase".
They were eager to see what kind of game could produce such an innovative, uniquely conceived, and visually stunning horror short film.
During this period, Jiyou Network was surprisingly quiet, with no sound whatsoever.
However, players have long forgotten about them, and all they know is that there is no news about Bloody Scientist now.
Compared to the hype surrounding the release of Control Failure, people have completely forgotten about the Horror Games from the Ji You.
You could at least pop in and post something to prove you exist! (Ji You!)
Although we haven't received any news about the Ji You, CA's new ratings have been released.
The new rating is more professional than the previous irresponsible 5.9.
The specifics are not much different from JM's comments.
And the final score
It's also a perfect 10!
Now, players are absolutely drooling over the game.
Two of the world's most renowned media review organizations gave it a score of 10!
This proves that "Control Failure" will never disappoint!
It might even be more fun than Skyhill!
So, the days went by, and the players waited day by day.
The topic is constantly being hotly debated on various forums, and the situation is similar overseas.
After all, this is the second VR Game to go international!
Every player was incredibly excited!
Throughout gaming history, very few games have generated such high levels of buzz and discussion before their release.
Many independent game developers took to Weibo to express their best wishes for the game's release, hoping everything would go smoothly.
Other game companies, like Jiyou Network, have remained completely silent.
And so, amidst everyone's anticipation, another day passed.
Finally, at 8:30 pm on the day of the pre-sale preview.
Many people received a text message on their phones.
That is.
"Control Failure" has premiered!
I'll be staying up late tonight revising the article, sorry everyone, it'll be another revision. But please rest assured, it's just changing the wording, the core content remains the same.