Although Xu Hong and the other two had questions, they would not casually ask their boss in a setting like this.
Since other companies were involved in this meeting, even if there were questions, those companies would ask first.
Sure enough, a man's voice came from the laptop. Someone from Infinite Network Entertainment was the first to ask a question.
[Um, hello, President Meng. Sorry to interrupt. I'm a deputy director for domestic distribution channels. My surname is Li, so you can call me Mr. Li. You just said that players would be unable to fight. What exactly does that mean?]
Meng Shu smiled and answered patiently.
"It means exactly what it says. In my design, players will have no weapons and will be unable to fight. When they encounter ghosts or supernatural creatures, they can only flee in panic. They can return to where they were and continue the game once it is safe."
"Also, I'm planning to add a Sanity Points system. If players remain in dark environments or witness supernatural events, their sanity will gradually decrease. Once it falls to a certain point, they will lose their minds. The ghosts will immediately reveal themselves and hunt them down."
His words shocked everyone on both sides.
Deputy Director Li was silent for a long time, not knowing what to say.
In this day and age, you made players play a game without letting them fight monsters?
Did that make any sense?
Could that still be called playing a game?
Only after a while did Deputy Director Li cough and ask.
[President Meng, I'm not sure whether the market can accept this kind of innovation.]
[But you're a gaming professional. You should understand that the mainstream genres in today's market are the big three: shooters, racing games, and sports games. They are extremely popular in Europe and America, and they have gradually influenced other game genres, making them increasingly fast-food-like. All that matters is delivering a thrill. That is the meaning of game development.]
[Your game prevents players from fighting. They have to run whenever they encounter danger, and ghosts will occasionally hunt them down. It's simply too frustrating. Players won't be able to enjoy that exhilarating feeling at all.]
[President Meng, I have no intention of criticizing your design proposal. Your production abilities are plain for all to see, and we are still studying the secrets behind the success of your two games. But as for your Visage... speaking from my personal perspective as a deputy director of distribution, the mere fact that players cannot fight and can only flee in frustration means this game has already... failed.]
A sigh came from the laptop, as if the game had no value whatsoever.
Meng Shu could not help but laugh inwardly.
In this parallel world, horror had already declined. It was barren and withering. Over time, it had become branded in the public eye with the triple stigma of having no market, no audience, and no attention.
Even after Meng Shu had proven with Dark Forest and 21 Points that quality games would have a market and an audience, it was still difficult to erase these people's prejudice against horror games.
That was why this world had no concept like Outlast, where players were unable to fight.
In their eyes, playing games meant fighting and killing, enjoying excitement and pleasure.
Or it meant the sense of accomplishment from speeding ahead in a race to seize first place, or the pride of leading a team to victory through one's own efforts.
So it was understandable that they would question his gameplay.
After all, their horizons were limited.
Otherwise, horror would not have fallen into decline.
"Mr. Li, have you ever tried it?"
Meng Shu asked casually.
Deputy Director Li, on the other end of the meeting, was stunned.
Tried what?
Tried whether this innovation of players being unable to fight would find buyers?
Did that even need to be tested?
Anyone with half a brain could tell it was guaranteed to fail!
Honestly, if President Meng had not created two blockbuster games, he would have suspected that this man was some kind of amateur. How could he not understand such a simple market rule?
Besides, developing a game was no trivial matter. It required a huge investment and a considerable development cycle.
How could it casually be used as a test project?
[Th-this doesn't need to be tested, does it? People in the industry basically understand this princi—]
"Then you're wrong."
Meng Shu grinned.
At that moment, a trace of the presence he had possessed as President Qin in his previous life emerged.
His tone became confident and beyond dispute.
"Without trying it, you reach a conclusion about the market based solely on market research. In my opinion, that's somewhat disrespectful to this industry."
"Players are a diverse group, and games are diverse as well. Why are you able to conclude from the market alone that 'excitement' is the mainstream trend?"
"You say the market mainstream is guns, cars, and balls, but have you ever considered that it is precisely because you think that way that you keep developing in that direction? As a result, the games on the market are either shooters or racing games. Does that give players any choices? No. Since players have no choice, they play whatever you release. Can that be called a market mainstream? No, it can't."
After a pause, Meng Shu smiled again and gave his conclusion.
"This is called farming. It reminds me of a story. Every day, when the time came, a farmer would go to the henhouse and toss in feed. I don't know whether the feed tasted good, but the poultry had no choice. Whatever the farmer gave them, they ate. The farmer gave them feed every day, so they could only eat feed every day. Yet the farmer still had the nerve to claim that it was their favorite food, that it was the mainstream food."
"What do you think players are? And think again about whether this so-called mainstream market makes any sense. To put it bluntly, most developers already treat players as banks that pay for their cookie-cutter games."
The moment those words came out, the room fell utterly silent.
Xu Hong and the other two stared wide-eyed.
The people on the other end of the meeting were stunned as well.
For a moment, no one responded.
But Meng Shu did not care in the slightest.
If he wanted to break that mindset, he would need to release game after game to prove that the market was not limited to thrilling games like shooters, racing games, and sports games.
They could not even accept the concept of players being unable to fight.
Wouldn't Souls-like games with bonfire grinding and Mount & Blade's combat system drive these people insane in the future?
Xu Hong and the other two stared at President Meng, their hearts churning.
From what President Meng was saying, did he want to break the current market structure?
Wait.
It seemed like he was already doing that.
Both of his games were survival horror titles, and their sales had begun shaking the position of shooters, racing games, and sports games in the market.
Was President Meng now planning to push even harder and elevate the horror genre?
Xu Hong and the other two did not understand, nor did they dare think too much about it. They only handled their own duties. They did not understand matters of marketing strategy, nor did they know much about them.
After the meeting room had remained quiet for several seconds, another, more mature voice came from the laptop.
[That's a very interesting story, President Meng. Hello, I'm one of Infinite Network Entertainment's directors. My surname is Liang.]
Meng Shu raised his eyebrows but said nothing.
He knew there was more to come.
[President Meng, we do not doubt your ability to make games. To be honest, when you first said you wanted to make a VR Game, I was strongly opposed. I thought you definitely would not be able to pull it off. But the truth is, you did pull it off, and you did it very well—brilliantly, even! But the market is unpredictable. It is not something people can control. Are you really so certain that players will pay for your innovation?]
"Of course."
Meng Shu's answer was decisive.
It caught Manager Liang, on the other end of the meeting, somewhat off guard.
[Could you explain why? Innovation can easily lead to losses without absolute certainty.]
Meng Shu smiled and gave Infinite Network Entertainment an answer that left them dumbfounded.
"Because I'm the first."
Manager Liang froze.
What kind of answer was that?
Because he was the first, he could be certain players would pay for his innovation?
[President Meng, I'm not quite sure what you mean by that.]
Meng Shu's smile faded. He crossed his arms and explained calmly.
"I make Horror Games because the market for this genre is blank. No one is competing with me. What does that mean? It means an advantage."
"The first to enter holds every advantage in the market. But entering the market does not mean being like those developers from before, who slap together games and expect to haul in money by the sackful. You need to create games that meet the market's quality standards."
"Once you earn players' recognition, it means the market exists, and you get to enjoy all the benefits of that blank market. That is the advantage of being 'the first.' Scarcity creates value. In a farm where everyone is fed grain, if a small piece of meat suddenly appears, there will not be enough to go around."
"You can see this from the sales of Dark Forest. Players did not choose guns, cars, and balls. Rather, developers today all blindly follow trends and make games about guns, cars, and balls, leaving players with no choice but to play them."
"But the advantage of being 'the first' will eventually fade. How to maintain that advantage is the biggest headache for developers. And my solution is..."
Meng Shu paused, then smiled.
"...innovation."
After hearing that, there was a few seconds of contemplation from the laptop before Manager Liang asked in return.
[President Meng, your success is a fact. I won't deny it. But have you considered that your success will draw other developers into this blank market? When that happens, a whole pile of Horror Games will be competing with you. Can you guarantee that every one of your games will have innovations?]
Meng Shu smiled again at those words. The experience of his previous life gave him absolute confidence.
"Manager Liang, no one can monopolize a market. You should understand that better than I do."
"New and old developers entering the market to take a slice of the pie is simply how the market works. No one can decide otherwise."
"But how much of that pie can those developers get? You can find the answer in the market for guns, cars, and balls. The biggest share always remains with established IPs. Those who follow trends can only take a small piece."
"So I am not worried at all about how many developers follow the trend and make Horror Games. On the contrary, only competition can demonstrate value. And market rules will eventually eliminate works of poor quality."
Manager Liang fell silent after hearing that.
Only after a while did he continue asking.
[President Meng, are you saying that even if there are many Horror Games in the future, you can still ensure that your games will have sufficient sales?]
Meng Shu rarely hesitated for several seconds before nodding.
"More than a sixty percent chance, if their games are of solid enough quality."
[What if their quality isn't good enough?]
"More than eighty percent."
Meng Shu answered decisively, his expression utterly calm.
The reason he was so certain and confident was mainly because many games in his original world had already proven it.
As early as 2010, there had been a landmark horror game like Amnesia: The Dark Descent, famous for mechanics such as players being unable to fight and the protagonist having Sanity Points.
Combined with its excellent quality and terrifying atmosphere, it had sold over a million copies within two years.
That was an achievement created back in 2012, during an era when Horror Games were flourishing.
It was enough to demonstrate the value of such mechanics. Many subsequent Horror Games also used them and achieved impressive sales, so it was not that players disliked playing them.
There was also someone who had fallen from grace, who used his own games to prove that players did not only enjoy exhilarating games.
They also enjoyed the satisfaction of starting over after death, struggling through levels, and finally succeeding.
Some players were even uninterested in so-called exhilarating games. They had embraced a laid-back lifestyle to the extreme, enjoying the relaxing comfort of driving and delivering cargo in Euro Truck Simulator 2.
Players in the original world had already proven that so-called exhilarating games were merely something to enjoy for a moment, like fast food.
So did the players in this world, who ate fast food every day, not want to try a different flavor?
Of course they did!
Dark Forest and 21 Points had already proven it.
That showed there was nothing wrong with the players.
The problem lay with the market, and with the developers operating within it!
If players in the original world could be divided into laid-back players, masochistic players, and players who were bad but addicted, then did players in this parallel world not have those types as well?
Besides, the player base here was even larger.
Therefore...
"Don't underestimate players."
Meng Shu's words filled the people on the other end of the meeting with question marks.
Manager Liang took a deep breath and steadied himself.
[I understand, President Meng. I'll say it again: we will not doubt your production abilities. Since you have an eye for the market and already have two successful works, we will choose to trust you as well.]
[Now, please continue the meeting and let us learn about the other settings of your new project, Visage.]
Before you continue