The Second Game

"This villa will be our office. The first floor is where everyone will work, and the basement is a gym you can use during breaks."

"As for housing, I asked around. There's a residential complex nearby, and the rent is one thousand yuan a month. The company provides meals but not accommodation, though we can offer a subsidy."

After showing everyone around the villa, Wang Chuan explained the details.

The four people behind him were stunned, looking around from time to time.

They had assumed the company would be in some office building downtown, but they had never expected it to be a villa near the school.

The expense alone was incredible, not to mention the sheer grandeur.

Wang Chuan merely smiled at their expressions.

He had no need to explain the real situation to them in detail.

Because of his connection with the school, the villa's rent was far lower than the market rate.

And it was paid monthly, which made things much easier for him.

Of course, to be honest, the money in his hands was in a rather awkward position.

It was not much, but it was not little either.

He could not afford a big-budget game, while there was no need to make a small one.

Fortunately, he could get a loan from the bank. Otherwise, things would have been pretty miserable.

After everyone understood the specifics, Wang Chuan took them to a restaurant for lunch.

"Manager Wang, are we starting work today?"

While they were eating, Liu Qiang asked nervously.

He was very satisfied with the company, but he did not know what kind of temperament Wang Chuan had.

That was why he was being so cautious.

"Haha, no rush. You can start tomorrow after everything's arranged."

Wang Chuan could not help but laugh at his reaction.

"Also, I'm not some kind of monster. Is there any need to be so afraid of me? Don't be so restrained."

"Hey, Manager Wang, does that mean our next task is to make a new game?"

Seeing Wang Chuan say that, Zhou Wei relaxed and asked.

They all attended the same school as Wang Chuan, and they had paid close attention to his achievements.

So they also knew about the things circulating online.

That was why they were all extremely curious about what genre the next game would be.

"That's right. We're making a new game next. While The Stanley Parable is still popular, we need to finish and release the new game as soon as possible. Oh, and remember to get the platform set up."

Wang Chuan did not hide anything. Since they had signed contracts, they were practically family now.

"Don't worry, Manager Wang. The two of us will get it done quickly."

Liu Qiang and Zhou Wei nodded seriously at Wang Chuan's instructions.

This was exactly what they had studied, so they were confident.

Although they did not know why they had to build a platform themselves, they did not ask.

And it was precisely this attitude that had made Wang Chuan choose them.

"But, Senior—oh, no, Manager Wang, are you really not planning to make that Meta Game?"

Huang Shanshan instinctively stuck out her tongue, then asked curiously.

"I saw everyone online discussing it, and manufacturers like Three Factories are making them too. It'd be such a shame if we didn't."

As soon as she finished speaking, the other three looked over as well.

This was something they were curious about too.

By the standards of this world, once a game became popular, making sequels was the normal thing to do.

That was why they did not quite understand Wang Chuan's thinking.

Wang Chuan was not surprised by their question at all.

After all, when he made this decision, he had already imagined that people would question it and fail to understand.

"It's simple. The nature of Meta Games means they're destined not to become major titles. Their scale is too small."

"Besides, although I created Meta Games, many more companies have entered the market. The competition is too fierce, and my name might not be able to beat capital."

Wang Chuan did not conceal anything and directly voiced his thoughts.

After all, they had all signed contracts, so he was not worried about them leaking anything.

He had already decided what the second game would be, and he would still be making a small-scale game.

Because when it came to promotion, he was far behind Three Factories.

He could not even compare to medium-sized companies.

Just look at The Stanley Parable's numbers.

It had a total of 5.8 million downloads, yet fewer than two hundred thousand people followed his personal social media account.

That was only because he had frequently accepted media interviews before and gained plenty of exposure.

This made him realize that players who had played The Stanley Parable simply did not care about the game's creator.

Though that was normal, he could not help feeling disappointed.

Then there was the fact that he had set the first game at a dirt-cheap price in order to earn the producer title.

But the new game definitely would not be priced like that again. This time, it had to make money.

So continuing to develop Meta Games would definitely not be an ideal choice.

After Wang Chuan explained things to them, they all looked as though they had learned something.

Once they came to their senses, they grew excited.

From Wang Chuan's words, they could see his ambitions.

Why not make Meta Games???

Because Huangtu Game Company was still no match for Three Factories. In a direct confrontation, they would definitely lose.

If they wanted to win, if they wanted to catch up to Three Factories, they had to break through.

After understanding Wang Chuan's ambitions, they left satisfied, filled with even greater drive for the future.

After watching them leave, Wang Chuan returned to the villa alone.

Since the villa had a second floor that could be used for living, and for the sake of convenience and saving time,

he claimed the second floor of the villa for himself.

After comfortably swimming a lap in the pool, Wang Chuan returned to his room and turned on his computer.

He found a drawing app and prepared to draw several pieces of art for the new game.

If it had been the original Wang Chuan, he definitely would not have been able to draw them, or what he drew would have been rather "abstract."

But after obtaining the Art Skill Book from the system, things were different.

He was not some master artist, but he had reached an ordinary level.

He could draw what he wanted without straying too far from the idea.

Soon, chibi cartoon characters began appearing beneath his pen.

They all looked adorable.

And judging by their outfits, their classes were easy to identify.

Mage, ranger, knight, priest, paladin.

After confirming that there were no major mistakes in his drawings, Wang Chuan picked up pen and paper again and began writing.

The classes he had drawn were the classes from a game he remembered.

And the game he was about to make would be a rather unique one.

"Soul Knight!"

A Roguelike game.

It was a low-budget game, and it could also provide some help for his next step: building his own distribution channels.