The Right Timing Matters

The next day, at Huangtu Game Company.

"Manager Wang, after the two of us worked around the clock, with help from the Outsourcing Team, we've almost finished setting up Huangtu's database."

Liu Qiang and Zhou Wei approached with smiles on their faces.

Their complexions were pale, and the dark circles beneath their eyes were heavy. It was clear they had barely slept lately.

"Good. Nicely done. Once our game goes live, I'll personally give you bonuses."

"But for now, I'm allowing you to go home and rest for a day."

Wang Chuan was not some emotionless machine. He had never been stingy with rewards for those who had contributed.

Of course, not yet. The money in his hands was all being reserved for Soul Knight.

But once the game was released, the profits it earned could be used to motivate the employees.

Mm, he was already prepared to bleed heavily.

"Manager Wang, this is the information we've recently gathered about the industry."

"Okay, leave it there. I'll look at it in a while."

He casually set down the notebook Zhao Jing had handed him, then absentmindedly picked up the soy milk Huang Shanshan had bought.

"Boss, that one is mine~~~"

Before Huang Shanshan could stop him, Wang Chuan had already taken a sip. She could only sigh helplessly and say in a forlorn tone.

She did not know what was going on either. Wang Chuan just loved picking on her.

Did she really look that much like a punching bag??

That wasn't right. She clearly had the elegant big-sister look—black stockings and long legs!

"Ah? Cough, cough. Here, you can have mine."

Only then did Wang Chuan realize he had taken the wrong one, and he felt a little awkward.

But his skin was still thick. It was not like this was the first time~~~

"Uh, no need, Boss. Is the game we made about to go live???"

Huang Shanshan shook her head with a broad smile and did not dwell on the soy milk matter any further.

It was not like this was the first time, anyway.

Eh? Why did it feel like she was the one at a loss???

"What? It's going live soon?"

"Manager Wang, is that true???"

"When exactly? I have to go support it."

Before Wang Chuan could answer, Zhao Jing, Liu Qiang, and Zhou Wei instantly perked up.

They began firing off questions all at once.

They had been busy alongside Wang Chuan these past few days, so they had a good idea of the game's progress.

Besides, while they did not know much about game development, they all loved games.

After all, in this world, games were the ninth art!!

Otherwise, they would not have given up their originally high-paying jobs to come to Wang Chuan's unknown little company.

Especially one that had only been established a few days ago.

All they wanted was to get a little closer to their dreams.

In the future, even if they were not producers, they could still proudly say:

"I was one of the people involved in making that xxx game you played."

And during the development process, they had also found joy in Soul Knight.

So when they, already full of anticipation, heard that it was about to go live—

How could they not be excited?

Because although they were not producers, they had all participated in making this game.

And to thank them, Wang Chuan had even specially hidden a small Easter egg in the game.

This Easter egg was his own original creation; it had not existed in his previous life.

If players triggered the Easter egg, the bosses in the game's stages would turn into them.

Among them, Wang Chuan would become the final boss, while Liu Qiang, Zhou Wei, Zhao Jing, and Huang Shanshan would become his four little guardian monsters.

"Mm, soon. Once we do some early promotion and build up a little hype, it can go live directly."

Seeing the excitement on their faces, Wang Chuan did not keep them guessing.

Unlike a few days ago, after several days of closed testing, the game's data and framework had been perfected.

And the students had discovered and fixed the few minor bugs that remained.

The Soul Knight Wang Chuan had made was still somewhat different from the version from his previous life.

For example, the garden system, Endless Mode, crafting system, and so on from his previous life—

Wang Chuan had not added any of them.

Instead, he planned to develop them gradually later and release them as DLC.

After all, he had high hopes for Soul Knight and did not want it to become a one-time buyout game.

He wanted it to keep running for a long time.

The players' main spending options would still be classes and skins. Wang Chuan had removed the monetization points in all other areas.

Compared to the high prices from his previous life, Wang Chuan had slashed the prices as low as they could go.

For instance, the classes and skins sold in his previous life would cost no more than 9.9 yuan at Wang Chuan's prices, even the most expensive ones.

It was practically a steal.

Of course, as always, Wang Chuan had never expected to strike it rich and reach the pinnacle of life with just one game.

The task he had assigned Soul Knight was simple.

It only needed to earn enough money to maintain the company and develop the next game.

As for those blockbuster titles, they still needed time!!

The other purpose was to open up the market and build up a certain number of players.

That was the top priority in establishing his own distribution channels.

In Wang Chuan's mind, the second point was undoubtedly more important than the first.

Money could always be earned again, sooner or later.

But users were different. If you missed them once, you missed them.

After playing through Soul Knight from beginning to end once again and confirming that there were no problems with the game itself—

Wang Chuan carefully selected a good release time.

It would officially launch at noon next Friday.

A game's launch time was not something that could be chosen casually.

There was a great deal of strategy involved!!!

Judging from a game's life cycle, its popularity would generally last around three weeks, with the peak coming in the first week after launch.

Therefore, publishers and producers would instinctively delay releases by three or four weeks.

That was the only way to ensure each game's profits were maximized.

But if they failed to avoid each other in time and ended up launching together, the consequences could be disastrous.

Wang Chuan remembered such a case!!

In his previous life, EA's Titanfall 2 could be considered an excellent game.

Whether in terms of quality or the awards it received, it was top-notch.

But its release timing had been incredibly awkward!

The popularity of the latest Call of Duty sequel had not yet died down, and EA's new Battlefield game was about to enter the fray.

It was a case of wolves in front and tigers behind!

At that point, with enough promotion, it could still have fought its way through.