The Right Timing is Important

The next day, inside Huangtu Game Company.

"Manager Wang, after two sleepless days and nights of hard work, plus help from the outsourcing team, we've basically got the company's database set up."

Liu Qiang and Zhou Wei walked over with smiles on their faces.

Their complexions were pale, with heavy dark circles under their eyes—clearly, they hadn't slept much lately.

"Good, well done. Once our game goes live, I'll personally hand out rewards to you."

"But for now, I'm giving you both the day off to rest."

Wang Chuan wasn't some emotionless machine; he never skimped on rewards for those who contributed.

Of course, not just yet. The money on hand was all earmarked for Soul Knight.

But once the game launched, the profits could be used to motivate the staff.

Yeah, he was already prepared to bleed a little.

"Manager Wang, this is the latest intel we've gathered on the industry circles."

"Alright, leave it there. I'll look at it later."

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

"Boss, that's mine~~~"

Before Huang Shanshan could stop him, she saw Wang Chuan take a sip. She sighed helplessly, her voice trailing off.

She didn't know why, but Wang Chuan always liked to mess with her.

Did she really look like such a pushover??

No way—she was clearly the black-stocking, long-legged, mature type!

"Huh? Ahem, here, take mine."

Wang Chuan realized his mistake and felt a slight awkwardness.

But his skin was thick enough; it wasn't like this was the first time~~~

"Uh, no need, boss. Is the game we're making about to go live???"

Huang Shanshan shook her head with a smile, not dwelling on the soy milk issue.

It wasn't the first time anyway.

Huh? Why did it feel like she was the one losing out???

"What? It's about to launch?"

"Manager Wang, is that for real???"

"When exactly? I've gotta support it!"

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

They chattered away with questions.

They'd been working alongside Wang Chuan these past days and had a good sense of the game's status.

Besides, even if they didn't know much about game development, they all loved games.

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

Otherwise, they wouldn't have given up their high-paying jobs to join Wang Chuan's obscure little company.

One that had only been founded a few days ago.

All to get a little closer to their dreams.

Later, when they went out, even if they weren't the creators, they could proudly say:

"That xxx game you're playing? I was part of it too."

And during development, they'd found real enjoyment in Soul Knight.

So, already full of anticipation, hearing the news of an imminent launch—

How could they not get excited?

Because even though they weren't the creators, they'd all taken part in making the game.

And to thank them, Wang Chuan had specially hidden a little Easter egg inside the game.

An original one he'd come up with—something that didn't exist in his past life.

When someone triggered this Easter egg, the bosses in the game's levels would turn into them.

Wang Chuan would be the final boss, while Liu Qiang, Zhou Wei, Zhao Jing, and Huang Shanshan would become his four guardian minions.

"Yeah, soon. Just need to do some initial promotion, build up some hype, and then we can launch directly."

Wang Chuan saw the excitement in their eyes and didn't drag it out.

Unlike a few days ago, after several rounds of internal testing, the game's data and framework were all solid now.

A few minor bugs were also discovered and fixed by the students.

The Soul Knight he created was still somewhat different from the version in his past life.

For example, features like the garden system, endless mode, and crafting system that existed in the past life—

Wang Chuan didn't include any of them.

Instead, he planned to add them later, slowly, and release them as DLC.

After all, he had high hopes for Soul Knight and didn't want it to become a one-time purchase game.

He wanted it to run long-term.

The main monetization points for players were still the classes and skins, while Wang Chuan removed all other monetization aspects.

Compared to the high prices in the past life, Wang Chuan had slashed them as low as possible.

For example, classes and skins that sold for high prices in the past life—here, the most expensive ones wouldn't exceed nine ninety-nine.

It was practically a steal.

Of course, as always, Wang Chuan never thought he could get rich and reach the peak of life through a single game.

The task he gave Soul Knight was simple.

Just earn a little money—enough to maintain the company and develop the next game.

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

Another goal was to expand the market and accumulate a certain number of player users.

This was still the top priority for building his own distribution channel.

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

Money could be earned anytime, any way.

But users—once missed, they were gone.

After playing through Soul Knight from start to finish one more time and confirming the game itself had no issues, Wang Chuan carefully picked a good launch time.

That was next Friday at noon.

Choosing a game's launch time wasn't something you could just do casually.

There were rules to it!!!

According to the game's lifecycle, a game's popularity would last about three weeks, with the peak being the first week right after launch.

So developers and producers would instinctively push the game back by three to four weeks.

That way, they could ensure maximum profit for each game.

But if they didn't stagger the timing and clashed with others, the consequences could be brutal.

Wang Chuan remembered such a case from his past life!!

The game Titanfall 2 released by EA in the past life was a top-tier title.

Both its quality and the awards it won were solid.

But its launch timing was awkward!

The buzz from the latest Call of Duty sequel hadn't faded yet, and then EA's new game Battlefield was about to drop.

It was like having a wolf at the front and a tiger at the back!

At that point, if there was heavy promotion, it could still carve out a path.