Game Announcement

Tian Boxun shot a glare at the social platform, snorting coldly in his heart.

Then he opened his own account.

His gaze grew complicated as he looked at the reply he'd left for Wang Chuan a few days ago: Just wait and see!

Heh heh!!

Let's see how you face the netizens then~~~

Time flew by, and soon it was Friday at noon. Soul Knight officially launched.

It simultaneously hit major game stores and the official gaming platform.

And both the PC and Mobile versions went live together, with cross-platform data sharing!!!

At the same time, Penguin wasn't lagging behind. Also at Friday noon, they launched The Parable of Illidan.

Of course, there was a difference. The Parable of Illidan, being a clone of The Stanley Parable, only had a PC version, with no mobile version.

As the two games went live almost simultaneously, players who'd been eagerly waiting rushed to download and purchase them.

But based on current buzz, The Parable of Illidan held the bigger advantage.

First off, The Parable of Illidan had Penguin as its backing.

That meant it was available not only on the official gaming platform but also through Penguin's own channels.

Wang Chuan's Soul Knight, on the other hand, was different. It only launched on the official gaming platform.

It wasn't that no game platforms or channel distributors had approached him—it's just that their prices were way too high.

Wang Chuan really couldn't accept them.

And what surprised Wang Chuan was that even Penguin's platform had come knocking, but they wanted a sixty percent cut.

Yeah, he didn't agree!!!

The other channels had similar terms, none below fifty percent.

Honestly, if it were just the cut, fifty percent wasn't something he couldn't stomach. Money can't be earned all at once, and expanding the game's visibility was actually a good deal for him.

Besides, if the pie got bigger, he wouldn't necessarily earn less.

But the problem was that every other game platform demanded Wang Chuan sign one condition:

that he make certain changes to the game according to the platform's requirements.

How could Wang Chuan agree to that???

If he did, the platform could force him to modify Soul Knight.

And if he didn't finish the changes, they wouldn't let it go live.

Who could he even turn to for a fair shake?

It was this clause that made Wang Chuan realize one thing.

Small game development companies like his had absolutely no say when facing these channels.

In the gaming world, channels rule.

That only strengthened Wang Chuan's resolve to build his own channel.

Having your livelihood in someone else's hands really sucks.

Still, luckily in this world, the gaming industry held a high status and was valued by the authorities.

So with the official gaming platform, there was still a way to survive.

Online, Soul Knight was being promoted nonstop.

Tian Boxun's side was doing the same, but with a difference: The Parable of Illidan, besides being on the official gaming platform, also got a front-page banner feature on Penguin's own platform, maximizing the game's exposure.

Unlike the original The Stanley Parable, The Parable of Illidan had a buyout price of thirty yuan.

That price was normal. What Wang Chuan had set before was practically a steal.

In this world, game buyout prices had regulations.

Small indie games typically ranged from one yuan to fifty yuan.

Mid-tier games ranged from one hundred to two hundred yuan.

And big titles, the AAA-level games, ranged from three hundred to five hundred yuan.

As for large-scale VR games, they went for over a thousand.

Of course, these were reference prices set by the authorities.

The actual price was still up to the developers, unless it was too high—then it wouldn't fly.

At that moment, on the second floor of Huangtu Game Company.

"Senior, you didn't set the price wrong, did you? Why do I see Soul Knight as a free download?"

"Yeah, Brother Wang, you didn't lose money, did you? I dunno, this in-app purchase thing doesn't seem right! The game doesn't even sell power-ups or weapons~~~"

"Right, right, if you ask me, you should've just gone with a flat purchase price. At least that way you'd recoup the development costs!!!"

The students crowded around Wang Chuan, their faces tight with worry as they chimed in one after another.

These students were all from Wang Chuan's alma mater. They'd come during the closed beta too.

At first, they'd thought the school was exaggerating Wang Chuan's achievements, but once they got close to him, they all turned into his fans.

As fans, of course they'd support their idol right away.

So they'd made a point to come today, on the official launch day of "Soul Knight," to congratulate Wang Chuan.

Oh, and worth mentioning—since he had so many fans, these guys only made it here after fighting tooth and nail to get through the crowd.

Once they arrived, they immediately downloaded the game to show their support.

But then they noticed a few things that got them worried.

Since they all went to the same school as Wang Chuan, they felt a natural bond.

Plus, during the closed beta, the feedback they'd given—after Wang Chuan's analysis—mostly made it into the game.

So they felt like the game was their own baby, and they genuinely hoped it would succeed and make a mark.

"Alright, alright, I know all about your concerns, but trust me!"

"'Soul Knight' is going for small profits with high volume. Those characters and skins—if it were you, could you resist buying them???"

"At those cheap prices, wouldn't you just buy, buy, buy???"

Wang Chuan listened to them, then smiled and fired off a series of rhetorical questions that left them all speechless.

Yeah! Skins that cheap, characters that cheap.

And the content's packed too—buying is a steal!!!

No more talking, time to buy~~~

The group exchanged glances, snapped out of it, and logged into the game, scrambling to spend their money.

Watching them go, Wang Chuan shook his head with a wry smile. Man, these guys—no willpower at all!

Truth be told, Wang Chuan was pretty confident.

He'd done market research beforehand, and the results were solid.

Unlike the "Soul Knight" from his past life, with its messy monetization and sky-high skin and character prices, this time around, Wang Chuan had slashed the prices to the bare minimum.

Sticking to the old tradition—dirt cheap.

It wasn't that Wang Chuan didn't value money; he was actually pretty broke.

But hey, it's all about small profits and big volume, right~~~

Gotta say, human psychology is weird.

A ten-buck item just doesn't sell as well as one for nine ninety-nine.

It's only a dime difference, but it feels totally different!!!