Tian Boxun: Haven't I Already Won?

Meanwhile, in Tian Boxun's studio at Penguin Company.

After his game "The Parable of Illidan" went live on the Official Platform and secured promotional resources from the Penguin Games platform, Tian Boxun kept a close eye on the data for "The Parable of Illidan" from the Pangu Editor Backend.

Thanks to the massive feature push from Penguin's free channels, downloads kept climbing steadily after the game launched.

The base game of "The Parable of Illidan" was set as a pay-to-own model, priced at thirty yuan.

So it counted as a small-budget production.

At the current pace, it wouldn't be long before the development costs were recouped.

Soon, the data refreshed again.

One-hour sales hit over three thousand, with the majority coming from Penguin's platform.

Only a dozen or so people requested refunds.

Clearly, this was the effect of Penguin's big feature push.

"Haha, with numbers like this, there's no way my game loses. Wang Chuan, how are you going to beat me?"

Seeing this data, a smirk curled at the corner of Tian Boxun's mouth.

On the Official Platform, players had to play for over two hours before they could leave reviews or ratings.

But on other game platforms, there was no such restriction.

On the Penguin Games platform, anyone who bought and downloaded the game could immediately rate and review it.

With over three thousand sales so far, more than two hundred people had already left ratings and reviews.

The positive review rate hit eighty percent.

If this were any other game, that would be a total flop.

But for "The Parable of Illidan," it was still acceptable.

Because among those people, many weren't playing the game—they were specifically there to leave negative reviews.

This stemmed from the earlier incident between Tian Boxun and Wang Chuan on social media, which had trended.

And in that matter, Tian Boxun was in the wrong, while Wang Chuan stood on the side of justice and the underdog.

That led plenty of righteous people to take a dim view of Tian Boxun, so they deliberately came to sabotage him.

Of course, Tian Boxun knew all this, but he didn't care—he was making money anyway.

Still, compared to the game he'd imitated, "The Stanley Parable," which had over nine million downloads and a terrifying 99% positive rating, there was no contest.

But he wasn't bored enough to think about surpassing it.

As long as "The Parable of Illidan" performed well enough to rake in cash, that was fine.

"Mm, at this rate, the 24-hour download count should break twenty thousand."

Tian Boxun nodded in satisfaction at the numbers on his calculator.

Barring any surprises, the first week of a new game was always the hottest.

So for the first month, "The Parable of Illidan" should hit around half a million downloads.

"Ding!"

"Ding!"

Suddenly, a series of alerts rang out from the Backend.

Curious, Tian Boxun checked—it was his Penguin colleagues spamming @mentions in the group chat.

"Tian, how's the data for 'The Parable of Illidan' looking? Looks good on the platform from here!"

"Good? That's an understatement! It's damn impressive—I bet it'll break ten million~~~"

"Huh? Isn't that Old Tian's third game to hit ten million? His next project can get an upgrade!! So jealous~~~"

"Oh man, that means his income's gonna double! Hey, is Old Tian married yet? I've got a sister who'd like to meet him."

"Pfft, you're not really trying to set him up—you're just after his money, you shameless bastard!"

"Pfft, what's your sister got? Tian, I've got an older sister—want me to play matchmaker?"

Seeing the chat spiral off-topic, Tian Boxun couldn't help feeling smug.

Hmph, usually they're all cold and aloof, but now they're crawling to me?

Thinking that, he still replied with a message.

"The data's not bad. As for project upgrades, I wouldn't dare say—still up to the bosses."

While the others kept pushing their sisters and flattering him, someone suddenly sent a message.

"Old Tian! Don't get careless—I remember you've got some competition with that Wang Chuan guy who made 'The Stanley Parable,' right?"

"Ah, no worries about Old Tian—look at Wang Chuan's data. His new game's a free-to-play with in-app purchases, but here's the funny part: even for free, downloads are barely over twenty thousand~~~"

Seeing that message, Tian Boxun wanted to laugh too, but he stayed cautious.

He quickly found Wang Chuan's new game and clicked on it.

He had been keeping an eye on his own "The Parable of Illidan," but had forgotten about Wang Chuan's "Soul Knight."

Upon opening it and seeing Wang Chuan's data, Tian Boxun couldn't help but freeze.

It wasn't that it was high—rather, it was a bit low~~~

And a laugh rose in his heart.

Free-to-play with in-app purchases—using the game to attract traffic and charging for content—was a perfectly normal strategy.

But this was only Wang Chuan's second game! And he was already trying free-to-play with in-app purchases??

Was that something a newcomer could pull off? Every big-name producer who used this model was already established.

"Wang Chuan, Wang Chuan... looks like I overestimated you. You think free-to-play with in-app purchases will get tons of players to pay? Do you really think success is that easy???"

Tian Boxun now felt that Wang Chuan's first game's success was pure coincidence!

And in his view, Wang Chuan had resorted to the free-to-play with in-app purchases model.

It was also because he was backed by the Penguin Games platform—Wang Chuan's small company couldn't compete with him in distribution channels.

So he used free access to lower the barrier for players, bait them into paying, and create the illusion of success.

"Heh, even though I know you've already lost, I'll still respect you."

With that thought, Tian Boxun clicked into Wang Chuan's game.

At that moment, he felt like a true gentleman.

Despising the enemy strategically, yet respecting them tactically.

At the Huangtu Game Company, in the first-floor villa.

The studio's four-person team had painfully cut their vacation short and rushed back.

Wang Chuan was touched enough by this, thinking they couldn't bear to leave him alone.

In reality, they were just worried about "Soul Knight."

After all, this game was the result of everyone's hard work together.

"Boss, Tian Boxun's side has already announced—'The Parable of Illidan' hit over three thousand downloads in the first hour."

In the first-floor office area, Huang Shanshan stood behind Wang Chuan, speaking with a worried expression.

The others were also constantly refreshing the backend, their hearts full of anxiety.