The Manager Is a Good Person

The reason it still falls short compared to The Parable of Illidan is mainly because Soul Knight's player base is too small.

Once enough time passes and Soul Knight's total player count rises, his revenue will increase too.

The Parable of Illidan is different—it's a one-time purchase game. Players only need to pay once and never spend again.

Similarly, The Parable of Illidan has basically no subsequent income after that, unless they keep making DLC or attract new players.

Otherwise, its revenue won't fluctuate anymore.

But Soul Knight is different, because Wang Chuan considered future development when making it.

So the game itself is free, while the skins and player characters are paid content.

Plus the multiplayer PvE mode, and the update plans Wang Chuan has prepared for later, include an endless mode and a variety of other gameplay styles.

All of this ensures Soul Knight's ongoing fun and progression content, keeping players active.

What's more, as a Roguelike game, its inherent randomness gives players an undying sense of freshness no matter when they play.

For example, different scenes each round, different enemy traits in each level, different class talents, different chests yielding different equipment, and so on.

And different characters have different skills, triggering different effects in different levels, etc.

These are all things players can't let go of, and they're the features that attract them.

As long as these maintain the player base, combined with the game's paid content, and as long as Wang Chuan doesn't screw things up in later operations—like raising prices on characters or skins, or messing with the game mechanics to make it unfun—then the game will definitely run long-term.

It'll become a cash cow on Wang Chuan's map, providing a steady stream of funds.

"The outcome is decided!"

Wang Chuan squinted leisurely, smiling at The Parable of Illidan on the sales chart.

Even though Soul Knight can only rank behind it now, its future is bright!

Wang Chuan and the four others celebrated happily at the restaurant.

Soul Knight's buzz gradually fermented as players spread the word by word of mouth.

In the Game New World office, even though it was already time to clock out, Xia Xiao still hadn't left.

And, of course, accompanying her was the essential little simp for the goddess, Xiao Chen.

By the way, Xia Xiao couldn't leave because she had a task, while Xiao Chen stayed just to suck up to her.

At this moment, Xia Xiao and Xiao Chen each held a phone, fingers swiping constantly.

It wasn't some secret activity—they were playing Soul Knight.

More precisely, they were testing Soul Knight.

Not that they test every game; normally, they only test well-known ones.

The reason they were testing Soul Knight was simply because the developer was Wang Chuan.

After all, Soul Knight wasn't big—just a niche indie game.

Under normal circumstances, they'd never test it, since several games launch every day, and similar ones are too numerous.

The odds of finding a good game are just too slim.

But since it was a game by Wang Chuan, that changed things.

Game New World had worked with Wang Chuan before and knew his strength—namely, the buzz from his last game, The Stanley Parable.

Plus, everyone knew about the conflict between Wang Chuan and Penguin producer Tian Boxun.

So a talented, controversial, and talked-about person developing a new game—they had no reason to pass it up.

Thus, after Soul Knight and The Parable of Illidan launched, they started testing.

"Oh, I found a chest. Xia Xiao, want to open it? Your luck is way better than mine."

"Heh, no need. You open orange gear, I open white gear. Are you mocking me?"

"Uh..."

"Aiya, Xia Xiao, look, I caught a Wild Boar—this'd make a great mount. Want me to let you ride it?"

"Heh, no thanks. Wild Boars are way too ugly. You keep it for yourself!"

"Uh..."

"Aiya, Xia Xiao, look, I pulled a really awesome item. How about—"

"No need, I don't want it. Use it yourself!"

"Uh..."

The two were playing Soul Knight right there, and every one of Xiao Chen's attempts to curry favor was mercilessly shot down.

But they both shared one thing in common: they were completely absorbed in the game.

Just then, the office door slowly pushed open, and a somewhat greasy Middle-aged Man walked in.

Seeing Xia Xiao and Xiao Chen both focused on gaming, a look of surprise and relief crept onto his face.

"Haha, the article on Game New World is already written today, and the feedback's been pretty good too."

"Don't stay too late working overtime, everyone. Head home early. Just write up the test results when you get back."

"We'll send it out tomorrow after the review passes. Oh, and I'll send you both a red packet as a bonus."

The Middle-aged Man looked at the two of them and said with a smile.

Then he opened the chat app, sent each of them a hundred bucks, and left the office.

Ah, looks like I underestimated them.

Gotta say, young people really have drive.

Yeah, from now on, when hiring, I'll stick with younger folks—at least they'll take the initiative to work overtime!

Without realizing it, the manager had cemented this image of young people in his mind.

Uh.

Xia Xiao and Xiao Chen heard the manager's words and the door left wide open, and froze for a moment.

Then they exchanged a glance, dumbfounded.

Crap. They'd been playing so long they'd completely forgotten about the testing!

Right after work, they'd finished testing The Parable of Illidan.

Then they were supposed to test Soul Knight.

At first, they'd been serious—going through the gameplay, the interface, the Art Assets, the experience in various modes, and so on.

But as they tested, they got sucked into playing.

To the point where they forgot all about the testing.

And not only that—they'd even unknowingly dropped some cash.

Bought a few characters and skins.

But luckily, for some reason, the manager had sent a fat red packet~~~

Man, the manager's a good guy!!!