Refuse All Acquisitions?

That was precisely why Soul Knight overtook the competition after its first day.

It slowly crushed the former frontrunner, The Parable of Illidan.

Of course, besides its fast pace and randomness, the game also owed its success to its multiplayer mode.

Wang Chuan and his team had built that themselves.

In his past life, Soul Knight had never launched multiplayer due to technical and third-party issues.

That had left a lingering regret among players from that world.

So when Wang Chuan decided to make Soul Knight, he and his team set off on a journey to develop an online co-op mode.

They also doubled down on social elements in the game, offering players corresponding perks.

For example, players could get limited-time access to certain characters through daily check-ins.

They could also add friends and, through the game's mechanics, freeload their friends' characters.

But there was a daily cap on how many times this could be done.

This approach was common in most card games.

It worked on the same principle as the friend-assist mode in card games—same bones underneath.

And using this principle came with clear advantages.

First, the games that always blew up were social ones. So if a game could pack in more social elements, it helped with long-term operation.

Why did some games, hailed as masterpieces and wildly popular at launch, fizzle out in just a month or two?

Why did other games, plain and struggling at the start, manage to keep running for a year or two?

The answer was simple: social factors.

No matter how much of a masterpiece a game was, no matter how fun its content, playing it over and over eventually led to boredom.

But turn it into a social game, and that changed.

You were still playing the same stuff, but with more people around, it became fun.

Second, it was a form of soft promotion. Like the limited-time character trials and friend-assist features mentioned earlier—all those player-friendly decisions.

They were really just letting players test-drive characters, with the core goal of stimulating spending.

This character is so fun—want to own it permanently?

Then buy it!

Third, it gave big spenders a place to show off.

That was a pretty common benefit, like the leaderboards in games or the "Emperor" titles in livestream rooms.

But since Soul Knight was ultimately a casual game, it didn't make that too obvious.

And it couldn't include anything that threatened game balance.

A week after the game launched.

All the players and media online had gone numb.

Even Tian Boxun at the Penguin Company and other game producers were stunned.

"No, that can't be right—you're all lying to me, aren't you?"

Tian Boxun stared at the data sheet in his hand, barely able to believe it.

It was a comparison of data between The Parable of Illidan and Soul Knight.

When the games first launched, he'd been brimming with confidence.

After one day, though worry had crept in, he still believed in himself.

Until Soul Knight suddenly surged ahead, pulled off a stunning reversal, and snatched the top spot on the new-game charts from The Parable of Illidan.

He broke down.

Even now, a week later, Soul Knight still held first place, firmly planted.

Although the Huangtu Game Company hadn't publicly released Soul Knight's data or revenue figures.

Everyone in the industry could still make rough estimates from the available numbers.

Currently, Soul Knight's downloads had hit a terrifying eight million.

And on a gaming forum, one producer announced that their new game had launched.

Its twenty-four-hour sales were around twenty thousand.

Even so, that was enough to rank second.

By that measure, Soul Knight's daily revenue in its first week should have been around six hundred thousand.

Of course, that was just an estimate. Only Wang Chuan and his team knew the exact figure.

But that wasn't the most shocking part. What really stunned people was Soul Knight's rating.

Because the player base had expanded again, Soul Knight's rating was also dropping.

It had now fallen to 9.4 points.

But that was still an incredibly terrifying score.

"Why, how could this be? I should have won, it should have been me!!"

Even though the facts were right in front of him, Tian Boxun still couldn't believe it.

And he was feeling utterly dejected.

He hadn't deliberately looked down on Soul Knight; he'd judged it with a fair eye.

The game's quality was indeed excellent, but behind it was a massive promotional push!!

Of course, the entire Penguin Company's promotional resources had given The Parable of Illidan a huge early advantage.

It had directly shot to the top of the new game charts, leaving Soul Knight in the dust.

But that was just absurd!

In only a day, Soul Knight had actually come from behind and usurped the throne!!

Who could have seen that coming??

Especially looking at Soul Knight's data afterward.

It was estimated that daily revenue could reach around a million.

That number was something a rookie game producer simply couldn't achieve.

It was an utterly unbelievable result.

With Soul Knight ahead and The Parable of Illidan behind, both achieving terrifying results, the gaming industry had come to know.

Wang Chuan's ability was absolutely not that of a flash-in-the-pan game producer.

His future was bright!

If The Parable of Illidan had succeeded and Soul Knight had failed, it would have meant Wang Chuan relied on a momentary spark of inspiration.

But now, with Soul Knight's success, especially the terrifying daily revenue it was showing.

For Huangtu Game Company, the significance was completely different.

Because it meant that Wang Chuan, this man, could make money!

So it also meant that Huangtu Game Company could make money!

As a result, major game studios were all trying to throw money at Wang Chuan~~~

"Boss, Net Entertainment sent word. They're offering us five hundred million RMB to acquire Huangtu, and they want to talk to you."

Looking at the confident Wang Chuan before her, Huang Shanshan felt a bit dazed.

She remembered that when they'd first applied here, they'd only wanted a place to work together.

A place where they could get close to the games they loved.

But she never expected that they'd suddenly hit it big, drawing big capital to the negotiating table.