Infinite Games Company.
The removal of Omnipotent God had become a fact, and the executives were deeply dejected.
The decision to trade Infinite Games Company for the in-game resources of Omnipotent God had already been hard for them to accept. You could even say they were betting their current interests on an uncertain future.
What they hadn't expected was that Wonder Studio wouldn't give them the time of day from start to finish.
They never imagined things would end this way.
Now that Omnipotent God had been removed, their meeting had shifted from discussing how to cooperate with Wonder Studio to planning the future of Infinite Game Platform and how to transform the company.
Just then, someone knocked on the door.
While the executives looked on in confusion, the meeting-room door swung open. The department head in charge of platform operations and maintenance hurriedly spoke up:
"The platform's in trouble!"
At that moment, beneath the discussion boards of the various games,
there were nothing but posts from furious Omnipotent God players.
[Omnipotent God players unite: Trash platform, bullying a newcomer studio. Boss Jiang is shameless and utterly vile, stopping at nothing for profit. He~tui.]
[Omnipotent God players unite: I'd heard that all the major game companies had been screwed over by Infinite Game Platform, but because of its special position, they all dared not complain even when they were angry. But now they've gone after a game I love, so today I have to speak up!]
[Omnipotent God players unite: Let's all boycott Infinite Game Platform. That damn Boss Jiang has ruined so many good games. If Omnipotent God goes under because of this persecution, I won't let you get away with it!]
[Omnipotent God players unite: Infinite Game Platform didn't develop the game; it just provided a platform, yet it dares to take a 15% cut of in-game purchases. I'd known about that for a while and never thought much of it, but now they've gotten Omnipotent God removed, so I'm going to call out Infinite Game Platform!]
[Heartless capitalist Boss Jiang, smothering innovation! To protect Infinite Platform's interests, he's ruthlessly persecuted innovative game studios. Besides Omnipotent God, I bet plenty of other games have been persecuted too—acquired or removed from the platform. We just didn't notice. And now, let me call out Infinite Game Platform!]
The discussion-board bombing campaign started by Omnipotent God players quickly swept across Infinite Game Platform.
They were everywhere on the discussion boards for all the different games.
Their posts all condemned Infinite Game Platform and spoke up for Wonder Studio.
This wave of attention introduced many players who had never tried Omnipotent God to the game.
Confused, players began asking questions on the discussion boards, hoping to learn what had happened.
As rumors spread, different versions of why Omnipotent God had left Infinite Game Platform began appearing across the various game discussion boards.
The relatively sensible version went like this: Omnipotent God had enormous potential, so Infinite Game Platform wanted to acquire it. But Wonder Studio refused, and the platform forcibly removed the game to stifle its growth.
The soap-opera version: Wonder Studio's boss slept with Boss Jiang's wife, so Boss Jiang flew into a rage, banned Omnipotent God, and issued an industry-wide kill order. Any game company that cooperated with Wonder Studio would be suppressed.
The cyberpunk version: Wonder Studio's head had accidentally discovered that Boss Jiang of Infinite Game Platform was an alien whose goal in creating the platform was to rule humanity. So Wonder Studio chose to break free from Infinite Game Platform's control and prepare to create a new platform to fight the Great Demon King Jiang.
There were also Lovecraftian, fantasy, and other versions...
The story of why Omnipotent God had been removed grew more and more outlandish as players spread it around.
But the players' anger was real.
Convinced that Infinite Game Platform had persecuted Wonder Studio, they turned their fury into words, calling out the platform and Boss Jiang all over the discussion boards.
At that moment, both the newly appointed Jiang Ming and the retired Boss Jiang were caught in the crossfire.
As the situation grew worse, more than 700,000 people uninstalled Infinite Game Platform in a short time.
Most of them were Omnipotent God players. The main reason they uninstalled the platform was that Omnipotent God had moved elsewhere; as devoted players, they naturally followed it.
But from Infinite Game Platform's perspective, letting the public outcry keep spreading would obviously cause trouble.
An hour later, Infinite Game Platform issued an announcement to clear things up.
It stated that Wonder Studio had chosen to remove Omnipotent God from Infinite Game Platform of its own accord. The platform had tried to persuade them to stay, but failed. There had been no persecution, contrary to what people online were saying.
However, the announcement had absolutely no effect.
The comments beneath it were all "warm greetings" from Omnipotent God players.
The players firmly believed the clarification didn't match the facts, and didn't believe Wonder Studio would willingly leave Infinite Game Platform. The studio had to have been persecuted.
Public opinion had completely swung in Wonder Studio's favor, and the platform's explanation had become nothing but excuses in the eyes of Omnipotent God players.
Faced with a situation that was spiraling out of control and left with no other options, Infinite Game Platform finally decided to publish the emails in the platform GM account.
Except for the final email about selling the platform in exchange for Divine Power, all the others were posted as screenshots in a new announcement.
After reading the latest announcement,
the players who had been up in arms were stunned.
Only then did they learn that Infinite Game Platform really had tried to keep Omnipotent God. It had even offered a series of generous terms, humbling itself in the hope of working with Wonder Studio.
Yet Wonder Studio hadn't even replied. It had been aloof to the extreme.
After learning the truth, the Omnipotent God players changed their tune.
But not in the way Infinite Game Platform had hoped.
The replies beneath the announcement were all full of praise for Wonder Studio's decision.
"Wonder Studio is awesome! It straight-up ignored Infinite Company's offer. No wonder a studio like that could make Omnipotent God. That's just incredible."
"Damn, I'm seriously impressed. Wonder Studio actually dared to turn down Infinite Game Platform's invitation to cooperate. Respect!"
"Now that's a studio with character. I like it. I love Omnipotent God. Shout-out to Wonder Studio!"
"They don't care about profit; they just want to make games with heart. Wonder Studio's got a vision Infinite Company can't match. Starting their own platform is even better. I'm heading over to the new platform now!"
The comments beneath the announcement turned into a massive display of double standards.
At first, they had accused Infinite Game Platform of persecuting Wonder Studio. After learning the truth, they praised Wonder Studio for its vision and foresight.
Omnipotent God players showed with their actions exactly what it meant to hold a double standard.
Before you continue