As time passed, sales of "To the Moon" steadily rose.
At the same time, many domestic media outlets following this event began publishing articles.
"An unforgettable love story—'To the Moon,' a game that will bring you to tears!"
"Game Review: A Game That Strikes Straight at Your Heart!"
"A favorite to win the Game Recruitment Event—can 'To the Moon' really be considered a sci-fi game?"
"A game that made countless tough guys cry."
A week after the Zheng You Tournament began, it had actually become very clear which games could contend for awards and which could not.
Some games had simply come to make an appearance and caused virtually no stir.
As for the games aspiring to win awards, by now, many players—including game designers in the industry—already had a clear idea.
The First Prize was basically a contest between "To the Moon" and "Galaxy Heroes" from NetDragon's Sword Fire Thunder Studio.
In the Player Voting Zone, "To the Moon" had pulled well ahead of Sword Fire Thunder Studio's "Galaxy Heroes."
But after all, this was not based purely on player evaluations. The Game Department Official Jury's assessment was also extremely important.
Although "To the Moon" held some advantages,
it had not yet reached the point of completely crushing its opponent.
So it still depended on what score the official side ultimately gave it.
And over these two games, players had been arguing endlessly online lately.
"'Galaxy Heroes' will definitely win in the end. I admit 'To the Moon' has a pretty good story, but can that even count as a game? It has no gameplay at all. And can it be considered sci-fi?"
"I'm voting with the guy above. It would only be right and proper for 'Galaxy Heroes' to win!"
"Give me a break. What do you even mean by gameplay? Why don't you fucking explain it to me? Isn't storytelling a form of gameplay? Isn't music a form of gameplay? Does a game have to involve fighting monsters and solving puzzles before it counts as gameplay?"
"That's right. If 'To the Moon' doesn't count as sci-fi, then a whole bunch of the entries don't count either. Why not have the Game Department throw them all out?"
"I'm not listening, I'm not listening, tortoise chanting scriptures. Anyway, I voted for 'To the Moon.'"
"Hehe, victory will definitely belong to 'Galaxy Heroes'!"
"That's right, 'Galaxy Heroes' will definitely claim the final victory!"
"Hmph, what 'Galaxy Heroes'? Look at that game designer's name—'Meng Zuo.' Isn't that literally 'dreaming'? If he wants the First Prize, he can probably only get it in his dreams!"
"Damn, bro, that angle of interpretation is really something else!"
"Are you guys really so sure it'll come down to 'To the Moon' and 'Galaxy Heroes'? Are you looking down on 'Black Beast,' made by our great Demon?"
"Hehe, don't be fooled by how 'To the Moon' and 'Galaxy Heroes' currently have far more player votes than the other games. I have a feeling the ultimate winner will be 'Ashaji' from Black Lily Studio."
"You two upstairs, it's not even nighttime yet. Please stop daydreaming and kindly roll away, would you?"
"+1. The two upstairs, please roll away!"
Every player had their own favorite, and the true conclusion had yet to emerge.
Naturally, everyone wanted to gain the upper hand in the major communities.
But for the most part, everyone had their own arguments.
Compared with all the online discussions and heated debates among players,
Chen Xu was far more composed at this moment.
Nebula Games' office.
Chen Xu sat in the office, calling applicants to notify them of their interview results.
The candidates for the art and music positions had all been found.
It was just that, on the numerical design and Level Design side, he had interviewed several people, but none had particularly satisfied Chen Xu.
"Chen Xu, why aren't you worried at all?" Yang Xin asked from beside him as she watched Chen Xu finish his call, rise from his chair, and pace around the office twice.
"Yeah, isn't the winners list supposed to be announced today?" Ruan Ningxue was a little excited as well.
This was the third game she had helped develop.
By now, she was no longer the complete novice she had once been when it came to the game industry.
As for becoming the king of doujinshi and then switching to being a manga artist, she had long since pushed that idea aside.
On one hand, she had discovered the joy games could bring.
On the other hand, Nebula Games was developing so well—why would she still care about making manga?
"It wouldn't help even if I were worried! The final result isn't something I can control." Chen Xu was speechless at Yang Xin and Ruan Ningxue's words.
Of course he hoped to win an award, but the key was that it was not his call, was it?
"Oh, right. Release the mobile version of 'Undertale' once the winners list is announced today." Thinking of something, Chen Xu said, "Based on the current trend, a top-two finish is basically guaranteed. Whether we get the grand prize or not, there'll definitely be buzz around us. Then we can ride our own wave of popularity."
During the period "To the Moon" was competing, Nebula Games' main work had focused on two areas.
One was porting "Undertale" to mobile. That had not taken much effort, and the port had been finished long ago.
They had merely delayed its release until now so they could ride their own hype.
The other was building Nebula Games' team.
Besides expanding the development team,
Chen Xu was also expanding the company's other departments during this period.
Macro Play, finance, and human resources—the basic framework was already in place.
There was also the platform development team.
At present, Nebula Games was still a small workshop in the eyes of most players and the game industry alike.
From "Magic Mirror" to "Undertale" to "To the Moon," they had never made any major titles. They were basically all small-scale indie games.
But Chen Xu's ambitions clearly did not stop there.
In the future, Nebula Games would undoubtedly venture into far broader territory.
Building an independent platform now was a step toward strengthening their own foundation.
As for whether it would draw the industry's attention—
to put it bluntly, what the hell was Nebula Games right now?
Even if "To the Moon" took first place in this event, at most it would stir up some waves in the Indie Game Circle
and make an appearance in the wider gaming world.
As for drawing the vigilance or hostility of the giants,
that was simply overthinking things.
Besides, self-operated platforms like this were quite common.
After all, building a platform did not automatically mean creating a distribution channel.
You still needed others to join you, along with enough popularity.
Many second- and third-tier developers, as well as quite a few indie game creators and companies—especially those with established series and loyal fanbases—
had their own self-operated platforms. After all, releasing on third-party platforms meant paying other people.
But if players bought games through their own platform,
then aside from taxes, it was pure profit.
Meanwhile, amid all the players' heated online discussions, the Game Recruitment Event was decisively settled by an official notice from the Game Department.
Before you continue