Be Human, CEO Chen

On October 8, after the National Day holiday, Yang Xin, Ruan Ningxue, and staff from various departments were all summoned to Chen Xu's office.

"Before the National Day holiday, I mentioned that we'd be developing a larger-scale project next."

"It'll involve quite a lot of action elements. Qin Yi, contact a motion-capture studio when the time comes. We'll need plenty of material for the later stages."

Chen Xu spoke to a young man of about twenty-five or twenty-six who already looked slightly balding.

"No problem, CEO Chen." The young man called Qin Yi nodded.

Motion capture was nothing particularly high-end in either his previous life or the Parallel World.

Compared with hand-animating movements, motion capture had enormous advantages.

It was cheaper, more efficient, and more natural.

If building a mature motion-capture studio did not require such a hefty investment—

Chen Xu would have wanted to establish one immediately. After all, future game development would definitely require frequent production of related assets.

"Alright, everyone, take a look at the game we'll be developing this time."

After a brief explanation, Chen Xu projected his notebook's screen onto the wall.

Over the past few days, with the help of the Memory Capsule, Chen Xu had rushed out the first draft of the design concept for "Outlast."

"A... a horror game?" Yang Xin looked at Chen Xu in surprise.

It was not just Yang Xin. Ruan Ningxue, Qin Yi, and the other newer employees were all stunned as well.

Because this was a genre they had never considered before.

Everyone had considered story-driven games like "To the Moon," META-style games like "Undertale," and traditional RPGs.

But a horror game was truly unexpected.

After all, horror games were actually in a rather awkward position.

And there was another crucial point: hadn't CEO Chen said before that he was a Warrior of Love?

What the hell did a horror game have to do with love?!

Looking at everyone's expressions, Chen Xu could more or less guess what they were thinking.

Because this type of game was truly difficult to make.

It could be said that horror games were a genre that tested a developer's skill level immensely.

After all, if a horror game failed to make players feel scared, it would most likely turn into a comedy game.

On top of that, the horror game market meant major companies looked down on it, leaving only small and ordinary companies to make them.

Without sufficient funding, most designers used a common technique from horror films and games: jump scares.

Simply put, a jump scare was when you saw a picture of a long-legged young woman swaying toward you.

Just as you got excited and wanted to raise your gun and shoot, she suddenly turned into a blood-smeared, grotesque Crones pressing her face against yours. That was a standard jump scare.

Though it was often considered cliché, there was no denying that among games meant to frighten players, jump scares were an extremely classic and effective technique.

But jump scares were a double-edged sword. Used well, they created a masterpiece.

Used poorly, they created trash.

Truly excellent horror games often used jump scares too, so believing that any horror game using jump scares was automatically bad was completely mistaken.

A true horror game kept players under constant pressure throughout the game.

Because the scariest thing in a horror game was not being scared—it was the unease of not knowing when you would be scared.

Horror games could have jump scares, but they absolutely could not overuse them. The core—and also the greatest difficulty—of horror games was using jump scares to make players scare themselves during the experience.

In the office, Chen Xu explained the points they needed to pay attention to while making "Outlast."

"Really, it's just that we don't have enough development time. Otherwise, I'd have liked to take everyone on a field trip—find some abandoned hospital, set it up a little, and give everyone a deeper understanding." Thinking of something, Chen Xu spoke with a regretful expression.

Yang Xin and Ruan Ningxue stared at Chen Xu with wide eyes.

Qin Yi and the others silently lowered their heads.

"It's fine, don't regret it. The next time we develop a horror game, I'll definitely take everyone there." Chen Xu said with a smile.

Everyone was instantly speechless.

Who would regret something like that?!

"Also, Zhang Yida, pay attention to the game's promotion when the time comes. We need to build a trending topic around video and livestreaming platforms. Write up a proposal for it." After making a casual joke, Chen Xu spoke to Zhang Yida from marketing.

Zhang Yida, who had been sitting there silently the whole time, nodded when he heard Chen Xu's words. "Understood, CEO Chen."

Nebula Games now had a modest amount of funding, so naturally they would not neglect promotion.

Moreover, a good horror game inherently had strong livestreaming appeal. Utilizing livestream and video platforms would allow its popularity to spread and ferment quickly.

After all, many players did not dare play horror games themselves, yet still enjoyed watching others play them.

And for many horror games, watching and playing were entirely different experiences.

There were certainly players who thought, This horror game is nothing special, then bought it and played it themselves.

Though there was a high probability they would get so scared that they would not dare continue.

But all of that could help spread the game's popularity.

These were all important.

The "Outlast" series had sold over fifteen million copies in his previous life, and the rise of the livestreaming industry had played a major part in that.

After briefly covering that, Chen Xu continued explaining the core elements of "Outlast."

First, just like the game's title implied, players took on the role of an unarmed reporter. When faced with all kinds of terrifying situations, they had only one choice: run.

Second was the game's camera mechanic. Unlike the nuclear-powered Flashlights in traditional games that never ran out of power, the reporter in "Outlast" needed to use the camera's night vision mode to navigate dark areas.

But unlike a nuclear-powered flashlight, activating night vision consumed battery power.

The player's Batteries were limited, and that created a driving force.

In addition, Chen Xu broke down the game's story, pacing, and other aspects bit by bit for everyone.

"Mm, Ruan Ningxue, pay attention to the DV visuals and the creation of the scene atmosphere. Late at night, you can turn off the lights at home and experience it properly for yourself."

"I've prepared the prop too. You can take it home and try it out."

As he spoke, Chen Xu took a handheld DV camera from his desk and placed it beside Ruan Ningxue.

Ruan Ningxue: ??????

Looking at the handheld DV camera before her, the smile gradually vanished from her face.

Be human, CEO Chen!