Players and the Industry Abuzz

In the early hours of October 31, Chen Xu uploaded a prerecorded video to his Official Blog right on schedule.

At the same time, he posted a message: "Guess what the new game is?"

Though it was the middle of the night, quite a few of the players following Chen Xu's Official Blog were night owls.

Not long after the post went up, it caught the attention of some players.

"What's this? Look what I found—Chen Xu has a new game?"

"Damn, posting in the middle of the night? What kind of timing is that?"

"My God, what is this video? Posting this at night, I thought it'd be something nice!"

"Wait, what the hell is this video? A horror game?"

"Holy shit, this camcorder footage is creepy as hell!"

"So Chen Xu's next game is going to be a horror game?"

"I don't really care about horror games. The key is, posting it at this hour is way too creepy, isn't it?!"

"So the next game has something to do with a camcorder?"

Many players were stunned.

After all, Chen Xu's intentions were practically obvious. This deeply unsettling video was clearly telling players that his next project would be a horror game.

But what got players talking even more was the time at which he had released the news.

The next day, Chen Xu's Official Blog post was reposted and reported on by quite a few media outlets.

After all, the buzz from Chen Xu winning First Prize in the Zhengyou competition with "To the Moon" had not completely died down yet.

And with November just around the corner, there were no major titles on the market worth mentioning for the time being.

As for Chen Xu's video, players eagerly discussed and analyzed what theme his new game might have.

After all, even horror games had different subgenres.

"There's a camcorder, and it seems to be an indoor office. It looks like a modern setting."

"Someone is filming with a handheld camcorder, but the whole video is completely silent. Considering how messy the room in the video is, can we boldly guess that ghosts can only be seen through the camcorder?"

"Walking through dark hallways and rooms with a handheld camcorder, then suddenly a ghostly face appears on the screen. After that, it drags the cameraman into a dark abyss!"

"MMP, you bunch of drama queens. There's nothing there, and you're already making wild theories? You've got me covered in goosebumps in broad daylight!"

"You're way too timid. You're already scared by this? I suggest wearing a diaper when you play or watch it later."

"It's seriously creepy. I saw it while scrolling late last night. It didn't reveal anything at all, but I ended up scaring myself into thinking someone was under my bed. I was freaked out for half the night."

Players online were all talking about it, but most of it was wild speculation. After all, Chen Xu's video only hinted that his next game would be a horror title.

As for what type of horror game it would be, nothing had been revealed yet.

And it was not just players. The news also sparked heated discussion among industry designers and the media.

"Have you heard? Chen Xu's new game is actually a horror game!"

"That's a little unexpected. I never thought Chen Xu would choose horror games as his next direction."

"But it isn't that surprising. For small teams and indie game designers, horror games are a relatively easy genre to break into."

"Small team? Chen Xu's team isn't small. Haven't you seen Nebula Games' introduction? Chen Xu's team is fairly sizable too."

"That's perfectly normal. After all, both 'Undertale' and 'To the Moon' sold quite well."

"But horror games are still pretty niche. Not just domestically—even overseas, there don't seem to be any particularly outstanding horror games, right?"

"Yeah. VR seems like a good fit for horror games, but the market and production costs are both major issues."

"I think Chen Xu's horror game might just be a case of hanging up a sheep's head and selling dog meat."

"What do you mean?"

"Look at 'To the Moon' and 'Undertale.' Chen Xu is obviously a designer who's good at telling stories. So is it possible that this so-called horror game is really just wearing a horror skin while telling a heartwarming story?"

"Now that you put it that way, it doesn't seem impossible. Didn't Chen Xu call himself a Warrior of Love before?"

"That makes sense!"

Game industry designers discussed Chen Xu and news of his new project.

But for the various gaming self-media outlets chasing traffic, things became a bit of a chaotic free-for-all.

"Chen Xu Posts a Strange Video at Midnight—What Is He Plotting?"

"From Heartwarming to Horror? Designer Chen Xu Switches to Horror Games!"

"Abandoning His Specialty to Try Niche Horror Games: Confidence or Blind Arrogance?"

Article after article flooded websites and forums.

Some larger media sites were still able to maintain a degree of neutrality.

But marketing accounts and second- and third-tier small gaming outlets were all trying to stir things up.

It mainly stemmed from the genre Chen Xu had chosen.

After all, the industry had not produced an outstanding horror game in many years.

The horror game industry was not exactly stagnant, but it was hardly full of vitality either.

Most horror games that sold reasonably well on the market were established IP series, and their sales continued to decline year after year.

The horror genre itself was equally diverse.

Domestic titles featured zombies and female ghost themes.

Foreign titles featured serial killers and demons.

Realistic ones, surreal ones.

It could be said that every kind of theme existed.

Yet none of them had achieved blockbuster sales.

The main reason was that these horror games had never broken out of the same mold.

They still relied on the tightly paced formula of jump scares, gunplay, and progressing through the story.

It was not that this formula was bad. It was simply extremely difficult to make it truly compelling.

Among all the games in his previous life that combined gunfights and horror, how many had truly made a name for themselves?

There was only "Resident Evil" and "Dead Space." Of those two IPs, only the former could still be considered a top-tier franchise. The latter had died outright, until many years later, when EA had no old favorites left to reheat and dragged it out again.

However, for Chen Xu and the entire Nebula Games team, these online discussions had little impact.

That was because the game's development progress was visibly advancing by the day.

Though the game was not yet complete, they could already experience some of its early content.

And after trying it, Yang Xin, Ruan Ningxue, and everyone else on the team had only one thought.

That was... they absolutely could not play this at night!

There was no helping it. It was just too terrifying.

Even though everyone involved in developing the game, and every part of it had been created through their collective efforts.

That did not mean they were not afraid!