Chapter Summaries

Three days after Minecraft’s Forbidden City video, Chen Xu released a video showing For Liva performing on a working, block-built piano, astonishing players and game designers. The video revealed the possibilities of Redstone Technology and further raised anticipation for Minecraft’s future promotional videos.

• Players and designers discussed Minecraft’s recent promotional videos and wondered what Chen Xu would reveal next.
• Chen Xu posted a video titled “How to Perform For Liva on Piano in Minecraft.”
• Players watched For Liva play a piano built from blocks, whose keys and internal mechanisms moved as it produced music.
• Experienced players suspected the piano used Redstone Technology, which many had previously thought was only useful for making switches.
• Gaming media outlets reposted the video, spreading Minecraft’s popularity and prompting players to anticipate further surprises.

Chen Xu’s promotional videos showed Minecraft’s Redstone creations and amusement park before a New Year celebration revealed Nebula Games employees. When Minecraft launched, Zhang Yi joined his friends’ server and entered the game, eager to study the showcased builds for inspiration.

• Chen Xu released videos showing a player-built calculator and a Redstone-powered amusement park, expanding players’ expectations of Minecraft.
• On New Year’s Eve, Chen Xu released a celebration video featuring decorated versions of earlier builds and Nebula Games employees in the amusement park.
• Minecraft officially launched on New Year’s Day, while Tenghua postponed Voyage without drawing much attention from players.
• Zhang Yi returned home after New Year visits and found Wang Han, Song Ren, Wang Yifan, and Qiao Yi online and eager to show him Minecraft’s dedicated server.
• Zhang Yi watched the new opening cinematic, joined Wang Han’s server, and planned to study the residential houses in Along the River During the Qingming Festival so he could build one himself.

Zhang Yi joined the public tour server and explored Firelink Shrine and the recreation of Bianliang Street with his friends. Impressed by the detailed city and its reactive scenes, they turned off public voice chat after other players’ observations made them feel uncultured.

• Zhang Yi loaded his existing character into the crowded public tour server and met Song Ren, Wang Han, and Wang Yifan at Firelink Shrine.
• Zhang Yi and his friends teleported from Firelink Shrine to Bianliang Street, where they marveled at the recreation of Kaifeng Prefecture.
• The group walked along the Bian River as players discussed the city’s historical details and dangers beneath its prosperity.
• Zhang Yi saw AI-driven street events unfold, including a tax dispute and carriages careening through the crowd.
• Zhang Yi turned off voice chat to avoid feeling uncultured, and Song Ren, Wang Han, and the others followed.

Wang Han, Zhang Yi, Song Ren, and the others toured Minecraft’s train route, the Forbidden City, and its amusement park before deciding to try building a house in Survival Mode. They discussed how players could use Workshop blueprints and gather materials to construct large buildings, while private worlds allowed cheats and official servers required players to build for themselves.

• Wang Han, Zhang Yi, Song Ren, and the others boarded a train to the Forbidden City and admired the landscaped scenery along the tracks.
• The group toured the Forbidden City, a piano that played "For Liva," a Calculator, and an amusement park filled with mini-games.
• Wang Han noticed that the railway extended beyond the final attraction, suggesting that Nebula Games might add more areas later.
• Zhang Yi proposed that the group build a house, and they chose to try Survival Mode rather than Creative Mode.
• Zhang Yi explained that players could download structures from the Workshop and generate them in Survival Mode by collecting the required materials.
• The group learned that cheat mode could be enabled in private worlds, while official Nebula Games servers required players to build structures themselves.

Minecraft’s first-day sales passed three million, and Chen Xu reviewed the game’s server plans and community protections. He left the game’s future open to players’ creativity, with official minigames to come later through the community.

• Yang Xin told Chen Xu that Minecraft’s sales had passed three million and might reach four million that day.
• Chen Xu told Yang Xin and the others to monitor the servers and bring backup servers online if needed.
• Chen Xu explained that Minecraft’s early sales were only a promising start and that its appeal would grow as players explored and built.
• Chen Xu arranged protections for MOD creators and established a department to maintain Minecraft’s community.
• Chen Xu reviewed the Survival, Creative, and Showcase servers, including peaceful-building options and player-controlled rules.
• Chen Xu decided to leave future minigames to the community and considered releasing them himself as an ordinary MOD creator if necessary.

Minecraft sold 3.2 million copies on its first day and earned widespread praise as players explored its sandbox gameplay. Its first-week sales later topped ten million, leaving Zhu Yi unsure whether he could safely release Voyage while Minecraft remained popular.

• Minecraft sold 3,212,231 copies in its first 24 hours, and its player rating rose to 9.8.
• Zhu Yi felt relieved that he had delayed Voyage after seeing Minecraft’s sales and planned to release it once Minecraft’s popularity faded.
• Players learned Minecraft’s crafting and survival systems, built landmarks to avoid getting lost, and shared tutorials, builds, and videos online.
• Players played Minecraft as a building, survival, multiplayer, or travel game, while disputes sometimes arose over destruction on open servers.
• Third-party organizations reported first-week sales of 10.12 million copies and 8.62 million weekly active players.
• Zhu Yi and Meng Zuo were stunned by Minecraft’s sales, and Zhu Yi worried that its continuing popularity made Voyage’s planned release risky.

Chen Xu discussed how player-created MODs were expanding Minecraft’s gameplay and assigned the team to maintain its community and document its history. He also put mobile and VR versions on the agenda, outlining their features and limitations.

• Chen Xu showed Qin Yi, Ruan Ningxue, Yang Xin, and the others a popular player-made tank battle MOD that had reached two million downloads in one day.
• Chen Xu said players could recreate many kinds of games in Minecraft and told the Macro Play team to focus on community moderation rather than creating more content themselves.
• Chen Xu asked Lin Rou to collect stories and information from online servers for a documentary series about Minecraft’s history and player memories.
• Chen Xu proposed developing mobile and VR versions of Minecraft, explaining that mobile play would share data with PC but have cut features, while VR would reproduce the original content with adapted controls and require a separate purchase.

Minecraft’s inventive building and Redstone systems fueled enormous player creativity and sales, earning it acclaim as a defining Sandbox Game. As the game’s success continued at home and overseas, Chen Xu began producing a video series about the history and major events created by its players.

• Minecraft players discovered Redstone mechanisms, built contraptions, and shared videos of their creations online.
• Players explored Enchanting and temples, with some triggering TNT traps in Desert Temples.
• Minecraft’s sales remained strong after launch, reaching seventeen million copies domestically in two weeks and thirteen million overseas in one week.
• The Game Department praised Minecraft’s creative freedom and recognized Sandbox Game as a distinct category.
• Chen Xu began editing the first video in a series documenting Minecraft players’ history and major events.

Nebula Games released a video documenting Minecraft’s milestones, player statistics, creations, and server histories. The video left players astonished by the wildly different ways people had chosen to play.

• Players became used to impressive builds, then were baffled by Redstone music, mechanisms, and movable Mechs made by Redstone masters.
• Nebula Games posted a nearly hour-long video called “Episode One: MC History's Major Events,” and players flocked to watch it.
• The video recounted Minecraft’s early-access launch, pioneering player achievements, release statistics, and the first player-created MODs and minigames.
• The video described conflicts across several servers, including the Merchant Alliance on Server No. 2147 developing the game’s first firearm and announcing that the times had changed.
• After watching the video’s account of Minecraft’s milestones and varied play styles, countless players were left dumbfounded.

Minecraft’s player-driven servers, minigames, mods, and welcoming community continued to fuel its popularity, leaving competing games far behind. At Nebula Games, Chen Xu approved the completed mobile and VR versions for release.

• Minecraft players shared stories of their servers’ city projects, unexpected disasters, and political disputes sparked by Chen Xu’s video.
• Players explored Redstone and the Nether, created mods, and built custom servers with original minigames.
• Minecraft’s community and growing popularity set it apart, while no games released since its launch surpassed it.
• Qin Yi told Chen Xu that the mobile and VR versions had been tested and optimized, and Chen Xu approved notifying Marketing Operations to prepare their release.

Chen Xu launched the mobile and VR versions of "Minecraft," whose strong sales expanded Nebula Games' audience. He then transformed the Nebula Game Store into a comprehensive distribution platform for outside developers, offering a uniform 25% revenue share and sending shockwaves through the industry.

• Chen Xu announced that the VR version of "Minecraft" would cost 148 yuan domestically and $29.9 overseas, while the mobile version would cost 28 yuan or be included with PC and VR purchases.
• Third-party statistics showed domestic sales of 2.41 million VR copies and 1.52 million mobile copies, with the mobile version attracting more than a million new players.
• Chen Xu reviewed Nebula Games' twelve established titles and its growing user base as he prepared to expand the platform beyond distributing the company's own games.
• On April 15, Nebula Games announced that its store would become a comprehensive digital game platform where approved designers could publish games and use services such as cloud saves, user feedback, and workshops.
• Chen Xu set the platform's revenue share at 25% for all developers, prompting a major reaction across the game industry.

Nebula Games’ transformation of Nebula Game Platform and its 25% revenue split sent the gaming industry into turmoil, prompting competitors and channel providers to respond. Chen Xu outlined plans to support Minecraft, recruit developers, and keep the platform’s cut low, then publicly denied that Nebula Games intended to start a price war or monopolize game distribution.

• Players and industry figures debated Nebula Game Platform’s transformation and low revenue split, while NetDragon’s Ma Lei assessed the threat and ordered his team to stabilize independent developers on its channels.
• Tenghua and NetDragon quietly pursued strategies against third-party developers, while pure channel providers signed exclusive publishing agreements and criticized Nebula Games.
• Chen Xu told Nebula Games staff to support Minecraft’s community and mod creators, accelerate development, hire more staff, and use major exclusive games to attract players to the platform.
• Zhang Yida reported that Nebula Games was preparing lawsuits against smear campaigns, and Chen Xu instructed him to accelerate platform operations and outreach to developers.
• Chen Xu posted that the platform’s revenue split would remain at 25%, with a minimum of 12% for games receiving excellent player reviews, and said Nebula Games did not intend to wage a price war or monopolize game channels.

Chen Xu’s post and Nebula Games’ platform policies intensified the fight with major distributors, while smaller distributors joined Nebula’s camp. The platform launched its first 116 games, and players discovered that many older titles had been updated with new features and support.

• Chen Xu posted that Nebula Games would stand by its distribution plans, and Nebula Games’ Official Weibo reposted the statement as its legal department pursued online rumor-spreaders.
• Nebula Games announced exclusive indie releases and partnerships with small distributors, who moved selected games onto the platform and shared their distribution networks.
• Nebula Games launched its first 116 titles, including 16 new games and older games from its new partners, while larger studios waited to see what terms they could secure.
• Players explored the newly added games and found deep discounts, anime-style titles, communities, achievements, cards, and Workshop support.
• Several designers updated or remastered their older games to take advantage of the Nebula Game Platform’s large audience.

Chen Xu released first-day sales figures showing that games from other developers had succeeded on the Nebula Game Platform, drawing more designers to publish there. He reassured Nebula Games' staff about the platform's purpose and hinted that the company's next project would use new AI technology and focus on hunting.

• Chen Xu announced that Demon and God sold 112,000 copies on its first day, Tramp sold 71,000, and Love Dream sold 31,000 on the Nebula Game Platform.
• The sales figures convinced wavering designers that players would buy games beyond Nebula Games' own titles, and they rushed to join the platform.
• The Game Department reposted Chen Xu's Official Blog post, signaling its support as rival distribution channels struggled to respond.
• Ruan Ningxue told Chen Xu that industry designers were calling Nebula Games Dragon Slayers, and Chen Xu reminded the staff that making interesting games mattered most.
• Chen Xu revealed that Nebula Games' next project would use its latest AI technology and have a hunting theme.

Chen Xu chose Monster Hunter: World as Nebula Games’ next project after tests showed its new AI could bring individual monsters to life, though it could not yet support the large cast of NPCs needed for his planned open-world game. He refined the concept, drawing on the series’ breakthrough improvements and success, while his team speculated about the game’s setting.

• After Chen Xu left, Ruan Ningxue, Yang Xin, and Lin Tao discussed the unusual hunting-game concept and worried about its niche appeal and potential opposition from animal-protection groups.
• Qin Yi explained that the new AI technology had fallen short of supporting a large number of NPCs, so Chen Xu had decided to apply it to specific monsters instead.
• Yang Xin suggested possible settings involving extinct animals and time-traveling poachers, but Ruan Ningxue questioned whether those ideas still fit a hunting game.
• In his office, Chen Xu refined the concept design for Monster Hunter: World, explaining that AI-driven creatures could work even though current hardware could not deliver his envisioned open-world NPCs.
• Chen Xu chose Monster Hunter: World for its seamless world, lively ecosystem, smoother combat, and beginner-friendly improvements, noting that it had sold over 7.5 million copies in its first month in his previous life.

Chen Xu outlined the design of Monster Hunter: World, a cooperative hunting game built around distinct weapons, challenging battles, and a dynamic monster ecosystem. He presented the concept to Qin Yi, Ruan Ningxue, and the development team, whose first impression was that the game looked more like a Souls-like than a hunting game.

• Chen Xu considered how to adapt Monster Hunter: World, emphasizing cooperative hunts, varied weapon techniques, gradual difficulty, replayability, and a realistic ecosystem.
• Chen Xu called Qin Yi, Ruan Ningxue, and the others to a meeting to discuss development of the new hunting game.
• Chen Xu revealed the title Monster Hunter: World and explained that its combat would center on hunting dragon-like creatures in a vast ecosystem.
• Chen Xu showed the team Rathian, a set of weapon concepts, and sketches of an Ancient Dragon.
• Qin Yi asked whether the game was a Souls-like, wondering if its monsters would hunt the Hunters instead.

Chen Xu explained the systems and monster progression of Monster Hunter: World, emphasizing how its equipment, companions, items, and multiplayer made it easier to pick up than Dark Souls. After hearing about the increasingly dangerous monsters, Qin Yi worried the difficulty would be too high, but Chen Xu insisted the progression was player-friendly.

• Chen Xu described Monster Hunter: World's weapon and armor upgrades, monster-part breaks, environmental interactions, and Palico companions.
• Qin Yi and the others concluded that the game lacked Dark Souls' hazardous maps and minor-enemy ambushes, making it seem more approachable.
• Chen Xu introduced increasingly formidable monsters, including Anjanath, Odogaron, Diablos, Rathalos, and Zinogre, leaving the meeting room silent.
• Qin Yi cautiously asked whether the game's difficulty would be too high.
• Chen Xu defended the difficulty curve by pointing to the three-faint limit, Palico support, and the option to hunt with friends.

Chen Xu and his team developed Monster Hunter: World’s AI-driven monsters while the gaming industry reacted to the Channel Alliance and Nebula Games’ absence from the Gameplay Exhibition. Chen Xu confirmed Nebula Games was working on a new major title, but players were left without even a promotional video or details about it.

• Chen Xu tested boss AI behavior with Qin Yi and the team, aiming to make Veteran Monsters fight intelligently while keeping difficulty manageable for players farming decorations.
• NetDragon, Tenghua, and other major channels formed the Channel Alliance and announced games across its platforms, while Chen Xu focused on growing Nebula Game Platform through strong games and services.
• Players noticed Nebula Games was missing from the Gameplay Exhibition and speculated that the company might be shifting its focus to platform operations.
• After Lin Rou alerted him to the online discussion, Chen Xu announced that Nebula Games had skipped the exhibition to focus on developing a new major title.
• Players celebrated the announcement, then realized Chen Xu had revealed no details and that Nebula Games had not even released a promotional video.

Chen Xu and the Nebula Games team continued developing Monster Hunter: World, whose punishing mechanics and distinctive systems promised to surprise players. While fans debated what kind of game Nebula Games was making, the studio finally posted a teaser three days after the Gameplay Exhibition ended.

• Ruan Ningxue and Yang Xin discussed how players had guessed Nebula Games was developing a new game, and Chen Xu defended the studio’s decision to skip the Gameplay Exhibition.
• Ruan Ningxue, Yang Xin, and Qin Yi recognized that Monster Hunter: World’s difficulty curve and systems, including weapon sharpness, teammate hit reactions, and hidden monster health, were designed to challenge players.
• The Nebula Games team resumed work, with Ruan Ningxue’s art team planning assets, Qin Yi tuning monster AI, and Chen Xu arranging orchestral recordings of the soundtrack.
• Players speculated that Nebula Games’ next major title would be either another Souls-like or a Sandbox Game.
• Three days after the Gameplay Exhibition ended, Nebula Games and Chen Xu posted a teaser for their new game.

Chen Xu unveiled concept art for Monster Hunter: World, prompting players to speculate that it might be a Souls-like game starring a dragon. He clarified that it was instead a cooperative hunting game, leaving players with a clearer idea of its gameplay and story premise.

• Chen Xu posted concept art and a description of Zinogre, leading players to guess what his new game would be about.
• Chen Xu released a second image showing a Hunter facing Zinogre and revealed the game’s title, Monster Hunter: World.
• Players speculated that the game might be a Souls-like adventure, with some suggesting the Hunter could be the prey.
• Chen Xu explained that Monster Hunter: World was a cooperative hunting game about tracking dragon-like creatures, crafting equipment, and uncovering the truth about the Ancient Dragons.