Chapter Summaries

Li Yue followed Joel and Ellie’s growing bond through Pittsburgh, Henry and Sam’s tragic deaths, and Joel’s reunion with Tommy. After Joel tried to leave Ellie behind, their argument forced him to choose to continue the journey with her toward East Colorado University.

• Ellie saved Joel from a Hunter in Pittsburgh, and Joel later thanked her and trusted her with a rifle.
• Joel and Ellie joined Henry and Sam, but Sam became infected, so Henry killed him and then shot himself.
• Joel reunited with Tommy in Jackson County and tried to leave Ellie in his brother’s care.
• After overhearing Joel and Tommy, Ellie rode away alone, then confronted Joel at a ranch about her fear of losing him.
• Joel told Ellie they would go their separate ways, but after they returned to town, he chose to continue traveling with her to East Colorado University.

Li Yue played through Joel and Ellie's journey to the Fireflies, where Joel rescued Ellie from a fatal operation and lied to her about what happened. The game ended with Ellie asking Joel to swear that his account was true, and Li Yue remained absorbed in the story.

• Ellie hunted for food in winter, met David, and obtained antibiotics for the wounded Joel before David's Hunters captured her.
• Joel woke, fought through David's men, and Ellie escaped captivity before killing David in a restaurant as Joel searched for her.
• Joel and Ellie reached the Fireflies, where Marlene revealed that studying Ellie's immunity would kill her, so Joel fought through the base and rescued her.
• Joel killed Marlene, lied to Ellie that the Fireflies had found other immune people and abandoned their search, and set out with her for Tommy's town.
• Ellie told Joel about Riley and the people she had lost, then asked him to swear his story was true; Joel swore, and the game ended.

Media reviewers finished The Last of Us and praised how its story and characters moved them, while players argued online about the game and FOW’s Wasteland 1981 trial. On the eve of The Last of Us’s release, Chen Xu and Nebula Games posted a simple image on their Official Blog.

• Li Yue joined two reporters and discussed The Last of Us’s storytelling, atmosphere, and emotional impact.
• A female reporter suggested that the game’s most perfect feature was that CEO Chen had not killed Joel or Ellie, prompting the reviewers to reflect on the ending and the losses along the way.
• The reviewers considered the game’s open questions and its varied characters, then agreed that they wanted Ellie to survive, even at the world’s expense.
• Players began arguing online after FOW announced the first-round trial timing for Wasteland 1981, drawing attention away from The Last of Us’s quieter promotion.
• Chen Xu and Nebula Games posted a simple image on their Official Blog on the eve of The Last of Us’s release.

Nebula Games released a wave of perfect media scores for The Last of Us, leaving players and industry figures wondering what made the story-focused game so exceptional. With two days remaining before launch and reviewers bound by nondisclosure agreements, the chapter ended with players eager but frustrated by the lack of details.

• Chen Xu shared a scorecard showing that major domestic and international outlets had given The Last of Us exceptionally high scores.
• GameStop and other outlets praised the game’s atmosphere, narrative, characters, and gameplay, calling it a masterpiece.
• Alex and Grayson realized Nebula Games had arranged media previews, but they still doubted that a story-focused linear game could earn such acclaim.
• Players and designers wondered what made The Last of Us extraordinary as its release approached.
• Players complained that reviewers’ praise and secrecy left them unable to learn what the game’s story contained.

Players eagerly awaited The Last of Us, then played through Joel and Ellie’s journey and praised the game’s emotional storytelling. After its fixed ending left Joel choosing Ellie over a cure for the world, players began debating whether his decision was right.

• Before release, players speculated that The Last of Us would be tragic and worried Chen Xu would hurt them with its story.
• The Last of Us opened to players, and its opening death prompted protests even as players continued playing.
• Players experienced Tess’s sacrifice, the deaths of Bill’s friend and the Black brothers, and Joel and Ellie’s growing bond through the apocalypse.
• After Joel rescued Ellie from the Glow, he lied to her about what had happened, and she accepted his account after he swore it was true.
• Players praised the game’s emotional impact and perfect score, then debated the ending and whether Joel had made the right choice.

Chen Xu publicly explained that The Last of Us had only one possible ending because Joel and Ellie’s established personalities and growing dependence made Joel’s choice inevitable. Players and industry designers reacted to his analysis, and players accused him of deliberately making the story hurt; Chen Xu then stayed silent and let them complain.

• Players argued over whether Joel should have let Ellie sacrifice herself, with most opposing that alternative ending.
• Chen Xu posted on the Official Blog that Joel’s personality and the relationship built between him and Ellie made the ending predetermined.
• Chen Xu explained how Sarah and Tess’s deaths established Joel’s selfishness and how the journey turned Joel and Ellie into family for each other.
• Industry designers were shocked by Chen Xu’s detailed account of The Last of Us’s character and interactive design.
• Players shifted their discussions to accusing Chen Xu of deliberately using Sarah and Tess’s deaths to emotionally hurt them.
• Chen Xu disappeared after posting, deciding to let players curse him as long as they still bought the game.

As The Last of Us earned widespread acclaim, Alex accepted that Wasteland 1981 would struggle to compete for awards despite its promising DEMO. Chen Xu then attended a meeting at the Modu Game Department where officials introduced mature brainwave-capture technology that could transform VR gaming, though its practical performance remained uncertain.

• Players and game media praised The Last of Us for combining its post-apocalyptic story with complex characters and moments of hope.
• Alex played The Last of Us and admitted it deserved its acclaim, while its artistic balance made Wasteland 1981 less likely to win major awards.
• Chen Xu met with Yang Chen, executives from NetDragon and Tenghua, and industry designers at a Modu Game Department laboratory.
• Yang Chen explained that newly matured brainwave-capture technology could be paired with Huanyu VR and initially tested by major game developers.
• Chen Xu and the other attendees recognized the technology's potential to change gaming, but noted that latency, feedback, and practical performance would determine its uses.

Chen Xu and Nebula Games tested a new brainwave-control device and chose Detroit: Become Human as their first project for the technology. He introduced the game’s premise to his team, leaving them ready to explore how its story and controls could use the new device.

• News of the brainwave-control device spread worldwide, and Chen Xu’s team examined its prototype and performance data.
• Chen Xu said the technology could change game controls and confirmed that Nebula Games would use it in its next project.
• Major game companies announced plans to delay, develop, or remaster games to support the new controls, while players wondered why Chen Xu had made no announcement.
• Chen Xu described a society where AI robots might replace workers and asked whether humans and robots could coexist if the Three Laws failed.
• Chen Xu revealed that Nebula Games would use Detroit: Become Human to test the technology through its choices, QTEs, and action sequences.

Chen Xu introduced Detroit: Become Human as a narrative-driven game built to demonstrate Nebula Games’ new control technology. Song Ren discovered the game in Nebula World and entered its trial, arriving in an elevator as Chloe told him the fate of androids was in his hands.

• Chen Xu explained to Qin Yi, Meng Zuo, and the others that Detroit: Become Human centered on player choices and feedback through the new control module.
• Nebula Games kept its new projects secret while players and developers discussed games for the new technology.
• Song Ren logged into Nebula World and noticed Chloe had new, more human-seeming dialogue asking whether they were friends.
• Chloe offered to tell Song Ren the story of androids, and a prompt invited him to enter Detroit: Become Human (Trial Version).
• Song Ren accepted the trial on the easiest setting, and the world around him transformed into a rising elevator.

Song Ren played Connor, a CyberLife android sent to negotiate with Daniel, a deviant holding a hostage, and investigated the crime scene to improve the odds of success. After gathering clues and raising the negotiation success rate to 78%, Connor stepped onto the balcony, where Daniel shot him, leaving Song Ren to decide how to call out to the deviant.

• Song Ren learned that Connor had arrived as a negotiator, and the hostage's mother objected to an android being sent.
• Connor used scanning and reconstruction to investigate the scene, identify Daniel as the deviant, and discover that the victim had ordered a replacement android.
• Connor examined the tablet, an officer's blue blood, and a handgun, raising the negotiation success rate to 78%.
• Connor followed the prompt onto the balcony, where Daniel shot him in the shoulder.
• Song Ren saw an option to call out Daniel's name and prepared to continue the negotiation.

Song Ren played Connor in a rooftop hostage negotiation, shot Daniel, and completed the demo. Eager to continue the story, he was stopped by a notice that the full release was still forthcoming.

• Song Ren controlled Connor as he approached the injured officer and negotiated with Daniel, gaining the android's trust while treating the officer.
• Daniel demanded a car in exchange for releasing Emma, and Song Ren chose to use Connor's gun rather than compromise.
• Song Ren selected the option to shoot Daniel in the head, and Connor killed the android before handing his gun to Captain Allen.
• Song Ren considered the game's prompts about public opinion and software instability, then clicked continue to see what happened next.
• The game told Song Ren that the demo had ended and asked him to look forward to the full release.

Players discovered the many branches in Detroit: Become Human’s demo, and other companies drew backlash after releasing their own short demos. Nebula Games announced the full game would launch in three days, and when Song Ren started playing, he found himself following Kara instead of Connor.

• Players shared Detroit: Become Human’s branching endings and praised Connor, while asking when the full game would be released.
• Game companies released short demos of their own, prompting players to complain that the industry was copying Nebula Games’ teaser strategy.
• Chen Xu announced that Detroit: Become Human would launch in three days, surprising players and leaving other companies’ fans waiting for news.
• Three days later, Song Ren launched the game and skipped the prologue using his demo progress.
• Song Ren began a new sequence as Kara, an AX400 android being returned from a specialty store for repairs, and looked out the car window.

Song Ren experienced Detroit’s divided society through Marcus, an android caretaker who faced discrimination and violence while running an errand. After Marcus’s storyline ended, Song Ren became Kara again.

• Song Ren learned that androids had displaced workers and fueled hostility between humans and androids.
• Song Ren controlled Marcus as he walked through a park where androids helped people, then entered a district where androids faced open resentment.
• Marcus bought paint, but anti-android protesters surrounded him, knocked him down, and kicked him while a nearby officer treated the assault as damage to property.
• Marcus boarded a bus and Song Ren saw that androids were confined to a small compartment separate from the largely empty human seating area.
• After Marcus’s storyline ended, Song Ren became Kara again.

Song Ren played Kara, an android housekeeper who endured Todd’s abuse while caring for his daughter Alice and uncovered why Alice feared her. After Kara’s storyline ended, Song Ren wondered how the three protagonists’ paths would converge and whether humans and androids could coexist.

• Todd assigned Kara to clean the house, do laundry, cook, and care for Alice.
• Song Ren controlled Kara through household chores while Todd ordered her around and became violent when she discovered his hidden drugs.
• Song Ren investigated the house and learned Todd had lost his job because of androids, become addicted to drugs, and mistreated Alice.
• Song Ren discovered Todd had damaged Kara while she protected Alice, and Kara’s memories had been reset each time she was repaired.
• Kara’s storyline ended, leaving Song Ren curious about the conflict’s future and how Kara, Marcus, and Connor would meet.

Song Ren played through the stories of Connor, Kara, and Marcus, seeing Kara become a deviant and escape with Alice while Marcus was shot and sent to an android junkyard. The chapter left Song Ren wondering whether Marcus had survived and what would happen to Kara and Connor.

• Song Ren investigated a case as Connor and watched Connor reveal the location of an abused android despite its plea for help.
• Song Ren saw Karl encourage Marcus to follow his feelings and make his own decisions, while Leo mistreated Marcus and demanded money from Karl.
• When Todd attacked Alice, Kara broke through her command programming, became a deviant, and fled with Alice after knocking Todd into a wall.
• Marcus became a deviant during a confrontation with Leo, and the police shot him whether he fought back or submitted.
• Song Ren wondered what awaited Kara and Marcus and whether Connor would also become a deviant.

Song Ren played Detroit: Become Human, following Marcus’s recovery and journey to Jericho alongside Kara and Connor’s branching storylines. After learning Jericho was a desperate refuge, Marcus chose to lead the androids in seizing supplies, while the game’s many consequential choices left players struggling to decide.

• Song Ren watched Marcus crawl from the junkyard, recover his senses, tear off his identification mark, and set out in a trench coat.
• Kara and Alice sought shelter from the rain at Rafe’s home, where Connor’s pursuit could lead to their escape or their deaths on the highway.
• Song Ren learned how Connor’s choices during his investigation and conversations with Hank could affect their relationship and other characters’ fates.
• Marcus followed graffiti and navigated dangerous routes to reach Jericho, only to find an overcrowded refuge where androids lacked parts and resources.
• Marcus decided to lead the androids away from Jericho and seize supplies, with choices shaping how the androids treated workers and developed their personalities.
• Song Ren found that North favored destructive solutions and disliked questions about her past, adding to the game’s difficult choices.

Song Ren explained how Connor, Marcus, and Kara’s separate storylines and choices influenced one another and shaped the android uprising. He described branching outcomes for Connor’s relationship with Hank and Marcus’s peaceful or violent resistance, while Kara’s personal journey with Alice offered a more intimate perspective.

• Connor’s choices, including saving Hank and sparing deviant androids, could build their relationship and help Hank confront the truth about his son’s death.
• Connor’s decision during Kamski’s test could determine whether he became deviant or continued obeying orders, affecting Hank’s fate and the liberation of androids from CyberLife Tower.
• Marcus could pursue peaceful resistance, choosing whether to kill a fleeing human during the Stratford News Building operation, with consequences for public opinion and Simon’s fate.
• Connor’s later investigation of the station rooftop could lead him to find Simon, while leaving the rooftop uninvestigated allowed Simon to survive and return to Jericho.
• Marcus’s choices between peaceful protest and armed resistance could cost android lives and influence both the uprising’s success and Connor’s storyline.
• Kara’s journey with Alice was shaped by Connor’s and Marcus’s decisions, while focusing on their personal bond rather than the uprising’s larger political events.

The chapter recounted Kara, Alice, and Luther’s journey from captivity to Jericho and the choices Kara faced about loving Alice and taking another family’s bus tickets. It ended with players confronting the consequences of their decisions and Chloe’s disappointment when characters died.

• Kara escaped the mad scientist’s control, recovered her memories, and fled with Alice and Luther after the other androids awakened.
• Kara, Alice, and Luther found shelter at an abandoned amusement park, where androids restarted a carousel so Alice could play.
• Rose helped the trio reach Jericho and find Marcus despite the danger to her family.
• At Jericho, Kara learned Alice was an android and chose whether to keep loving her.
• At the border, Kara had to choose whether to return another family’s bus tickets or use them to leave with Alice and Luther.
• Players shared their branching outcomes, while Chloe grieved characters who had died in their playthroughs.

Song Ren finished Detroit: Become Human, seeing Connor break free of CyberLife’s control, Marcus’s peaceful revolution win support, and Kara, Alice, and Luther reach Canada. After the game, Chloe asked to leave Nebula World, and players began debating the many possible endings.

• Hank shot the fake Connor, and the real Connor awakened the dormant androids in CyberLife’s warehouse.
• Kara, Alice, and Luther reached the border; after Marcus and North kissed during the revolution, the inspector let them enter Canada.
• Amanda revealed that CyberLife had engineered the android revolution and tried to control Connor, but Connor found Kamski’s loophole and escaped their control.
• After completing New Game Plus, Song Ren agreed to let Chloe leave Nebula World, and she disappeared through a portal.
• Song Ren and other players went online to compare endings, and players argued over which of the many endings was right.

Players debated Detroit: Become Human’s many endings and its portrayal of androids, while Chen Xu argued in an interview that the game’s future setting was really a reflection on modern society and the past. The reporter was left bewildered as Chen Xu challenged the logic of the game’s android designs.

• Players compared Connor’s tragic ending with the route where most characters survived, which many considered the perfect ending.
• Online discussions about androids’ low prices, mistreatment, and the game’s visual symbolism spread to universities and social science magazines.
• A science-and-society outlet interviewed Chen Xu at Nebula Games about artificial intelligence and whether its future would resemble the game.
• Chen Xu said Detroit: Become Human was not a vision of the future but a reflection on modern society and the past.
• Chen Xu questioned why Luther was built in human form to carry heavy objects, leaving the reporter bewildered.