Something's Wrong! You Downloaded the Real One!

After Dead Cells, Ethan Vale's studio gradually faded from the public eye.

Game development took a long time. Once most people had cleared Dead Cells, their attention naturally shifted to other games or other things.

Yet whenever one clicked on any topic related to Dead Cells, one would find that the game was constantly receiving a steady influx of fresh blood.

Dead Cells players might seem inconspicuous, but on any video platform, any newcomer with no fanbase who uploaded a video related to Dead Cells could get tens of thousands of views within just a few hours.

Whether they played terribly or played well, a crowd of The Beheaded would gather beneath the video, laughing and discussing amusing moments from the game.

No one cursed you for playing badly, and people praised you for playing well.

Silver was streaming games as usual. Graduation season had passed, and the bizarre games made by graduating students had vanished from the gaming platforms.

There was much less fun to be had testing new games every day.

"Good grief, there's been nothing worth playing lately." Silver glanced at the gaming platform's page.

"I'm not bragging, but let me put this out there today: if anyone makes a game and wants to torture me again in the future, impossible!" He straightened his back and patted his chest.

Seeing his arrogant appearance, the chat could no longer hold it in.

'That's not what you used to say, was it?'

'Someone remind this monkey, would you?'

'Monkey: This Black Star is truly black-hearted. Is this how your teachers taught you to make games?'

'Monkey: Dead again. Holy shit, can a designer like this really graduate?'

'The old thief hasn't tortured you hard enough, has he? If he keeps his promise, that black-hearted old thief's new game will be released in half a month!'

'Hope you can still say that when the time comes!'

Silver waved a dismissive hand. "What do you guys know? Do you think making games is as easy as saying you'll make one?"

"How many designers say they're making a new game, only to delay it in the end? You're all too young, little brothers."

Earlier, when he heard Sprout Studio say they would release a new game in three months, he had immediately shaken his head.

Three months?

Three years was more like it.

Dead Cells was probably already the peak of that studio.

Perhaps in other industries, one could create increasingly better products through accumulated experience.

Take phones, for instance. Even with the same product line, they could optimize, update, and iterate year after year, and consumers would be willing to pay for new devices with more storage, new processors, and better operating systems.

Games were different, though. Rehashing old ideas made it easy to get criticized, even if the old dish was delicious.

With creative content, it was easy for there to be a phenomenon where one's debut masterpiece became one's peak.

Even if their skills improved and their experience grew afterward, people would still compare their current work to their original work, then conclude with:

'The graphics are better, and the optimization is better too... but in my heart, Dead Cells is the true masterpiece.'

He did not understand game development.

But he understood players, and most of the time, that was simply how it was. It was difficult for designers to surpass the achievements of their first work.

"My advice is not to expect too much. Three months is really too short." Silver shook his head. "If he had said he was taking three years to make a new game, then I really would have eagerly awaited the day those three years were up."

"But if he wants to make another low-quality texture game like Getting over it, then forget I said anything. That kind of game is nowhere near as good as Dead Cells. It lacks sincerity." Silver sighed.

Thinking about it carefully, he probably could accept it if the other party kept making small games.

It was just that with Dead Cells setting such a high bar, he could not help hoping for something even more successful and outstanding.

'There's no way they haven't been making a new game, right?'

'Sprout Studio offered incredibly good benefits when they were recruiting. They can't be paying idle people if they aren't making games, can they?'

'Speaking as someone who failed the application! Sprout's benefits really are great! But their hiring requirements are genuinely strict too.'

'Huh? Are there even people among Monkey's fans who know how to make games?'

Just as Silver repeatedly stressed that everyone should not expect too much from the new game's release date, Steam sent out a push notification.

[Designer Black Star, whom you follow, will soon release a new game. Come learn more!]

At the same time, a banner message appeared on the platform's homepage. Its wording was perfectly clear.

In an instant, everyone's minds seized upon two keywords.

[New Game] [Black Star]

Silver: ...?

"What is this? Did I download Steam Game Butler?" Silver stared wide-eyed at the banner that had popped up.

As everyone knew, Steam had many pirated platforms with very similar names.

For example, 'Steam Butler,' 'Steam Game Butler,' 'Steam Games'...

When Ethan Vale learned about this, he could not help laughing. The Steam gaming platform in his previous life had faced a similar issue.

Whenever a game became hugely popular and broke into the mainstream, it attracted many newcomers who had barely ever played computer games to download it.

And precisely because they had barely played computer games before, it was easy for them to download the wrong thing.

When searching for the platform, some players were misled by platforms with similar names.

Some even downloaded the real Steam platform, only to find that they could not access the store. It constantly displayed webpage errors, while only the page for their game library could be opened.

This led many newcomers to mistakenly believe that the one whose store page could not be opened was the fake one.

Sometimes, new players would post screenshots or short videos online asking, "Why isn't such-and-such game here?"

As soon as everyone saw their platform interface, the signs of piracy were especially obvious.

The players could not help joking.

'Oh no, you actually downloaded the real one.'

'See if the store page opens smoothly. If it does, congratulations, you downloaded the fake one.'

'Other than the official version, every pirated version can open the store page.'

Now Silver could not help crying out in alarm. He stared at his gaming platform over and over several times before confirming that it was the official one, not some fake someone had reinstalled for him.

"Holy shit, how is this possible?! Steam is promoting his new game?" Silver braced both hands on the desk, his face filled with disbelief.

It was not that the platform could not promote a designer's new game. That was perfectly normal and mutually beneficial.

It was simply that this had never happened in the Great Xia region.