For Lin Lixin, this Christmas shopping season was undoubtedly a success.
The Sims and Zork Idle perfectly cater to the needs of two different sub-segments: casual gamers and hardcore gamers.
In a sense, Zork Idle's projected lifespan is even longer than most of GAMENOVA's current games.
Perhaps only SimCity and Civilization, those two time-consuming games, have a chance to compete with it.
The inflation of numbers is terrifying.
However, compared to these two true gods, Zork Idle does have a very fatal problem.
A wave of fans leaving the fandom.
Unlike other games with a smooth and gradual interest curve, idle games have a very sharp inflection point.
In other words, when the numerical inflation reaches a certain threshold, there will be a moment when interest in the game will wane.
Only players who get through this stage will truly be transformed into highly engaged, hardcore players who will continue playing.
This has led to a polarized positioning for ZorkIDLE once again.
One piece is fine, but two in a row like this inevitably gives rise to signs of the long-dormant critics.
There's nothing more satisfying than pulling a god down from his pedestal.
[ Lin Lixin has fallen from grace?!]
[Expert reveals: Intense office politics! Lin Lixin suspected of losing control of the project!]
"Where did these amazing people come from, spreading rumors everywhere?"
Seeing the few cheap, roadside magazines Sam handed over with a strange look on his face, Lin Lixin's forehead veins throbbed.
It was just a project designed to cater to a growing number of game enthusiasts; how did it become a self-proclaimed pedestal and a slippery slope?
Anyone who didn't know better would think they were making the Elden Ring.
But there's nothing we can do about it.
This is often the case when you do niche things.
This is one of the reasons why Lin Lixin often entrusts his sub-studios with the distribution of works with different positioning.
"So what do we do? Just leave them like this? Or should I contact someone—"
Sam's expression was strained.
This kind of public relations is just irritating whether you do it or not.
" Sam, games are made for players to play, not for media reviews."
Lin Lixin waved his hand, casually sweeping the pile of magazines into the trash can. "If I wanted to, I could easily create those high-end 'things' that the media raves about, but it's pointless."
A game that doesn't sell well is no different from a banana hanging in a museum.
"But just letting them yell like that is really disgusting----"
Sam sighed helplessly.
Lin Lixin is like this; he always thinks he can solve all problems with video games, and he has no interest in anything else.
Lin Lixin watched Sam sighing and complaining, and suddenly burst out laughing.
"Alright, alright, it's not that big of a deal. I'll handle it."
"How do we do it? Get Steve and the others to write columns?"
Sam instinctively assumed that Lin Lixin was going to use his connections.
But Lin Lixin just rolled his eyes at him.
"What they want is a Volkswagen product with technological innovation, isn't it? We can just make one."
With some time still until the release of the new handheld console in February, it would be a good idea to release a game in between.
"Hey? That's great! What's the new work?"
Upon hearing that there was a new game to play, Sam immediately became interested, forgetting all about the others.
Let me think—
Lin Lixin rubbed his chin.
GAMENOVA currently lacks an all-ages, family-friendly title to penetrate the family market.
The battlegrounds for teenagers, adults, children, teenage girls, housewives, and hardcore gamers are basically filled with their own signature works, but the family-oriented genre remains a blank slate.
While Pokémon is suitable for all ages, it lacks party appeal, offering little in terms of party-level gameplay beyond trading and online interaction.
Lin Lixin glanced at the stack of documents on the table.
This is the annual financial statement that I just received from Blizzard today.
His gaze fell on the " Rock N' Roll Racing " section, and his eyes lit up.
"Hey? What do you think about us doing a race?"
"Racing?"
Sam blinked, following Lin Lixin's gaze to the document Blizzard had presented. "Didn't they just release ' Rock N' Roll Racing ' not long ago?"
Rock N' Roll Racing is undoubtedly an immortal milestone in the history of Gamenova.
This is their first time using a medium-to-large-sized motion-sensing arcade cabinet, and it is also the world's only truly first-person 3D racing game.
From a purely fundamental perspective, it's not even in the same league as Sega's Outrun.
The influence of this game among gamers is so overwhelming that, to this day, there has been no news of any other developers planning to make a similar game.
GAMENOVA kept the racing arcade tax revenue going until ninety years later!
But this is true even for Gamenova itself.
A work created without regard to cost or any means necessary is unlikely to achieve a new breakthrough, even if Gamenova were to do it again.
"Won't people get tired of seeing the same thing? How about making a flight simulator or something?"
"No----"
Lin Lixin smiled and shook his head, "We'll do racing games, specifically console racing games, on NovaXeno."
He paused, glanced at the somewhat bewildered Sam, and then continued, "But it's not realistic, and it doesn't need to be as intense or advanced as ' Rock N' Roll Racing '."
"What we want to do is go-karting."
Racing games, if categorized superficially, can perhaps be divided into two lines.
Firstly, there are works like Microsoft's Horizon, which take realism to the extreme and pursue the strongest level of simulation in simulating reality.
These cars often have a very high learning curve, requiring a genuine understanding of racing, knowing the appropriate braking points, and making decisions such as whether to use the curb. They also demand very strict driving skills.
The other type is works that have almost completely abandoned realism and focused all their development efforts on fun.
All game content serves one purest and most essential thing: happiness.
Even a young child can easily pick up the game thanks to its thoughtful in-game mechanics and complete the entire lap without any obstacles.
Rock N' Roll Racing seems to have found a clever balance between these two paths.
It effectively mitigated the lack of realism through its combat system, and in turn, it compensated for the lack of immersion through its realism.
What Lin Lixin needs to do now is to make a sharp turn on this foundation.
Take the fun of the path to the extreme.