Qisheng's Envy; the PUBG Project

A week later.

Shencheng, Qisheng Game Company.

"President Teng, the number of online players in several of our games has fallen by five to eight percent recently."

"Our investigation found that it was because of a Starfield game called Minecraft."

In his office, Teng Hua frowned at the report from Qisheng's head of marketing.

Starfield... That lousy little company still hasn't gone under?

He knew the company, not because it was famous, but because it was an old company that had competed with him back then.

It had gradually faded from sight after he rose to prominence and suppressed it.

It wasn't just Starfield. The same had happened to the other game companies. Most of the games on the market now, one could say, were made by Qisheng.

"Minecraft?"

"I think I've come across that game. Isn't it supposed to be free?"

"When they can't afford to keep it running, go buy it cheap and turn it into a paid game."

After saying that, Teng Hua thought they were making a fuss over nothing. It was just a rather novel game. If they couldn't buy it, they could copy it. What was there to report?

If I have to worry about everything in the company, what do I need you people for?

The marketing director looked a little uneasy. He opened his mouth several times but failed to speak.

Liu Nong put the summary report he had prepared on the desk and said apprehensively, "President Teng, this game has an unusual way of making money."

"They make money by selling in-game mods that players buy using their platform balance."

"Based on my investigation over the past few days, they made more than ten million on their best day."

At those words, Teng Hua could no longer sit still. He rose from his chair and stared at Liu Nong, eyes wide.

"What did you say!?"

"Over ten million in one day?"

Qisheng's most profitable game had made a little over a hundred million, but it was a one-time purchase, so it couldn't make any more money afterward.

Yet Starfield's game made over ten million in a day, and it wasn't even a one-time purchase.

What did that mean?

It meant a cash cow, with money flowing out of the game nonstop.

He was so excited at that moment that he briefly lost control of his emotions.

Bang!

He slapped the desk and glared at Liu Nong. "Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"

"I..."

"Shut up. Go tell the game planners right now to add a monetization model to our games too."

"And find someone to acquire Minecraft. If they won't agree, copy it."

"Understood?"

Liu Nong hurriedly nodded and left the office.

Teng Hua stared at the closed office door, still breathing heavily.

He was truly envious. What gave a tiny company like Starfield the right to make over ten million in daily revenue? A company like that and its way of making money should belong to Qisheng, the leader of the gaming industry.

No one could threaten his position in the gaming industry.

Starfield Game Company.

Luan Le'an's hands trembled constantly, and when he saw the contents of the report, his whole body began to shake.

In one week, thanks to the steady stream of game resources made by players, Minecraft had earned nearly forty million in total.

Few games in the entire industry had earned over ten million, let alone forty million.

The highest-earning game had made only a little over a hundred million. By now, Minecraft had earned more than 99 percent of the games on the market.

And that wasn't all. Minecraft was a free game, after all, and made its money from resource packs.

As long as players kept creating resource packs, the revenue would keep coming.

Over the past few days, creators had released quite a few resource packs, including shaders, textures, and several modpacks with minor changes.

It was thanks to these resource packs that today's revenue had topped ten million.

Holding the report, Luan Le'an excitedly went to Su Ye's office.

Su Ye was writing and drawing something at his desk. When he saw Luan Le'an come in, he looked up and asked, "What's wrong?"

Luan Le'an put the report on Su Ye's desk, unable to contain the excitement in his voice.

"President Su, our revenue topped ten million today."

Su Ye's eyebrows rose slightly.

That fast?

He hadn't expected the players to come through so strongly, spending so much in such a short time.

He picked up the report and saw that it listed earnings from resource pack downloads. Two new modpacks had come out that day, and despite being priced at five each, they had sold several hundred thousand copies. That really surprised him.

Sure enough, it wasn't that players had no money; they simply had no desire to spend it.

Minecraft, however, had stirred up that desire in them.

He glanced at the other figures in the report, and they put him in an even better mood.

The number of players today had passed eight million, only two million short of ten million.

Game downloads had long since passed ten million and were heading toward twenty million.

Not bad. Looks like I made the right choice for my first game. Minecraft really is a good fit for a world with such advanced VR technology.

He put down the report, then picked up a notebook from the desk and handed it to Luan Le'an.

"President Su, what's this...?"

"Take a look first. There's no rush."

Luan Le'an wasn't quite sure what Su Ye meant, but he took the notebook and began reading.

The more he read, the wider his eyes grew.

PUBG: Exhilarating Battlefield

A shrinking zone, gunfights, squads, victory...

Each novel gameplay mechanic challenged his understanding of games.

In his view, games were made to immerse players in their worlds, and a game with the best possible graphics was a good game.

But he had overlooked one thing: gameplay. It seemed to be an area everyone else had overlooked too.

Now President Su had given him such a novel gameplay concept that simply reading the descriptions made his whole body heat up.

"Well? Can this game be made?"

Luan Le'an snapped the notebook shut and looked at Su Ye with determination. "Don't worry, President Su," he said firmly. "I guarantee I'll finish making this game."

Su Ye poured him a glass of water and gestured for him to sit down.

"This game is only a rough idea in my head. The most important thing for you to do is balance the damage and the differences between the guns."

"Every gun has things that set it apart from the others, like its bullet trajectory, recoil, and rate of fire."

"Make it so players can immerse themselves in the battlefield when they play in VR."

"..."

Su Ye explained what he understood about battle royale and shooting games from his previous life, and Luan Le'an listened, enraptured.

President Su has such an understanding of games. It's simply unbelievable.