Sued One After Another; Shooting Simulator

In court, the moment the gavel fell, Qisheng received its verdict.

[The plaintiff is the copyright holder of the original game involved in this case. The game was previously released to the public and enjoys lawful copyright protection.]

[The game developed and operated by the defendant, Qisheng Game Company, is substantially similar to the plaintiff's game in its original expressions, including character art, scene assets, UI, story text, level structure, and skill design.]

[Without the plaintiff's permission, the defendant copied and used game content copyrighted by the plaintiff and released and operated the game, infringing upon the plaintiff's copyright.]

[...]

[Compensation to Mengjia Game Company for economic losses, business losses, and other damages, totaling 50 million.]

The moment the court handed down its verdict, Teng Hua, sitting in the defendant's seat, turned deathly pale.

It wasn't just because he had to pay Mengjia. There were several other companies as well. Paying them all would truly bleed Qisheng dry.

No company kept that much cash on hand. Although Qisheng had a market valuation of several billion, that was only its market valuation. Its actual liquid funds amounted to just one or two hundred million.

The reason he had to pay Mengjia 50 million was that Bicycle Simulator had been profitable for a long time. If it had been like Mini World, he wouldn't have had to pay nearly as much.

At that thought, Teng Hua tightened his grip on the chair's armrest. He really didn't want to pay that much.

Across from him, Liu Jiameng's eyes were slightly red.

Back then, Qisheng had stolen the game he had poured his heart into making.

Not only had it brought his company to the brink of collapse, reducing it to the shabby little studio it was today, but it had also allowed Qisheng to climb a step higher by stepping on them.

What goes around comes around. It really did come around.

A tear slipped from his eye and landed on his collar.

He reached up and wiped the tears from his eyes, then looked at Teng Hua across from him and burst out laughing.

It seemed... he was excited, yet it also seemed he had finally let go.

After several lawsuits, Qisheng Game Company's cash reserves were completely wiped out.

On top of that, its plagiarized games were either shut down or reworked, making Qisheng's situation even worse.

Teng Hua returned to his office and panted heavily as he looked at the mess.

By now, he had smashed everything he could in the office to pieces. He simply couldn't vent the anger in his heart.

Without thinking, he shouted toward the door.

"Liu Nong!"

"Liu Nong, get in here!"

Only after calling out twice did Teng Hua realize that Liu Nong had already resigned from the company.

He sat down in his chair, lit a cigarette, and let out a long puff of smoke. Then he decided he would make a real game himself.

He refused to believe that, with money, he couldn't make a game.

With that thought, he picked up the phone and made a call.

"President Teng."

"Qin Shou, come to my office."

Qin Shou had once been the game development team leader, and Teng Hua had since promoted him to planning supervisor.

Before long, someone knocked on the office door, and a large fat man weighing over two hundred jin walked in.

He approached Teng Hua deferentially and said obsequiously, "President Teng, what did you need me for?"

"Have you come up with another brilliant idea? I'm sure it'll turn the gaming world upside down again."

Teng Hua nodded in satisfaction at Qin Shou's words. His tone softened as he said quietly, "Yes, I have a new idea now."

"Qin Shou, take your team and make me a new game. It'll be called Shooting Simulator."

"Did you see Starfield's trailer? Make that."

"I'm giving you one month. Get it done within a month and release it before Starfield's game."

With that, Teng Hua smiled in satisfaction.

Let's see how Starfield can compete with me now.

A small game company gets a little money and really thinks it can take me on? Does it really think the team I, Teng Hua, have under me isn't capable?

You dared to release a trailer two months ahead of time. I really don't know where you got the nerve.

Since you dared to put it out so early, let me teach you that the gaming world has worse dangers than just plagiarism.

After hearing him out, Qin Shou said hesitantly, "Well, President Teng, if we have to finish it in one month, the workload will be enormous."

Compressing six months of normal work into one meant the effort required would multiply.

It was like construction: a project normally finished in a year or two, compressed into half a year, meant working around the clock and throwing in the latest equipment and more to get it done.

Teng Hua frowned slightly. He stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray and said, "Then throw money at it."

"I want Shooting Simulator to become Qisheng's flagship title and show everyone just how deep Qisheng's resources run."

Throwing money at it was his only option. The games under the company were either shut down or failing to make money, so he had to establish a flagship title.

This was also his last all-or-nothing gamble. He would put all the company's remaining money into this game.

As long as the game was good enough, he would make a comeback.

Hearing this, Qin Shou's eyes darted around. He narrowed them and smiled. "Rest assured, President Teng. I guarantee I'll get the game made in one month."

Teng Hua Teng Hou nodded in satisfaction and said, "All right, I'll leave this to you. If you really have to, give those people a five-hundred-yuan raise to motivate them."

"As for overtime pay, use your judgment. Don't pay it if you can avoid it. The company doesn't have much money left."

"Will do, President Teng."

The next day, a game trailer appeared online.

[Shooting Simulator-Qisheng's groundbreaking creation.]

The video showed guns vibrating as they were fired, as well as the movement of a character's arms when firing a handgun.

The video immediately sparked heated discussion among players.

[Seriously? Starfield just announced PUBG, and now Qisheng's making a Shooting Simulator? Are they going to plagiarize again?]

[Uh... that really is ridiculous. Still, Starfield hasn't released its game yet, so I guess it doesn't count as plagiarism.]

[Wow. A dog can't stop eating shit. Qisheng might as well go bankrupt already.]

[If it were me, I'd put the money I had left in the bank and live off the interest. Wouldn't that be better than messing around for nothing?]

[I wonder what kind of gameplay Starfield's game actually has. I'm looking forward to it more and more now.]

The online discussion continued, and before long, a trending topic comparing anticipation for PUBG and Shooting Simulator shot onto the trending searches.

A heated debate broke out over which of the two games would be more fun.

Players had different opinions on the matter.

At a time like this, many game review bloggers would usually post videos analyzing the situation and picking sides.

But this time, many of the game review bloggers who had been active in the past seemed to have vanished into thin air, with no activity or comments whatsoever.

For the past two days, they hadn't even livestreamed. It was as if they had all lost contact at once.