"Brothers, I've found that Wangyi's 'Journey of the Wind' is really well-made!"
"Anyone else playing 'Wind Journey' and looking for companions? Waiting online!"
"Honestly, Penguin's 'Holy War' is also fun to play, and the most important thing is that it's the first free VR game!"
"Although I always say free is the most expensive, I haven't seen anything in 'Holy War' that's absolutely mandatory to pay for. Has Tengzi really changed his ways?"
"Nintendo's 'Aladdin: Path of Water' gives the feeling of being on set for a movie. As expected of special effects master Mecalon, truly amazing!"
"Why isn't anyone praising 'Star Wars'? The imagination is incredible, and the world-building is outrageously vast! Is Bao Xue planning to make a comeback and have a glorious turnaround?"
"The background of 'Star Wars' also has shades of 'Star Wars'. Although it doesn't completely replicate the movie plot, it adds a lot of settings and has innovated very successfully on the original foundation."
"Wow, you guys are making such fast progress... I'm still stealing batteries in 'Titanfall', and I haven't even piloted my mech yet..."
"Damn, judging by what you're all saying, it seems like investing in any company's VR game is not a loss, but I don't have enough Yuánzǐ! I just bought VR equipment and emptied my savings."
"That's the truth. The game isn't the focus; the focus is selling the equipment. Of course, you have to make a quality game from the start!"
"So it's not that there aren't good games and good scripts, it's just that they weren't profitable so no effort was put into them. It's really heartbreaking!"
...
Among the excited players, fans of other games were enthusiastically praising how amazing their games were, but the Pilots were out of sync with everyone else.
In terms of game experience, 'Titanfall' had only revealed a small patch of jungle and some minor enemies, plus VR within VR, and a corner of the Titan.
The main storyline hadn't even begun, and most players came for the mechs, only to get stuck stealing batteries and never move on. Even more so,
some were still struggling in the Pilot trials, striving for a ranking that satisfied them.
Of course,
this was just the initial feedback from players on the first day of the game's launch. Before the story deepened and the plotlines unfolded, no one could definitively say which game would be the ultimate winner.
Most importantly, Lu Li was too lazy to manage public relations or hire online trolls, relying entirely on organic popularity.
Furthermore, he himself was immersed in the game immediately after its launch.
He hadn't given any thought to the follow-up promotional work for 'Titanfall'.
If other companies, after spending a large amount of promotional money, still didn't generate any buzz, it would be truly unacceptable.
For this June, a grand year for VR games, all the major game developers had gone all out.
The quality of VR games released this month was arguably the best in recent years.
The promotional efforts, game ecosystem, and reputation building were undoubtedly the most dedicated and intensive of the year!
The sudden rise of Lingjing had given the two monopolistic game giants an unprecedented sense of crisis.
They had to do something real to defend their existing market share.
Therefore,
for this June, all departments were exceptionally attentive, as their superiors were watching closely.
No one could afford to make a mistake at this time; they might be graduating immediately.
VR games were strategic projects for the major companies, and they were all counting on their first major VR work to have a prosperous year.
With their deep foundations and substantial investment, the game quality was at least above average.
To prepare their products for June, except for Lingjing, they all abandoned the competition for initial traffic with Bao Xue, the "old fox."
Their sole aim was to present their most impressive works today and please the players.
Of course,
they had no other choice. Making games isn't like cooking; you can't just put ingredients in a pot and stir them around to get a finished product.
Behind each game were countless hours of manpower and material resources, representing their hard work and dedication.
Only Bao Xue, backed by Huíruǎn, could afford to splurge and invest heavily.
Then there was the mysteriously rising Lingjing. Previously, people didn't know Lingjing's background and only saw it as a dark horse studio that had suddenly emerged.
However, after Professor Wang Lunshan from a prestigious university publicly collaborated with Lingjing, personally crafting commemorative Pilot helmets and BT docking stations for them,
no one could simply dismiss Lingjing as a small dark horse.
Wang Lunshan, though holding an honorary position at a university, was not regarded as merely a university professor by anyone with even a slight standing in the industry.
He was a living legend in the field of precision instruments!
He had made absolutely outstanding contributions to the advancement of China's VR game industry and was a prominent figure with state backing.
Therefore, for Lingjing to be able to collaborate with such a prominent figure, its background and identity were evident.
This made Lingjing's rapid rise in such a short period remarkably understandable.
And after releasing 'Vander and the Colossus,' their ability to create 'Titanfall,' which could compete with major manufacturers, seemed less outrageous in everyone's eyes.
Consequently, while major game manufacturers reported resounding successes on the first day, news about 'Titanfall' was scarce.
This was already an acknowledged fact, rather than the shockwave that had initially stunned netizens. The attention had decreased considerably.
Perhaps if Lingjing hadn't produced such a work that day, it would have been the real industry news.
In the divine battle that was June, the players were naturally the happiest.
As consumers, who wouldn't want the games they spent hundreds of Yuan on to be incredibly fun?
Now, they could not only get Tencent's 'Holy War,' built on a web novel background, for free.
They could also be directly present in the game and experience the super fantasy interactive VR game 'Aladdin: Path of Water,' jointly created by Mr. Mecalon, Disney, and Nintendo.
There were also heavyweight VR games like 'Journey of the Wind,' 'Titanfall,' and 'Star Wars.' Players were soaring with joy.
The only downside was the strain on their wallets, but otherwise, there were no issues.
On the first day of the game's release, in China, due to the anti-addiction system, players could only immerse themselves for eight hours before being forced to log out. Overseas, it was more lenient, allowing ten hours.
However, for most people, after eight hours, the physical fatigue would become increasingly severe. Even if they managed to endure ten hours before logging out,
they would still need sufficient sleep the next day to recover. Over the long term, the average playtime remained around eight hours.
No matter how heated the online discussions were, Mo Zhi simply blocked out all external noise and focused solely on sleeping.
Rest was to prepare for the next day to better experience the game's details.
Bai Zhiyuan was in a similar situation. After being forcibly logged out by the system, she handled some work matters before rushing to wash up and sleep.
Lu Li was even more relaxed. Server maintenance didn't require his involvement, and he was too lazy to hire trolls to build hype. He was truly a hands-off manager.
All he needed to do now was maintain his health and energy so as not to lag behind in the game the next day.
Having been on Blue Star for a year and a half, he hadn't truly enjoyed himself.
Now that Lingjing was thriving and VR games were on track, it was time for him to enjoy a few days of good times during this lull.
For a game developer, enjoying life still revolved around games.
Especially since he had never experienced VR games in his previous life, everything in this world was equally novel and interesting to him.
The internet addiction he hadn't experienced in years now felt like it was stirring within him.
This reminded him of his college days, playing games with his roommates in the dormitory.
And even earlier, when he first got online, he was captivated by games like CCf and Crash Fever, to the point of neglecting his meals and sleep.
It wasn't until he entered society that he discovered the charm of indie games, console games, and AAA games. At every stage of his life, he was drawn to a particular game.
After transmigrating, these games no longer moved him. Instead, watching players get hurt or tormented became his source of amusement.
Now, VR games had allowed Lu Li to regain his manly vigor.
On Blue Star, in addition to enjoying players' suffering, he had found another engaging activity.
Being immersed in the VR world made him feel a vigorous and youthful vitality.
It also made him realize that he was only a young man in his early twenties, yet he was living a life as dull and lifeless as an old man.
This shouldn't be the case; it shouldn't be.
From now on, he would not only go out more but also experience different things.
However, for now, it was more important to rest early and preserve his life.
Tomorrow, he still had to pilot a Titan!
...