Chapter 10/23

October 23rd.

The English and Japanese versions of *回头是岸 (Huitou Shi An)* were officially released!

On Linklive, a new foreign streaming website, Hao Shuaiqi had already downloaded the English version and started his first playthrough.

However, this time he wasn't playing through the game normally; instead, he was aiming for a speedrun.

After streaming for so long, Hao Shuaiqi's subscriber count had been steadily increasing, and it had now reached over 100,000. This was quite impressive on Linklive, a relatively new streaming platform.

Every day, viewers in his stream would ask, "When will the English version be released?"

On Ellie Island (艾丽岛), the videos of *回头是岸 (Huitou Shi An)* that Hao Shuaiqi had posted had also become extremely popular, and foreign streamers' reactions to the game had become a hot topic among domestic players.

Now that the English version of *回头是岸 (Huitou Shi An)* was finally out, Hao Shuaiqi naturally wanted to seize this opportunity to promote it to all of his viewers.

The viewers in his stream were naturally ecstatic.

"I've been watching this game's streams, and it looks like a very difficult action game. Thank you so much, streamer, for introducing us to such a fun game!"

"Awesome, the English version is finally out! God knows what I went through playing the Chinese version."

"I have to say, the English version of this game is really well done. I checked it out, and some of the key translations are spot-on, accurately conveying the meaning of the original work. This is a truly conscientious developer, striving for perfection in the details. Thumbs up!"

"A game that has captivated someone like me who originally had absolutely no interest in Huaxia culture."

"I've watched the streamer beat the game several times, so I believe this game won't be a problem for me!"

Many players also left messages of support on the official overseas platforms or voluntarily promoted the game on various forums and websites.

The overseas version of *回头是岸 (Huitou Shi An)* was off to a great start!

...

Tengda Network Technology Co., Ltd.

Li Yada had been paying close attention to the data from overseas, and the more she looked, the more impressed she became.

"I really didn't expect that the overseas data would be even better than the domestic data?"

"President Pei is too amazing!"

Li Yada was completely and utterly convinced.

The multi-language version of *回头是岸 (Huitou Shi An)* was produced with the help of the official platform, and the quality of the translation was extremely high. But even so, Li Yada wasn't 100% sure that the game would be a hit overseas.

The reason was simple: cultural differences were too great!

The domestic and foreign game markets were completely different things.

Many games that were huge hits in China flopped overseas, and no amount of promotion could help;

There were also some games that were silent in China but thrived overseas.

Therefore, there was even a group of publishers in China that specialized in the overseas market. They would work hard to study the tastes of foreign users and be responsible for the overseas adaptation of some local games, which also involved huge profits.

The so-called "overseas adaptation" involved a comprehensive transformation of a local game from many aspects, such as art style, gameplay, game details, and promotion methods, so that it could better cater to the tastes of overseas players.

Sometimes, in order to achieve a better effect, they even had to replace the entire worldview with a Western fantasy background that was more easily accepted by foreign players.

Therefore, it was a very low-probability event for a game to become popular both domestically and overseas.

Games that achieved this undoubtedly became the pillars and cash cows of the game companies.

Therefore, Li Yada was very surprised that *回头是岸 (Huitou Shi An)* could also achieve good results overseas.

"To be honest, *回头是岸 (Huitou Shi An)* doesn't seem like a game that would be popular in the overseas market."

"The entire story background uses materials from traditional Huaxia culture. Many elements that resonate strongly with domestic players, such as the Naihe Bridge, the Sansheng Stone, and Meng Po, may mean nothing to foreign players."

"But even so, foreign players still love this game so much, which is enough to show how successful this game is."

"This is all due to President Pei's hard work!"

Thinking of all the efforts President Pei had put into *回头是岸 (Huitou Shi An)*, Li Yada felt admiration from the bottom of her heart.

"First of all, there's the design of the game itself."

"*回头是岸 (Huitou Shi An)* is a very hardcore action game, which is very much in line with the tastes of overseas players."

"President Pei took the risk of being rejected by domestic players and set a high level of difficulty. Perhaps he was aiming to appeal to both domestic and overseas players from the very beginning?"

"Secondly, there's the promotion method."

"Many foreign streamers on Linklive were looking up words in the dictionary while streaming *回头是岸 (Huitou Shi An)*, which gave the game widespread popularity overseas and also formed a hot topic for discussion."

"It's a low-probability event for foreign streamers to spontaneously recommend it, but then again, this is also determined by the characteristics of the game itself."

"The game itself is so excellent that even without Hao Shuaiqi, other foreign streamers would have discovered the game and spread it spontaneously."

"Finally, President Pei told me not to rush to release the overseas version."

"On the one hand, it was to patiently wait for the game's popularity to accumulate overseas. On the other hand, it was to allow more time for translation, so that the cultural connotations of the game could be translated accurately and elegantly."

"With all these factors combined, the overseas version of *回头是岸 (Huitou Shi An)* was a success!"

"Is this what they call 'strategizing in the tent and winning a thousand miles away'?"

"President Pei is so thorough and considerate!"

"It seems I still have a lot to learn!"

Li Yada sincerely exclaimed.

Just as she was exclaiming, Pei Qian came to work.

Li Yada quickly stood up and said, "President Pei, regarding the overseas version of *回头是岸 (Huitou Shi An)*, the current situation is..."

Pei Qian's face darkened, and he quickly raised his hand to signal her to stop, "No need to say anything."

Li Yada quickly nodded, "Ah, okay, President Pei."

As expected, President Pei had already anticipated this, so reporting the good news now was a bit redundant.

Pei Qian was a little speechless.

Hearing such bad news so early in the morning was unlucky!

"President Pei, the project team doesn't have any other tasks at the moment, just some simple little bugs to fix," Li Yada said. "I was planning to arrange some version optimization work for them, or prepare to develop DLC. What do you think?"

"DLC? No!" Pei Qian was taken aback and quickly called a halt to this dangerous idea.

He looked at Li Yada and said seriously, "Everyone has been working hard for so long, shouldn't they take a good rest?"

"Employees are Tengda's most valuable asset, we must not overwork them!"

"Moreover, if you only produce without input, even the most inspiration will dry up."

"As game developers, you must play more games and draw more materials in order to keep making good games that are refreshing for players, understand?"

"This week, everyone should do nothing... uh... let Bao Xu take everyone to play games."

"Bao Xu, from now on, you are the Lead Player, responsible for leading everyone to play games."

"Make a plan and assign tasks to everyone. No matter what game it is, everyone's game time must reach 40 hours this week. If you don't have enough game time, I'll hold you accountable!"

Bao Xu, who was shrinking his neck and trying to minimize his presence, was shocked.

Damn it! I almost buried my head in the monitor, how did President Pei still manage to assign me this task!

Bao Xu quickly stood up and said, "Okay, President Pei."

Pei Qian went to his office indignantly.

The people in the office area looked at each other, and then all turned their attention to Bao Xu.

Bao Xu spread his hands, speechless, "What are you looking at me for? Everyone, hurry up and get started... don't make things difficult for me."

The people in the office area looked at each other, and then quickly put down the non-urgent work at hand and frantically opened games.

...

In the office, Pei Qian used his construction-level English to look at the reviews of the English version of *回头是岸 (Huitou Shi An)* and sighed silently.

Alas, although I had foreseen this result before making the English version, there's nothing I can do!

Pei Qian originally thought that he could block more than 90% of overseas players with cultural barriers, but now he realized that he was too optimistic.

He really didn't expect these foreign players to be willing to suffer and chew on raw meat, and even made a group of Chinese-speaking streamers popular!

So, the official platform saw the game's enthusiastic response both domestically and overseas and decided to help find a translation team to release an overseas version. Everything happened so naturally.

"Oh well, let it be."

Pei Qian was already powerless to do anything about it.

Finally, he entered a last-minute cramming session and went through the various activities of the 1024 Digital Festival again.

In the afternoon, Pei Qian watched some dramas and took a nap in the office, waiting for the farewell banquet arranged for Chief Editor Xia and others in the evening.

...

...

In the evening, a seven-seater van and an ordinary van from Tengda were parked in front of Ming Yun Private Kitchen.

Xia Jiang got out of the car, her face pale, looking like she wasn't in good spirits.

The few people who got out of the car behind her also didn't look very good. A strong cameraman was walking a bit unsteadily, looking weak, probably having vomited.

Obviously, most people were not very adapted to this kind of extremely stimulating entertainment activities.

Xia Jiang recalled the unforgettable experience she had at Jingzhou New World Amusement Park today, and she wasn't feeling well.

Roller coaster, drop tower, pendulum ride, haunted house...

Xia Jiang didn't know how she managed to persevere, and her legs were still a little weak.

Pei Qian was already waiting in advance at the entrance of Ming Yun Private Kitchen. Seeing everyone's dejected state, he couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth slightly, revealing a heartfelt smile.

Heh, I've finally won one back!

Let's see if you dare to stab me in the back again!

Pei Qian couldn't help but think gleefully, should I arrange a similar "death tour" for all the reporters who come to Jingzhou, so that no one will dare to interview me again in the future?

"How was it, Chief Editor Xia, did everyone have fun today?" Pei Qian was beaming and smiling warmly.

Xia Jiang forced a smile, "Happy..."

Pei Qian nodded with satisfaction, "It's good that you're happy! Everyone, have a good rest after dinner tonight. We've also arranged a skydiving project for you tomorrow, it's especially fun, you definitely can't miss it!"

Xia Jiang: "..."

...

...

The next morning.

The staff came to the hotel where Xia Jiang and others were staying and found only the trophies, certificates, and the 100,000 yuan bonus left for President Pei in the room.

Next to the trophy, there was a letter.

"President Pei:"

"Thank you very much for your warm hospitality during this time. We spent a very unforgettable time in Jingzhou!"

"Due to heavy work tasks and the sudden arrangement of new interview tasks by the leaders, we can only rush back. President Pei is busy with work, and we don't have time to say goodbye in person, we sincerely apologize."

"Please rest assured, President Pei, this special interview will definitely be completed satisfactorily! We hope to have the opportunity to cooperate again in the future!"