Chapter 118 Preparing for the New Year

January 21st, Saturday.

Pei Qian tidied up his things a bit, preparing to go home.

The company was already on holiday. Most departments would start work on the eighth day of the new year, which was the Monday after next.

Moyu Takeaway, Nifeng Logistics, and other departments were starting work on the second day of the new year, with rotating shifts during the holiday from the second to the eighth day. Of course, all employees working during the holiday would receive full overtime pay, so many employees in these departments not only didn't want to take a vacation, but were also eager to work overtime.

This time going home, he didn't need to replace all his previous clothes and computer. He just needed to leave his watch behind.

Because Pei Qian had told his parents that he worked at Fei Huang Studio and was one of the studio's veterans, so his income was acceptable. In that case, wearing more expensive clothes when going home wouldn't seem so strange.

They had already bought a house, and the two elders had a relatively high estimate of Pei Qian's current income, so they naturally wouldn't care so much about these aspects. What's more, they couldn't tell whether a suit cost several thousand or tens of thousands.

His parents had now moved to a house near the high-speed rail station. It was still in Jingzhou, not too far away, so Pei Qian only brought a small backpack, packed with some changes of clothes and his computer.

They were still in the same city, and he was only staying for a week, so there was no need to bring so much luggage.

However, he still needed to bring the computer, otherwise it would be difficult to deal with any unexpected events during the holiday.

After packing everything, Pei Qian went downstairs and took a car home.

...

At the same time, Qiu Hong had also arrived at the airport and was waiting for his flight.

Looking back on the past few months of working in the capital, he felt a bit like he was living in another world.

Qiu Hong thought to himself, how did I, a producer of pay-to-win games, become the savior of domestic indie games?

It could only be said that life was unpredictable.

With nothing to do, he took out his phone to check the comments from netizens regarding *Shui Mo Yun Yan*'s changed pre-sale price.

Last night, he had arranged for his subordinates to adjust the pre-sale price of *Shui Mo Yun Yan* to five yuan. For players who had already paid a deposit, the game's price would be reduced to 36 yuan, meaning that they only needed to pay another 21 yuan when the game was officially released.

In addition, Qiu Hong also issued an official announcement, apologizing to players who had already purchased the game, and expressing regret for the impact caused by the change in the pre-sale price.

As for why the pre-sale price was lowered, the announcement stated: "*Shui Mo Yun Yan* has received extraordinary enthusiasm and support from players since the start of pre-sales, which the development team is deeply moved by. However, precisely because the enthusiasm shown by players far exceeded expectations, we believe that the pre-sale price was set too high, so we have lowered the pre-sale price. We sincerely apologize for the impact this has had on players and have provided a compensation plan for everyone."

Qiu Hong had tried his best with this announcement, because the decision to change the pre-sale price and compensate players was made by Boss Pei, who believed that pre-sales were actually a way to transfer risk to players and should not be encouraged.

However, this reason was fine to say in private, but not good to write in the announcement, because it would definitely dampen players' enthusiasm for supporting domestic indie games.

Therefore, Qiu Hong himself was not sure how to write this announcement and could only be vague about it.

Qiu Hong felt that most players would probably accept it, but might also find it inexplicable.

He still had to see how everyone on the internet reacted.

Qiu Hong quickly found discussions among players about the change in *Shui Mo Yun Yan*'s pre-sale price.

"What does this mean? They changed the original pre-sale price from 15 yuan to 5 yuan? There was no need for that, right?"

"The game developer's behavior is confusing."

"The announcement says that because players are particularly enthusiastic, the official feels that the pre-sale price was set too high? I don't see the logic in that?"

"Could it be because the official thinks that a price of 5 yuan will allow more people to buy the pre-sale?"

"That's not likely. Those who are willing to buy the pre-sale are basically players who wholeheartedly support domestic indie games. For these players, there is not much difference between selling the pre-sale for 5 yuan or 15 yuan. Moreover, the final payment still has to be made when the game is released. Regardless of whether the pre-sale is priced at 5 yuan or 15 yuan, the game's price is still the same, so what's the difference?"

"Apart from making less money, I don't see any other impact..."

"Then that's very confusing, isn't it?"

Most players did indeed feel that the official "Qiong Tu Plan" (Desperate Measures Plan) action was a bit redundant. Whether the pre-sale price was higher or lower, it was just the difference between giving three in the morning and four in the evening, or getting the money sooner or later. Why bother changing the pre-sale price specifically?

But just when most players were confused, a post appeared online, explaining the true intention behind the "Qiong Tu Plan" action!

"I suddenly understand why *Shui Mo Yun Yan* lowered the pre-sale price!"

"The official explanation is that because the players' enthusiasm for pre-ordering far exceeded expectations, the official realized that the pre-sale price was set too high."

"At first glance, this logic doesn't seem to hold up. Why would high player enthusiasm make the official think that the pre-sale price is too high?"

"That's because you have to understand why pre-sales are popular among indie games now."

"Indie game pre-sales are mainly because indie game development teams are often short of money and need to recover some funds in advance through pre-sales to better develop the remaining parts of the game."

"*Shui Mo Yun Yan* initially set the pre-sale price at 15 yuan, obviously because they had a rough estimate of the remaining development costs based on expected sales, and felt that selling it for 15 yuan would support future development."

"But they didn't expect that sales would be three times higher than they estimated. The development costs that originally required selling for 15 yuan can now be sustained by selling for 5 yuan!"

"That's why the official resolutely decided to lower the pre-sale price."

"Some people say that this is a bit of an overreaction and unnecessary. For many players, 5 yuan or 15 yuan is just the difference between paying a little more or a little less for the final payment."

"But for the official of the 'Qiong Tu Plan,' they definitely feel that as long as they get the follow-up development funds, there is no need to set the pre-sale price so high, which would be suspected of defrauding money; on the other hand, they feel that player interests are paramount and fully respect players. So, even though it's a beneficial thing for players, they specifically issued an announcement to explain and apologize to the players."

"It can only be said that the organizer of the 'Qiong Tu Plan' is indeed a person with ideals and a big heart! It's worth our support!"

After this post was released, the players suddenly understood.

"So that's how it is!"

"Is this developer so restrained? They felt that they could support the subsequent development costs, so they directly cut the pre-sale price from 15 yuan to 5 yuan?"

"That's not really restraint, it just means that a gentleman loves money, but earns it in a proper way. Many indie games like to do pre-sales to cheat people, collect a wave of money first, and then start developing slowly, either not releasing it for a long time, or releasing a half-finished product to fool people. But the games of the 'Qiong Tu Plan' have no such intentions at all, and are obviously very confident in their games!"

"A developer who values players so much must be supported!"

"This developer is so conscientious, it reminds me of Tenda Games. This looks like something Boss Pei would do!"

"However, based on the existing information, it seems that the Qiong Tu Plan has nothing to do with Tenda."

"That's a good thing, it shows that another boss with ideals and conscience has appeared in the gaming industry, which is a blessing for domestic games!"

"I'm going to post and hype it up, so that more people will pre-order *Shui Mo Yun Yan*!"

Looking at the netizens' discussions, Qiu Hong couldn't help but suddenly understand, feeling enlightened.

So Boss Pei also had this meaning in it?

This time, modifying the pre-sale price not only left a good impression on the players, but also made more players pre-order!

Whether it was because the topic's popularity increased, allowing more people to know about it, or because the pre-sale price was reduced from 15 yuan to 5 yuan, it further increased the number of people pre-ordering.

In this way, wouldn't the sales after the game's release be even higher?

The game's pre-sale price was reduced, and players who had already purchased the game also got a discount, which was definitely a good thing for the players.

And the "Qiong Tu Plan" side won both face and substance.

This was a win-win!

Qiu Hong couldn't help but sigh. Boss Pei was indeed Boss Pei. Even a small operation with light strokes could show his skill! His control over the player's mentality had reached the pinnacle!

...

...

January 22nd, Sunday.

Before 7:00 AM, Pei Qian got up to wash and brush.

Now that the two elders had moved to the new house near the high-speed rail station, the living conditions were much better.

His parents had specifically reserved the master bedroom for him, and the two elders insisted on living in the secondary bedroom, obviously not completely giving up the idea of him using this house as a wedding room.

Pei Qian was speechless, but there was nothing he could do. It seemed that he could only lose more money and buy another house before his parents could live in this one with peace of mind.

After washing up, Pei Qian went to the living room.

His mother was cooking in the kitchen, and his father was making tea in the living room.

Seeing that Pei Qian had actually gotten up, the two elders were surprised.

"Son, you actually got up so early? I thought you would sleep until nine o'clock. Drink some water first, breakfast will be ready soon." After his mother finished speaking, she continued to prepare breakfast.

His father nodded in satisfaction. "Good, your work and rest schedule is quite healthy now, keep it up, you hear?"

Pei Qian took out his Bluetooth earphones and put them on, then sat on the sofa and opened the livestream of the IOI Global Finals on his phone.

The two elders had obviously misunderstood. Would Pei Qian be able to get up early if there was nothing special?

If it weren't for the IOI Global Finals, Pei Qian might have slept until 10:00 AM, how could he have gotten up before 7:00 AM?

After opening the livestream, the timing was perfect, and the match was about to start in a few minutes.

Pei Qian said he was giving up, but he was still paying attention to the FV team.

"Heaven bless, as long as you don't dominate and win the championship, everything will be fine..."

...

The final match was the peak showdown between the FV team and the FRY team, which had already garnered full attention before the match.

The FV team was not favored at the beginning, and was constantly ridiculed by foreigners as "cnioinoob" in the group stage, but they played two 3:0s in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, and no one dared to question their strength anymore.

The FRY team, as the strongest veteran team in Europe and America, had also advanced all the way to the finals. Although they lost two or three small rounds, the resilience and strength they showed in the match were still not to be underestimated.

Before the match, the commentators on the official commentator's stage of Finger Company believed that this would be an evenly matched and exciting match, and from a personal standpoint, they obviously supported the FRY team more.

It was still the previous match venue, but compared to the quarter-finals and semi-finals, today's match was of a higher standard.

Before the start of the match, Finger Company specially invited a famous European and American rock band to sing the theme song, and there were also very cool Cosplay performances. In a series of applause and cheers, the venue quickly turned into a carnival sea!

Christian and Zhao Xuming sat in the front row of the audience, their expressions slightly solemn.

Christian had secretly sent two of Finger Company's balance masters to the FRY team to help them analyze the data of the new version and provide tactical support for the FRY team.

With a week of preparation time, the FRY's tactical reserves should have improved to a certain extent.

But no one could say for sure whether they could beat the FV team.

Because the current strength of the FV team was a mystery to everyone. They were training behind closed doors on the second floor of that internet cafe every day, and no one knew what they were practicing.

The accompanying data team kept their mouths shut, and there were bodyguards guarding the door, so trying to peek was a pipe dream.

Christian didn't dare to use too despicable means, such as letting his engineers check the game data. After all, there was no airtight wall. Once the official was exposed for digging up other people's game data, it would be a huge scandal, and Christian would probably not be able to bear the consequences.

Like now, secretly sending two balance masters to FRY to provide them with some tactical support was already the limit that Christian could do, and it also took a huge risk.

No one knew what the result of this battle would be. Christian and Zhao Xuming looked at the confident expressions of the FV team members on the stage, and couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

They thought they were five rookies, but they didn't expect these five people to fight all the way to the finals. All the clubs in the world and Finger Company combined could do nothing about them!