Chapter 109 The Horn of Dawn

Chapter 109 The Horn of Dawn

What is a steam platform?

This issue evokes a sense of helplessness for domestic single-player gamers, as well as MOBA and CS players.

The past decade or so has been a less than pleasant experience for Chinese single-player gamers.

The import of games faces numerous difficulties, and the console ban has kept many high-quality titles out of the market.

Steam, in recent years, has become a relatively stable platform for players to access and purchase legitimate games.

Although the Steam platform was only officially connected to Ant Pay in China more than half a year ago.

However, before that, people could also find hidden ways such as Taobao stores, game cards, and third-party agents to achieve their goal of purchasing genuine games.

For these various reasons, the domestic single-player game player community has always been a relatively niche, but resilient, circle.

Nearly two months ago, when Chen Bainian took to the stage with his unconventional game "Getting Over It," which gained popularity for its challenging gameplay, he attracted a lot of attention thanks to the live stream's entertainment value and some strange gossip.

Ultimately, however, it is also a highly challenging hardcore game with extremely strong negative feedback.

Therefore, although many viewers may be interested in watching the spectacle, very few actually make the attempt and spend real money to buy it.

The real player conversion is still concentrated in the core small circle of single-player game players.

But this time, the situation is completely different with "Potato Survivors".

Amidst the heated discussions, its defining characteristics are "stress relief," "enjoyment," and "low barrier to understanding."

During the live stream, everyone felt that simple and direct joy.

Therefore, as the discussion began to spread beyond the circle, these questions arose:

—What is Steam Platform? How do I download it?

—I found it, but why is it a foreign language website? Isn't it supposed to be a domestic game?

—Huh? It costs money? 29 yuan? Aren't all games free?

—Can I play indefinitely after buying it? No in-app purchases? Really?

Faced with this overwhelming tide of questions, those who originally only kept their own little circles in their own little world...

Single-player gamers, who are used to entertaining themselves and experimenting with various things, seem to have felt a strange sense of mission.

They began to spontaneously step out of their circles, acting like customer service representatives for Steam platforms and long-running games, selflessly answering questions for these onlookers outside the circle:

—You can find it on Baidu. Make sure you're right, don't click on a pirated or counterfeit version!

—Fine, I'll just give you the link.

—It is indeed an international platform, but Potato Survivor is also a domestically produced game, a purebred one! The issues here cannot be explained in a few words, so just support it!

—29 yuan isn't expensive; it's about the price of a Starbucks coffee or two or three cups of milk tea. Plus, this game has no in-app purchases, making it much more generous than those mobile games that claim to be free but actually sell game stats!

—Yes, it's a buyout, and there might be version updates in the future!

Of course, besides these complete outsiders, there are also some viewers who watch game videos and game live streams, who are halfway into the circle, and they are also discussing this:

—Longevity Game? That name sounds familiar.

—Then you must have heard of "Getting Over It," it's made by this company.

—Oh, now that you mention it, I remember. But it's only been two months, right? Their new game is developing so fast, are they just trying to cash in on their previous fame?

—I played for a few hours today and felt that the game was very complete. As for why it was developed so quickly, it's probably because the game is relatively small and "Persistence Bro" is really good at it.

Amidst these various discussions, more and more people outside the gaming community, driven by curiosity about this domestically produced indie game, downloaded the unfamiliar Steam platform and paid 29 yuan to buy "Potato Survivor".

This also marks their first official foray into the PC single-player game market.

Then, they were immersed in the legendary state of flow.

At midnight, when they had to log off the game because they had to go to work or attend an early class the next day, they realized that several hours had quietly passed.

The frustration and stress that had accumulated throughout the day seemed to be cleared away along with the barrage of comments flying across the screen.

The pure joy they derive from the game sparked a desire in them to share it.

So they reopened the forums, blogs, and group chats they had just closed, excitedly exchanging tips, searching for more gameplay strategies, and actively recommending the game to even more people.

This added fuel to the already heated discussion.

The night of the launch of "Potato Survivor" burned brightly in a raging fire ignited by the popularity of the live stream and fueled by positive word-of-mouth from players.

The game's sales curve also quietly climbed during the fire.

October 4th, Thursday.

Morning light streamed through the glass, illuminating the open office area of ​​Changshou Games.

Chen Bainian had just finished a rather lengthy morning meeting.

He acknowledged the team's efforts during this period, but also reminded everyone to avoid arrogance and impetuosity. He then clearly assigned tasks such as subsequent operational support, player feedback collection, initial optimization direction, and multi-platform development.

Not long after I sat down at my workstation, an administrative colleague came over with a tablet computer displaying a list.

"Mr. Chen, several media outlets in the industry have sent interview requests. These are the ones that have been initially screened; they are all relatively influential vertical media in the industry," the administrative colleague said, handing over a tablet.

Currently, the scale of Changshou Games is still relatively small, and the work that should belong to the independent public relations or marketing department, as well as the work of contacting the media, can only be temporarily completed by the administrative and operations colleagues.

Chen Bainian took the tablet and quickly scanned it. The filtered list of media outlets was indeed quite substantial.

He paused for a moment.

These invitations represent the industry's attention. While it's not appropriate to accept them all, it would also be inappropriate to reject them all.

He handed the tablet back and made a decision: "Let's coordinate the time with them, try to concentrate it together, keep the content short and efficient, and schedule it after the May Day holiday."

"Okay." The administrative colleague nodded, noted it down, and then added, "There's one more thing. We received a formal invitation email from the CIGA China Independent Games Alliance, hoping we'll join."

In addition, Mr. Zhou Lihui, the founder of CIGA and also the founder of Island Games, arrived at our company during the morning meeting just now. I invited him to the general manager's office.

The general manager's office of Changshou Games is usually unoccupied and has been converted into the company's meeting room.

Upon hearing the names CIGA and Zhou Lihui, Chen Bainian felt a sense of understanding and deep thought.

"Okay, I'll be right there."