To ascend, I had no choice but to create games-Chapter 853 - 470: It’s Really Easy to Make Money in the Two-Dimensional World_2
However, the name "Mahjong City" didn’t pass the review, so we decided to change the name.
In the days of intense preparation at the game studio, the name of the game was finally set as "Megalopolis", and the video promotion began immediately.
But when the game’s early publicity was released, players found themselves confused by Fang Cheng’s new game.
Fang Cheng Studio, what are you up to?
The previous games were fine; at most, there were some inaccuracies with the game tags, the game names were a bit off, and the content left people feeling a bit baffled.
But with the title and game visuals, they couldn’t guess the genre of the game at all - this was a first.
The anime-style was quite nice, even stunning.
The endless Sea of Cherry Blossoms, the quaint yet vibrant Traditional Style Town, the different styles of strikingly handsome men and beautiful women - all of these made the anime elements of the game off the charts, making even those who didn’t understand anime comment, "Those paper figures actually look pretty good."
But what is the gameplay?
The promotional visuals were as perfect as could be, so players weren’t worried that it was a PV scam. After all, Fang Cheng Studio was a gold signboard; there was no concern that their games wouldn’t be up to par.
But really, what was the gameplay?
It seemed like card drawing, open-world exploration, a bit like a dating sim, and also carried a hint of The Sims.
Such a diverse mix of elements combined made the game a bit hard to grasp.
As the first anime-style game from Fang Cheng Studio, "Megalopolis" naturally caught the attention of players.
Some were eager to play the game soon, while others silently prayed for Fang Cheng Studio to flop so they could have their chance.
Since there was only one PV for the game, analyzing this PV became the recent traffic password for the game section on Bilibili. Every game-related content creator was analyzing it, trying to guess the genre of the game for their viewers.
[Have we all been deceived? Is Fang Cheng Studio’s new game a horror game?]
[Horror, puzzle, exploration, simulation, anime... What is Fang Cheng Studio not good at?]
[Don’t hesitate. Just blow your money on "Megalopolis" once it’s out!]
[Don’t care what game it is, the scenery alone is worth hyping up.]
[Anything under five hundred I’ll buy without a second thought. It’s that simple.]
Not until the second PV was released did players surprisingly discover that this was a grand game platform based on card and board games. The discussion around "Megalopolis" wasn’t the same anymore.
[Hmm... I mean no disrespect to card and board games, but is it really okay to use such good visuals for a chess game?]
[In my memory, aren’t card and board games an old trick from the past generation? Why is Fang Cheng Studio doing this now?]
[Fang Cheng, are you running out of money? If you need money, just tell us! We’ll send it over, don’t make such low-end games!]
[I, a V50 of Fang Cheng, invite you to join Fang Cheng Studio, and you can decide the next game genre.]
[Doesn’t matter to me, I plan to use this game as a scenery simulator. After all, anime scenery is always a delight to look at, and playing cards with so many Misses seems worth it.]
[Just spoil them!]
Just two PVs contributed two hot topics on Weibo.
One was: [Is Fang Cheng Studio going bankrupt, starting to create cash grab games?]
And the other: [Fang Cheng Studio has really gone under, the boss Fang Cheng ran away with his mistress!]
Although the second topic was clearly a joke, it brought a lot of attention and made people realize that Fang Cheng Studio truly was a star-studio.
However, fame can bring attention and backlash.
The second PV was intentionally produced by Wang Xiaoying to let players realize what kind of game it was.
Fang Cheng Studio’s games now were not lacking in traffic, but they had to filter, to sift out those players who didn’t like card games to avoid the backlash of the traffic.
The traffic that other game studios coveted was a burden for Fang Cheng, making Wang Xiaoying reflect that perhaps this trouble was unique to Fang Cheng Studio.
Besides that, the preliminary research for the game made her feel somewhat pessimistic.
The younger generation accepts anime-style aesthetics more readily, yet they don’t particularly enjoy traditional card games like mahjong.
The older generation likes traditional card games, but they aren’t especially fond of anime styles.
Moreover, the card games in this title had undergone several magical alterations, with plenty of innovations added to the traditional card games.
Because there were so many innovations, Wang Xiaoying began to doubt the game’s prospects.
She strived to ignore the online discussions, focusing her efforts on the game itself and praying it would truly satisfy the target users’ needs.
Finally, after the game’s release date, Wang Xiaoying watched as sales steadily rose, surpassing one million before long.
It was a standard figure, but it wasn’t what she was concerned about.
She was looking at the refund rate.
"Megalopolis" was purchased and downloaded through Game Inn, where players could get a no-questions-asked refund within a day of their purchase, thereby avoiding games that scammed playtime.
However, this also meant that the game itself had to meet higher quality standards; if it didn’t keep players hooked past the first day, it was generally considered a failure.
Glued to the refund numbers, Wang Xiaoying felt each refund was a bullet piercing her heart.
"Don’t be too many, don’t be too many, just don’t exceed 30%, just don’t exceed 30%."
Silently praying, Wang Xiaoying watched the refund figures, feeling as though each day dragged on like a year.
Although not much could be determined today and the real data would appear tomorrow, she couldn’t resist the urge to check various figures continuously.
The next day, Wang Xiaoying arrived at the studio and eagerly turned on her computer, immediately diving into the game’s data.
Seeing that the refund rate was only in the single digits, she finally breathed a sigh of relief followed by a surge of ecstasy.
Yes!
This number works!
She had anticipated a 30% rate in her mind, yet "Megalopolis" surpassed her expectations, completely blindsiding her.
Opening the game’s review section, she saw an overwhelming number of positive comments.
[Incredible, I initially paid 128 yuan to support Fang Cheng Studio, but wow, I didn’t expect this...]
[Same here, unbelievable.]
[I usually detest mahjong and don’t even play it during New Year’s. But here, I find myself having quite a good time.]
[Cards plus mahjong, this combo turned out to be unexpectedly fun, really beyond imagination.]
[I don’t care about anything else; I just want to know if the daily number of card draws really cannot be increased!]
[To the one above, I can tell you quite plainly, no! I’ve tried everything, sought different channels, closely examined every QR code in the game, but sadly, this game truly does not have additional in-game purchase channels.]
[Isn’t it good that there are no extra in-game purchases? I usually hate pay-to-win games the most.]
[Try it and you’ll understand, this game really makes you wish there was a way to draw more cards.]
[I don’t get it.]
[San Tong (my wife) in her wedding dress.jpg]
[...Got it.]
[I believe Fang Cheng Studio didn’t create this game out of a need for money because if they really were short on funds, just one character’s sales could explode! And a mahjong set could have 108 characters, not counting the character skins, outfits, and corresponding skills!]
[Exactly! Twenty draws a day isn’t nearly enough! Do they think we can’t afford more? Top up, top up everything! Give every player a hundred draws! Fully loaded!]
Reading through these comments, Wang Xiaoying realized that making money from anime fans was easier than expected.
Too bad the boss doesn’t like money.
Otherwise, he’d be the richest man by now.
