Chapter 31: The Real Estate Company Disguised as a Game Studio

Lying flat is a kind of wisdom!

Only those who truly see through worldly desires can achieve great enlightenment and grasp the true essence of lying flat amid ridicule.

That’s right, Chen Ba has decided to take it easy.

He really doesn’t care about negative player reviews or refund threats anymore...

Because compared to that, Tianba Studio is already "famous" in the game industry.

In the domestic indie game circle, almost everyone has heard that in Jiangning there’s a studio called Tianba Studio, and this studio is really something!

How remarkable is it?

The games they made, with over a dozen patches... over a dozen patches, all about "controlling housing prices"!

"In a sense, we’re famous anyway!" Yang Dong consoled himself.

"Yes, but this kind of fame..."

Lu held his forehead, feeling like crying without tears: "People say we are a real estate company disguised as a game studio."

"Honestly, that’s just absurd slander!"

"Even real estate companies aren’t this diligent! What real estate company would change the prices of a property 12 times in two months like us?" Yang Dong retorted.

Chen Ba glanced at him, couldn’t resist sarcastically saying, "Don’t tell me you actually feel proud?"

Look at the update announcements from other companies.

Either they’re fixing certain bugs, launching new gameplay, or optimizing the gaming experience... all quite decent.

Then take a look at the update announcement for "Living Under Someone’s Roof Simulator."

Goodness, a dozen update announcements with even the wording repeated, and apart from notifying players of "housing price increases," there’s not a hint of proper optimization!

No wonder colleagues find it bizarre.

Even Chen Ba himself found it absurd, having personally witnessed the entire process of a simulation RPG narrative game turning into a "House Flipping Simulator" within just two months of its official release.

It just goes to show that game creators can never predict players’ thoughts!

During the early access phase, everyone’s gameplay was pretty normal, except for a few oddballs pulling all-nighters at internet cafes, most players were seriously progressing through the main story and doing tasks like rummaging through trash cans.

But ever since a certain evil-origin streamer publicly said, "This is my house, you’re the ones who should get out," the nature of the game changed.

Is this good or bad, though?

If judged purely by the results, it’s definitely a good thing; after all, sales are the most important aspect of a single-player game.

With the boost in popularity, "Living Under Someone’s Roof Simulator" achieved sales of 200,000 copies within two months, breaking the record of the previous work.

But in terms of the game itself, this result deviated from the original plan.

According to producer Chen Ba’s vision, he wanted players to feel the resentment and unwillingness of living under someone else’s roof, evoking empathetic emotions in them.

As for the outcome...

Emotional resonance was achieved.

But the emotion that resonated with players wasn’t the resentment and unwillingness of being under someone’s roof; it was the triumphant feeling of the "Dragon King reclaiming his place" akin to emancipated serfs singing songs.

Darn!

Selling this game to them for 25 bucks is a huge loss!

"I said it before, once the game’s freedom increases, players definitely won’t obediently follow the storylines."

Zhang Xiaojun, the only female in the team, proposed a unique perspective: "For a game with a strong storyline, giving players high freedom is inherently the wrong choice."

What kind of people are players?

The term "fourth calamity" isn’t just for show!

Expecting these people to obediently follow the flow and progress the main storyline is just too naive! High freedom and strong storytelling, it’s a combination filled with contradictions.

If you really care about the storyline, believing the game can win players’ love just by the story, just make it an interactive narrative visual novel like "Invisible Guardian."

If you care more about freedom, then try going for open-world, aiming to create a "colorful and vividly real" game world.

Wanting everything ends up achieving nothing really well!

"What you say is somewhat reasonable, but not entirely."

Chen Ba shook his head and said, "High freedom and strong storytelling aren’t actually incompatible. It’s just that our experiment in ’Living Under Someone’s Roof Simulator’ indeed didn’t succeed."

Just learn from the lesson.

The first game turned into Cow Herding Simulator, the second game turned into House Flipping Simulator...

These two unexpected twists have left Chen Ba with a deep sense of reverence for the word "Simulator."

"Next time, no more strong storylines."

"That’s right, who needs a storyline? As long as the gameplay is strong enough, it’s playable even without a storyline!" Yang Dong agreed.

Does Snake have a storyline?

Even if it does, it doesn’t matter; not many players care about the hidden storyline of Snake, they’re just thinking about how to get longer and thicker...

The group truly had nothing to say.

Primarily because the two games released by Tianba Studio, both had much thought invested in the storyline, and yet they always end up being played in entirely new ways.

Since that’s the case, who cares about game storylines, better just focus on working on the gameplay.

After reviewing the specific reasons why "Living Under Someone’s Roof Simulator" turned into a "House Flipping Simulator," Chen Ba also announced a piece of good news.

Because of the game’s booming sales, the studio now has substantial funds, and after Christmas, they will be moving to a bigger, more spacious office.

This is a suitable spot that Chen Ba had been searching for for a long time.

It’s closer to the city center, making life more convenient, and the space is several hundred square meters; although the rent is a little pricey, it’s bearable.

Most importantly, just 200 meters away from the new office is a food plaza, which is simply fantastic!

"Hooray!"

Upon hearing the studio is moving near a food plaza, everyone got really excited.

Besides the moving update, Chen Ba also announced something else, which is that there might be a round of recruitment after the New Year holidays.

Right now, including Chen Ba himself, the studio only has four people; it might expand to ten people soon.

The specific number is still to be determined.

Mainly because Jiangning isn’t a first-tier city, nor is it an internet enterprise hotspot, making it really hard to recruit enough game industry professionals.

Sales of "Living Under Someone’s Roof Simulator" are stable; even without discounts, it sells 80,000 to 100,000 copies each month.

So Tianba Studio currently doesn’t lack funds, with millions of surplus funds coming in every month, hiring will definitely not be an issue.

"Need to hire a finance person too by the way!"

After thinking it over, Chen Ba realized the studio truly needs a professional financial accountant, as for tax reports and accounting, with increasing scale, someone dedicated is necessary.

However, these are secondary issues.

Whether it’s moving or expanding, a little delay won’t matter, but there is one issue that can’t be delayed, it requires urgent attention.

The studio’s Logo!

Until now, Tianba Studio has been using Chen Ba’s handwritten "Tianba" artistic text as the Logo.

How can this be okay?

After all, it’s a formal setup now, without having someone design a proper trademark Logo, it’s embarrassing to greet colleagues at industry gatherings.

Besides the Logo, they could also consider coming up with a Slogan, a motto.

Tencent has "Creating Happiness with Heart," Pig Factory has "Game Lovers," Miha You has "Tech Nerds Saving the World"...

No matter big or small, all companies at least have a shoutable slogan for players to hear and remember.

So, what should Tianba Studio’s slogan be?

No Cavities?!