My game, you have no right to award

Chapter 185 Platinum
If this sales growth trend continues, by the seventh day, "The Joker" could even surpass four million copies sold.

For an indie game to sell a million copies over its entire lifecycle is a huge victory worth celebrating!

Even for many years, before the emergence of Light Swallow Studio and Megvii Games, the ceiling for domestic independent games was only one million copies sold.

Moreover, such results are not achieved every year.

Therefore, the guaranteed sales of three million copies in the first week of "Joker" is nothing short of astonishing in the eyes of industry insiders.

Such sales figures naturally attracted the attention of countless media outlets. Whether domestic or international, the most discussed topic this week was why "Joker" was so popular and sold so well.

Why do players like this game?
And then there's the most crucial thing...

Why is Qingyan Studio able to consistently produce such high-quality works?
The first three are things that everyone, both inside and outside the gaming industry, wants to know.

But the last question is what all the major game developers want to know.

Light Swallow Studio has already produced three hit games in a row, so producer Ma Tu's resources have long been known to others.

His academic background and work experience were unremarkable, and even before "The Netherworld Mountains and Seas," he did not display any special talent whatsoever.

However, after he finished overseeing the demo phase of "The Lost Tomb" and became the leader and producer of Qingyan Studio, he seemed to become a different person, producing top-quality games at an unstoppable pace.

That's why their competitors were dumbfounded.

After all, they have seen many talented people who achieve success later in life, and there are quite a few who became producers at an age older than Ma Tu.

However, none of these people advanced to a higher level like Ma Tu.

Being a late bloomer doesn't mean you accomplished nothing in your youth; it simply means that you developed faster in your later years than in your early ones.

In his more than ten years in the industry, apart from "The Netherworld Mountains and Seas" and subsequent projects, it would be no exaggeration to say that Ma Tu has "achieved nothing".

We are different, really different.

0721 Games Network – [Why did "Joker" become a global phenomenon? Analyzing the fun of card games from a fundamental design perspective]

Fengsu.com – [“The Joker” game has top international streamers raving! Selling millions of copies in a single day, it's a global phenomenon!]

Star Travel Report – [Another classic "One More Game" masterpiece: The Daring and Skillful Joker Card Game]

Lightning Cat GAME – [Was this year's biggest dark horse already decided at the beginning of the year? "Joker" conquers the road to player dominance]

Not only are domestic game media outlets praising "Joker Cards" to the extreme, but foreign game media outlets have also unusually expressed similar views.

IGN Review: [Joker Card Game Review: Unparalleled card game innovation, flawless battle pacing design. 9/10 - Excellent]

Gamespot – [Classic poker gameplay + innovative Roguelike elements, a collision of probability and passion, recommended title: Joker]

PC Gamer – [A New Benchmark for Card Games! A Fusion of Retro Elements and Modern Gameplay! Joker Card Game Score – 92]

Euro Gamer – [Five-star review of "Joker"! A card game that feels like a gift from heaven!]

Even Famitsu, Japan's oldest and most well-known gaming media outlet, gave it a score of 38!
Famitsu's ratings are done by four editors, with a maximum score of 40.

"The Joker" only lost two points!
With a score of 38, far exceeding the standard of 35, "The Joker" has taken a giant leap into the Platinum Hall of Fame.

Since the beginning of the new century, Famitsu has lost the authority and influence it had in the last century, and its ratings have long been questioned by many as unfair.

Almost any Japanese game can easily enter the Platinum Hall of Fame, which is quite amusing.

Humorous Old Snail.

For foreign games, getting into the Platinum Hall of Fame is even more difficult.

Not only must the game meet the quality standards, but the quality must also be able to offset the discrimination against foreign-made games by Japanese reviewers.

Otherwise, there would be no way they could enter the Platinum Hall.

Not to mention, the developers of "Joker" are Chinese people who are disliked by the Japanese.

It's worth noting that Japanese people themselves have conducted surveys and research, and the percentage of Japanese people who dislike China is approaching 90%.

It is estimated that by the time Japan falls silent due to the South China Sea trough, this number will be close to 100%.

This is why the value of the 38 points in "The Joker" continues to rise.

……

……

……

"Hahaha, cheers!"

Ma Tu's face was flushed, his body swayed slightly, the blush on his face had not yet faded, but the corners of his mouth were already stretched to the horizon.

"What we need to do next is..."

"Win! Win! Win!"

"WIN, WIN, WIN!"

The employees below cheered when they heard this!

Zhou Kuang, who was standing to the side, shook his head as he watched them having fun, then picked up a piece of food from the table.

Still too young, with such low sales figures, back then I...

Just as he was thinking this, a series of hurried footsteps approached from afar.

Suddenly, he felt a tightness in his neck and couldn't breathe properly.

"Hey, hey, hey!"

An arm wrapped around his shoulder, and a strong smell of alcohol wafted over.

"Boss! Brother Kuang!"

"We love your teeth!"

It turned out that Ma Tu was drunk.

Zhou Kuang hurriedly escaped from his arms.

Ma Tu felt completely dizzy.

"Guards, escort the emperor back!"

Zhou Kuang pretended to be annoyed, but made a joke and had his colleague pull him back.

"Oh my, Old Ma is so lucky!"

As Yang Ji watched the other person shouting "I'm not drunk" and being pulled away by subordinates from Qingyan Studio, he subconsciously sighed.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

Zhou Kuang looked at Yang Ji, who was sitting next to him with half a sesame seed cake in his hand. There was a sesame seed still on the corner of his mouth.

When Yang Ji saw Zhou Kuang looking in his direction, he realized that Zhou Kuang was referring to what he had just said, and quickly wiped his mouth.

"It just feels like they hold a celebration party every six months."

"We haven't been able to produce anything here for several years."

That's what happened.

Indeed, if you see the success of Qingyan Studio every day, anyone would think the same way.

Compared to the production difficulty of "The Clown Card", the development threshold of "The Netherworld Mountains and Seas" is simply hellish.

Meanwhile, Qingyan Studio has an easier job, releasing new works every six months to a year, which naturally makes them the envy of others...

but……

"Believe it or not, if I call Old Ma over and ask him to switch positions with you, he'd be more than willing!"

Zhou Kuang leaned closer and offered a devilish idea.

Yang Ji immediately shook his head upon hearing this.

Even if Ma Tu were willing, he wouldn't.

Besides the money needed for survival, people also need spiritual support. And Yang Ji's spiritual support at this moment became: not being nominated for the TGA Game of the Year award last time.

Feng Qi and Zhou Kuang had long since put the matter aside. In fact, before the nomination list was announced, both of them had told Yang Ji that "Youming Shanhai" had no chance of winning Game of the Year.

However, Yang Ji did not think so.

The result was completely opposite to what he had imagined; he not only failed to win an award, but he didn't even receive a nomination.

Most importantly, "The Lost Tomb" did not win the Best Art Direction award, which is something that he, who is extremely proud and has a high opinion of himself, could not accept.
Therefore, Yang Ji's worldview completely collapsed.

The concept of a fair and just place no longer existed in his mind.

One of his purposes in developing the game now is to get revenge on TGA.

Yang Ji hopes to create a game that even the TGA cannot exclude, and then get nominated by them.

At that time, I will choose not to attend, or even go on stage to speak and angrily denounce TGA.

Of course, this was just his imagination, and he never told anyone.

"Brother Kuang, you know me. I'm the type of person who doesn't ask for help from others." Yang Ji quickly said with a sheepish smile, "Let Lao Ma take charge of Qingyan Studio with peace of mind, and I'll focus on my current project."

"Humph."

Zhou Kuang smiled and shook his head.

At this point, he suddenly had a question.

Asking about the progress of the porting of "Youming Shanhai".

"What did Lao Feng say yesterday? Did he go to see people from Xinglun Group?"

Feng Qi had a slight cold today. He had originally planned to come to the celebration party, but Zhou Kuang forced him to take the day off.

Yang Ji nodded.

"It has been submitted for review. He met with representatives of the Star Wheel Group yesterday with Mr. Watanabe and others."

Zhou Kuang listened and thought at the same time.

Mr. Watanabe is the leader of the engineering team sent by Star Wheel.

Once this transplant is completed, the bilingual person will naturally have to go back.

It's a pity, he really wanted someone like that.

If we want to enter the Japanese market in the future, a Japanese native who understands both technology and the situation in both countries would be a perfect option.

He also sent Feng Qi to probe whether the other party was willing to come to his side.

As expected, the other party was not interested.

Even if Kuangshi Games offered them more money, they wouldn't want to switch jobs to work for a neon giant like Xinglun Group.

After all, for someone as talented as Watanabe, the amount of money is only a relative concept.

Even if his salary is low, it can't be that low.

Therefore, choosing a more stable company is clearly a decision that requires no hesitation.

"The people from Xinglun Group revealed that there shouldn't be any major problems," Yang Ji explained. "They will expedite the review process for us, and we should have news as early as next week."

Zhou Kuang finally smiled with satisfaction.

With the porting of "The Lost Tomb" complete, we can begin preliminary research for the next flagship title.

Recently, he has been meeting frequently with key members of the creative team, including Feng Qi and Yang Ji, and has a very clear understanding of the progress of the next game.

Zhou Kuang predicts that the preliminary research work will be shorter than expected.

Thinking about this, he subconsciously estimated the economic pressure.

He was indeed somewhat worried about the headquarters of Megvii Games. The time required for the development of their next open-world martial arts role-playing game might greatly increase the company's cash flow and overall risk.

However, with the income from "The Clown Card," Zhou Kuang felt a little more at ease.

After deducting all prior investments, subsequent bonuses, and channel fees and taxes, the estimated net profit for the entire "Clown Card" game in the long run is at least 200 million yuan.

This is still the most conservative estimate.

This is not a small amount of money.

Thinking about how much money he had just received, even though it would take some time for the money to actually be transferred to the company's account, it was still a confirmed income, and Zhou Kuang's desire to cause trouble began to stir.

Once he realized this, he quickly closed his eyes and began to hypnotize himself.

I have no money...

Suppress it...

I have no money...

Suppress it...

I have no money...

suppress!

After suppressing his desire to spend money with his mind, Zhou Kuang opened his eyes.

"Old Yang, let's go find Old Hong for a couple of drinks."

Zhou Kuang picked up his cup, and Yang Ji quickly stood up as well.

If we were to name the most out-of-place person in the entire event, it would undoubtedly be the people from Red Dragon Studio.

As a group of "newcomers" who have only recently joined the company and have not yet produced any works, even though they are all veterans of the game industry, they may feel somewhat awkward at a celebration event like Kuangshi Games.

Both Light Swallow Studio and Kuangshi Games have their own outstanding works, so they can rightfully enjoy the benefits. However, the thought of "not accepting rewards without merit" has somewhat arisen in their minds.

Even if it's just a company dinner.

"Hong!"

Zhou Kuang walked over to Hong Nianlong, and immediately all the employees of the Red Dragon Studio turned their attention to the two of them.

They might not know anyone from Kuangshi Games Studio or Qingyan Studio, but they definitely all know their boss—Zhou Kuang.

What does he want to say to the head of his studio?
The employees felt a mix of curiosity, anticipation, and trepidation.

When Hong Nianlong saw the two approaching, he quickly stood up.

"Brother Kuang! Old Yang!"

Yang Ji smiled and waved.

"Sit, sit."

The people around Hong Nianlong were quite tactful and made room for Zhou Kuang and Yang Ji to sit to the left and right of Hong Nianlong's seat.

After the three of them sat down, Zhou Kuang looked at the group of people at the table.

Those sitting at Hong Nianlong's table were all senior employees of the Red Dragon Studio.

Engine engineers, lead artists, lead programmers, etc...

"Ahem!" Zhou Kuang cleared his throat before speaking, "Old Hong, your Red Dragon Studio has just been established, and I know you all want to achieve something. The main reason I invited you all to the Qingyan Studio's celebration party today is to let you relax a bit."

"Don't put too much pressure on yourself. I have confidence in you, and the company has confidence in you too."

"I believe that if you let things take their natural course, you will also achieve your success one day."

"Then, the whole company will come to your celebration party."

Zhou Kuang's face was beaming with a smile, and his gentle voice could be heard by everyone at the table.

Deeply moved, Hong Nianlong quickly stood up, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and said sincerely.

"Brother Kuang, that's absolutely right!!"

(End of this chapter)