From gaming to becoming the richest man, it all started with his counterattack against XunTeng.

In August, Gamescom officially kicked off in Cologne, Germany.

In this world, E3 has long since ended and ceased to exist. Today, Gamescom is no longer just a game expo, but the undisputed top event for the entire gaming industry.

This year's exhibition features 1,600 exhibitors and is expected to attract 360,000 visitors from all over the world to this industry extravaganza.

However, Yang Yi's first impression of Germany was not the lively exhibition atmosphere.

Instead, it boasts a highly integrated local railway system—seamlessly connecting the metro, high-speed rail, and light rail, making transportation extremely convenient. You can go directly to the Cologne Exhibition Center after getting off the plane, saving you a lot of trouble with transfers.

As is well known, Germans are known for their meticulousness, so German railways are also famous for their "punctuality." However, this punctuality is rather unique: they are delayed by one minute, two minutes, or even ten minutes.

Aside from occasional delays, German Rail can practically be described as "never delayed".

Yang Yi couldn't help but complain in her heart: Germany, you shouldn't be like this! What happened to the oil paper package that was supposedly hidden in the sewer?

It's important to know that distributing Coca-Cola at Gamescom requires having a hygiene permit and health certificate.

Even Shen Xiao, who admires the rigorous culture of Germany, has lost much of her mystique this time.

By the time Yang Yi arrived at the Cologne Exhibition Center, the Beehive booth had already been set up.

Logically speaking, given BeeHound's current status in the gaming industry, it shouldn't be able to secure a 1000-square-meter booth.

After all, there was no Plants vs. Zombies in the early days. Even if Rainbow Six Siege was very popular, it wouldn't be possible to negotiate a 1000-square-meter deal. But the Queen Bee Engine directly delivered a crushing blow, giving it the green light all the way.

However, there was still a problem of insufficient space during the setup. There were too many peripheral products, snacks, drinks and fruits brought in. In addition, Yang Yi requested to increase the area of ​​the office area and rest area before the setup.

Victor could only rent a public storage room separately from the organizer.

Other manufacturers are desperately trying to reduce the proportion of their back-end space to less than 15%, wishing they could leave every inch of space for the front-end display area to attract the attention of passersby.

Beehive, whose back-end space occupies 30% of the space and requires additional storage rooms, stands out like a crane among chickens among all the exhibitors, appearing completely out of place.

The back-end area is quite spacious: the office area, rest area, and dining area each occupy 100 square meters.

The remaining 700 square meters of the front desk area was designed as a semi-enclosed internet cafe, with sound-absorbing panels even attached to the walls to enhance the experience as much as possible.

Yang Yi is generally generous with anything that can enhance the customer experience. (Except for the Rainbow Six Siege "Grindster Edition"!)

With the help of the system and their past life experience, the cost of making games by the Beehive is far lower than that of their competitors, so there is no need for them to be stingy in these areas and mistreat their players and their own people.

If one day he releases a phone with cutting-edge technology, he certainly won't refuse to include a charger just because it's environmentally friendly.

Gamescom has a lot of rules: the main aisle must be more than 3 meters wide, and there must be enough space between seats for people to pass through.

It also needs to include functional areas such as a stage, a cosplayer photo area, and a merchandise redemption area.

The 700-square-meter booth ultimately only accommodated 70 computers, including 36 for Overwatch, 14 for Vampire Survivors, 10 for Engraving Evil, and 10 for Stardew Valley, which was barely enough.

If someone asks why Yang Yi doesn't compress the back-end space when the front-end space is already tight, I can only say that Yang Yi has her own clever ideas.

Although snacks and drinks cannot be distributed in public areas, Yang Yi can provide drinks, snacks, and even boxed meals to core players who have pre-ordered the VIP version of Overwatch and all games on the field, even if they are core players of the swarm.

Do you even realize the value of a 700-square-meter internet cafe with a top-notch female cosplayer as the manager and self-service snacks and drinks?

Yang Yi even thought of himself as a savior!

Tonight is the opening night of Gamescom in Cologne. Yang Yi will be giving a short speech at the opening night. Fortunately, the time difference in Germany is not like that in the United States, so the 6-hour time difference will pass quickly.

Nighttime, the opening night of Gamescom in Cologne.

The prime time slot on the opening night of Gamescom has always been a fiercely contested battleground for the premieres and trailers of top global blockbusters.

Without exception, established gaming giants will release their flagship games during this time slot to create a buzz. This time, thanks to the high quality of its games, Hive successfully secured the last spot before the grand finale.

However, Yang Yi was not satisfied with the result. He did not believe that the final game would be of higher quality than Overwatch.

He has absolute confidence in his own game, but the organizer's arrangements have made it very clear: Hive still hasn't reached the core of the established gaming giant. If Overwatch were developed by them, this game would be a sure thing.

For the first hour or so, promotional CGs from various companies took turns bombarding the audience. Yang Yi had to admit that he had underestimated the heroes of the world, and he had indeed discovered quite a few games that interested him.

It seems Rainbow Six Siege has really inspired many major game developers, as many FPS games bear its shadow, and they've all learned it quite well.

Yang Yi even saw the FPS game developed by XunTeng – "Tactical Special Forces".

To be fair, the game's CG is quite high-quality, exuding a strong hardcore vibe.

While there is some borrowing from Rainbow Six Siege, as the law stipulates, as long as it's not just a change of name to make money, borrowing gameplay doesn't constitute plagiarism.

Not to mention that XunTeng was quite innovative this time, taking an extremely realistic approach.

Well, if XunTeng polishes it properly, the game should be pretty good, but there probably won't be many players.

XunTeng has found a track that's even more addictive than Rainbow Six Siege. Yang Yi glanced at the reporters from several European and American gaming media outlets nearby, and sure enough, their eyes lit up as they huddled together, whispering among themselves.

This kind of hardcore game still has a certain number of die-hard fans in Europe and America. It's just that this market segment is great in every way, but it doesn't make money. I hope XunTeng has good luck!

As for Pig Farm's game, Yang Yi commented that it was a mess. It clearly borrowed the fast-paced gameplay of Thunder Fortress, but added all sorts of tactical items that slowed down the pace. It's one thing to have items, but the speed at which you can place them is incredibly slow.

Judging from the props shown in the CG, they are not very strong. They really just borrow whatever is popular and put whatever elements are trending. Yang Yi is very familiar with one of the modes.

What, do you really think I can't tell it's Plants vs. Zombies just because you changed the model?

If soldiers are producing dollars, and they have that ability, why would they need to be soldiers? Why not just switch to oil and military rations?

If an exam question were—how to make a game offend all FPS players—NetEase would probably get full marks.

If the game is still like this when it's released, the outcome is obvious; it's likely to go far from its original purpose.

The moment the words were spoken, the cinematic for Thunder Fortress 7 on the big screen ended.

A few polite claps rang out sporadically, interspersed with a few faint hisses.

Yang Yi even overheard some foreigners muttering that Thunder Fortress was just a rehash of old ideas, and that the development team should go dig potatoes in Siberia or something.

The host strode onto the stage and cleared his throat.

The spotlight suddenly dimmed.

Yang Yi's fingers suddenly stopped on the armrest.

coming.