Game development begins with destroying Girls' Frontline.

They knew that to achieve higher sales, they needed to focus on the Chinese market.

Their actions did indeed yield some results. After Fallout 76 was released, sales were initially quite good, with the PC version selling over 50 copies in just one hour.

This sales figure can be said to have convinced EPIC's top management that their exclusivity strategy was correct.

As long as the game itself is appealing, players will not refrain from buying it just because it is an EPIC exclusive.

However, just as EPIC executives were starting to pop the champagne...

By the afternoon, the sales curve resembled an old car that couldn't accelerate even with the accelerator floored.

At around 70, instead of rising, it started to decline.

to be frank.

When Eric Nathan saw the data declining, his first thought was whether there was a problem with the system.

How can the data continue to decline?

He was furious about this.

However, the technical department quickly reported that the data was correct and the problem was due to a large number of players requesting refunds.

This is especially true for users who pre-ordered.

"How is that possible? Pre-order customers are the most loyal customers, how could they get a refund?"

Well known.

Unless there is a major problem with the game, it is unlikely that players who pre-ordered will get a refund.

Because for those who pre-order, they are the ones who are most looking forward to the game.

But the data doesn't lie.

Eric Nathan quickly realized something was wrong. He pulled up the refund data and had the player feedback projected onto a large screen.

When I saw a 31% positive review rate appear on the screen.

Eric Nathan felt goosebumps all over his body.

Oh no! Their reputation has collapsed!?

But how could that be?

With disbelief, Eric Nathan clicked on the comments section and saw what was probably the most lively comments section on the EPIC gaming platform to date.

Moreover, unlike Spark, EPIC doesn't have a translation function in the comments section, so at a glance, you can see comments in various languages.

"RNM, refund my money!"

"Can you guys even play this? It's completely stuck on the game."

"Where are the NPCs? Am I encountering a bug? Am I the only person in this world?"

"FUCK, EPIC, FUCK, Bethesda"

The players' insults were so direct, without even an explanation.

The extreme profanity proves that the game's quality is not just a little bad.

It's so bad it's speechless.

Looking at these negative reviews, Eric Nathan felt a little short of breath.

And immediately after.

The lifting of the ratings embargo from the media almost suffocated Eric Nathan.

The overall score on M-site is only 62.

"What's going on?! I paid for it!!"

Eric Nathan roared, having poured a lot of money into major magazines to fund this Radiation release.

However, Eric Nathan should be content.

Because Fallout 76 in his previous life only had a 55-point rating on Metacritic, the money he bribed still had an effect.

this world.

When the media was giving players a terrible review, the overall rating on Metacritic was still 62. It's like the mother of conscience opened the door for conscience. It's the epitome of conscience.

~~~

When people are extremely angry, their emotions can get out of control, a condition commonly known as "getting carried away."

At this point, Erik Nathan was getting a little carried away.

It's no wonder he got carried away.

It's important to know that he spearheaded this project from beginning to end; he and EPIC staked everything on Fallout 76.

They spent a lot of money on publicity alone.

After going all in, the house opened the betting pool, and what should have been a sure win turned into a loss.

The difference between then and now is just too great.

This is even more painful than XCOM's face-to-face MISS.

If Eric Nathan hadn't had a healthy heart, he might be lying in the hospital right now.

"No, we have to do something."

With his last shred of sanity, Eric Nathan dialed Todd's number. If anyone could salvage the situation now, it was Todd from Bethesda.

If you apologize immediately, announce future development plans, and respond to the points raised by players, even if it doesn't completely restore your reputation, at least you can keep those players who have already bought the game from asking for refunds!

In the silent conference room, the phone rang.

Drip... drip... drip...

Almost a minute passed, and just before Eric Nathan's veins were about to burst, the call was finally answered.

Judging from the noisy chatter, Bethesda was also having a meeting.

Eric Nathan breathed a sigh of relief and calmed himself down.

Just as I was about to speak, before I could even say anything, Todd's voice came over.

"Eric, my partner, what's the matter?"

Eric Nathan was somewhat surprised by the other party's relaxed tone.

"Todd, the game's launch reputation..."

Before Eric Nathan could finish speaking, Todd interrupted him.

"That's normal, Eric. We've received some complaints from players about the game, but that's normal; a great game takes time..."

Before today, Eric Nathan often heard Todd boast like this, and at that time he thought the other man was a true genius in game development.

However, now, hearing the other party still blowing their trumpet at such a critical moment.

The two seemed to live in different worlds.

“We have to do something, Todd.”

"We don't need to do anything; time will prove me right."

After saying that, Todd hung up the phone.

Eric Nathan felt a tremor and a sense of absurdity throughout his body. He stood there stunned for several seconds before finally throwing his phone onto the table with force.

Just like the players on the EPIC platform.

He roared.

"I'm going to your mother!"

Chapter 128 What is Cultural Export?

Why did Fallout 76 fail?

The answer is actually very simple: what players expect and what Bethesda delivers are completely different things.

Players are looking forward to an online game set in a fallout context.

But this game, which costs as much as $60, is more like a DLC for Fallout 4.

No, it's not even as good as DLC.

Poor optimization, regressive graphics, a sense of loneliness, excessive weight settings, and a non-hardcore survival experience.

Even the SPECIAL system, which was the most distinctive feature of Fallout 4, has been cut in various ways in this game, making it almost superfluous.

The inherited bugs are everywhere.

The game's servers, economic system, and item UI are all a mess.

The only content that has visibly increased is the ubiquitous microtransactions.

On the first day, players need to update a 54GB patch to enter the game, while the game itself is only 45GB in size when preloaded.

The total radiation level is 76.

According to EPIC executives, even if Fallout 79 doesn't get a perfect score of 100, it should at least get a 60.

However in reality.

The results were released that evening.

Metacritic score: 2.4; IGN score: 5; GAMESPOT score: 4.

This is like what?

It's like parents bragging that their child can still get into Tsinghua University, and they arrange a celebration banquet before the exam results are even out.

The results were checked.

Forget about getting into Tsinghua University, I didn't even make the cut-off score for a vocational college!

The entire body below the eyebrows was amputated, and many players requested refunds.

The forum was filled with insults.

Unfortunately, Todd and Bethesda did not respond in a timely manner, just like when Starfield was first released.

Except silence, still silence.

The word-of-mouth was explosive, and it quickly reflected in sales. Not to mention millions of sales, even the hundreds of thousands of copies that had already been sold were rapidly declining.

This is a masterpiece based on Fallout 4.

Ultimately, the first-day sales barely exceeded 500,000 copies.

It can be said that it has achieved both explosive growth in reputation and sales.

The game's reputation didn't improve until two years later with the release of the "Wastelanders" DLC.

of course.

Players today have no way of knowing what will happen two years from now.

Faced with such a terrible game, players were furious and launched a furious attack.

Deep love and responsibility.

The more enthusiastic I was about Bethesda before, the more disappointed I am now.

At the same time, players have begun to refute Eric Nathan's previous tweets.

In the process of following this drama, the media dug up the bet between EPIC Eric Nathan and Lin Li.

"Fallout 76, a huge failure, outselling indie games."

"EPIC made the wrong bet? Fallout 76 suffers a humiliating defeat."

"Fallout 76? My assessment is that it's not as good as The Scroll of Taiwu."

"Our developers should abandon their arrogance and focus on making games properly."

Similar articles appeared one after another.

When Eric Nathan was opening champagne, he was only thinking about how to maximize traffic, and he invested a lot of traffic in Fallout 76.