I was exposed for adding my female boss to my group of female friends.

He's a morning streamer. At 8 PM, several big streamers are out and about. He'd never streamed during that time before and never imagined he'd get any viewership.

He was surprised to see so many viewers watching him at this time of day; the popularity of "Original Demon" truly took him by surprise.

Among the many comments, he saw one: "Teacher Gou, do you think this game is fun?"

After reading the comment aloud, his eyes lit up and he said:

"Is this game fun? I've been playing it since it launched, and I even streamed it for 10 hours straight. You're asking me if it's fun?"

He paused for a moment, then added, "Strictly speaking, I've played a lot of games, including the GTA series, The Elder Scrolls series, the Zelda series, and many others."

"Compared to these games, I think it's still noticeable that this game falls short in many aspects."

"Damn it, I feel a little shameless saying this now. Before, which domestic game dared to compare with these games? I think the fact that they can compare says something."

"And one more thing, but, and I have to say this, everyone needs to pay attention to one thing! This game, damn it, is a mobile game!"

"They managed to make this game playable on mobile phones, and it looks like they plan to operate it long-term. I think that's really impressive!"

"So, I feel that this game is a bit too difficult, but I can still play it. Even if it's just to support domestic products, I'll probably play this game for a long time."

When he first came across the game, he opened it with the intention of trying it out.

This company was an old acquaintance of his, after all, it was "Sheep and the Sheep," and the fear of being controlled back then was still vivid in his mind. He didn't expect this company to produce anything worthwhile.

If "Sheep's a Sheep" is like spicy strips made with gutter oil, then "Original Demon" is more like a decent home-cooked dish.

To his surprise, the company served a truly lavish meal that far exceeded his expectations. The table was filled with a fusion of Chinese and Western dishes, a mix of meat and vegetables, and a beautiful young waitress was standing nearby, pouring him red wine.

That was completely unexpected.

It's worth noting that, in the past, domestically produced games were practically synonymous with being unable to gain any traction.

Due to historical reasons, the development of domestic games has not been very good. Most manufacturers are not capable of making good games, and the game industry can be said to be monopolized by developed countries.

On the other hand, companies like Zhuchang and Echang, which are capable of making good games, are extremely stingy and want to squeeze every last drop of profit from players. No matter how good their initial reputation is, their operations will eventually turn into a complete mess.

It can be said that domestic gamers have been "lamenting the lack of good games for a long time" and are desperate to grab onto any straw they can find.

Even games from small studios like "Taiyi Scroll" and "Shenshan Liuhe" are treasured by players, creating one purchasing power myth after another.

Mr. Gou is a veteran gamer. He started playing 4396 web games when he was a child and later came into contact with various pirated AAA games. His gaming experience is quite extensive.

Later, he became a game streamer, and playing games became his job. He gradually developed "electronic impotence," and his excitement threshold for games became higher and higher.

Ordinary games can hardly arouse his enthusiasm.

When the game "Genshin Impact" launched, he actually played for 10 hours straight and still enjoyed it.

His confidence in domestically produced games, along with the "electronic heroism," was inspired by this game.

I thought my opinion was quite reasonable, but to my surprise, the live chat exploded with arguments as soon as I finished speaking.

Teacher Gou was a little confused; he didn't understand what was so interesting about arguing.

Sensing that things were going badly, he quickly changed the subject:

"Brothers, I'm going to check out the next map, I think it's called... Liyue, right?"

After saying that, he glanced at the information in the game and said:

"Liyue and Mondstadt, these two names don't seem to have the same style. Are they from different countries?"

After saying that, he glanced at the comments and realized he had said something silly: "Oh, Mondstadt is a country modeled after the West, and all seven countries have prototypes, right?"

"Then isn't Liyue a country modeled after China?"

Teacher Gou rubbed his hands together and said, "Now we have no choice but to keep playing."

The screen immediately filled with comments like "Good, good, good".

Many viewers hadn't had enough and were afraid he'd end the broadcast. The slight controversy that had just started was quickly overshadowed.

After resting enough, Teacher Gou took control of his game character and began his journey towards Liyue.

"I've had a dream since I was a child, which is to be able to play Chinese-style content in AAA games." Teacher Gou said while playing. "Back then, when Warcraft released the Pandaren version, you have no idea how excited we players were."

His words immediately resonated with many viewers.

"Back then, you know, there was finally a force in the game that could represent our own culture, and we felt very valued. Before that, we were actually, how should I put it, quite marginalized."

After saying that, he sighed and said, "Alas, it's actually very easy to fool Chinese players. They can get excited for half a day just by releasing a Chinese-style character. Before, in 'King of Glory,' how long did they keep us waiting for the Ao Xing Long Wang character? In the end, it was never released."

After saying that, he continued clearing the map, casually dealing with a few monsters as he spoke:

"Since this is a domestically produced game, I hope everyone can be a little more tolerant. As long as it can be made, that's a success. Don't be too picky... Holy crap!"

He was exploring the map when he suddenly spotted a huge tree on it.

If the previous scenery was typical of European plains and highlands, then upon arriving here, it's almost as if you've been transported to China at first glance.

"Is this Liyue?" Teacher Gou exclaimed excitedly. "Is this a civilization built in the trees? It's quite creative!"

"Looking at a mountain makes one run itself to death," and Teacher Gou ran all the way there, spending a long time, only to be disappointed in the end. The tree was not in Liyue, but just an inn.

By this point in the game, Gou Laoshi was already quite tired, but he had already stated that he would not end the stream until he saw Liyue.

Despite his exhaustion, he continued to probe forward.

He ran away in silence for a long time, crossed a mountain, and suddenly, the music changed.

Two mountains faced each other, and a winding path led to a secluded spot. After he crossed the last mountain, the view suddenly opened up before him. After taking two more steps, a bustling city appeared before him.

As if a surge of heat rushed from his body to the top of his head, Teacher Gou instantly regained consciousness.

"Liyue! I've arrived in Liyue!"

His voice was so excited it was almost distorted.

The scene before me was so familiar, so familiar that it seemed to be etched into my DNA.

As a Chinese person, I can immediately recognize that the scenery before me is based on Liyue, a land modeled after China.

The emotions that had been brewing for so long were suddenly ignited at this moment, and Teacher Gou felt his eyes welling up with tears.

He suddenly felt like a traveler who had been wandering for many years, finally arriving home.

"Thank you everyone for watching my live stream, thank you for the tips, thank you so much." Teacher Gou's voice sounded a bit tired. "We've arrived in Liyue. I'm feeling really unwell right now, so I've decided to come back tomorrow when I'm feeling better and play in the best possible condition."

The audience was furious at his sudden announcement to end the broadcast.

"Why don't you go down and take a look? You've been through drug rehabilitation? How can you endure this?"

"Damn it! Old Gou, is this your escape route?!"

"I can't stand it anymore, I'm so angry, I'm not watching anymore, I'm quitting the game myself."

Teacher Gou felt a sense of pleasure as he watched the audience suffer.

You used to enjoy watching me get tortured, now it's finally my turn, isn't it?

He continued, "I feel like I can sleep until tomorrow, so I'm asking for leave in advance. I'll be doing the live stream a little later tomorrow."

Just then, he suddenly saw a comment appear on the screen:

"Genshin Impact has surpassed 5000 million downloads, and the official account just released a celebratory image."

Teacher Gou's eyes widened: "5000 million? Really?"

He felt a little dazed.

In the past, only factories like Zhuhai and Hubei could achieve this level of downloads.

An unknown small company achieved 5000 million downloads in one go. Who would have believed that yesterday!

He opened Weibo, searched for the official account of Genshin Impact, and saw that it had indeed posted a congratulatory illustration.

It's really reached 5000 million downloads!

Teacher Gou couldn't help but have a premonition.

It feels like I'm witnessing a major event in the gaming industry!

……

Chen Ya had already gone home after get off work, but Cai Zhenyi's place was still brightly lit.

The release of Genshin Impact was like a troublesome little monster, keeping the entire studio constantly busy.

Every now and then, Tsai Chen-yi would ask someone to inquire about the data of "GenDevil".

Actually, you can't find out much by asking around. This game is available on all platforms, including mobile and PC. I have no idea about the PC version, and the mobile version is further divided into iOS and Android.

They have some inside information about iOS that they can get, which gives them a glimpse into the other party's revenue, but they can't estimate the performance on Android and PC at all.

So asking around would be pointless. But Cai Zhenyi was determined to find out.

Some employees were secretly complaining that this wasn't "The Original Demon," but rather Tsai Chen-yi's inner demons.

But of course, I was too embarrassed to say that.

At 8 p.m., Cai Zhenyi gathered everyone together again for a short meeting.

The theme of the meeting was "Analyzing competitor trends and our own game operation strategies by estimating the performance of Genshin Impact's data."

In reality, nobody cared about the second half of the sentence; the main topic of the meeting was guessing the data for "Gen-X".

The reason Cai Zhenyi was so nervous was that the game's popularity on the internet seemed to have completely spiraled out of control.

They had already spent a lot of money, even using the pearl factory's channels for public relations.

Logically speaking, with this level of online trolls, any game could be crushed.

But guess what? It seems to have the opposite effect!

The original plan was for the other party to buy traffic, while we would use blacklisting tactics, thus wasting the traffic they bought.

However, judging from the results, it seems that the other party did not purchase any traffic at all.

All the punches we threw landed on thin air, only increasing the opponent's fame.

However, by this point, the narrative has already been set in motion. If the online trolls were to stop, judging from the current situation, it seems that the other side's reputation would improve rapidly.

But if we continue to hire online trolls to smear the other side, aren't we just giving them more traffic?

Cai Zhenyi is in a real hurry right now. He's even more anxious than Chen Ya when the server opens.

After a group of people gathered and discussed for an hour, they finally came to a conclusion: even if we only consider the mobile version and not the PC version, Genshin Impact's revenue has definitely exceeded 2000 million, making it a clear leader in the market.

As for what to do... they have absolutely no idea.

The dark horse in the mobile game industry only generated around 200 million RMB in revenue on its first day of release.

They make 20 million a day. Although their operating revenue may decrease later, it's still a dark horse performance.

The players currently captivated by "GenDemon" are all potential future players for their own games!

The mobile game market is only so big. If your game is launched any later, and other companies recoup their investment, spend money on marketing and promotion, and continue to grow their businesses, your game will really have no chance.

Cai Zhenyi's face was ashen, and after a long while, he finally spoke:

"Let's assume they generated 4000 million in revenue on their first day. Based on that, how many daily active users will they achieve in six months? How much will our customer acquisition costs increase? Let's do the math."

He had barely finished speaking when an employee next to him suddenly said:

"Mr. Cai, we just received news that 'Genshin Impact' has reached 5000 million downloads..."

“5000 million?” Cai Zhenyi’s eyes flickered for a moment, then he quickly regained his composure. “It’s a little higher than I estimated, but the difference isn’t significant. Let’s go with that…”

"Mr. Cai..." the employee timidly reminded him, "5000 million isn't revenue, it's downloads..."

Cai Zhenyi opened his mouth, but then fell silent.

Chapter 383 Driven to the Brink

Revenue is revenue, and downloads are downloads. Achieving 50 million in revenue is easy, but 50 million downloads is a bit scary.

A continuously operating game with tens of thousands of active players can support a small company to live very comfortably;

If there are hundreds of thousands of active players, a huge community can be built;

Fifty million downloads, what does that mean?

Although there are 800 million internet users in China, only 400 million are those who are old, busy with work, or have no time to go online.

Even if you exclude those who don't play games, it would be good if there were 100 million gamers.