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

"He..." Liu Ting smiled bitterly upon hearing her question, unsure how to answer for a moment.

"Sister Liu, if I have my coming-of-age ceremony later, will he come over without telling me?" Gu Chengxi asked seriously.

She was genuinely worried about this. She didn't want her coming-of-age ceremony to be disrupted by any unexpected events.

“No, he said he won’t come back,” Liu Ting said.

Gu Chengxi frowned: "Then how could he just come in like that?"

Seeing her displeased expression, Liu Ting knew that this misunderstanding would be difficult to clear up without explanation, so she had no choice but to honestly answer:

"Because this house belongs to him."

"what?"

Gu Chengxi was taken aback.

“He and Jiang Tianhou bought this house together,” Liu Ting said with a wry smile. “He is the owner here, so naturally he can come and go as he pleases.”

Gu Chengxi felt a little suffocated: "Then what is his relationship with Jiang Xinhai?"

Liu Ting took a deep breath: "He also has a pen name, Zhichi."

"Huh? Is 'within reach' a real thing?"

Gu Chengxi always thought that Zhichi was Jiang Xinhai's songwriting team, not just one person.

Liu Ting said helplessly, "Of course, if it weren't for his sudden departure abroad, Empress Jiang wouldn't have suddenly retired."

"Then... Empress Jiang, do you like him?" Gu Chengxi asked tentatively.

Liu Ting said with a forced smile, "Miss Gu, please don't make things difficult for me. I can't talk about Empress Jiang's private life."

This silence only fueled more speculation than words, making Gu Chengxi even more curious.

However, Liu Ting then fulfilled her duties as an agent very well, refusing to reveal any more information under any circumstances.

Although Jiang Xinhai has retired, he still wields considerable influence. The fewer people who know about his private life, the better.

Seeing that Liu Ting kept her mouth shut, Gu Chengxi began to regret not taking the opportunity to ask for the person's contact information when she met him earlier.

Unfortunately, after leaving with Liu Ting, they looked around but the person had vanished without a trace.

……

September is a happy month for gamers.

This month, not only will version 1.1 of "Original Magic" be released, but "Otherworld" will also be joining the competition.

For some reason, the mentality of domestic players has undergone a complete change this month.

Previously, people generally had low expectations for domestically produced games. Domestic single-player games were not popular, and online and mobile games were all about ripping people off and forcing them to spend money. If you really wanted to play good games, you had to look to foreign games.

But over the past month, the reputation of domestic game developers has skyrocketed, reaching unprecedented heights.

The reason is that a large number of online trolls are criticizing "GenDemon," one of their criticisms being that "GenDemon" is just a Frankenstein's monster, and that if domestic manufacturers really wanted to make it, they could definitely do it too.

Meanwhile, gamers are also debating, arguing that Genshin Impact's technology is in no way inferior.

There is a consensus on both sides that domestic game manufacturers are quite capable, but they lack a favorable market environment.

So, as the online debates continued, the reputation of domestic game developers suddenly and inexplicably improved.

Previously known for its exquisite games but terrible operations, Zhuchang, and Donghuang Qixing, known for its excellent technology but ugly business practices, have suddenly made their game "Yi Jianghu" highly anticipated.

Because this game is about to be released and is similar to Genshin Impact, it is often used as a scapegoat when critics attack Genshin Impact. As a result, the search index for this game is already close to that of Genshin Impact even before its release.

In addition, the game has just finished testing, and according to test players, the game's performance is "absolutely amazing," and they say they could "play two Genshin Impact games without getting tired of it," which has raised players' expectations to an unprecedented level.

Moreover, some astute observers have noticed a rather interesting coincidence: the update date of version 1.1 of "Original Demon" and the launch date of "Otherworld" are the same day.

In other words, these two games are bound to clash, and the clash will be quite intense.

An even more interesting coincidence is that the "Domestic Game Data Observation" account (referred to as GameObservation) updates the revenue data of major games at the beginning of each month.

This update date happens to fall exactly three days after the update date of "Original Demon" and the launch date of "Otherworld".

In other words, the outcome of the two games will be decided in three days, a fierce battle that will soon be fought.

Players who are currently in a lull in the game's downtime are already eagerly awaiting this exciting show.

For Gu Yuqing, there was an even more coincidental element.

Gu Chengxi's coming-of-age ceremony will also be at the beginning of next month, on the same day that Youguan releases its data.

She's a little worried now, wondering if Chen Ya will be able to attend the coming-of-age ceremony on time.

---

Book recommendation: "What my celebrity wife hates is my alternate identity, not me".

Chapter 386: A Price War!

The conference room was filled with smoke. Ge Dongzhen opened the reflective glass window, and purple smoke billowed out from the second floor.

The sunlight pouring down from the sky reflected off the car coatings on the cars in the parking lot below, creating a blinding glare. The smell of carbon monoxide floating in the air made my forehead ache.

This is the small reception room of Cai Zhenyi's studio. Ge Dongzhen and Cai Zhenyi smoked here all morning, and the blue plush carpet was covered with cigarette ash.

"Are we really going to do it this way?"

“Let’s do it,” Cai Zhenyi said. “This is the best option right now. As long as we drag it into a price war, we’ll be invincible.”

Ge Dongzhen fell silent.

Ge Dongzhen was originally a senior executive at the pearl factory. After the pearl factory invested in Cai Zhenyi's studio, he was sent here to serve as a director on a temporary basis.

His main purpose here is to install a limiter on Tsai Chen-yi, preventing Tsai Chen-yi from making decisions that would harm the pearl factory.

However, he would not interfere with Tsai Chen-yi's business operations at will. After all, most game producers have strong personal styles, and interference could very well ruin the game.

However, the plan that Cai Zhenyi proposed to him today made him particularly hesitant.

"Old Ge, this is a fight to the death, there's no time to hesitate," Cai Zhenyi said in a low voice.

Ge Dongzhen reached out his hand and said, "Wait, let me think about it some more."

He took a deep breath, stood up, put his hands behind his back, and paced back and forth.

Tsai Chen-yi talked to him for so long, but in reality, he only talked about one thing: giving out crazy benefits and waging a price war with "Original Magic".

Tsai Chen-yi chose to launch "Yi Jianghu" on the same day as the 1.1 version of "Yuanmo," which makes his intentions quite clear.

It's a sniping duel at the middle gate.

They chose this day not so that players would watch the spectacle, but to take advantage of the launch date, ride the wave of traffic from the new version of "Genshin Impact," and at the same time try to suppress the revenue of "Genshin Impact."

When Genshin Impact launched, there wasn't much content, the downtime period came quickly, and user loyalty hadn't been cultivated yet.

At this point, a similar competing product was launched, attracting a group of players developed by "GenDemon," which was like picking peaches while lying down.

Of course, the key to picking peaches is quality; if the quality is similar, then the benefits come into play.

The so-called price war refers to offering significantly more benefits to players when launching "Yi Jianghu" compared to "Yuanmo".

The game "Genshin Impact" is indeed of excellent quality, and its high revenue proves that the game is indeed of good quality; otherwise, so many players wouldn't be spending money on it.

However, a large number of players are also complaining that the game is too expensive.

On Tieba (a Chinese online forum), some enthusiasts did some calculations to prove that Genshin Impact is a pay-to-win game:

There's a pity system with 90 pulls and a big pity system with 180 pulls. One pull costs 16 RMB. In other words, to guarantee getting the character you want, you'd need at least 2880 RMB in the worst-case scenario!

Moreover, the game also has a constellation system, requiring players to draw 7 characters to reach full constellation, as well as a weapon system.

While you can obtain gacha resources within the game, it's still far too little! To truly enjoy the game, you have to spend money!

Although this statement was ridiculed by many, quite a few people also believed it.

Why? Because Genshin Impact is indeed more expensive than other games on the market.

In China, the price of a single draw in most second-tier games is currently in the single digits, and there is no shortage of resources for drawing cards.

Few games are like Genshin Impact, where even with all the resources available in a single version, you might not be able to consistently pull a single gold item.

Of course, there are reasons why Genshin Impact is priced so high: the cost of a single character is far higher than that of other sequels.

But that's just the game company's perspective. Players don't care how high the cost is; they just want to have fun.

A 3D character that can run, jump, and fight monsters is a character, and a piece of paper is also a character. In the eyes of some players who only pursue strength, there is no difference between the two.

For these players, the price of Genshin Impact is simply unbearably expensive.

Think about it, to get a character with maxed-out life and maxed-out spirit, you'd need at least tens of thousands of dollars. Who can afford that? Isn't that robbery?

Unfortunately, on the market, Genshin Impact's quality simply crushes all other games.

There's nothing we can do; even if it's robbery, we can only let them rob us.

Therefore, on the one hand, many players complain that the game forces players to spend money, while on the other hand, the revenue of "Genshin Impact" is indeed frighteningly high.

Cai Zhenyi gave this situation a name: monopolistic leadership.

In Cai Zhenyi's view, this monopolistic leading period will end on the day "Yi Jianghu" is launched.

Your "Gen-X" is an open world, and so is my "Yi Jianghu". Your gacha system is expensive, so I'll give away gacha resources like crazy.

Those players have long been fed up with the pay-to-play system of "Original Demon"! Discovering that the benefits and treatment in "Otherworld" are so good, aren't they overjoyed?

In this way, the market that "Original Demon" had worked so hard to cultivate was snatched away by "Otherworld".

To counter this strategy of "Yi Jianghu", "Yuanmo" must also offer benefits, competing with "Yi Jianghu" in doing so.

This is what Cai Zhenyi meant by waging a "price war".

Once the competition is dragged into a price war, "Yi Jianghu" will have an absolute advantage.

The reason is the same as before—the development cost of each character in Genshin Impact is simply too high.

From character illustrations to modeling to individual character stories, creating a character in Genshin Impact is a visibly lucrative endeavor, requiring a significant investment of money.

"The Otherworld" is different.

There is also a card draw system in "Yi Jianghu", but instead of drawing characters, you draw weapons, mounts and martial arts techniques.

You have to put a lot of effort into developing a character after you get one, but if you get a weapon, mount, or skill, that's real combat power.

The development costs of these things are almost negligible.

You can design a few texts and a few appearances; the code can be written with your feet.

In other words, if Genshin Impact engages in a price war with them, it will be a real drain on their resources. But what about Another World? They can simply release more gacha pools, right?

This is the source of Cai Zhenyi's confidence.

The plan seemed perfect, but Ge Dongzhen remained hesitant.

He frowned, paced around the meeting room three times before stopping and turning to ask, "Are you really confident?"

Cai Zhenyi nodded: "If I wasn't absolutely certain, I wouldn't have brought it up with you."

Ge Dongzhen sat down and said, "I suggest we coordinate this matter with the planning team at the Pearl Factory. I'll also report back to them."

Upon hearing this, Cai Zhenyi's brow twitched, and he couldn't help but want to swear.

But in the end, I held back.

That old man clearly doesn't want to take responsibility.

Ge Dongzhen wasn't a novice; of course he could see where the plan might go wrong.

Giving away freebies definitely comes at a price. If giving away freebies could solve everything, wouldn't all these games be giving away freebies like crazy? Wouldn't they all be offering "dragon-slaying swords for free with just a click"?

In a game, characters have their own growth curve, and when players develop their characters, they are definitely aiming at a certain goal.

Once players achieve this goal, their motivation will actually decline significantly.

At this point, games usually introduce social features such as guild battles and server rankings to entice players to continue climbing the power ladder.

However, "Yi Jianghu" had previously promised not to implement server ranking.

In that case, giving away too many freebies will inevitably affect the game's lifespan.

Players are like this: if you satisfy their desires, they might actually stop playing.

The game company can only make money by keeping them hanging on.