Chapter 396 - 274: The Darkest Day in Gaming History (2)

Chapter 396: Chapter 274: The Darkest Day in Gaming History (2)

"Come on. Our game development team is just behind the internet cafe."

Scrooge led the two of them out of the carriage and into the internet cafe.

"Are these... headbands?" War King was surprised to find that, in addition to the computer towers and game consoles, several rows of seats were equipped with Kara Headbands.

"Yes. Here, using a headband costs only Three Copper Coins an hour."

"Why? Isn’t the Zog Group’s price Four Copper Coins an hour?"

"Because there’s a discount for bulk payments. The actual cost for me is only two and a half Copper Coins per hour. Plus, the headbands are small. I can fit two in the space one computer tower takes up. Every little bit adds up."

Mr. Scrooge led them past the patrons and pushed open a door marked "Staff Only," entering a cramped room.

Leon had never imagined that a game development team would be working in such an environment.

Computer towers took up most of the space, making it difficult to even turn around at the workstations. A dozen or so employees were clacking away at their keyboards, their hair a mess and the dark circles under their eyes frighteningly deep. There were even beds placed behind their seats.

The scene reminded Leon of the days he used to sneak out to practice.

It was completely different from the game studio he had imagined—more like a sweatshop.

Scrooge, however, spoke in a rousing voice, "Brothers, look who’s here! It’s the star of the Child of the Twin Towers, the Legendary player who defeated the Devil, the beloved Leon! And his teammate, War King! They’ve come to help us."

War King sniffed. The introduction was accurate, but something about it felt strange.

The employees all burst into applause.

Just as Leon was about to say that he hadn’t decided anything yet, Mr. Scrooge threw an arm around his shoulder. "With Leon here, our good days have arrived!"

He was as impassioned as a general on the battlefield. "Once `Path of Conquest` is released, the Gold Coins will come pouring in! As long as I, Scrooge, have a share, so will you, brothers! When that time comes, you can enjoy life however you want! Buy a house, marry a beautiful girl!"

Cheers erupted in the small studio.

Leon felt that something was off about these people. ’There’s a strange fanaticism in the air.’

"Right now is just the final darkness before the dawn! We just need to endure these last few days of hardship. First, let’s have Mr. Leon take a look at our creation."

Soon, Leon was sitting at a computer, looking at the fabled `Path of Conquest`.

The graphics were incredibly crude. It was obvious the Illusionist responsible for creating the Illusions at this studio was of limited skill.

Otherwise, they would never have accepted such working conditions.

After playing for a short while, Leon didn’t feel there was anything special about the game.

It was just an endless loop of accepting and completing quests. The quests themselves were simple "go here, kill that" or "find this person" types. The only unique thing was the character progression system.

He had never seen such a complex progression system.

Besides the Skill tree, there was also a huge pile of equipment, pets, mounts, titles, gems, blessings...

It was impossible to take it all in in a short time.

And almost all of those things could be enhanced, with no guarantee of success.

Still, there were no major flaws. Leon felt he could do the ad.

"Are there any specific requirements for the ad?" Leon asked.

"Oh, you just need to include our short video clip in your own video. You can do whatever you want with the rest. However, here’s a numerical code. You can tell your fans that if they enter this code in the game, they’ll get extra resources, and you’ll get a commission."

After speaking, Mr. Scrooge gave Leon a card with the code printed on it, and he gave one to War King as well.

Leon understood. How much he earned from this ad depended on how many players he could bring in. ’A true merchant,’ he thought.

"So, that’s it?"

"Thank you so much for agreeing to work with us." Mr. Scrooge stood up to see them out.

As they were leaving, War King suddenly asked, "With such a complex progression system, won’t it be hard for players to figure out?"

"Of course. It requires careful study to understand. That’s what you call gameplay depth."

War King nodded after hearing this.

An idea for a great video suddenly struck him. If rich people were unwilling to practice their skills, would they also be unwilling to study a complex progression system?

He could use his reputation as a professional player to make guides about the system, or offer one-on-one coaching. He could even help people optimize their characters and record it for content. There would definitely be an audience interested in seeing what a rich person’s character looks like.

’This could be a good direction. It’s worth a try...’

「A few days later」

`Path of Conquest` launched without much fanfare.

It didn’t make much of a splash.

Ever since the Zog Group released its universal game engine and Magic Language, the barrier to entry for game development had dropped dramatically. A game could be completed by just a few people; otherwise, Scrooge and his group wouldn’t have been able to make one at all.

Every day, several, or even dozens, of new games were released, and the vast majority of them failed to make a ripple.

Everyone saw how Zog’s games were raking in money, but no one noticed the piles of games in forgotten corners that died with only a handful of players.

However, the fate of `Path of Conquest` did not follow in the footsteps of its peers.

Because a certain Red Dragon, who had been idle lately, had taken notice of it.

Thanks to the release of the Kara Headband, the Zog Group’s revenue was looking up.

Zog was contemplating creating a game better suited for home consoles, so he whipped up a design document for `Minecraft` and tossed it to Uffie.

Compared to the original, Zog’s `Minecraft` had richer Magic content. In addition to Redstone technology, it also featured several types of blocks representing different basic Elements. In theory, these could be combined to create all sorts of Magic.