Agreed to make bad games, What the Hell is Titan Fall 114
by admin## Chapter 114: CEO Yan, You Wouldn’t Want Us to Switch to Xun Teng, Would You?
“Woof—”
Seeing Yan Sheng’s call, Shen Miao Miao frowned slightly.
She checked the time. It was only eight o’clock.
Yan Sheng knew that Golden Wind strictly adhered to a nine-to-five work schedule. So, he usually wouldn’t bother her outside of work hours unless something important came up.
Something important…
Shen Miao Miao raised her eyebrows slightly.
Oh—
Yesterday was the day TTF released its promotional video. If she remembered correctly, their opponent was Zhen Ting, an old partner of ArtJoy.
Thinking about it, Shen Miao Miao wanted to laugh.
She knew that Titan’s Fall was a single-player story-driven game. And coincidentally, Zhen Ting was also a single-player story-driven studio, and an old veteran at that.
It was like adding insult to injury. They were already at a disadvantage in terms of cost.
Now they were also matched with a professional and experienced old veteran.
They were definitely going to be beaten, the only question was how badly.
And now, Yan Sheng had called.
She guessed that… if not completely unrecognizable, they should be beaten into a pulp.
Thinking about it, Shen Miao Miao gently patted her face, cleared her throat, and answered the phone:
“Hello, CEO Yan.”
“Hey hey hey, good morning, CEO Shen,”
On the other side of the phone, Yan Sheng’s voice seemed a bit cautious:
“That… sorry to bother you, CEO Shen. I know you don’t start work until nine, it’s not even working hours yet.”
“It’s just that this matter is a bit urgent.”
“It’s alright,” Shen Miao Miao chuckled, indicating it was no problem: “CEO Yan, go ahead.”
“Oh, it’s like this,”
Yan Sheng paused for a moment on the other side, then continued:
“I called you mainly to discuss… the adjustment of the TTF promotion share.”
Here comes the main point!
Shen Miao Miao cheered in her heart.
She had discussed the issue of promotion share with Yan Sheng before.
As flagship works, Nu Yan, Kol, and Golden Wind, the three companies could enjoy free promotion from ArtJoy in addition to promoting their own games.
Before the first round of promotional video clashes began, Titan’s Fall had a 20% promotion share.
After all, ArtJoy’s main strategy this time was a two-for-one, focusing on racing and sports.
Therefore, compared to Nu Yan and Kol, Golden Wind’s promotion share was smaller.
This was normal, and Shen Miao Miao had agreed to it.
But today!
Yan Sheng called, opening with the adjustment of the promotion share.
Shen Miao Miao didn’t even need to think about it!
Don’t even ask—
It was definitely yesterday’s crushing defeat that made Yan Sheng think it was unnecessary to waste promotion resources on them anymore and wanted to reduce their share!
Take off, Shen Miao Miao!
Shen Miao Miao wished ArtJoy would cut off all their promotion.
“Hmm hmm, CEO Yan, tell me, how much less?”
Shen Miao Miao was fully prepared for this.
But unexpectedly, Yan Sheng was stunned on the other end of the phone:
“Uh… what? How much less?”
“Ah, yes,”
Hearing Yan Sheng’s tone, Shen Miao Miao was even more confused:
“Isn’t it about reducing our promotion share?”
Hiss—!!!
Suddenly!
Yan Sheng on the other end of the phone gasped, quickly followed by a forced laugh:
“Hahaha, CEO Shen, you’re really good at joking.”
“I know, uh, the previous 20% promotion share ratio was unfair to Golden Wind,”
“I was also short-sighted in this aspect, and I relied entirely on your understanding to agree to our unreasonable request.”
“I also know that you must be unhappy in your heart,”
“So, you see, I’m here to discuss with you, to see how much we should raise the promotion share…”
Good!
The call Yan Sheng made this morning was to discuss with Shen Miao Miao how much to increase the promotion share for Titan’s Fall!
After all, Titan’s Fall’s performance yesterday was for everyone to see!
The promotional video was released and reversed the already inevitable defeat in four hours!
With this kind of God-level performance, shouldn’t he be rushing to increase their promotion share?
Unless he didn’t want to work with Golden Wind anymore!
So!
Early in the morning, Yan Sheng made the call, wanting to discuss it with CEO Shen first before informing the other two manufacturers.
But unexpectedly, as soon as he opened his mouth, he was met with sarcasm from CEO Shen!
Yan Sheng was very scared.
He felt like CEO Shen was expressing dissatisfaction with the previous share.
But it was also understandable.
This time, Golden Wind was cooperating with them, taking a huge risk.
They even didn’t have extra promotion funds to make the game better.
But he, for the sake of strategic deployment, only allocated 20% of the promotion share to Golden Wind.
CEO Shen was kind, but he, Yan Sheng, was unjust.
It was normal for them to be resentful.
Yan Sheng stood firm after being beaten, immediately admitting his mistake, lowering his posture, wanting to get forgiveness and make compensation.
However!
On Shen Miao Miao’s side, she was completely dumbfounded!
What?
Increase… promotion share?
What the hell, why? Yan Sheng, you bad omen, don’t mess with me!
Why the hell did you suddenly increase our promotion share?
Are you trying to save us because TTF is about to die?
Don’t!
Just let me go peacefully!
“Uh…”
Shen Miao Miao pondered for a while before slowly speaking:
“No, CEO Yan, I think there might be some misunderstanding between us. I’m not unhappy,”
“I just didn’t quite understand why you want to increase the promotion share…”
Hearing this!
Yan Sheng was taken aback!
Then he took a deep breath of relief!
Hey—false alarm!
It turned out CEO Shen was still clueless!
“Hi hi hi—”
Yan Sheng burst into laughter:
“CEO Shen, you’re truly as steady as a mountain! I admire you! I admire you!”
Shen Miao Miao:?
I have a bad feeling about this…
“What do you mean, CEO Yan… ?”
Yan Sheng laughed:
“It exploded! Exploded! Titan’s Fall has exploded in discussions!!!”
Shen Miao Miao, who had just sat up from bed, laid back down again.
She pulled the blanket up to cover her head.
After a short pause, she kicked the blanket off!
Damn it!
Dreams are the opposite!
Shen Miao Miao felt a bit suffocated.
“So… we actually narrowly won against Zhen Ting yesterday???”
“Narrowly won?”
Yan Sheng shook his head repeatedly:
“Not narrowly won! But completely—crushed!”
“Moreover, not only did we crush Zhen Ting, we even saved the day, reversing our slump in the second round.”
“Now, ArtJoy X2’s overall popularity has surpassed Polar Bear 3!”
Shen Miao Miao: …
Wow, so cool.
I@#¥%@#¥…!!!
Feeling a wave of madness, Shen Miao Miao took a deep breath!
“So, CEO Yan, what do you mean, how much do you want to increase our promotion share to?”
“This…”
Yan Sheng hesitated for a moment:
“Our current suggestion is to double the promotion, increasing Titan’s Fall’s promotion share to 40%.”
“Of course, the final decision still rests with your company,”
“I know, because the investment cost of this game is quite high, your company doesn’t have its own promotion, right?”
“So, if you need it, we can also increase the promotion share to 60%.”
“I believe Nu Yan and Kol won’t refuse either.”
Those two companies wouldn’t refuse, of course.
After all, Golden Wind’s achievements were there for everyone to see, they deserved preferential treatment.
Moreover, with Titan’s Fall coming out, Xun Teng would definitely respond and focus their firepower on attacking.
So, in terms of both reason and sentiment, increasing Titan’s Fall’s promotion share was only right.
“However…”
At this point, Yan Sheng pondered for a moment before saying:
“Personally, I don’t recommend excessively increasing promotional exposure.”
“Because if Titan’s Fall’s promotion share in ArtJoy far exceeds the other two games, it will inevitably send a signal to the market that we’re focusing on this game.”
“And as far as I know, due to cost constraints, your game’s gameplay is relatively short, with a total playtime of about six hours.”
“In terms of gameplay duration, it’s significantly lower than the average for flagship games.”
“Excessively promoting it will easily lead to players’ expectations becoming too high.”
“This will not only have a certain impact on us, but more importantly, it will have a negative impact on the game’s reputation and sales after release.”
“To put it simply, it’s… backlash.”
“Backlash from excessive promotion.”
Yan Sheng’s concerns were valid.
And this concern was not unfounded.
In the gaming world, countless games had already stumbled due to excessive promotion.
Many games that were actually of decent quality had fallen victim to excessive promotion campaigns, pushing player expectations to unrealistic heights.
And those exaggerated expectations inevitably led to the game’s flaws being magnified after release.
Back and forth, as the tug-of-war continued, what were initially minor flaws became fatal weaknesses.
The end result was a good hand played badly, the game’s reputation plummeted, and sales crashed.
And now, Titan’s Fall was in this situation.
Although in terms of promotional video quality, the game’s player reputation and expectations were all soaring.
But the problem was, it was priced at 198 yuan, with only six hours of gameplay.
A mooncake gift box with only two mooncakes.
No matter how delicious it was, you couldn’t avoid players complaining.
When the time came, any discrepancy between the actual product and the promotional picture, any improper ratio of five-kernel filling, any dissatisfaction with the sweetness of the filling, or even if the mooncake tasted no different from the loose mooncakes at the supermarket… would become the fatal blow that completely killed Titan’s Fall!
Because it’s expensive! With little content!
So!
Players would be relentless in finding fault!
Unless!
This game could achieve explosive plot quality, satisfying combat, mind-blowing level design, and shockingly creative gameplay!
But!
Games that could achieve this, Yan Sheng had never seen, and the game market had never seen!
Yan Sheng wanted CEO Shen to be cautious.
Promotion was good, but don’t overdo it.
However!
Shen Miao Miao’s eyes lit up upon hearing this!
Oh snap!?
Is that how it is?
This is truly… a never-ending learning experience!
Before, she simply believed that the bigger the promotion, the more beneficial it was for sales.
That’s why she had always been reluctant to increase promotion efforts, always quoting the saying “Good wine needs no bush.”
But now!
Yan Sheng’s words opened a new world for her.
It turned out that promotion wasn’t always about bigger being better!
It needed to be complementary to the product, the saying “If you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight” applied.
If you don’t have the right tools, don’t try to do things you’re not capable of.
Sales wouldn’t increase, but instead would be met with backlash!
Good!
Backlash is good!
Today, I, Shen Miao Miao, want to wear a big pant on my small butt, a golden crown on my thin neck, and I will take on tasks I’m not capable of!
What?
You say I’m not afraid of losing money with the system, but Yan Sheng will suffer the consequences?
Serves him right!
If it wasn’t for this system, the TTF project shouldn’t have been started in the first place!
Theoretically speaking, Golden Wind didn’t meet the development standard for flagship games!
If you compare this new generation of sensory pod flagship game competition to climbing a mountain, then the other five contestants are all well-equipped and well-supplied!
Only Golden Wind doesn’t even have a safety rope!
Even so!
ArtJoy initially only gave them a 20% promotion share.
Admittedly, it was reasonable considering their game’s scale and ArtJoy’s strategic deployment.
But it was a bit unfeeling, wasn’t it?
I don’t ask for anything else, just let Golden Wind have 30%, divide the remaining 70% evenly between the other two, at least give us some psychological comfort!
Oh, now that you see our promotional video is on fire, you want to increase promotion, but you’re afraid of backlash from too much promotion?
Humph!
Shen Miao Miao pouted!
Sorry, you’re afraid, but I’m not!
Old man, we’re in this together, you can lose some money too!
Thinking about it!
Shen Miao Miao smirked, a sly glint in her big eyes!
“But I have full confidence in our product!”
“Ah?”
Upon hearing these words!
Yan Sheng felt a pang in his heart!
Damn.
It’s going bad!
“Uh… what do you mean, CEO Shen… ?”
“90%!”
Shen Miao Miao opened her mouth wide!
“Nu Yan is mediocre, Kol has failed, ArtJoy X2’s situation has been on a downward spiral in the past two days.”
“Thankfully, our Director Gu stepped in and saved the day, with an investment of 170 million yuan, crushing Zhen Ting’s investment of nearly 1 billion yuan.”
“He steadied the ship from the brink of collapse, rescuing ArtJoy from the flames,”
“CEO Yan,”
“The market is buzzing with excitement now, all the players have full confidence in us.”
“How come when it comes to our brother companies, you don’t have confidence, thinking we’ll suffer backlash?”
Boom boom boom boom—!!!
Shen Miao Miao was quick-witted, her mouth like a machine gun, directly sweeping Yan Sheng with a chill, making him stutter for a long time, unable to speak!
Is that right?
Yan Sheng was a bit dazed, even starting to question himself.
Why don’t I believe Golden Wind can make a “plot exploding, effects exploding, gameplay exploding, design exploding” top-tier game?
Hmm…
Because damn it, there’s no such game!
Yan Sheng slapped the table.
I can’t convince myself, okay?!
Sure, Golden Wind is amazing, but your confidence, CEO Shen, is a bit too strong!
What kind of nonsense are you talking about, little ancestor!
But!
Yan Sheng didn’t dare to directly confront Shen Miao Miao, he could only stutter for a long time, finally mumbling:
“Uh… this… how about… 60%? This is the limit that the TTF project can withstand according to our previous estimates and calculations, any higher would be drinking poison to quench our thirst.”
Hey, that’s exactly what I want, to drink poison to quench my thirst!
Shen Miao Miao pouted, acting like a spoiled child:
“CEO Yan, what do you mean by limit? When has Golden Wind ever had a limit?”
“Indeed, this 90% promotion share seems a bit high, but you know our situation,”
“We’re not like Nu Yan and Kol, they’re big companies with a lot of money, they have their own promotion, ArtJoy’s help is just icing on the cake.”
“We’re relying entirely on you,”
“CEO Yan, you wouldn’t want us to switch to Xun Teng, would you?”
Hiss—!!!
Hearing this, Yan Sheng gasped!
It was hard to imagine what Golden Wind’s daily corporate culture was like.
But Shen Miao Miao’s threat hit Yan Sheng’s weak spot.
Now that Zhen Ting was under Xun Teng, needless to say, their future games would definitely be released on Polar Bear 3.
If after this round of flagship games, Golden Wind left.
It wouldn’t just be a huge blow to ArtJoy in terms of public opinion, but in the future, they would completely lose the FPS market.
After all, looking at it now, the only domestic company that could go toe-to-toe with Xun Teng’s three generals was Golden Wind.
Thinking about it, Yan Sheng took a deep breath:
“70%.”
Shen Miao Miao shook her head: “80%.”
Yan Sheng gritted his teeth: “75%, we’ll do the highest quality promotion, please be merciful, CEO Shen.”
“Hmm—”
Although Shen Miao Miao was still not quite satisfied, she could only nod:
“Alright then, 75%, CEO Yan, happy cooperation.”
Yan Sheng smiled wryly:
“Happy… cooperation…”
…
Yan Sheng was helpless.
He didn’t know if Shen Miao Miao was happy or not, but he knew he wasn’t very happy.
He couldn’t figure out where this little ancestor got her confidence.
75% promotion share!
Remember, this is 75% of ArtJoy!
It’s a game integrated company that dominates half of China’s game market, going head-to-head with Xun Teng. 75% of their promotion.
Ordinary people might not understand what that means.
Let me put it this way, if Golden Wind did its own promotion, and went all out.
Then ArtJoy’s 50% promotion scale would be equivalent to Golden Wind’s full effort.
That’s why Yan Sheng said it was an excessive promotion, and a lot.
But!
The words had already been said!
And Titan’s Fall’s performance was right there!
“Sigh—”
He let out a long sigh!
Yan Sheng shook his head helplessly, and called the heads of the two other partnering companies, Nu Yan and Kol.
Those two partners didn’t have any objections, as Shen Miao Miao said, ArtJoy’s promotion was just icing on the cake for them.
Not only did they not complain, but they even thanked Yan Sheng, thanking him for still leaving some share for them under these circumstances.
Afterwards, Yan Sheng called his own head of market operations, Director Li:
“Hey, Old Li, I’ve finished negotiating with the three partners,”
“Promotion resources will be adjusted, Golden Wind will take 75%, starting tomorrow, the promotion resources for the other two games will be tilted towards Titan’s Fall.”
“…Yes, you heard correctly, 75%.”
“I know it will result in excessive promotion, don’t worry, Titan’s Fall’s quality can handle it…”
Probably.
He hung up the phone, Yan Sheng shrugged ambiguously.
Hopefully, they can really handle it.
Otherwise, he’ll have to eat dirt with Golden Wind.
(End of Chapter)
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