Chapter 155: Qiu Bin’s Doubts 5/17
Back at his own experience store, Qiu Bin continued pondering some gameplay plans for *Demon Calamity 2*.
In truth, this game had already been in development for a while, and the core gameplay was mostly finished.
However, considering that its release would impact *Demon Calamity*, Imperial Dynasty Interactive Entertainment wasn’t in a rush to launch *Demon Calamity 2*; it was still in a slow development phase.
After all, both sides were like the palm and the back of the hand—when *Demon Calamity* was still pulling in 40 million in monthly revenue, there was no need to release a sequel and drain the predecessor’s vitality.
As a sequel, *Demon Calamity 2* mainly optimized the combat presentation, changing it from pure card-based battles to a side-scrolling format. Players still didn’t need to manually use any skills, only adjusting character positions.
Of course, the character presentation also shifted from cards to 2D models. However, as a mobile game with an immortal cultivation theme, the characters’ primary attack methods involved tossing magic artifacts at each other, so movement wasn’t required.
This was still somewhat different from *Dota Legend* in the previous life. Overall, it was slightly inferior to *Dota Legend* in terms of gameplay.
But judging by the current visuals of *Demon Calamity 2*, it was already excellent. Although the characters leaned toward a chibi style, it wasn’t the overly childish kind of chibi; they actually looked quite cool.
The overall change in art style was aimed at satisfying players’ demand for better graphics while also catering to the aesthetic preferences of the vast majority of players. This slightly chibi style was very effective at spreading the game among younger audiences.
*I Am MT* was also a chibi-style game. After studying it, Qiu Bin found that the chibi style could effectively alleviate player fatigue during gameplay and fit perfectly with the fragmented nature of mobile gaming, which is why he settled on this art style.
Qiu Bin was full of confidence in *Demon Calamity 2*, as many of its settings had been meticulously refined through repeated deliberation.
He could pat his chest and say that *Demon Calamity 2* would definitely be the best card-based mobile game on the market, bar none.
The art and music quality had been fully upgraded.
The gameplay carried on the classic mechanics of *Demon Calamity* while introducing minor innovations.
Moreover, after the massive success of *Demon Calamity*, Imperial Dynasty Interactive Entertainment would spare no effort in promoting *Demon Calamity 2*. With such powerful channel support, this game was sure to surpass its predecessor.
Qiu Bin was confident that this game would continue the success of *Demon Calamity* and dominate the top spot on the mobile game bestseller charts.
It might even push monthly revenue to the 80 million level!
For designers in this world, a mobile game achieving 80 million in monthly revenue was already an incredible feat, but Qiu Bin had faith, because he knew too well how profitable card-based mobile games could be.
Qiu Bin was happily daydreaming about the launch of *Demon Calamity 2* when his assistant rushed in frantically.
“Bad news! We just got word that Chen Mo is making a mobile game!”
The assistant had clearly come running the moment he got the news, his voice trembling.
Qiu Bin felt as if a thunderbolt had struck. What the hell? Chen Mo was making a card-based mobile game?!
Wasn’t this asking for trouble?
But he quickly steadied himself and asked, “Is the information accurate? What kind of mobile game is Chen Mo making? Is it card-based?”
The assistant said, “I’m not sure if it’s card-based specifically, but it’s very likely! Look.”
With that, the assistant handed his phone to Qiu Bin.
Qiu Bin looked at the phone. There were several concept art pieces on it, all featuring Japanese-style demons and monsters. They were drawn very cool, with extremely high precision and distinct characteristics.
Qiu Bin asked, “Where did these come from?”
The assistant replied, “From an outsourcing company. This is the highest-level art company in the country, and since they’ve had a long-term partnership with us, one of their artists is an acquaintance of mine. He happened to discover that Chen Mo had outsourced some concept art to their company and told me about it.”
Qiu Bin nodded. “Good, this is a big help. Did you ask him how many pieces of concept art there are?”
The assistant said, “I asked. He doesn’t know the exact number, but it’s definitely over 30.”
“Over 30?” Qiu Bin couldn’t help but gasp. This almost confirmed it—Chen Mo was definitely making a card-based mobile game!
From the concept art, the characters had very distinct traits and no obvious hierarchy. Combined with the ability to evolve and change appearances, the most likely scenario was a card-based mobile game!
The assistant asked, “What do we do? Should we speed up the development of *Demon Calamity 2*? We absolutely can’t let our game clash with Chen Mo’s!”
Qiu Bin waved his hand. “Don’t panic. Let me think.”
In truth, Qiu Bin’s first reaction was also to rush the development and launch as soon as possible, to avoid overlapping with Chen Mo’s game.
If they clashed, it would be disastrous. Qiu Bin could still recall the fear of being dominated by *I Am MT*.
But development speed couldn’t just be ramped up on a whim. If they rushed and the game’s quality suffered, wouldn’t that be shooting themselves in the foot?
Qiu Bin thought for a moment and said, “Here’s what we’ll do. Finalize those gameplay features we hadn’t settled on yet, right now. Stop agonizing over them. Immediately bring in some seed players from *Demon Calamity* to test the game, collect their feedback, and make quick adjustments.”
The assistant nodded. “Understood.”
Qiu Bin added, “In short, speed things up. Cut some peripheral features if necessary, but don’t compromise the game’s quality. Stick to our development plan as much as possible, but push everything forward as fast as we can.”
The assistant went off to handle things, but Qiu Bin still felt uneasy. He searched online for the origins of those concept art pieces.
“Based on the Heian period mythology? No IP?”
Qiu Bin was baffled.
Any designer nowadays knew that card-based mobile games relied on IP. How could Chen Mo not know?
Back when he made *I Am MT*, Chen Mo had created an anime and built the Azeroth universe, spending a ton of money and effort. Wasn’t that all to create his own IP?
Clearly, Chen Mo understood the importance of IP for card-based mobile games, even before most designers had realized it.
So, what was going on with this new game?
Qiu Bin didn’t believe this theme had no IP. He dug through a lot of materials and even asked a few friends familiar with this period and Japanese novels. In the end, he concluded that there really was no IP!
The theme Chen Mo was pursuing had no famous anime, novels, or even much interest from people who liked Japanese culture, let alone ordinary domestic players!
Qiu Bin was deeply puzzled. What was going on?
Had Chen Mo become so awesome that he could make card-based mobile games without relying on an IP?
That didn’t make sense!