Chapter 250: Sales Reversal
As more and more players experienced *Thousand Prisons* and *Minecraft*, reviews of both games gradually increased online.
Whether they had played *Diablo* or not, players generally gave *Thousand Prisons* high marks. Strictly speaking, *Thousand Prisons* only borrowed some ideas from *Diablo*. After the shift from PC to VR and from Western fantasy to Chinese xianxia and demon themes, most players could no longer see *Diablo*’s shadow in *Thousand Prisons*.
As for reviews of *Minecraft*, opinions were all over the place.
“Has anyone figured out *Minecraft*? I just dig, dig, dig, and build, build, build. Is there nothing else to do?”
“I agree. This game is kind of boring. Sure, building a house gives a sense of accomplishment, but all I can make is a matchbox!”
“That’s because you’re playing *Minecraft*, but the real fun is in *Other People’s Minecraft*!”
“The multiplayer mode is fun. Everyone digs and builds together!”
“I don’t get what’s so great about this game. Guilds, building—this kind of gameplay has been around forever. What’s new about it?”
“Exactly. It’s just stacking blocks. What can you even make?”
“Heh, the guy above didn’t even buy the game, so stop talking nonsense. You have to play it for a while to get the deeper meaning. You fast-food gamers just don’t get it!”
…
However, these arguments were relatively few and never really escalated. Players who didn’t care about *Minecraft* generally didn’t bother to criticize it, and those who bought it? They were all busy building like crazy.
A week after the game’s release, videos about *Minecraft* started popping up on major video sites.
*My First Time in Minecraft: Is This a Horror Game?*
*The Sky City We Built*
*Minecraft Beginner’s Guide*
*Original Build: Recreating a Siheyuan*
*Original Build: Recreating Suzhou Gardens*
…
These original videos fell into three main categories.
First were funny first-experience videos, like digging holes, being chased by zombies, or building ugly houses.
Second were tutorial videos, where experienced players taught newcomers the game’s mechanics and tips.
Third were building videos, showcasing large structures made in Creative or Multiplayer mode, shared (or bragged about) online.
In fact, *Minecraft* itself was a highly topical game, and its rich content allowed streamers and video creators to unleash their imagination and stand out from others.
With typical RPGs, the most you could do was go through the story or demonstrate advanced techniques, making it hard for streamers to differentiate themselves.
But *Minecraft*, as a sandbox game, was different. Some could show off building skills, others could demonstrate creative gameplay, and some could explore the world…
Everyone played differently, so the content produced became increasingly diverse.
Without many people noticing, *Minecraft* gradually swept across major video sites and streaming platforms, sparking a trend.
Many players were puzzled.
“Why are there so many *Minecraft* videos?”
“The gaming section is practically becoming a *Minecraft* exclusive zone!”
“A lot of streamers are playing this game now.”
“Did you see A-Xue’s stream? Chen Mo even showed up and showed off some amazing builds.”
“There’s a streamer who became a guild leader in *Minecraft*. It’s so professional! He directs everyone to mine caves and build houses. They’ve already built a town!”
“I think the game’s essence is in the multiplayer mode. Everyone works together to build an entire city. It’s so fun.”
“Single-player is fun too. You can freely create. It’s perfect for someone like me with social anxiety and autism.”
“Both are fun. The charm of this game is that everyone can find a playstyle they like!”
“Hey, I’ve watched so many videos and streams lately. I want to play too! I really want to test my architect talent.”
“Once you play, you’ll realize it’s all *Other People’s Minecraft*! It’s all lies!”
*Minecraft*’s popularity on video sites and streaming platforms continued to soar, and sales climbed steadily.
Moreover, some people had already started selling blueprints for their builds in the game, and even studios dedicated to creating and selling buildings had emerged.
Soon, a series of data came out.
First-week sales: *Thousand Prisons* 54,000, *Minecraft* 264,000.
First-month sales: *Thousand Prisons* 237,000, *Minecraft* 3.013 million.
Including in-game value-added services, *Thousand Prisons* had a first-month revenue of 390 million, while *Minecraft* reached 430 million!
In *Minecraft*’s case, sales contributed 385 million to the monthly revenue, with the rest coming from in-game services—mainly wealthy players spending money on blueprints.
After *Minecraft*’s player base exceeded 3 million, the game’s world servers had expanded to 30, and the number of large guilds had reached over a thousand.
These large guilds all had wealthy players. Even if they didn’t, they would pool money to buy attractive blueprints, as it related to the guild’s image, so they spent without hesitation.
Some wealthy players bought blueprints purely for collection, like die-hard fans of the Azeroth world who had to own Stormwind City and the Ruins of Lordaeron.
Despite *Minecraft*’s first-day sales being more than three times lower than *Thousand Prisons*, it managed to overtake it within a month!
…
This data left Yan Zhenyuan stunned.
First-day sales: 17,400. First-week sales: 264,000. First-month sales: 3 million?!
First-day sales were 170 times lower than first-month sales? Was this some kind of monster?
Moreover, Yan Zhenyuan was puzzled. *Thousand Prisons*’ subsequent sales growth was way too slow!
*Thousand Prisons* had decent ratings on major sites, game media, and platforms, consistently above 8.7. Player feedback was also acceptable. Dizhao Interactive had invested a lot of resources in promotion, but no matter how hard they pushed, it just didn’t seem to catch fire?
No matter what they did, it was only moderately popular, with no signs of becoming a massive hit!
In contrast, although Chen Mo started spending on ads for *Minecraft* from the second week, it was far less than *Thousand Prisons*’ ad spending. So how did *Minecraft*’s sales keep skyrocketing?
What was most infuriating was that *Minecraft*’s sales were so high! At this growth rate, what would happen in the future?
Domestic VR game players were already fewer than mobile and PC players. At this rate, within a year or two, Chen Mo might make every VR game pod in the country install *Minecraft*?
That was absurd! How could a VR game pull off a low-price, high-volume strategy?
Yan Zhenyuan was speechless, especially confused by *Thousand Prisons*’ performance. Even if it couldn’t dominate the entire VR market, shouldn’t it at least come close to *Diablo*’s performance on PC?
After much thought, Yan Zhenyuan still couldn’t figure it out.
Maybe… it was some kind of cosmic joke?
It didn’t make sense!