Chapter 1041: Players Getting Emotional After Seeing the New Trailer
As soon as these two announcements were made, they instantly sparked a massive discussion across the entire gaming industry.
Not just the players, but even major game companies were caught off guard. Was Chen Mo crazy?
Chen Mo claimed he was subsidizing ten thousand dollars per Matrix gaming pod, but in reality, he was also squeezing the profit margins of the Matrix gaming pod even further. The various costs of the gaming pod, including research, development, and marketing, averaged out to about 250,000 per unit, while the actual selling price was 300,000.
Now, the price of the Matrix gaming pod had dropped by a full hundred thousand. Originally priced around 300,000, during the promotional period, it could be bought for just over 200,000!
Although for those players who couldn't afford it, they still couldn't afford it, for those who had been hesitating, this was an incredibly powerful discount. This price was now close to that of a traditional high-end VR gaming pod.
All players understood that no matter how high the specs of a traditional high-end VR gaming pod were, they could never compare to the next-generation VR of the Matrix gaming pod!
There had been no news of any new technological breakthroughs, nor any reports of a drop in raw material costs for the gaming pods. In other words, Chen Mo was most likely selling at a loss to promote the Matrix gaming pod.
For traditional VR gaming pod manufacturers, this was nothing short of a thunderbolt. The only advantage traditional VR gaming pods had over the Matrix gaming pod was that they were slightly cheaper, but now that advantage had vanished completely.
However, for game developers worldwide, Chen Mo had released another piece of incredible news. He wasn't stubbornly clinging to the Matrix gaming pod as a cash cow. On the contrary, Chen Mo had decided to open-source the Matrix gaming pod editor and AI templates, signaling that he welcomed game developers from all over the world to join the Thunder Game Platform, and even to share in the opportunities of next-generation VR gaming.
Of course, any games developed by these companies that launched on the Matrix gaming pod and the Thunder Game Platform would have to share revenue with Chen Mo. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement. But the fact that he was so generous as to open-source these tools still left everyone marveling at Chen Mo's broad-mindedness.
These two decisions seemed bold, but in reality, Chen Mo had endured a lot of pressure.
He had to make several trips to the Game Committee, repeatedly explaining the benefits of lowering the Matrix gaming pod's price and the significance of open-sourcing development tools to enrich the next-generation VR game library.
Using a few "intelligence-reducing auras" along the way was inevitable.
However, Chen Mo's open-sourcing of next-generation VR development tools was solely to encourage more companies to develop next-generation VR games and to accelerate the adoption of the Matrix gaming pod. He would never relinquish control over certain special areas of next-generation VR.
For example, the culinary field within the virtual world.
Any area that touched upon the future "lifeline" of the virtual world would never be opened up. In other words, the games made by other developers were just games. For Chen Mo, "Oasis" was his true trump card.
...
...
With Jarvis's help, the efficiency of game development had greatly improved.
Although the cost of using Jarvis might be even higher than maintaining half a development team, it had a huge advantage: speed.
In game development, time is money.
Just like some real estate companies that adhere to a "speed-first" philosophy, demanding design institutes work overnight to produce blueprints and pushing all projects forward with relentless intensity—all just to save time.
Of course, this kind of development philosophy is unhealthy and oppressive to employees, but it has to be admitted that it is very effective.
The same goes for the gaming industry. The reason traditional, conscientious developers adhere to the attitude of "slow work yields fine products" or "years of polishing a single sword" is mainly because, under existing technical conditions, "speed" and "quality" often cannot be achieved simultaneously. To ensure quality, speed has to be sacrificed.
But for players, as long as quality is guaranteed, faster is definitely better.
Think about the agony of waiting for a sequel, the fear of infinite delays, the disappointment of waiting one or two years for a game only to finish it in a few hours...
For Chen Mo, the accelerated development speed brought by Jarvis was a godsend, because the most precious thing was time.
When it came to game development, it was never too fast.
Before the true next-generation VR game "Oasis" was released, he still had a big hole to fill.
And before he started filling that hole, he had a surprise for the players.
A very, very big surprise.
...
On July 14th, without any warning, Chen Mo's Weibo released another trailer.
Why say "another"?
Because it had been less than a month since the trailer for the previous game, "Iron Man," was released.
One new game a month, and all of them high-quality, top-tier works. While players were overjoyed, their biggest lament was: Damn, we can't even afford to play games anymore!
Having to spend over a thousand bucks every month to buy games? How are we supposed to live?
But fortunately, for players who owned a Matrix gaming pod, they didn't care too much about the cost of buying games. Most of them just complained that there weren't enough games.
"A new game trailer is out! That's way too fast?!"
"How the hell can they release games monthly now? That's as fast as some web novel authors!"
"I just bought 'Iron Man' last month by scrimping and saving, and I haven't even had time to play it yet. Now a new game is coming?"
"A rich guy with a Matrix gaming pod still needs to scrimp and save to buy games? Hah, I don't believe that at all!"
"Let's see what the new game is about!"
"Oh, holy crap..."
"What the hell is this!"
"I'm out! I'm out!"
As soon as the players saw the beginning of the trailer, they couldn't stay calm and started bowing out.
Some players got emotional and declared, "If I buy this game, I'm a dog!"
A few other players shouted, "Get lost! Take 'Dark Souls' with you and get lost!"
The fans of various streamers, on the other hand, were celebrating and spreading the news, happier than if it were New Year's.
And on the Fishing Live streaming platform, many streamers were already thinking about what excuse they should use to take time off when the game was released.
The trailer Chen Mo released wasn't very long—less than five minutes—and a large portion of the footage was actual in-game footage.
But it was precisely that in-game footage that instantly made players understand the nature of this game.
Yes, the name of the game was:
"Bloodborne."