A lot of people were still watching Nebula Games—or rather, Lucas's—new game.
These weren't just regular players. Some were professional game designers, and some were from the media.
Lucas still carried a big label: first prize winner of the Sci-fi Game Contest.
And To the Moon really did move tons of players.
So it's no surprise that many people were curious about Lucas's new game, Outlast.
In horror game communities especially, Outlast had already started spreading like wildfire.
On one horror game fan forum, plenty of players were posting about it.
"Holy crap, I just found this new horror game that scared the hell out of me! I thought it was gonna be some low-budget garbage. But damn, I only lasted 30 minutes before I chickened out!"
"Yeah I know the one—Outlast, right? From the guy who made To the Moon. It's terrifying. I wasn't impressed by those early jump scares, but once I hit the basement? I realized I was completely wrong."
"Same here, I bought it too. It's seriously scary, especially when I had to hide in a locker. I was scared that fat guy would find me."
"I don't even mind jump scares anymore, I've gotten used to those. But that cursed night vision camera with the pitch-black areas? I couldn't handle it!"
Many players who had already tried the game were actively talking about it in their groups.
Their conversations also attracted some players who hadn't heard of the game.
Because while Lucas had fans, most average players didn't pay close attention to things like this.
When people mentioned To the Moon, a lot of folks knew what game that was.
Both To the Moon and Undertale were well-known among indie game fans.
But as for Lucas and his new game Outlast, unless someone was already following him, they probably had no clue.
That's exactly why big game companies spend so much money marketing their AAA games.
Most players are passive about what they play. Sometimes they don't even know the names of the devs or the studios behind their favorite games.
So when Outlast started trending in several threads, it naturally caught the attention of people who weren't even following Lucas.
"Outlast, that new horror game?"
"Is it really as scary as you guys say? It's just a horror game."
"If you don't believe it, try it yourself. It's on both the official game store and Nebula Games' platform. Nebula's 5 bucks cheaper though."
"OK, take me to try it!"
"I'm in too. You cowards, move aside!"
"Can't wait to hear what you think after you try it!"
"Alright, just wait for our victory report! Haha, what's so scary about a little horror game?"
They were all talk beforehand, but just an hour or two later, the same players came crawling back to the forum.
Their earlier confidence and mockery were gone.
Even just reading their messages, you could feel how freaked out they were.
"Shit shit shit! I almost died of fright! That guy in the wheelchair scared the crap out of me!"
"I can't do this anymore. I feel dizzy. That part in the basement where you have to restart the generator—everything's pitch black, my camera battery's running low, and some dude with a spiked plank is chasing me."
"Same here, I almost peed my pants! Thank God I held it in at the last second."
"I keep wondering, what kind of stuff did this game designer go through in life?"
"I swear, this has to be the best horror game of the year—no, of the past few years!"
"+1! I think so too!"
"So, this game is so good... what should we do about it?"
"Maybe recommend it to more players? After all, good stuff should be shared, right?"
"Great minds think alike! Let's post about it on other gaming forums!"
"Heh, I already posted one. Go give it a bump!"
"Damn, that's sneaky—you jumped the gun!"
After the first wave of horror game fans played Outlast and nearly got scared to death,
many players who didn't dare to keep playing also went to game forums, planning to post about *Outlast* and recommend it to others.
Of course, most players weren't thinking, "This horror game is too amazing and deserves to be known."
What they really thought was simple:
"I got scared this bad, I'm not going down alone. Other people should suffer with me."
And yes, Lucas had already arranged for some marketing bots to guide the conversation.
Otherwise, it would've been hard to build up buzz so quickly—
though, to be fair, that only works if the game itself has what it takes.
And Outlast?
That much was obvious.
So in the forums and game chat groups, the first wave of players started recommending Outlast to their friends and even strangers.
Such a great game... why should I be the only one getting scared out of my mind?
Other players need to feel the "love" too!
On gaming forums, some users started to notice that at certain times,
a bunch of similar posts popped up all at once.
Almost all of them were talking about a horror game called Outlast.
"Highly recommend the horror game Outlast. Bought it for my roommate who's studying for grad school exams. Scared him half to death. Now I'm top of the list for grad school!"
"Bought this for my kid—now he's having a great time playing it in the afterlife!"
"Other games cost money. This one? It costs your heart!"
"Bought the game in the morning, played it in the afternoon, and by night, it killed me."
"If you're a scaredy-cat, DO NOT buy this game! You'll totally regret it!"
"Only real brave souls can play this horror game alone!"
"This year's best horror game: Outlast. Cowards, stay away!"
Forum threads like these were everywhere on game discussion boards.
There were basically two types of posts.
One kind was just memes and jokes, trying to trick others into playing and suffering.
The other kind was more serious, warning people how scary the game really was.
The meme ones were easy to spot—
but even so, they made a lot of people curious.
Is this game Outlast really that scary?
Could it really scare that many people, and even make them want to lure others in too?
(End of The Chapter)
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