On streaming platforms, video sites, and in major gaming communities, Outlast has remained on fire.
Even some media websites have started publishing reviews for it.
From media outlets, the scores are mostly around 8.5, while player ratings average around 9.1.
This is the lowest-rated game out of the three currently developed by Nebula Games.
Of course, "Mirror" isn't counted among them.
But in terms of popularity, "Outlast" is completely different from the other two games.
"Undertale" helped open up the meta-game genre and can barely be considered a pioneer.
It makes sense that it got so much attention.
"To the Moon" gained a lot of attention thanks to a sci-fi game event.
Plus, the previous two games had all the online drama involving Lucas, which drew a lot of attention as well.
In comparison, if you remove those outside factors, "Outlast" actually got even more buzz. And out of all the games, it was the one that went viral the fastest.
Of course, "Mirror" is still excluded—after all, the combat power of "gentlemen" is always an unknown variable.
But when compared to the hype surrounding "Outlast,"
the sales numbers are what really got a lot of game designers talking.
Only Lucas knows the actual sales figures for "Outlast," but a third-party organization has released some estimates.
According to that third-party estimate, after being out for a week, "Outlast" has sold about 250,000 copies.
Looking at just the sales, that's not a small number.
Before "Outlast," the horror game with the highest first-week sales was an old IP that sold 120,000 copies in a week.
That game, by the way, was priced at 15 dollar.
It also had the backing of long-time fans and nostalgia.
But the point is, "Outlast" was way more popular—it's one of the most talked-about horror games in recent years.
And yet it only sold that much.
That's what got people in the industry buzzing.
"Lucas really dropped the ball this time! 'Outlast' got all that hype, and this is all it sold?"
"Yeah, it doesn't even compare to 'Undertale' or 'To the Moon.'"
"What can you do, the horror game market is just too niche."
"I just don't get why Lucas chose to make 'Outlast'."
"Exactly, why would Lucas go into horror games at all?"
"No kidding, horror games are hard work with little reward. I thought he'd stick to stuff like 'To the Moon' and 'Undertale'."
"Maybe he wanted to try a high-budget game, but the RPG market is way too crowded, so he had no choice but to go horror?"
In one game dev forum, a bunch of designers were posting and discussing Lucas and "Outlast."
And right in the middle of all the talk, one message instantly made them all choke.
"250,000 copies in one week, and it's priced at 15 dollar. 'Outlast' already made back its development costs! And judging by the buzz and reviews, hitting a million sales isn't far off, right? That means Nebula Games might break 15 million dollar in revenue with this game!"
The designers who were still chatting about it suddenly went quiet.
Who is this person?
Do they not know how to read the room?
As designers themselves, of course they knew "Outlast" was a successful horror game.
They were just venting, trying to say that Lucas and Nebula Games weren't all that.
Who the hell is this guy!?
How can someone be this oblivious?
...
In the Nebula Games office, Lucas leaned back on the couch and set down his phone, looking regretfully at the UI in front of him.
The special item he got earlier—its effect was now confirmed. The 6 million points shown referred to the converted amount, not the original value.
Still, 6 million points is enough for 50 draws, so it wasn't a bad haul.
The only shame is that once the card's conversion hit the cap, the point accumulation slowed down a lot.
It was even doing a bit worse than To the Moon.
After handing over the full 6 million from the conversion, he still hadn't saved up enough for even one ten-pull. And this was with the ongoing contributions from To the Moon and Undertale.
That's exactly why Lucas decided to do a sixty-pull all at once.
It just wasn't cutting it!
So Lucas took a step back and did some thinking.
And he came to one clear conclusion.
He'd gone too hard with the cash grab.
Sure, the fear element was strong and effective.
But the problem was—players had to dare to play the game first.
And now?
A whole bunch of people refunded the game, and another large group only walked around the front of the asylum before quitting.
How could fear points be generated like that?
In the end, the problem was Outlast was just too scary.
"Poor judgment!" Lucas sighed.
He'd expected that with Outlast and the "Fear Converter," he'd at least make a big score—if not get rich, then at least rake in a solid haul.
But the way things were going… it was looking a bit shaky.
Whatever. Might as well spend the rest of these points now.
He got up from his chair, went to the bathroom, then came back.
First, he pulled the curtains closed, then turned off the monitor.
A good draw session needed the right mood.
With each spin of points, golden light flashed in front of him.
After a while, with all his points gone, Lucas sat in silence.
His luck was just plain awful!
Out of fifty pulls, he didn't get anything like the "Fear Converter" again, though he did end up with a bunch of memory capsules.
As for skill books, he only got two rare ones—one for level design, and one for stat balancing.
And he did wash his hands after using the bathroom, okay?
Final tally: 17 art concept books, 11 level design books, 9 system and balance books, 3 story interaction books, 3 music and sound books, and 4 on camera usage.
The rest were all memory capsules.
He stashed those in his inventory for now.
He'd use them later when developing the next game.
After all, he'd used quite a few of those before, and honestly, they worked really well.
As for the remaining skill books, he just used them all.
No point in hoarding them—they weren't going to multiply or earn interest.
"Still, I need to start thinking about a new direction."
Leaning back in his chair, Lucas was already planning his next move.
Money-wise, Outlast had still brought in a solid return.
He didn't have a huge budget to work with, but it was enough.
What really mattered now was the company's future plans, how to use his time, and what new projects or platforms to aim for.
Scrolling through recent game industry news on his phone, Lucas kept thinking things through.
(End of the Chapter)
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