Looking at the confused expression on the staff member's face, Lucas smiled without giving any explanation.
He obviously had his reasons for making that request.
And it had to do with one of the two new games he was about to develop.
After confirming a few more basic things with the staff, Lucas headed over to the food court area of the event to grab a quick bite before driving back to the office.
Just then, a familiar voice called out behind him: "Lucas! Nebula Games is attending this year's Gameplay Expo too?"
Lucas turned and saw Marcus—the guy he'd briefly met during last year's sci-fi competition.
Back when NetDragon tried to buy out Nebula Games, Marcus was the one who first reached out to Lucas.
"Yeah, we were invited," Lucas nodded with a smile.
"Overcooked did really well, especially with the new Workshop update—that was pure genius," Marcus said with a grin, kicking off with a round of business flattery.
Hearing that, Lucas paused for a second, unsure why Marcus was being so friendly all of a sudden.
He instinctively wanted to return the favor with some flattery of his own.
After all, if someone praises you, you kind of have to say something nice back, right?
But just as that thought came up, Lucas realized something kind of awkward—he had no idea what games Marcus had worked on since that sci-fi competition. He hadn't been following him at all.
"Uh… Marcus, same to you! The third chapter of Galaxy Heroes had great level design!" Lucas hesitated for two or three seconds, then smiled and tossed out a compliment.
The line sounded oddly familiar to Marcus—like he'd heard it somewhere before. He froze for a second before it hit him.
Wait a second! Isn't that the exact same line Lucas used back at the sci-fi competition last year during their mutual praise session?
It's been half a year, and that's still all you remember about me!?
For the past few months, Marcus had been holding a grudge after losing to To the Moon in that competition. He was determined to bounce back.
And when NetDragon's investment team approached him to help reach out to Nebula Games for a possible buyout, it had stung a little.
Even though he'd earned second place back then and ended up in charge of a major project under NetDragon,
If Nebula Games did get bought out, they'd be coworkers.
But the most important thing was, if Nebula Games ended up being bought and turned into a subsidiary of NetDragon, then the other side would clearly have more freedom—both in terms of power and resources.
Thankfully, the deal ended up falling through because the two sides couldn't come to an agreement.
In his head, he had imagined their meeting over and over again.
He had thought about what to say, how to bring up topics, even what kind of tone to use.
But the most painful thing is when you treat someone like your biggest rival… and that person doesn't even think about you at all.
"If today you ignore me, then tomorrow I'll blow your mind!"
Giving himself a quiet pep talk, Marcus looked toward the booth area.
"This is your company's booth, Lucas? Not bad! This has to be the biggest one in the indie games section, right?" Marcus said with an exaggerated look of surprise.
"It's alright," Lucas replied politely with a nod and a smile.
"By the way, if you don't mind me asking—will Nebula Games be showing off any new projects at the event this time?" Marcus asked.
"Based on the schedule, there should be two games ready for players to try out during the show."
This wasn't some kind of secret. With only two months left until the event, everything would be public anyway, so Lucas gave a brief answer.
"I see. Well, I'll be the first in line to try out your new games, Lucas," Marcus said with a big smile, clearly looking forward to it.
"You're more than welcome. Will you be bringing a new project too, Marcus?" Lucas asked.
Marcus kept a relaxed smile on his face. "Yeah. I've been leading a big project under NetDragon lately. That's what we'll be focusing on for this exhibition."
After chatting for a while, the two of them wrapped up their conversation after about ten minutes and went their separate ways.
As Lucas walked outside the venue, he glanced back and saw Marcus still smiling and waving at him. He couldn't help but feel a little curious.
This guy was being a little too friendly.
Could he really be a hardcore fan?
Inside the venue, Marcus let out a quiet sigh.
"Sigh… I really wanted to go head-to-head with Lucas, but this time the competition just isn't fair. NetDragon is going to be the center of attention at this whole event."
"Two new games, huh? I'm afraid it's going to be a bumpy road for them." Marcus couldn't help but feel a little emotional.
Over the past few months, he had pictured many times what it would be like to finally meet Lucas again—how he'd make up for the regret of losing first place in the GameDev contest.
But now, he actually felt a bit sorry for Lucas.
It was his first time joining a big exhibition like this, and he had put everything into preparing two new titles, just hoping to make a splash.
But the timing couldn't be worse.
This year's show just so happened to catch the attention of the hungry-eyed NetDragon, and on top of that, SkyNova was planning something big too.
When two industry giants go to war, it's the small fish that get caught in the crossfire.
Sometimes, it's just bad luck and bad timing…
.........
Completely unaware of what was going on in someone else's head, Lucas left the venue and grabbed a quick lunch.
That afternoon, Lucas drove back to Nebula Games and got to work on the concept drafts for the two upcoming games.
The two games he was planning:
One was a strategy card board game set in the Three Kingdoms era,
The other was an obstacle-course party game.
Legends of the Three Kingdoms and Fall Guys.
From a development point of view, Legends of the Three Kingdoms was definitely the simpler one.
Its main focus was on mechanics and stats. In fact, Lucas didn't even need to rely on the memory capsule—he already had all the numbers and rules memorized.
As for Fall Guys, in his past life, many players called it a battle royale.
But apart from the "only one winner" rule at the end, the game really had nothing to do with typical battle royale elements.
And if simply having one winner counts as a battle royale…
Well, then that definition is way too broad.
To be accurate, this was more of a lighthearted, obstacle-course party game for all ages.
And in this parallel world, many local TV stations actually had similar game-show-style programs.
Naturally, this gave Fall Guys some advantages as well.
Lucas didn't choose these two games randomly—he had his reasons.
After Overcooked, the most straightforward way to keep players active on the Nebula Games platform was to keep releasing multiplayer games.
And Legends of the Three Kingdoms and Fall Guys fit that goal perfectly.
As for Legends of the Three Kingdoms, it had been around for thirteen years in the previous world, starting with the online version. Despite all kinds of questionable decisions from Yoka, the game still had a solid player base, and every now and then it even ranked in the top 10 on the App Store's revenue charts. That alone showed how tough it was to kill.
As for Fall Guys, just like Overcooked, it was also a game that didn't rely on a steady stream of new content to stay alive.
It was what you'd call a fast-food-style hit.
And that's not a bad thing—because not every game can even pull that off.
At the moment, this kind of game was exactly what Nebula Games needed.
From a business standpoint, Fall Guys sold over ten million copies in its first month on Steam alone in the previous world. Sure, timing played a big part.
The obstacle-course gameplay felt a bit like outdoor reality shows, and the global pandemic at the time also boosted its popularity.
But the real reason behind its success was its unique style and the lack of direct competitors. It stood out from the crowd.
There was another important reason behind choosing this game.
Lucas felt like it was time to fix his reputation with players.
After Outlast and Overcooked—even though both were massive hits—
his image had taken a bit of a hit.
You can't just farm player emotions for points by making them suffer.
You can't cut down all the crops and even dig up the roots.
So now it was finally time to bring out a game that was truly fun and lighthearted.
(End of the Chapter)
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