After nearly a month, Lucas and his team returned to Nebula Games.
During this time, the game world was abuzz with excitement over the 'Stone Heart' and 'Blood and Wine' DLCs for The Witcher, which attracted countless players.
After the new year began, major game companies, which had previously held back to avoid competing with Nebula Games' Resident Evil: Village, began to release their new titles.
FOW, which had previously delayed its release, saw its new game, Lost Curse, achieve some notable success.
It wasn't a groundbreaking masterpiece, but it was a rather good game.
However, NetDragon's new release captured even more attention from players.
With its blonde little girl character, it became a textbook example of a delayed but successful launch.
Its good quality also won over many players, giving NetDragon a much-needed boost. After all, NetDragon had been labeled a "net bitch" by many players in recent years.
This was mainly because they hadn't released new games, instead repeatedly re-releasing old ones. This new title offered a welcome change.
But aside from these new games, many players were also looking forward to the year's award competitions.
Starting from the beginning of the new year, a large number of game review websites began their annual game awards.
Different game review sites had different criteria for their Game of the Year awards, and their award ceremonies were held at different times. Some finished as early as the end of December, while others were later.
Furthermore, the various awards differed in scale. Some were like large award galas with various performances, while others were more low-key, with no actual medals or trophies.
However, regardless of the scale, the two main contenders this year were The Witcher: Wild Hunt and FOW's Wasteland 1978.
At some of the larger award ceremonies, players would gather around their computers to watch the live streams.
Even though it didn't directly involve them, they enjoyed watching the spectacle.
However, many players soon noticed something surprising.
"Huh… Boss Lucas didn't even show up for this Game of the Year award?"
"Yeah! Even Lucas from official Game Division didn't show up! Isn't Lucas an honorary representative designer for Game Division?"
"It's not just Lucas, Alex from FOW didn't show up either!"
"I can understand why Alex didn't show up. It's quite unfortunate. They thought Wasteland 1978 would be unbeatable, but then The Witcher: Wild Hunt suddenly appeared in the second half of the year. I wouldn't go either!"
"The guy above, don't overthink it. It's not even your turn."
"Damn it, can't I dream?"
"Brother, that dream is a bit too ambitious for you. I think it's better to just imagine it in your head. You might not even dream about it."
As players were discussing why two of the supposed winners, Alex and Lucas, were absent from the Game of the Year award events, with company executives attending in their place, a rumor suddenly spread online.
The rumor was that Lucas and Alex were both intensely focused on developing new games.
Upon seeing this news, many players' first reaction was disbelief, and it didn't garner much attention.
After all, there were at least eight or ten similar rumors throughout the year.
However, there was a degree of plausibility. While third-party media hosted events were understandable,
Lucas would usually appear at the official annual event.
But this time, he even skipped Game Division's event.
However, more significant news soon broke out: some players had taken photos of Lucas and his team in Boston.
From the leaked photos, it was clear this wasn't a casual company trip, as they weren't visiting any well-known tourist attractions.
This suggested it was likely real-world location scouting. At this point, many players recalled the development of Assassin's Creed.
Was this time to showcase the scenery of Boston, or perhaps Massachusetts?
Many players flooded Lucas's official fan page with messages, asking if the rumors were true.
Facing the enthusiastic players, Lucas didn't hold back.
He directly announced new information.
'Virus, apocalypse, bonds...'
Apocalypse, virus, bonds?
Seeing the three keywords Lucas released, many players were confused.
It felt familiar!
Thinking back to Village, this perfectly connected to the Resident Evil IP!
So, is the new game a sequel to Resident Evil?
After Lucas posted the information on his official fan page, it quickly spread across game forums both domestically and internationally.
Players who enjoyed Resident Evil were overjoyed and expressed their excitement.
They also speculated whether the new game would explore Rose's story, and if Ethan had truly died.
Although in the game's official story, Ethan appeared to have perished along with the Mold.
However, in the final Easter egg scene, Rose and the agent's car stopped on a distant highway, and a figure stood beside the car.
Many players guessed that it might be Ethan.
Perhaps these questions could be answered in the new game?
In addition to the excited players, many designers in the game industry were also very surprised.
No one expected Lucas's next game to be another horror title, and seemingly a Resident Evil sequel.
After all, Nebula Games generally disliked releasing sequential sequels, except for the continuous release model like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.
But then again, even if it wasn't a Resident Evil sequel.
Releasing a similar game in such a short period felt unusual.
......
While the gaming world was in turmoil, Lucas at Nebula Games felt a mix of emotions.
"I didn't intend to make empty promises, but players keep forcing me to! The game's folder hasn't even been created yet."
Lucas shook his head, looking at the trending topic online: 'Nebula Games New Release.'
Nebula Games had always been criticized by players for being masters of "empty promises."
From early gameplay demonstrations to later promotional trailers, then just promotional concept art, and finally a simple game name and background description.
Now, it had been reduced to just a few keywords.
"But Boss Lucas, you're deliberately teasing the players like this," Rachel and others nearby said, speechless.
Nearly a month had been spent on actual location scouting.
During this time, the team had been discussing the game's art direction.
The overall style had been largely decided, and the focus was now on the actual output.
But speaking of what they could show players, it was pretty much limited to these keywords.
And they couldn't reveal more.
"It's unavoidable, really, because the players strongly demand it," Lucas said, but a smile never left his face.
"Alright, everyone pack up your things. Let's head to the conference room for a brief rundown of the new game," Lucas said as he stood up.
Compared to previous games, The Last of Us would require many changes and considerations for Cosmos VR.
(End of chapter)
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