Chapter 30: Who Did I Offend?
"This is the worst trolling ever done against the Joker!"
"To be fair, the Joker can make people happy, but what about David Cannon?"
"The one above, hasn't David Cannon made us happy enough?"
"233333, thanks to Alex for telling me about David Cannon. At first I felt depressed, but after reading David Cannon's previous quotes, I felt better."
"But, on the other hand, I'm still curious about what Alex's new game is like. It just seems unreliable!" "Is he really exaggerating?"
"It's hard to say, but considering the success of Mirror and Undertale, I'd better see it with my own eyes." "Twelve days seems like a long time."
Following Alex's official blog, many players who have followed Mirror and Undertale since their debut have started talking about the game. However, they all share the same opinion: they are not optimistic. After all, the deadline is too short.
Compared to the heated discussions among players, the industry, and the media.
At NetDragon's Firebird Studio, a game designer's hands trembled as he read the news online. Mark Stone, the studio's lead designer, was developing a sci-fi game, Galaxy Heroes.
His main focus was the upcoming Sci-Fi Tour event. Being under the NetDragon umbrella sounded impressive, but in reality, there were countless internal project teams, and Firebird Studio, which he managed, was just one of them.
Furthermore, not all project teams could secure tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars for development. Within NetDragon, a few million was considered a medium-sized project.
Mark Stone, on the other hand, was targeting the Sci-Fi Tour event, hoping to win first place. This would help elevate his position within the video game industry and within NetDragon, securing better resources and funding for project development.
Everything was going well until Alex suddenly decided to create a sci-fi game and participate in the competition, which completely disrupted Mark Stone's plans.
It's not that he distrusted Alex too much. In fact, he shared the opinion of many: Alex wouldn't be able to create anything impressive in such a short time. But the crucial thing is that the combined popularity of Mirror and Undertale has boosted Alex's traffic to incredible levels.
For many video game media outlets, Alex is synonymous with traffic! And for players, the buzz around Undertale hasn't completely disappeared, and every move Alex makes attracts intense attention.
As for David Cannon's derogatory comments, they have actually, to some extent, boosted Alex's traffic. What a shame! He's leading Galaxy Heroes and has already allocated funds for its promotion. And they've already started implementing it. And now? All that hype has vanished!
There's no turning back. Although NetDragon is a leading distributor and a subsidiary of NetDragon, the distribution channel is managed by the operations department, while his is an independent R&D department. The operations department is not kind enough to use its own performance to benefit them.
Do you want to use NetDragon's distribution channels? No problem. Since we're all colleagues and family, we offer you an internal discount of 9.9%. What? No money? Why are you coming to us if you don't have money? Get out of here! You come here if you don't have money, and you think their performance isn't performance!
Seeing the breaking news online about things like "Alex's new game will participate in a sci-fi expedition," "Video games are no joke, is Alex, the creator of Undertale, getting arrogant?", Mark Stone felt a chill. He didn't have much money to promote himself, and now he had wasted it all!
"Who did I offend?" Mark Stone asked, hand on his chest, his face full of pain.
Seeing Alex's previous promotional posts with David Cannon on his official Twitter account, Mark Stone felt like tagging Alex and expressing his disdain for his new game, hoping to create a confrontation that would boost his and his game's presence. But he stopped, not because he thought he would lose, but because he was different from David Cannon.
After all, David Cannon's Hype Games might be small, a simple indie game studio, but he was the boss. And what about him? He was a producer at NetDragon. If he dared to step out, he would be doomed. After all, he had no legitimate reason to rebel. In ancient times, rebellion would have required shouting:
'The court is incompetent and unjust, and kings, princes, and generals do not have the same status.'
He immediately plunged into the fight. It was satisfying at the moment, but it would cause problems later. Apologizing was a small matter. He was worried that players' hatred for NetDragon would be transferred to him, and that he would also be blamed for other departments in the company.
Then, others would make a lot of money, while he would be punished. It would be heartbreaking and painful. Having his popularity stolen was already a terrible thing, and then being blamed would be a terrible thing.
But now? He felt bad!
Especially when Mark Stone thought about Alex, the instigator, who was actually completely unaware of the situation. It wasn't even a deliberate attack.
This made him even sadder and angrier. What a grievance! It's true that a gentleman's revenge is never too late. Although Alex can't be entirely blamed, he's still his relative. So, at that moment, he was already mentally planning what to do when the time came.
"Since you've stolen all the publicity, let the game speak for itself in the tournament!"
"Although I don't think you'll pass the review, I still hope you win a low-score award so the Game Department invites you to the in-person awards ceremony."
"Then, without a doubt, I'll give you a ruthless handshake in front of countless players, Game Department leaders, and the specialized press. Then, with a smile, I'll say I've heard a lot about you and praise your new game for being really great."
Enviously watching the headlines about Alex, Mark Stone took a deep breath, closed the website, and mentally rehearsed. Red carpet, press, handshakes, speeches: within a month, that would be his perfect day for revenge!
At Nebula Games' offices, Alex had no idea that someone was already planning his revenge. He had been very busy lately, juggling To the Moon's development with job interviews.
Additionally, he had posted relevant job openings in almost all forums and communities in the gaming community. Undertale's reputation attracted many professionals from the sector. However, few satisfied Alex.
After examining all the details, Alex sighed: "Oh! Hiring is so difficult!"
The development department planned to hire an assistant artist to help him and Jane share some of the work. They also wanted to hire a numerical planner and a level planner. But even with these three candidates, they hadn't found any promising ones.
At that moment, there were two knocks on the office door. Alex opened it, and the back door opened, revealing a man in his 30s.
John Smith, Nebula Games' marketing director, was responsible for everything from game promotion to related business matters.
"Alex, have you confirmed the contact information for the relevant staff?" John Smith's face reflected a mixture of admiration and hesitation.
"Okay, contact me directly," Alex smiled and nodded.
After chatting for a few minutes with John, he left the office. Alex refocused on his computer, working on developing content for To the Moon.
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