On TV, the promotional footage for the 'Fate/stay night' game slowly faded out. But this first wave of promotion brought unprecedented shock and excitement to the audience of 'Fate/Zero'.
Just when everyone thought 'Fate/Zero' was going to end on a low note, the ending sequence turned out to be a teaser for its sequel—the game 'Fate/stay night'.
Who could resist that?
"November 1st, huh? Got it. Buying it, no question."
"I never understood why my son would get so into TV shows and all their merch. Now I get it. You don't understand the song the first time you hear it—but the second time, you're already inside the lyrics."
"Wait, what?! The sequel to the drama is... a game? Are you serious? Can't you release the drama and the game together? What do you think I am, made of money? I'm pissed!"
"Brothers, this is painful. November 1st... how are we supposed to wait that long?! I want to see Artoria's story tomorrow!"
"Everyone! Let's team up and spam the official site of Teacher Jing Yu's company!"
"This is amazing. As long as the sequel's story isn't garbage, the Fate series is going to be the strongest TV franchise in Great Zhou in the past 20 years."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I love this show too—Artoria, Iskandar, they're awesome—but 'Fate/Zero' is still a notch below 'Initial D', maybe even 'Hikaru no Go'. But they're all at least a 95/100."
"It's all personal taste. I just happen to prefer 'Fate/Zero' more. Maybe because I like games, so I naturally love action-heavy, special effects-driven shows like this."
"I really thought Teacher Jing Yu had finally changed his habit of leaving stories hanging. Turns out, after all these years, he's still the same. He could have made the sequel a full drama. Is TV money not good enough for him? Had to move it to a game?"
"That's not entirely fair. With something like 'Fate/Zero', all those special effects need 3–6 months of pre-production work. The contract with the VFX team only covered the 'Fate/Zero' arc. There were no assets prepared for 'Fate/Stay Night'. So a game was the only option."
"Honestly, a game's not a bad idea. According to the description on the official site of BlueStar Media & Flim (Jing Yu's company), 'Fate/Stay Night' will have 3 to 5 times more content than 'Fate/Zero'. If they tried making that into a show, it'd take 2–3 years to finish. As a game, you can enjoy it all at once."
"Thing is... I don't really play games. Can someone explain what 'Fate/Stay Night' is like?"
"It's an RPG—a role-playing game. You control a character and experience the story through them."
"So that means... You could actually play as Artoria and fight in battles?"
"Most likely! Like that duel between Artoria and Diarmuid in 'Fate/Zero'—it was awesome to watch, but imagine being able to fight it yourself in the game."
"That actually sounds pretty cool."
"But from what I saw in the game trailer, Kiritsugu isn't the protagonist anymore. It's his adopted son, Shirou Emiya."
"Not only that—check the heroine list. Matou Sakura, Tohsaka Rin, and Artoria are all listed. So... is 'Fate/stay night' going to have romance?"
"Artoria... in a romance? No way, right?"
"Who knows! But Teacher Jing Yu is playing the long game. I never imagined Rin and Sakura would be so important in the sequel. That's wild."
"Same! I thought he just created those characters as filler—but turns out, he had the sequel story planned all along."
"That's why he's a top screenwriter in Great Zhou. And we're just sitting here waiting for crumbs. If you could predict everything he's doing, you'd be the next Jing Yu."
The 13th episode of 'Fate/Zero', thanks to its stunning final sequence and the teaser for 'Fate/Stay Night', locked in an average rating of 13.01%—an insane number.
The next day, when the rating was released, the entire TV industry fell silent.
They thought 12% was already the ceiling for 'Fate/Zero'—no one expected the final episode to break 13%.
If Jing Yu had a drama sequel ready to air next week with no delays, there was no doubt ratings would soar even higher.
As for the 'Fate/stay night' game, this short preview was more effective than any multi-million yuan promotional campaign could be.
Anyone who watched 'Fate/Zero' knew—if they wanted to know what happened next, they'd have to buy the game on November 1st.
So, the very next day, the official website of Jing Yu's Blue Star Media & Film Co. was overwhelmed by fans demanding updates.
Overnight, 'Fate/stay night' became the most anticipated unreleased single-player game of the year in Great Zhou—replacing the delayed blockbusters from major gaming companies.
This didn't just shake the TV industry—people in the gaming industry were stunned too.
"What's going on here?!"
[Poll results show: overnight, 'Fate/stay night' becomes the most anticipated release of the year in Great Zhou.]
[Hundreds of 'Fate/Zero' fans gather outside Jing Yu's company HQ, seemingly prepared to worship their god.]
[A game sequel to a TV drama becomes the most anticipated release in gaming? A clever move to transfer popularity—but just because a show is great doesn't mean the game will be. These are two completely different industries.]
[Top producer Shen Jianren of Mengluo Games says: "Games combine gameplay, visuals, story, and music. A screenwriter thinking he can make a best-selling game on a whim is just daydreaming."]
[The Big Three of the Great Zhou gaming industry had no public comment. Most developers weren't surprised by 'Fate/stay night's hype—given the show's popularity, it made sense. But many predicted the game's sales wouldn't exceed 3 million globally, or 1.8 million in Great Zhou. Experts said: "Gamers are the most rational audience. Many hyped sequels flop if they aren't fun. I don't believe a screenwriter's game will actually be playable."]
[Several industry figures mocked 'Fate/stay night', saying its strange art style and short development cycle—under one year—would be its downfall. The myth of Jing Yu's 'never-flops' reputation may finally be broken in the gaming world.]
In the days after 'Fate/Zero' ended, its popularity only continued to rise.
Compared to the overwhelming support from fans, the gaming industry mostly scoffed at 'Fate/stay night'.
Which made sense—from both a logical and financial perspective, no one wanted this game to succeed.
Because if a game sequel to a TV drama, written by a screenwriter and developed in under a year, actually did succeed...
What would that say about the "true professionals" in the gaming industry?
But as always, the market answers to no one's expectations.
Time moved into late March.