As the competition concluded, each surviving player received a post-tax reward of approximately 2.77 million Bailey deposited into their accounts.
To an ordinary person, this was truly a massive sum of money that could change their entire life. Even in the Imperial Capital, an average family living modestly could maintain their entire household's monthly expenses with about two thousand Bailey.
Some people even broke down in tears upon receiving this huge sum.
With this large sum of money, their lives will be changed forever.
"Here is your prize money. The full amount has already been deposited into the account linked to this Magic Crystal Card." At the award counter after the match, an elf in professional attire handed a Magic Crystal Card to Lake with a warm smile.
"Tha... thank you!" Looking at the card being handed over, Lake's breathing quickened, and his small hands trembled slightly as he took it in awe.
As he walked home with the money, he felt as if he were floating in a dream. "2.77 million... how much bread can that buy..." He repeatedly rubbed the Magic Crystal Card in his hand while his steps felt light and airy.
With this kind of money, his mother's illness could finally be treated.
Meanwhile, Alto was already moving forward with new projects.
At this moment, development on the next project had already begun, and the entire development team was once again extremely busy. The game being developed this time was precisely the peak of sandbox games from his previous life.
Minecraft, with global sales exceeding 350 million copies in his old world.
Speaking of this legendary game, it's safe to say many people have heard its name even if they haven't played it themselves or even played games at all. It was independently developed by a Swedish designer in 2009 and was subsequently acquired by Microsoft for more than a billion.
By virtue of the copyrights to this game, Markus Alexej Persson became a billionaire.
For many, Minecraft was a significant part of their childhood.
Its diverse gameplay and ultra-free sandbox world were deeply loved by a vast number of players across several generations. In-game, you can use various blocks to build the castle of your dreams or embark on adventures to defeat the Ender Dragon.
You can also learn redstone circuitry to create various machines and contraptions. You can build all sorts of automated material factories that run themselves.
The derivative works and gameplay styles spawned by this game are also incredibly numerous across platforms.
Speaking of Minecraft, one must also mention another sandbox masterpiece that shares lots of similarities: Terraria.
Both are worlds built from blocks in their own way.
One features 3D gameplay, while the other is a 2D side-scroller experience. The two share commonalities but are also distinctly different in their execution.
However, using a 2D side-scroller in the Dream World felt a bit strange regarding immersion. So this time, he planned to transform Terraria into a 3D open-world mode where players would defeat the evil god Cthulhu from a savior's perspective to save the world.
He just wondered how players would feel when they saw this cliché save-the-world plot at first. And how they would feel after being absolutely crushed by the bosses inside without mercy!
However, the worldview of Terraria definitely needed some adjustments in the Dreamscape. If the Moon Lord from the game were actually released, he didn't know if he would be treated as a heretic and killed by the temple. Replacing the final boss with another evil god would be fine since it wasn't a big problem.
Since the architecture of Minecraft and Terraria shared similarities, it was incredibly convenient to develop them together. It was roughly equivalent to making a Terraria DLC on top of the Minecraft version as a foundation.
Developing Minecraft with the help of the Dreamscape allowed for the direct realization of high-definition pixels and exceptionally brilliant lighting and shadow effects. The elves of this world don't have to worry about their graphics cards burning out after all.
The general game framework would remain untouched while simply optimizing the textures significantly. The goal was to make it close to reality yet retain a cartoonish style, similar to the Minecraft movie he remembered.
As for the world generation, it would still use a pseudo-infinite generation system, but the range of blocks would be massively increased.
In his previous life, Minecraft had many different versions with their own features. Such as Bedrock Edition, Java Edition, NetEase Edition, and so on. Each version had different features, and he planned to retain them selectively for the best experience.
He had long intended to make this game and bring it to this world. Ignoring everything around him, he was now going full throttle to get it done properly.
With the successful networking of the ARK world, the interconnected Dreamscape was now a whole new scene with possibilities. Many of the previously released games could now be played online with others.
For instance, Stardew Valley had received an online multiplayer update.
Now you could apply to farm together with players from all over the empire. By now, Stardew Valley had been mostly explored by the dedicated players who loved it, and almost all secrets were uncovered, various money-making strategies had been developed and shared, and the stories of every character had been explored in depth.
A while ago, taking advantage of some spare time, Alto created and released some DLCs for the community. These were all expansion mods that had high download counts in his previous life back on Earth.
For example, the new Ridgeside Village expansion added an entire new area and new ranch animals with unique products.
Additionally, more building and furniture texture packs, character clothing, and so on were added to customize. Alto didn't plan to make a profit from the DLC content, and after deducting transport and labor costs, they were sold almost at cost price to players.
If players needed them, they only had to purchase an expansion moonstone to install them successfully on their devices.
As for Liberty City, players could now directly play online with others.
It was divided into online and offline modes for preference.
You could realistically simulate earning money in Liberty City to buy real estate, or even gamble and compete with other players in races.
[Professional ARK boss carry service, price negotiable!]
[Selling Level 450 Max Attack Tyrannosaurus Rex, PM if interested!]
[Looking for a farm layout for Stardew Valley!]
[Who knows interior design? I need someone to help me renovate my house, will pay!]
At the same time, a new industry came to life.
Power-leveling and professional gaming services.
That's right. Some players with better skills, or elves with special talents, could earn fees by helping others accomplish goals.
Take Stardew Valley, for example, in practical terms.
Some players were very good at farm planning and design. They could go to other people's farms to help with community planning and house design for payment.
The unique gameplay of ARK: Survival Evolved caused many players to get extremely good. But some people still didn't know how to fight bosses effectively.
They would post in the forum section while looking for game experts to carry them through difficult content. Others focused on breeding dinosaurs and cultivating max-stat graduated creatures to sell to players in need.
A unique ecosystem was slowly taking shape around the games.
At this time, the transaction methods were still quite primitive between players. Upon learning of this, Alto started to think hard about it, while already considering when to introduce virtual currency for smoother transactions.
This could be considered a good thing overall. Some people could earn money this way, which would increase user engagement. It would even create new jobs and a new economy within the Dream World.
Meanwhile, at the Lunaria railway station, two brothers were experiencing culture shock.
Looking at the magic-powered train parked at the platform, Reva and Rete, merchants from the Imperial Capital, were currently in a state of bewilderment at the sight.
"My brother, do you know what this thing is?" Reva was a bit dazed by the machine.
As a traveling merchant who had roamed far and wide across the empire, Reva had been to the snow mountains of Aston to see the Ice Crystal Castle of the Snow Elves in their frozen homeland, and he had crossed the Great Sea to witness the island tribes and the Cape City of the blue elves of the Endless Sea. But even in all his travels, did he not come across such a wondrous invention.