Chapter 486: Sukabul! Don't be afraid, hostage! I'm here to save you! |
Something's happened.
Something big has happened!
Konik's fingers trembled slightly as he swiped across the screen.
Right now, this post sitting at the top of SNG's trending chart had already amassed a terrifying forty thousand replies—
‘Good people live peaceful lives’
‘Victory for the broke bros!’
‘Gotta admit, L4D really is god-tier...’
‘Woo-hoo! Just picked it up for 0.5 bucks during that recent rock-bottom sale! Buying it is basically stealing!’
‘【Attached purchase screenshot】 Posting proof first, tried it myself, overall gameplay experience is almost no different, even Left 4 Dead’s gunplay feels better (after all, it’s the granddaddy of second-gen FPS), industrial quality is a bit lower, verdict: broke-ass happy mod (this broke-ass already refunded, party games can wait for a discount)’
‘Four years, and still no one has surpassed GW in terms of feel’
‘Industrial quality being a bit lower is fine, for 0.5 bucks what more do you want’
‘Less than 0.1 discount! And you still have the heart to say L4D is bad?!’
‘My rating is god-tier among god-tiers!’
‘It’s not that eighty bucks is unaffordable, it’s that zero point five bucks offers more value’
‘Fun, love playing it’
‘Before I bought Gollum, now I refund Alien, we’re even’
‘Hahahahahaha this one’s an even heavier sucker...’
‘Just compiled a few recently well-received MODs, can be used with 【Alien: Endless Dark Tide】, tested no conflicts...’
‘...’
Workshop!
Left 4 Dead!
Golden Wind!
Looking at the endless stream of reply comments!
Konik’s mind went completely blank!
Once upon a time, he had considered that Golden Wind might attack them!
But he never, ever imagined that Golden Wind’s attack would be so... abstract!
A game released four years ago!
Had actually traveled through time and space, landing a critical hit on them four years later!
Oh no! No no no!
Even now, they couldn’t be sure if this “undercutting” was actually orchestrated by Golden Wind!
After all, the development team that released the game MOD showed their location as Poland in their profile!
Getting backstabbed by Golden Wind is one thing!
Now even the damn indie game players are backstabbing me too?
Look at that “alternative” post, look at those halved sales figures!
The dream of five million copies sold in a single week, which he was fantasizing about just ten minutes ago, instantly shattered!
And!
What’s more, this post was made around 10 PM US time, while the sales data summary cutoff for 《Endless Dark Tide》 was at 7 AM every day.
That means, from the post’s publication to its explosion in popularity, the time 《Left 4 Dead》’s MOD affected their sales was, at most, less than half a day!
Just half a day was enough to halve 《Endless Dark Tide》’s sales!
God knows what kind of state the sales of this flagship title, in which they invested nearly a billion and placed high hopes, would plummet to if this post continued to ferment!
What to do?
Right now, the expression on Konik’s face had completely collapsed, as if mourning his parents’ death!
Demand Golden Wind take it down directly?
Forget it, Golden Wind would be thrilled to see this outcome, and there’s a good chance this is exactly what Golden Wind orchestrated through a shell; they would never take it down.
File a cross-border lawsuit against the MOD development team?
No grounds! First, they aren’t profiting from it, second, they didn’t completely copy 《Endless Dark Tide》.
Cross-border litigation is already hard to win, and even if they eventually won the case and Golden Wind took down this MOD, who knows how long that would take.
Checkmate! No solution!
Perhaps now, their only way out was to urgently adjust their own strategy.
On one hand, communicate with major forums like SNG to minimize the impact of such posts as much as possible.
On the other hand, prepare more focused marketing to suppress the MOD through PR means.
And, they also needed to find a reason, an opportunity to adjust the price.
As long as they handled it properly, held out at the original price for about a month, then adjusted the core issue—the price—they believed there was still some chance for a turnaround!
Thinking of this!
Konik couldn’t help but grit his teeth secretly!
Fine, fine, Golden Wind, that lingering, haunting Golden Wind!
Once I survive this period, just you wait and see how I...
However!
Before he could even speak to make emergency arrangements!
Ding-dong!
Suddenly, a push notification popped up on the tablet—
【Officially Launched! Golden Wind’s latest multiplayer versus game 《Rainbow Six: Siege》 is now available!】
.......
No time!
No opportunity!
Golden Wind’s operating style is never dragging things out!
Since they’ve decided to fight, they’ll definitely fight you until nothing remains!
As the saying goes, wildfire cannot burn it all, spring wind blows it back to life!
Giving a clearly identified enemy a chance is disrespecting your own life!
Regarding this, the two top leaders, Gu Sheng and Shen Miaomiao, held surprisingly consistent views!
From the domestic XunTeng back then, to the later Komera they encountered after going abroad.
If Konik had carefully studied the various offensives launched by Golden Wind, he wouldn’t have failed to notice—Golden Wind’s one-hit kill rate has always remained at one hundred percent.
Opponents who passed through their hands either saw their market value and stock price plummet to rock bottom, or had their projects and works die on the spot.
Golden Wind doesn’t fight wars of attrition, nor do they give opponents any breathing room.
And now, the buffer time Konik desperately craved was precisely what Golden Wind was bound to take away.
Delay breeds complications.
Now, with 《Endless Dark Tide》’s sales halved!
The moment for Golden Wind’s hero to make an entrance had officially arrived!
《Rainbow Six: Siege》!
Powered by the third-generation upgraded Golden Wind Engine, boasting self-developed physical destruction and AI intelligence, as well as top-tier Phoenix graphics rendering and Aurora Games panoramic sound technology—this "next-generation, brand-new CQB-FPS game" is honorably released!
And!
Although the Golden Engine has been upgraded again this time, integrating Aurora Games’ exclusive sound technology!
It’s more for the same price!
Still continuing the 60 bucks per copy price point for GW’s flagship titles since 《Overwatch》!
"...No wonder it has to be Golden Wind!"
In the livestream chat, Big Bro A+, who had completed the preload at lightning speed, praised endlessly:
“Huaguo people don’t deceive Huaguo people, more for the same price, awesome!”
And right now, the chat barrage was also lively—
Big Bro is so punctual today, starting the stream right at eight
“Not Big Bro being punctual, it’s Golden Wind releasing the game exactly at eight”
“Hahahahahaha true...”
Golden Wind announced, Big Bro went online right after
“Lightning-speed stream start”
‘The release is so sudden, I thought it’d be next month at least’
‘Perfect timing, nothing to play recently, bought without thinking’
‘Indoor CQB sounds super fun, Battlefield-style building assault is here’
‘Big Bro’s gonna dominate, right?’
‘...’
“Of course! Let the killing begin!”
Amid the enthusiastic discussions from the viewers!
Over here, Big Bro also entered the game.
Although the game focuses on player versus player, after all, CQB-FPS is a genre players are encountering for the first time.
To help players get into the game better, and also to create a better multiplayer versus environment, the game’s tutorial was quite necessary.
“Real-life... training, eliminate all enemies,”
As the white text in the pitch-black darkness before him gradually faded, Big Bro slowly opened his eyes, finding himself standing at the entrance of a two-story house:
“Oh—newbie training level, just mindless killing.”
After all, he was also an FPS veteran, Big Bro was no stranger to this kind of tutorial.
Looking around, it was desolate.
With the extreme graphical presentation, whether distant scenery or close-up details, everything was realistic enough to be mistaken for real.
Not only were the scenery, models, lighting, etc., exquisitely detailed without flaws.
Even the withered branches swaying in the breeze, the faintly swirling dust, were indistinguishable from reality, presented down to the finest detail.
Click-clack!
Click-clack click-clack!
The sound of metal mechanisms wrapped in engineering plastic rang out as Big Bro pulled the charging handle of the L85A2 assault rifle in his hands, feeling the addictive tactile feedback and sound.
Comfortable—
Aiming down sights, leaning left and right, crouching, going prone, with the light rustling sound of the combat suit, everything was so familiar and smooth.
Click-clack!
Chambering a round in the assault rifle, Big Bro launched the assault without another word!
Maybe the first real-life training level was set relatively simple, with only three small houses, four or five enemies.
Or maybe Big Bro himself was exceptionally skilled, being a former police officer with impressive abilities.
Three moves, two strikes!
In just two minutes, he cleanly completed the first training level, and amid the exclamations from the viewers, arrived at the second training level—
【Hostage Rescue—Chicago Mansion】
However!
Just as he was about to start the game, suddenly, Big Bro had a flash of inspiration:
“Hey wait? What’s this character’s ability?”
You have to know!
In the trailer, operators from different countries had won over many players with their unique abilities.
Similarly, this was also the most distinctive aspect of this game.
In that first level, he was too eager to experience the game, plus the level was simple, so he muddled through and cleared it.
But now, with the appearance of a never-before-seen game mode and the presentation of a more complex mansion map, Big Bro suddenly remembered he hadn’t noticed any special abilities.
As an attacker, aside from the standard primary and secondary weapons, he only had two grenades and three flashbangs, with no special advanced equipment at all.
“Hiss—let me take a look—”
Stopping in his tracks, Big Bro began carefully observing his U-interface.
After a moment.
“Oh oh oh oh! Here it is! Switch operators via the watch! Ha, I should’ve tried this in the first level!”
Soon, following the prompt, Big Bro found the way to switch operators.
That’s right!
Although in the previous life, according to Ubsoft’s design, in the real-life training that served as the new player guide, players couldn’t freely change operators.
But in this life, to let players experience operator abilities faster and familiarize themselves with the game setup, Gu Sheng added operator experience to the real-life training in advance.
During the preparation phase, players could open the operator selection interface via the tactical watch.
There were a total of twenty initial basic operators, ten attackers and ten defenders, with two Huaguo Hong Kong operators "YING" and "LESION" requiring a Pass or purchase to unlock.
As for the most initial character Big Bro just used, it was a character common to both attackers and defenders—the Recruit—also called "Little Ding-Dang."
Although he had no special abilities, if you observed carefully, it wasn’t hard to notice—compared to other operators, Little Ding-Dang was the only character in the entire game who could carry two types of tactical gadgets, which could be considered a passive skill.
However!
“Grenades and flashbangs are boring, used to death in other games,”
Big Bro clearly had little interest in Little Ding-Dang, directly choosing an operator who looked mighty, majestic, and damn handsome, wearing a military-green tactical helmet and goggles, fully armed, holding a hard-lined, brutally styled AK-12:
“This is so damn cool! And he’s a Maozi! Let me see his ability!”
“Hmm... Impact Grenades?”
“Don’t know what it means, but sounds pretty badass... I’ll try it later!”
Saying this!
Big Bro also selected the operator, hoisting the AK-12!
“Cyka blyat! Hostage don’t be afraid! I’m coming to save you—!!!”