Game Developer in the World of Anime

Chapter 619 619: The Event Ends Smoothly

If we were to count strictly large-scale blockbuster games, then there actually weren't that many released. Persona, Dark Souls, Titanfall, Apex, and the soon-to-be-released Tales of Berseria. Those were basically the only ones. Most of the other games simply weren't that big in scale.

Take games like Slay the Spire or Fall Guys, for example. Although they had plenty of players and strong sales, the overall scale and price of the games were right there for everyone to see.

Of course, a game's evaluation isn't determined purely by its price or scale. The most important thing is still whether it's fun.

That was also the reason Ichin had been developing games of different genres and sizes ever since starting his company.

Whether it was a large game or a so-called AAA title wasn't important. What mattered was whether the game was fun and whether it could attract players to play it.

That was also the reason they were able to gather a group of loyal players.

In the past, many game companies had used similar methods and had built large loyal fanbases as well. However, over the years, for various reasons, their reputations had sharply declined.

Selling half-finished games, setting high prices, releasing games full of bugs, fixing them slowly with updates, stuffing in unnecessary content, and so on. The list was endless.

Ichin couldn't be bothered to pay attention to companies that didn't truly care about making good games. His goal had always been simple: develop fun games and allow more people to enjoy the joy of gaming.

After the Tales of Berseria PV was released, Ichin and the other two discussed the game with the host and the voice actors for a while, briefly introducing the identities of the members of the protagonist group in the game. Naturally, it was only a simple introduction. The detailed stories of each character were something players would need to experience themselves in the game.

After the PV, it was time for the voice actors' live gameplay demonstration.

The version used for the demonstration was obviously not a demo version but the official version of the game on the Steam platform, and the livestream presentation was shown directly in 4K at the highest graphical settings.

The playable segment was set in a relatively late-game map. All character skills had already been unlocked, and the area chosen was an open field that didn't involve the main storyline. The task was to complete two side quests.

Once the demonstration began, Ichin started providing commentary from the side.

"For the game's visuals this time, we used a brand-new rendering tool. As you can see, the art style looks very different, with a bit of an ink-painting aesthetic. Even so, everyone can rest assured that the system requirements aren't high. On the NS, it can run at 1080p and 60 frames per second in docked mode, and 720p at 60 frames in handheld mode."

Once the graphical quality and frame rate performance were mentioned, players immediately felt reassured.

As for those who had already played the demo version, they were even less worried. Anyone with a high-end PC had long since experienced the game in 4K high quality through the demo, and the experience could only be described as excellent.

Of course, the visuals at 1080p and 2K were also impressive, ensuring that players could still enjoy a great experience.

The demonstration lasted nearly twenty minutes. Soon, the two side-quest bosses were defeated, bringing the experience segment to an end.

Although the voice actors didn't have the chance to showcase every character's full skill set due to gameplay limitations, they still demonstrated three characters, which was more than enough to satisfy the players.

Players who had already pre-ordered were now eagerly waiting for the game to unlock in five days. As for those who hadn't pre-ordered yet, many of them immediately went to various platforms after watching the demonstration and began pre-ordering the game.

Back at the villa, Hazuki, holding a laptop, had been closely monitoring the game's pre-order numbers across different platforms ever since the Tales of Berseria demonstration began.

As expected, once the voice actors' gameplay segment started, pre-order sales on all platforms began to gradually rise.

The game's pre-orders had already surpassed two million copies before, and now they were climbing even higher.

Seeing these numbers made Hazuki beam with joy.

"Mm-hmm, very nice. If things keep going like this, the game's total pre-orders across all platforms might reach 2.5 million, or even three million. Breaking five million in final sales is already a certainty now. The only question is just how high the ceiling will be."

Hearing Hazuki's words, everyone excitedly gathered around, crowding together to look at the laptop screen.

Seeing the numbers still climbing, Eriri said happily, "I wonder if we can reach ten million copies in sales. If we manage that, it'll be the company's third game to break ten million!"

Hazuki thought for a moment before replying, "Ten million, huh? It probably won't reach that at launch. But if it wins one or two awards at the TGA later on, the sales might climb even higher. And when it goes on sale next year, the numbers will grow again."

No matter how one looked at it, Tales of Berseria was already a success. Moreover, reviews from various gaming media outlets would be released later tonight, which would spark even more discussion.

Even if other games appeared later during the Tokyo Game Show, Tales of Berseria would still remain among the hottest topics.

After the livestream ended, Ichin didn't stay at the venue any longer. After informing the staff at his company's booth, he left the venue together with Yagami Kō and Toyama Rin.

Arriving at the parking lot, the moment they got into the car, Kō let out a huge sigh of relief as if she had escaped a disaster, then leaned back against the rear seat.

"Ahhh, it's finally over! I don't even know how those forty minutes passed!"

After fastening his seatbelt, Ichin turned to look at Kō, who was slumped in the back seat like a lifeless heap, and said with a smile, "Didn't you do pretty well earlier? I think it's just that we didn't give you enough pressure. From now on we should let you attend more events like this. Rin, what do you think about that idea?"

Toyama Rin smiled and gently patted Kō's head.

"Hmm, that does sound like a good idea."

"Hey, don't do that!"

Whether they would actually arrange that was another matter, and there was no rush. Ichin started the car and drove home.

By the time they arrived, it was already past five o'clock. Utaha and the others were already preparing dinner, and everyone had come out of the media room to watch the rest of the livestream on the TV downstairs.

The front door opened. Hazuki looked at the three who had just come in and smiled.

"My, you're back. So, how did it feel participating in the event?"

Kō staggered inside, then collapsed onto the sofa, leaning directly against Mochizuki Momiji.

"So tired… I don't want to move at all. If anyone asks me to attend this kind of event again in the future, I'm going on strike. Strike!"

...

RedX43's Note:

➤ Want More? Get up to +50 Extra Chapters on Patreon!

➤ [email protected]/RedX43

➤ +300 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter Drop!

➤ Thanks for the support! 🙌