The ga company aims to diversify its portfolio with various IPs and genres.
Of course, so companies focus on building expertise within a single genre rather than exploring multiple genres. As they deepen their understanding of a specific IP and genre, they often achieve unparalleled proficiency in that area. However, the reality is that there is no permanent top player in this industry. Who wouldn’t want a piece of a profitable market?
Whenever a hit ga erges, similar imitators flood the scene. It’s common for a genre once thought to be monopolized to suddenly be taken over by other companies.
Sticking to one genre exclusively can sotis lead to stagnation. Diversification across multiple genres and IPs ensures that even if one fails, the others can sustain the company.
“Survive Sohow in the Apocalypse” is the latest VR survival ga released by Dead Rows, who previously found success with Labyrinthos. Despite Labyrinthos VR’s global popularity, Dead Rows is making it clear that they don’t intend to rely solely on that ga.
[“You’ve awakened from cold sleep to discover the world has ended. Investigate ‘Sz-001’ to uncover the cause of this catastrophe. And survive.”]
That’s the entirety of the ga’s description. Based on the trailers, it seems like a ga where players survive in a zombie apocalypse setting. It’s a survival, sandbox, and horror hybrid, which gives a good sense of the gaplay.
The ga appears quite challenging, with high risks associated with death. If all party mbers die, they’re locked out of the current world and must start fresh in a new one, making it a hardcore system. While it could be categorized as a roguelike, there seem to be so roguelite elents that mitigate the sense of loss after death.
“Looks interesting. I’d like to give it a shot.”
I hadn’t tried out any new VR gas for a while since Labyrinthos was my go-to. My routine involved grinding Labyrinthos until the login limit was reached, so adding a new VR ga would just cut into my Labyrinthos ti. In that sense, this is perfect timing. I plan to take a break from Labyrinthos for the next three weeks, so a difficult VR ga sounds like a good idea.
“This ga encourages party play. You know how survivors in zombie stories often band together in places like schools? Like a certain apocalyptic high school…”
Rion ntioned a series that I’m not familiar with, though zombie survival stories set in schools aren’t that common. But I got the gist. Schools might be unconventional, but survivors usually gather in malls or similar places in typical zombie stories.
“Is party play mandatory?” “You can play solo, but this is an advertisent. You need to showcase the ga to your viewers properly.”
Since the ga emphasizes cooperation, party play is necessary for the promotional stream.
“You can have up to four people. Go find three more.” “Oh, I have to recruit them myself? I thought the company would arrange that.” “They could, but Dead Rows Korea gave you this ad, so you should handle the stream.”
They’re giving control over the selection, which isn’t bad at all. Quite the advantage.
─Or so I thought.
The next morning after hearing about the ad from Rion, Chel had disappeared.
“Chel’s gone. Where did she go?” “She packed up and went ho.”
That’s what happened. When I tried contacting her on Discord, she replied with this:
Chel Suragi: [I don’t like zombie gas.]
So she went ho to avoid being asked to play together. She could be so brazen about sticking around, but when it’s ti to run, she’s quick to vanish. She’s really like a cat in human form, doing things entirely on her own terms.
Anyway, the fact that she went back without even a proper goodbye ans she really doesn’t want to play a zombie ga. I reluctantly started looking for other mbers.
“Sorry… VR horror gas are just too scary…”
Ainatsu failed.
“I’m not taking on any ad streams for now. You’ll have to handle it, Laura.”
Rinco failed.
“How could I possibly do it? I struggle enough with regular PC horror gas…”
Anna failed.
I tried asking other seniors, but everyone declined, saying it was too frightening. You know the hardest part of playing Mahjong? Finding four people to play with. This situation was exactly like that.
“Oh well…”
I sighed. It seed I had no choice but to resort to the last option.
“Rion.” “Hmm? What’s up, sis?” “You’re joining.” “…What?”
“Survive Sohow in the Apocalypse” 【# Strear Ad Server】 【This is an early access server for advertising purposes. Do not invite non-affiliated users without the server admin’s permission.】
In the ominous, dimly lit basent, Rion opened her eyes.
A loud hiss echoed as the capsule she was in began to open slowly.
When she stepped out of the capsule, she felt light. She was wearing only tight leggings. Perhaps this was the ga’s default attire.
-Nyah -What ga is this? -The vibe is killer -So Rion is back, huh? -Is Rion Jesus, though? -Guess she resurrected, so it checks out?
[Yettojeonsaeng donated 10,000 KRW] [Rion’s back! Raise a toast!!!!]
“…How did I end up like this?”
She sighed slightly.
It had been a while since her last stream. The last ti she had stread was August 31, when she announced her retirent. About two months had passed since then. Now it was November, and Laura and Chel’s winter voice packs would soon be released.
It felt odd to be streaming again. She’d joined Laura’s streams occasionally for things like Blue Reco, but this ti, her channel was also live. Given that this was a survival ga, individual perspectives were necessary.
She wasn’t sure if it was right for her, a staff mber, to be stepping in because they were short on people. It was strange that Ho-Young Jeong, the CEO, had readily approved of it, too.
“Phew…”
With mixed feelings, Rion looked around. Neither Laura nor anyone else was visible yet.
《You have awakened from cold sleep.》
“Ah!”
A sudden voice echoed in her head. No, it was more accurate to say it ca from an earpiece she found in her ear. A quick check revealed a smartwatch on her left wrist as well.
《This location will remain safe for the next 49:59:59. Please take action before the safety period ends.》
The synthesized voice was unmistakably AI-generated.
Rion might not be a gaming pro, but she did know a bit about this particular ga, Survive Sohow in the Apocalypse (Abbreviated as ASEO).
“Nyaa… This is a little different from what I tried last ti.”
-Did you play the ga already? -It just ca out today, right? -Isn’t it early access from today?
[John Titor donated 1,000 KRW] [So you’re a ti traveler now?]
“For those in the know, I actually went to Japan on a business trip recently. I tried it out at an event.”
She had planned to check out VTuber booths but ended up at Dead Rows’ booth, where she had a brief taste of ASEO.
“I rember zombies couldn’t invade during the safe period…”
So she could relax for at least 50 hours. She began to explore the basent, which appeared to be a cold sleep facility, judging by the nurous capsules, possibly in the hundreds.
Likely, Laura and the other party mbers were still inside their capsules. Since none of them had logged in properly yet, Rion was the only one awake.
While waiting for the others, she decided to explore the area.
“Maybe I should take a look around while they wake up.”
With that, she climbed the stairs.
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