Chapter 47
In the early hours of October 31st, followers of Chen Xu received a notification that there was a new upload.
The post contained a short video clip and a ssage : Wanna guess what the new ga is?
Even though it was posted on such an ungodly hour, there were still a large number of night owls who followed Chen Xus socials.
So it didnt take long for the likes, comnts and reblogs to co flooding in.
[ Whoa, whats happening? Look what I found! Does Chen Xu have a new ga for us? ][ What ti is it? What gaming company posts promos at this hour??? ][ Chen Xu: Ill post whenever I feel like it. *Gigachad png* ][ Yo, whats this video about? Is it a horror ga? ][ Ive never felt more uncomfortable watching a video cara recording lol ][ Is this real? Is Chen Xu making a horror ga? ]
[ Sha, Im not into horror, but the timing is so perfect ] [ Is this an actual live recording or is this part of the ga? Is it video cara related? ]
Many were left puzzled. After all, Chen Xus intentions were obvious. This intensely eerie video posted at this timing indicates that his upcoming project would be horror related.
But what caused more discussion was the timing of this ssage.
The very next day, Chen Xus post kicked up quite a stir among the gaming dia outlets.
After all, he had gained so asure of fa in the recent competition with his hit piece, To the Moon, making him good clickbait material for their articles.
And also, November was fast approaching. There would be little to no major releases worth ntioning during this ti period because everyone would be waiting for the holiday season of December.
anwhile, the most heated discussions were conducted by the niche community of horror enthusiasts, sequestered away in their hidden places and dusty forums.
After all, even horror gas have subgenres.
[ Alright, so heres what we know. Theres a video recorder and it seems to be shot in a modern office. Looks like a contemporary setting ][ The person seems to be trying to film sothing with the cara, but the entire video is silent. And look at how ssed up the room is, Im speculating ghosts. Like, maybe we can only see ghosts with the cara? ][ Pri jumpscare material, I can see it already. You walk through dark corridors and rooms with the video cam, then BOOM! A ghostly face appears in the cara footage, pulling the caraman into the darkness ][ Damn, I think youre all overthinking it. Theres literally nothing in the video, stop throwing out random nonsense in broad daylight, youre scaring
][ It is a fantastically eerie setting, I stumbled upon the post late last night, and even if it didnt reveal much, I kept feeling like there was sothing under my bed, kept
away for half the night ][ Lmao heres a link for adult diapers, you big baby
]
Discussions such as these were happening fervently in popular gaming forums and boards, but it was mostly wild analysis and ideas being thrown around. After all, Chen Xus video only hinted at the genre of ga he was cooking up, without offering up many other details.
And It wasnt just the players who were buzzing with curiosity either, there were many among the gaming dia and ga designers who were trying to get a feel for what was to co.
[ Have you heard? Chen Xus upcoming project is actually a horror ga! ][ Thats unexpected, really didnt think he would choose to go down the horror route ][ But its not a bad choice, for smaller teams and indies, horror gas have always been a very good entry point ][ Smaller teams? Chen Xus team isnt exactly small. Havent you heard they were recruiting a lot of people recently? I bet theyve expanded quite a bit ][ Now thats sothing I expected. Undertale and To the Moon both sold very well ]
[ But horror gas are so niche tho And not just here in China, there arent really any noteworthy horror titles abroad either ] [ VR tech should pair really well with horror gas, but it so gosh darn expensive, I wouldnt go for it, too risky ][ What if its a bait and switch? ][ ? ][ Look, Chen Xus a good storyteller. You know it, I know it, everybody knows it. So what if this horror ga is just a front for a heartwarming storyline experience? ][ Huh, if you put it that way, I guess it makes sense. He told everyone hes a warrior of love right? ][ You might be onto sothing dude ]
While mbers of the ga designer community were having logical, level-headed conversations about Chen Xu, things were a bit more chaotic on the dia side.
CREEPY VIDEO RELEASED AT MIDNIGHT!! WHAT IS CHEN XUS MASTER PLAN??!!
FROM HEARTWARMING TO HORROR? DESIGNER CHEN XUS NEXT MOVE
CHEN XU ABANDONS HIS LOYAL FANS! PURSUES NEW FIELD! CONFIDENT OR BLIND?
..
Soon various articles flooded gaming news websites and forums. Most larger outlets tended to favor a more neutral approach, trying to maintain amicable relations with the designers featured in their articles.
But the sa couldnt be said for the smaller marketing accounts and lower tiered outlets, where creating a buzz was the business.
This was mainly due to the specific genre chosen by Chen Xu.
After all, it has been several years since the gaming industry was introduced to an excellent horror ga. And even back then, its quality was still rather poor when compared to excellent gas of the more popular genres like Action or Adventure gas.
It wouldnt be accurate to say that the horror scene is stagnant in this world.
There is a diverse range of horror gas focusing on many types of antagonists. From zombies and ghost thed gas popularized in China to serial killer and demon thed gas popularized abroad.
There are also horror gas that take a more grounded, realistic approach and horror titles that lean towards the supernatural and myth.
So theres a lot to pick and choose from, but the scene isnt exactly bustling either, almost none of them have sold well.
In the current market, the horror gas that do make sales are usually from older IPs and are part of a series. But even those are facing lower and lower sales with each gaming season.
And one of the reasons is that none of these gas have tried breaking out of their traditional restrictions.
Theyre still relying on small, one-shot plotlines. Still using jumpscares as their main tool. Still relying on rudintary FPS combat systems and designs.
Granted, none of these are bad per se, but its difficult to make things more exciting and take major risks when funding is limited and the investors are king.
For Chen Xu and the rest of Nebula Gas, these discussions online have had very little impact.
Because the developnt progress of the ga was ramping up significantly and many of the staff were now in the zone of their creative process.
While the ga was not yet completed, many parts of the ga could already be experienced.
And after experiencing those segnts, Yang Xin, Ruan Ningxue, and many of the other team mbers ca to a unanimous conclusion.
Dont play this ga at night.
Its really scary, please send help.
Even though they had peered behind the curtain, participated in the creation of the ga from scratch, and had access to the backend systems of the ga
The playable parts of Outlast were still delivering a level of terror that was previously unseen in the horror gaming genre.
Yang Xin was closely monitoring the online buzz after Chen Xus post, and she made a silent prayer for the poor souls who would be the first to experience the monster they were about to unleash.
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