Game Making: Start By Healing the Player

While the conversation between Ruan Ningxue and Yang Xin was happening, Chen Xu was spending his time observing the performance of ‘Mirror’ on the platform dashboard. 

In fact, there were already quite a few people who took notice of the game.

Even though it was on an overseas platform, and even though it was a more special kind of game.

The sales volumes were confidential, but people who were involved or savvy to the gaming industry could still compile various statistics to speculate. 

There is some margin for error, but they weren’t far off the mark. 

Although ‘Mirror’ was having any promotions or events, it dominated the rating boards with overwhelmingly positive reviews. 

An 18R game was suddenly at the top of the list.

Needless to say, this took many game designers by surprise.

A lot of people wanted to see just how magical this game really was, and what made them even more curious was the comments section. 

It was weird. Entirely different from the normal nonsense found in other 18R games.

• [The best match-3 game around!]

• [Out of the way, woman! Don’t get in the way of my match-3 game!]

• [I can’t really tell if this was a match-3 game or a Gal game, but I’m satisfied, If you know what I mean.]

• [I went in thinking it was just another Gal game, imagine my surprise. Just another Gal game? This, my friends, is a genuinely good indie game.]

• [As a professional troll, I can only say one thing. You’re a Gal game, why are you making me feel things, what’s with this quality?]

• [That’s weird, I’ve been playing for over ten minutes, I’ve entered post nut clarity, why am I still playing this game? Match-3 is pretty fun…]

• [In this game I have witnessed the good, the bad, the beauty, and the repulsiveness of human nature. A game that distinguishes itself.]

• [When a Gal game moves me, to fap or not to fap, what does it matter?]

• [I started the game with excitement, but left it with a heavy heart.]

These reviews made people wonder, could it be that they had purchased the wrong game?

Of course, alongside the many positive reviews, there were also those who became obsessed and tried to drag everyone they could into the fandom. 

It was so different from the beginning, when he had to use his precious 20,000 yuan to make posts on forums.

Now the game had taken off, and was able to thrive on word of mouth, courtesy of these fine men of culture. 

So after a month of hard work, Chen Xu could finally relax, all he had to do was wait for the money to arrive.

He sat on his bed and started to plan things out. 

“Now that our finances are safe, the next step is to find a suitable workspace, then register a company.”

“I need to make plans for future projects, and try to earn more points along the way.”

Speaking of points, Chen Xu checked on his system. 

The points had increased, but not by much. Just enough for 2 more draws in the system lottery. 

Then his phone rang, breaking his concentration. He picked it up and took a peek, it was Ruan Ningxue. 

“Hello, senior sister Ruan, what’s the matter?” Chen Xu asked. 

“Nothing, just wanted to say hi. Listen, before this, I thought……” Ruan Ningxue hesitated, feeling a little embarrassed.

However, Chen Xu could guess what Ruan Ning Xue wanted to say, at that moment, he smiled, “It’s alright senior sister, I’m surprised about ‘Mirror’ too. Couldn’t believe what I was seeing, at first.”

This was a half-truth, the success of ‘Mirror’ was completely within Chen Xu’s expectations.

Whether it was the quality of the game itself, or the subsequent publicity plan, or even the decision to use ‘Mirror’ in the first place, all of this was researched and planned by Chen Xu in advance.

Only, the situation seemed to be snowballing a little quicker than he’d hoped. 

Despite the online platform being the official overseas version, it was just semantics. The majority of its users were still domestic. 

But the sales kept going up and up with every refresh. Performing far better than anticipated. 

If anything, this taught Chen Xu one thing: the market prospects of the gaming industry in this world was much higher than his previous world. 

“Right, Chen Xu, do you have time tonight? We’ll treat this as a celebration banquet for you, and I also have a friend who would really love to meet you.”

“No problems. In fact, I was already planning on inviting you to dinner as well. After all, development would have never gone so smoothly without your help.” Chen Xu replied sincerely. 

The two of them chatted for a while longer before hanging up.

Putting the phone aside, Chen Xu took another look at the sales data. 

6 days since launch, and 58,121 copies had been sold. 

He chuckled and shook his head, in awe of the sheer momentum brought by men of culture. 

And as for the potential of ‘Mirror’, this was just the beginning.

The game had just been listed into several other third-party platforms. 

While Chen Xu was happily basking in the fruits of his efforts…

The indie game community was not sitting silently. 

The gaming media outlets that noticed this trend also started gathering information. 

After all, it was an 18R title that somehow crossed boundaries and made it to the top of the charts. It was newsworthy. 

At the same time, the chatter around ‘Mirror’ quickly began to ferment.

Sales figures are a difficult topic for the average player to grasp.

Initially, the media and some insiders who had been paying attention gave ‘Mirror’ an estimated peak of 10,000 to 20,000 copies sold over the course of its lifetime. 

But with the announcement of third-party statistic trackers, there was a burst of disbelief among those who had been following along. 

Because the data extracted showed that sales had hit an absolutely shocking 50,000.

Compared to the actual numbers, it was actually 8,000 less, but it still stunned a lot of game designers.

In particular, some of the designers who also made Gal games felt that their world view had been turned upside down.

A Gal game that could sell so many copies? Don’t play games with my heart!

Is this number high?

No, the top domestic masterpieces could sell millions of copies on the very day of their launch, and some overseas world-famous masterpieces could even sell ten million copies on the day of their launch.

Of course, ‘Mirror’ can’t be compared to those games.

But as an 18R game, without official certification, made by a single indie game designer. No, made by someone who wasn’t even a game designer yet.

This number is simply explosive!

It can be considered a record breaker and setter in the Gal game genre. 

While it was not the first of its kind, it is without a doubt that no erotic game had ever come close to the performance of ‘Mirror’. 

And this was just the beginning. 

Many game designers who focused on erotic games had a premonition that they were about to witness history in the making!

Whether this story ends up big or small, whether ‘Mirror’ is an erotic game or not, it will still be a part of history.