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Looking at Sasha's teasing expression, Evan had a bit of a headache.
The story goes back to the day the pay raise was announced. Evan invited everyone in the company to go out and have fun after work. Everyone in the company attended the dinner that day, except for two people: Evan and Emily.
At a typical company dinner, if you're just two small fries, then your absence from such a gathering is irrelevant. But Evan and Emily—one being the current boss and the other the company's chief (and only) planner—are undoubtedly among the most important people in the company right now. Their absence naturally led to much speculation.
However, the next day, no one dared to gossip about it during work hours. The boss had just raised your salary the day before, and then you get fired the next day for gossiping about the boss's scandalous news—there would be nowhere to cry. Though Evan wouldn't fire anyone for such a trivial reason anyway.
After that dinner, the relationship between Evan and Emily seemed to transform into something strange.
Although their offices were not far apart, this girl managed to avoid him in various ways. Despite being close, they might only meet once a day during work, and even then, Emily would likely steer clear of him from afar. This left Evan incredibly frustrated and unable to express it. He had invited Emily to dinner hoping to improve their relationship, and they had conversed happily during the meal. Yet afterwards, it seemed they had returned to their previous cold war state. Evan, this straight guy, was utterly baffled.
Aside from these minor issues, Redbird Studios has been thriving during this period. Swallowing Heaven and Earth has firmly held the top spot among online games. Whether it's retention rate, player numbers, or revenue, it has consistently dominated the market, leading many players to wonder if the domestic game market was about to change.
Before Evan came to Redbird Studios, only enthusiasts of some niche games had heard of this company.
After Evan released the trailer for Swallowing Heaven and Earth, some media predicted that this company would be a new force in the domestic game market, but most media believed that one trailer didn't prove much.
After Evan announced the internal testing revenue of Swallowing Heaven and Earth, the vast majority of media began to believe that Redbird Studios had the potential to become a new giant in the game industry.
It wasn't until a month after Swallowing Heaven and Earth officially launched that most media suddenly realized that Redbird Studios was neither a "new force" nor a "dark horse." Redbird Studios was now the number one winner in the online game market!
First week's revenue: $6.24 million!
Second week's revenue: $4.96 million!
The third week's revenue rose again to $6.81 million due to the introduction of monthly subscriptions!
The first month's revenue directly exceeded $23 million!
Such first-month data is unparalleled anywhere!
For Evan, even though he knew this game would definitely be a huge hit, it wasn't until he actually had the data in hand that he finally breathed a sigh of relief. After all, good game quality is one thing, but market reaction is another. The film industry commonly experiences strange phenomena like 'critically acclaimed but not commercially successful' or 'commercially successful but not critically acclaimed,' and these also exist in games. Especially for online games, besides works like Evan's, which have already been market-tested in a previous life, other large companies like Eastern Dawn wouldn't dare to guarantee that their online games wouldn't lose money.
However, these worries are now irrelevant to Evan. Redbird Studios has not succumbed to the market's strange rules. Instead, it has truly become a "critically acclaimed and commercially successful" online game legend!
So, Evan is very relaxed now. The revenue myth of Swallowing Heaven and Earth has provided Redbird with an urgent solution, allowing this struggling company to be repaired and sail again. For him, the more money the game earns, the easier it will be for him to make new games later.
Evan even contacted Rachel.
A small column was placed on the homepage of the GAME World official website, constantly reporting the revenue and player count of Swallowing Heaven and Earth.
This data is, on one hand, for the players to see, due to the aforementioned herd mentality of online games: the more popular a game, the more players it attracts, and more players in turn bring higher popularity, forming a virtuous cycle.
On the other hand, it is for "friendly competitors" to see. Since the end of the internal testing, GAME World, which had a good cooperative relationship with Evan, was the first to approach Redbird to express its desire to open a channel server, and Evan had no objections.
Many portal websites have a problem: they have massive traffic but find it difficult to monetize. The most direct monetization method is advertising, but too many ads will annoy the audience. Web games don't have as many barriers. They inherently have no configuration requirements. Once Evan sets up the channel server, they can put the game on their website and wait for players to come in and spend money. This is a standard win-win operation.
"So, now we just wait for other portal websites to come knocking, and then we fleece them?"
Logan made a cutting motion with his hand.
Evan was a little exasperated. "Are we a mob outfit? 'Fleece them'... No need. This is also about building good relationships. We'll just make a symbolic gesture. For those with traffic, we build good relationships. For those without, let them stay wherever they're comfortable. After all, if they heavily exploit players, it will drag down our reputation, which isn't worth it."
"Understood." Logan nodded and made a note in his notebook. "Next item: Silver Ridge Games has released news that they've also made a card-drawing game, mimicking ours. They claim it will be online after the Spring Festival and will be completely free. How should we respond?"
"Online after the Spring Festival?" Evan scoffed. On Earth in his previous life, this might be possible, as domestic companies were quite adept at making such web games, and with extra overtime, a month wasn't impossible. But in this world? Did Silver Ridge really think they could make the same game with just two copycat technicians?
Thinking of this, Evan shook his head. "No need to worry, just treat them as if they don't exist. Hmm... help me find out who their project manager is?"
Logan immediately pulled out a piece of paper. "Their information was released together. The producer is Ryan Shaw. He's been the lead planner for two previous games, both of which achieved good revenue. Most importantly, he's very young now and is considered one of the more prominent young producers in the country. It seems there are media pushing him, wanting to package him as a star producer."
Ryan Shaw, huh? That name sounds a bit familiar, Evan mused to himself.
He then remembered the negative reviews about Swallowing Heaven and Earth he had seen on GAME World earlier.
Why does it feel like he's deliberately walking into this? Evan pondered for a moment, but then dismissed it. If others are seeking death, he has no obligation to stop them, does he?
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