Plants! Zombies! Kid-friendly!

The members of Steel Chain Fingers were a bit baffled.

Because although they recognized each of these words individually, the combination sounded completely unfamiliar!

Plants and zombies? Kid-friendly and zombies?

Maybe only kid-friendly and plants could be somewhat related!

“Uh... this... um...”

Sato hesitated, wanting to speak but stopping himself, unsure what to say.

It was Yuki who gathered her scattered thoughts and hesitantly spoke:

“So... we’re supposed to use these cartoon plants to resist the zombie invasion?”

Huh?

Questions?

You’re actually asking if we have questions?

We have more than questions; our doubts are endless!

This game is full of things to poke fun at everywhere!

Let’s start with the art style!

Nowadays, tower defense games usually fall into two categories!

Either they go for a cute style like Plants vs. Zombies.

Or a cool, flashy style like Defense of the Throne.

Which one is this?

Cool? Definitely not. The art style is not cool at all.

Cute? Nope, not cute either.

Except for that sunflower, which looks somewhat familiar, all other plants and even the zombies are overflowing with a goofy cartoon vibe!

A ridiculous cartoon style.

As the main art lead, Yuki could only define Plants vs. Zombies in this way.

And!

Even though it’s an all-ages game, adopting such a style that doesn’t lean male or female, old or young, it’s quite conducive to popularizing the game.

But the gameplay is a bit weird, right?

A 5x9 grid where every square can plant a plant.

Zombies invade from the right side of the screen, marching straight across this 5x9 field.

Which means!

Zombies can eat the plants!

Monsters destroying defense towers?!

Bro, have you checked today’s tower defense game market?

Look at any game—whose defense towers get eaten?

Traditionally, unless players choose to remove them, once a defense tower is built, it’s never destroyed!

But here, in this game, not only is the target unsafe, even the defense towers are not safe!

Imagine the frustration of watching your carefully built defense towers get eaten away!

The art style doesn’t fit the market, the game map is monotonous, plus the constant potential for crushing defeat feedback!

Is this game... really viable?

Hearing everyone’s tactful yet cutting questions,

Even Shen Miaomiao began to waver and question inside.

Is Old Gu taking this stunt too far?

Such a tower defense game, not to mention her, even the seasoned veterans of Steel Chain Fingers had never heard or seen anything like it.

But then she thought again!

It doesn’t matter!

After all, this is only a main project game!

If it earns, she can start sub-projects; if it loses, she can still get rebates.

What’s there to worry about?

Thinking this, Shen Miaomiao waved her hand: “I trust Director Gu’s market instincts!”

At this, the Steel Chain Fingers members were stunned, then suddenly enlightened.

Right!

This is Director Sam’s personally drafted project.

How could they have gotten it backward?

Golden Wind had produced all kinds of weird games before.

‘Vampire-like’ before?

‘Second-generation FPS’ before?

‘Psychological horror’ before?

‘Cinematic cooperative games’ before?

None of that!

But wasn’t Golden Wind the one who made them all?

Wasn’t it Director Gu Sheng who pushed them all out?

So, when making games at Golden Wind, the creed is—

Only trust!!!

Trust Director Gu!!!

...

“Leading the way overseas! Golden Wind confirms participation in this Yiyou overseas expansion plan!”

“Every year a surprise mini game! What kind of mini game will Golden Wind bring this time?”

“Steel Chain Fingers takes the helm for the first time! Will the all-Neon lineup fit in?”

“Golden Wind’s third mini game is in development! Expected release at the end of this month!”

“...”

As Golden Wind and Yiyou jointly announced confirmation of the ‘Mini Game Overseas Expansion Plan’ cooperation,

Various media outlets quickly began reporting.

Though the buzz wasn’t as explosive as when they won at GDC,

Because it’s Golden Wind’s game, the discussion was still quite lively—

‘A mini game festival regular (tongue-in-cheek)’

‘One mini game a year, I think it’s good, a nice palate cleanser’

‘Little Yellow’s mini games have a reputation, last two years’ mini game festivals were top-notch, I’m still playing Vampire Survivors’

‘Wonder what surprises this time’

‘Flagship of the overseas expansion, probably won’t disappoint’

‘Thanks to Steel Chain Fingers! Filling the gap left by Escape from Hell! Hope the mini game won’t disappoint!’

‘Honestly, I’m more looking forward to Escape from Hell. Why can’t Steel Chain Fingers just merge into Golden Wind to speed up progress?’

‘No way, that project had been in development for over a month before Steel Chain Fingers was even established. Joining suddenly would only slow development’

‘Isn’t it great? Two studios running in parallel, dual-core instead of single, effectively speeding up releases’

‘I say not enough! I want eight cores! Sixteen cores!’

‘Old Thief: I think you want my life!’

‘Hahaha, probably gonna exhaust Old Thief to death...’

‘...’

Between jokes and laughter,

Plants vs. Zombies’ development was in full swing.

Everything was progressing smoothly.

Only Shen Miaomiao seemed to have a bit of a problem—

The rebate multiplier.

Yes.

During development, Shen Miaomiao kept pondering whether to increase the rebate multiplier and extend the time for this game.

If increasing, how much to increase it.

Though theoretically, this mini game was beneficial to her whether it made a profit or a loss.

However!

Shen Miaomiao also wanted to maximize her own profits on top of the benefit!

And this internal struggle arose because she couldn’t predict the market reaction to this game.

For her,

A game only has two outcomes—loss or profit.

If the game loses, the small treasury gains; if the game profits, the small treasury loses.

If Plants vs. Zombies was like Escape from Hell, with booming player expectations and industry praise!

Then there’s no doubt it would be profitable nine times out of ten.

Shen Miaomiao wouldn’t hesitate, just crank the multiplier to 100 and use it as a multiplier tool, no need to think about rebate.

But the problem is!

The current hype for Plants vs. Zombies is awkward.

If you say it’s hot, it doesn’t have as many eager players as Escape from Hell, nor the recognition of many industry elites.

If you say it’s not hot, it still relies on Yiyou’s marketing and company reputation for some market discussion.

And the industry’s evaluation is mediocre.

At least the Steel Chain Fingers members were initially pessimistic about this project.

Neither the art style nor the gameplay fit the current market trends.

To be blunt,

If this game wasn’t produced by Gu Sheng, it probably wouldn’t even have been approved.

That means!

Plants vs. Zombies might lose money.

Considering this situation, how Shen Miaomiao determines the rebate multiplier for this contract is very important!

Looking at the still unlocked contract—

[Main Project: Plants vs. Zombies (Unlocked)]

[Project Investment Amount: $1.15 million]

[Project Settlement Time: 7 days (+0 days)]

[Project Rebate Multiplier: 10x (+0x)]

[Current Revenue Amount: $0]

[Expected Rebate Amount: $11.5 million]

[Remaining Settlement Time: Waiting to start]

Because it’s an overseas game, the contract’s base currency was converted to US dollars.

Yes, this is a ‘mini game’ worth $1.15 million, roughly 8 million RMB.

This was unimaginable for Golden Wind before.

Keep in mind!

Three years ago, when they made Vampire Survivors, the cost was only 200,000 RMB!

Now, just three years later,

When they re-entered the mini game festival as a flagship, the production cost had soared to 8 million, a 40-fold increase.

This terrifying cost explosion is thanks to Shen Miaomiao’s consistent “only the most expensive” outsourcing policy, and her constant upgrades to internal staff salaries.

Currently, Golden Wind’s internal staff salaries basically reach domestic and even Asia’s top-tier levels; the next step is to benchmark against Europe and America.

As for outsourcing, whether programming, art, or music, they hire top-tier domestic and foreign teams, commanding high prices.

And it’s proven that Shen Miaomiao’s insistence on high investment was absolutely correct.

Because if they made the game according to the old specifications, considering Golden Wind’s current influence, she wouldn’t hesitate—it would definitely be profitable.

But now, with the increased cost, the $1.15 million price tag gave her hope of losing money within the fixed time.

A $1.15 million cost, after commission, requires total sales revenue to reach about $1.54 million.

At their $2 per copy price, $1.54 million in sales means Plants vs. Zombies must sell 770,000 copies in one week!

Is it possible? Is it a loss?

Of course possible!

Although Escape from Hell once created a weekly sales miracle of 1.7 million copies!

But don’t forget!

That miracle was created under the super-strong promotion by Yiyou, heavy support from the China Digital Entertainment Association, the charity attribute bonus, and official endorsements.

But now, Plants vs. Zombies has no official backing, no charity bonus, and even less promotion from Yiyou than during that charity week.

Replicating the To the Moon miracle is basically impossible.

Don’t mention 770,000 copies in one week; even 500,000 copies in a week would already be a sales miracle for a mini game.

After all, last year’s Overcooked only sold about 200,000 copies in a week.

Even if doubled to 400,000, it’s still nearly half short of 770,000 copies.

Thinking this, Shen Miaomiao nodded slightly.

She slightly adjusted the settlement time slider, changing [Project Settlement Time] from [7 days (+0 days)] to [7 days (+5 days)].

Correspondingly, [Project Rebate Multiplier] naturally changed from [10x (+0x)] to [10x (+5x)].

A little more rebate is better than none.

Shen Miaomiao was satisfied, with no big hopes or psychological pressure.

After all!

To her, this contract was just a game!

Losing money within 12 days would be good! She could expand the small treasury a bit!

Not losing money within 12 days would also be fine! She could continue extending sub-projects based on this main contract!

A true ‘You might make a killing, but I’ll never lose’!!!

The contract was thus finalized!

The most stress-free contract in history!

Locked!

...

[Main Project: Plants vs. Zombies]

[Project Investment Amount: $1.15 million]

[Project Settlement Time: 7 days (+5 days)]

[Project Rebate Multiplier: 10x (+5x)]

[Current Revenue Amount: $0]

[Expected Rebate Amount: $17.25 million]

[Remaining Settlement Time: 11 days 23 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds...]

The last day of the month!

Friday, 8 PM!

The ‘Yiyou Mini Game Overseas Expansion Plan’ officially launched!

This overseas plan released ten excellent mini games, jointly hosted by Yiyou and six PC game platforms across Asia, Europe, and America, plus eight mobile game platforms.

The scope basically covered most PC and mobile gamers worldwide.

As the event went live, Shen Miaomiao also prepared some fruit, cuddled up with a small blanket, and sat on the sofa with Gu Sheng.

“Do we really have to watch the live stream?”

Gu Sheng smiled wryly:

“This game has no ghosts, doesn’t test any skills, and it’s your pick. Why don’t you just download it and try it yourself?”

Me, download it?

Shen Miaomiao shook her head!

No way!

Buying one copy adds $2 to the total sales!

This game might lose money!

I don’t want to make things harder for myself or add burdens!

Of course, she would buy it, but only after seven days!

“Just watch first. As a player, I have to check the game quality too,”

Shen Miaomiao popped a piece of cantaloupe into her mouth and offered one to Gu Sheng:

“What if it’s not fun? Then I’d be wasting money!”

“You actually don’t trust me?”

Gu Sheng pretended to be hurt and looked at Shen Miaomiao with a mournful expression.

Shen Miaomiao raised an eyebrow at him:

“Trust? Gu Sheng, how dare you say that word to me? Huh?”

Ah...

Gu Sheng shivered and wisely chose to shut up.

Right, last time when Little Nezha played Escape from Hell, he said ‘trust,’ claiming he would be a loyal guardian and guide outside the motion-sensing pod.

But when Little Nezha was running for his life, he was outside the pod giggling wildly.

Naturally, he got a good scolding.

Thinking of this, Gu Sheng shrank his neck.

Better not talk about trust.

At that moment, a familiar voice echoed from the projection screen:

“Good evening, good evening, logging in on time to play games,”

“Plants vs. Zombies... huh? What a lame name?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com