Chapter 56

Chapter 56

Meanwhile...

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that everyone at Nebula has been closely following the news and progress of Outlast.

After all, this was their first major release as a studio, their first group project.

The budget wasn’t a trivial amount either—with development and advertising fees rounded out to a hefty 7 million yuan.

Sure, this was peanuts to the larger gaming companies dominating the market right now, but it was an amount that surpassed the typical spending of most indie games. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

With great spending comes great need for returns. So it was natural that the team was highly focused on the performance of the game.

“Bossman, how is it so far?”

“Yeah, it’s been a few days since launch. I’m dying to know.”

Within the first week of launch, Yang Xin, Ruan Ningxue, Qin Yi and a few others were gathered around Chen Xu, who was sinking deeply into a fancy massage chair (company benefits), asking him about the status of the game.

While the reviews and buzz around the game were all well and good, what truly determined their future as a game studio were the sales.

What did word-of-mouth or cult classic status matter to a game that didn’t sell well? If the sales were bad, the project had no future.

The first game that came to Chen Xu’s mind along this line of thinking was ‘Bayonetta’ in his previous life. A game that was near and dear to his heart.

It was one of the three best action games of its time, standing alongside other hits like ‘Ninja Gaiden’ and ‘Devil May Cry’. ‘Bayonetta’ was celebrated for its gameplay and character design, with loyal fans that begged for more.

Yet it suffered a lukewarm fate, having the IP traded off repeatedly. The fans had to wait 8 years between the 2nd and 3rd installments.

Despite its critical acclaim and cult classic status, it did not sell well. In fact, if you added up the first and second games, both the original releases and HD remasters, the total sales would still be mogged by ‘Devil May Cry V’ alone.

It was that bad. The industry could be brutal like that.

“Not bad at all. We’ve hit 130k copies sold in just under 2 days, and this is after factoring in the refunds. So we should break even within 3 days,” Chen Xu answered with a smile.

Compared to many other games, ‘Outlast’ had a noticeably higher refund rate. But this was within Chen Xu’s expectations.

After all, it was a horror game. An exceptionally terrifying one, even by his previous world’s standards. So it was only natural that many players would be too frightened to continue playing.

“Aww... looks like only 2000 copies were sold on our own platform...” Yang Xin said regretfully while peeking at Chen Xu’s personal computer.

While Chen Xu hadn’t been explicitly mentioning his intentions with the Nebula Games official launcher / storefront, the internal resource allocation provided towards it made things rather clear.

They were simply curious about how a game or movie could possibly scare people so much.

And while it was uncommon for movies to offer refunds, games did it all the time, yet players usually do not choose to go for the refunds, even if they did not continue playing.

After all, once a game is purchased and sitting in your collection, maybe you will play and finish it one day



This is one of the reasons why many games have a low completion rate, horror games especially.

As of now, Chen Xu’s ‘Outlast’ was two days post release, and it already hit 130,000 copies sold. This was impressive, but he knew this was only the beginning.

Over time, as influencers and content creators realized what a goldmine of content this game could be, sales would accelerate.

The buzz on video and streaming sites had yet to reach its peak.

........

As predicted, while the spark was lit, it took some time for the craze of ‘Outlast’ to spread.

On several streaming platforms, the game rose in the ranks to become a hotspot for audiences who loved watching their favourite streamers descend into madness.

Many unsuspecting streamers were bombarded with requests and recommendations to play the newly released title.

Donation message:

[ Hey! Try ‘Outlast’! It’s a new game by the same guy who made ‘To the Moon’. It’s a heartwarming experience! You’ll love it! ]

[ Why not play ‘Outlast’? It’s super popular right now! ]

[ It’s great for content! Someone streamed it and hit 3 million views! Let’s go grind! ]

[ ‘Outlast’ or riot ]

Even streamers who didn’t usually do gaming content were “gently coerced” by their own fanbases to try the game out, ultimately agreeing due to simple curiosity or a need to keep up with trends.

Some were attracted by the reputation of To the Moon and wondered what its creator was up to. And some wanted to replicate the success they saw in their peers and build their communities.

Regardless of the reason, more and more hapless streamers willingly jumped into the hungering maw that was ‘Outlast’.

The resulting storm of chaos and excitement that followed would leave lasting waves in the world of streaming.