Chapter 120 A 24-Million-Level Game, so Terrifying!

Chapter 120 24. A million-level game, so terrifying!

In early April, Diablo finally landed on the Western continent.

The English version of Diablo was actually produced as early as February.

The reason why it was delayed until March to be sold in Europe and the United States was mainly because it had to go through the review process on Sega's side, and at the same time it had to do publicity.

Sega has its own sales store in the Omi area, which saves pokeni a lot of money.

…

Once Diablo was released, it immediately took the entire European and American market like a storm.

The sales volume exceeded 300,000 in the first week, and reached an astonishing 600,000 in the first month. If this momentum continues, Diablo is very likely to become pokeni's first game to exceed one million levels. .

No, to be precise, including Neon’s local sales, it has already reached the one million mark.

Countless European and American players have said that this game is really fun.

"A very exciting game. Before Diavolo, I never thought that a real-time combat game could be so fun."

"This real-time game is completely different from the side-scrolling real-time game. Its strategy is deeper, the experience is more intense, and the sense of immersion is very addictive. As long as you are in the game, you can experience that An invisible sense of oppression.”

"The game is very well done. Whether it's special effects, equipment or skills, it gives people the motivation to continue playing. To this day, I still remember the secret fresh meet when I met the Butcher for the first time. The scary and scary sound.

But it's really exciting.

Very cool! "

"This is probably the most fun and coolest game I can play this year!"

Obviously, Europeans and Americans prefer the realistic style of Diablo. In addition, the basic world view of the game comes from Western myths and legends. There are not only demons but also archangels and humans... These are all easily understood by Westerners. Elements of acceptance and affection.

Coupled with Diavolo's unique real-time system and skill combination, it immediately became popular throughout the Omi region.

It can be said that this year there is no opponent that can beat this game in Europe and the United States.

…

"Hey... is Pokeni's Diavolo actually so popular in the European and American markets?"

When seeing the data, Sega's president Hayao Nakayama was still a little unbelievable.

Apart from Sonic the Hedgehog, Sega has actually not been able to release such a powerful work for a long time. If the current momentum continues, it will be a matter of time before Diavolo breaks through 1 million copies.

It may even exceed 2 million or 3 million copies.

Before this game appeared, although Sega had been pursuing a strategy of attracting young users, it had not yet reached this level.

This time Diablo allowed Hayao Nakayama to see a new possibility.

Fortunately, this game was released on the Sega platform, otherwise...

The consequences could be disastrous.

As of the beginning of this year, Sega GENS (the European and American version of MD) has sold more than 16 million units in the European and American markets. This number is much larger than Rentendo's SNES (the European and American version of SFC), making it the well-deserved dominant player in the European and American markets.

And now with the popularity of pokeni's Diablo, this data has been pushed forward a little bit, which can be seen from the sales data of the US branch.

What often determines the success or failure of a game console is not necessarily the game console itself, but the games carried on the game console.

Take MD for example, its performance is much higher than that of FC. Compared with Rentiantian's newly launched SFC, it is not far behind at all. It has successfully eroded a lot of Rentiantian's market share, but in the end it still failed to shake its dominance in Neon. The most important thing about its dominant position is that the number of excellent games on MD is much lower than that of SFC and FC.

Some games are exclusive to Lao Ren, and you can’t even grab them.

…

Ever since Sega threatened Rentian's position, the two companies have been at odds with each other, secretly competing with each other. In the United States, Rentian has its own branch, and Sega also has its own branch.

The marketing strategies of both parties are also similar.

It's just that one focuses on child supply, that is, children's strategies, and the other focuses on youth and adult strategies.

So the feedback is that Sega is more mature and crazy, while Rentendo is more fairy tale and legendary.

The appearance of Diavolo on Sega this time caught the American branch of Rentendao off guard, and it was even difficult to find games of the same type to counter and compete for a while.

Under such circumstances, Randy Perezman, the marketing director of the American branch, wrote a detailed report on Diablo and sent it to the headquarters of Rentian Paradise.

The report pointed out that Diavolo has successfully captured the hearts of players with its groundbreaking real-time combat design, very infectious special effects and combat effects, and a very Western-friendly background story.

It is recommended that Rentiantian can also produce a similar game, and develop it for the European and American markets suitable for its background, and strive to prevent this part of the players from being attracted by their opponents.

It was pointed out euphemistically in the report——

Rentian is a paradise for all children, that’s right.

But when the children grew up, they fell into the arms of Sega.

This has to arouse vigilance. If Rentian wants to be invincible, it should cover all ages.

Generally speaking, we need to achieve what others don’t have and what others have, I have the best.

After reading Randy's report, Hiroshi Yamauchi was furious, "What kind of rubbish is this? Just such a bloody and violent game, what is it called, Diavolo, a bullshit name, and it can achieve such good results?!"

What kind of primitive animals are Americans? ! "

Everyone at the meeting was shocked.

Including Shigeru Miyamoto, Satoru Iwata, Gunpei Yokoi and others.

…

Diavolo has achieved very good results in Europe and the United States, which is both unexpected and reasonable.

Many Neon game companies have already started researching this game. After it achieved success in Europe and the United States, many people in the industry sighed.

"Although I thought Diablo was a very powerful game from the beginning, the response in the neon market was not as strong as I thought. This is the reason.

Diablo's entry into the European and American markets is really a brilliant move. This game seems to be tailor-made for European and American players. "

“When I first started playing Diablo, I felt a strong sense of dissonance. After all, the painting style deviated too much from Neon Man’s aesthetic.

Even before this, there were many Western-themed games in the gaming industry, but many of them incorporated localized elements.

At least in terms of painting style, it is unique to Neon People.

For example, "Fire Emblem" describes Western knight wars and an imaginary world of magic and swords, but the graphics are still familiar to us in the Japanese comic style. Even Final Fantasy is dominated by Japanese images.

Even Core Warhead, a game that is obviously a Western comic book theme, actually has neon features.

But the style of Diablo is very hardcore, so hardcore that you can tell at a glance that this is a game made by an American company.

But when you study it carefully, you find that this game is actually produced by a local Neon company. Even the producer himself has never been abroad and has not received much influence from Western culture.

This sense of dissonance can be felt at first glance. At that time, I thought that Diablo should not choose Neon as its first launch market.

I didn’t expect that pokeni’s goal would be more than that. I have to say that pokeni’s president made a risky move.

But at the same time, they have super talents and excellent foresight. Looking back now, pokeni and the others must have planned to attack the European and American markets from the beginning. "

"It's really amazing. The creativity of Pokeni Company makes people feel desperate, and they even feel that this company has no bottlenecks or ends in creativity. I don't know if Diavolo's success in Europe and the United States can be replicated, but at least it makes people feel desperate. We know one thing -

Neon Man can also make very American games.

Our vision should not be limited to the immediate future, but should look further ahead.

The game is the world and the world is the game. "

…

"Get rich, get rich! President, our game is going to be popular!"

As soon as I stepped into the company door, the young HR hurried over to report the good news.

This guy's information is quite good, and he can directly report it to Kazuma Takahashi, the director of the marketing department who is ready to report back.

He raised his head and winked at Akane Ayase, saying shouldn't this be my job?

"What?" Qing Zhiyuan didn't pay much attention and asked knowingly.

He smiled, then walked into the office and put his briefcase on the table.

Just by looking at it, you can tell that you are in a great mood today.

People feel refreshed when good things happen, especially good news like Diavolo selling well.

"Diablo. No, it should be called Diavolo. The sales volume in Europe and the United States has exceeded 600,000 copies!" Akane Ayase said seriously.

There was a bright look on her face, as if she had made the game.

But as a member of pokeni, it is really reassuring to have such a sense of pride.

Today's little HR is no longer the little girl who always counted how much her head was worth.

What does this mean?

It shows that pokeni is thriving!

"Isn't that what it should be?" Qing Zhiyuan said lightly, "It's normal to exceed 1 million."

In its previous life, Diablo was only released in 1996, but it set a sales record of 550,000 copies in Europe and the United States in the first month.

What's more, it's 1992 now, which directly affects all games currently on the market.

Tsk tsk.

The little HR muttered in his heart——

The president's habit of talking big has happened again.

As soon as I get a result, my whole tail is raised, it’s really great! No! stable! Heavy! Got it!

…

After the explosion of Diablo, pokeni's cash flow immediately became much abundant.

The price of this game in Europe and the United States is US$69, which is equivalent to 8,738.85 Japanese yen according to the current exchange rate.

600,000 copies, which is approximately 5.24 billion yen.

After deducting taxes, transportation and packaging costs...all kinds of costs, Sega also collects 20% of the seigniorage tax (this is much better than Rentiantian, which charges 30% of the seigniorage tax.), There is almost a profit of close to 3 billion yen left.

The income from the Omi region, plus the original sales of almost 400,000 copies in Neon, now Diablo has brought a profit of almost 4 billion to pokeni.

This is great news for pokeni.

It has to be said that gaming is indeed a hugely profitable industry.

This is just the first step. After pokeni repays the bank loan, there will still be a surplus of 3 billion.

The remaining money is enough to make a fortune.

In the afternoon, Gen Urobuchi and Shinji Mikami arrived as scheduled with a new game proposal.

Qing Zhiyuan couldn't help but frowned fiercely.

These two guys are really action-oriented.

I originally planned to let Shinji Mikami take over Diablo 2.

…

Qing Zhiyuan took the project with some helplessness, opened it and took a look. The title of the first page read a few words in big words——

"The Witcher"

Hiss...

Qing Zhiyuan couldn't help but take a breath of air.

His first reaction was——

Could these two guys have made "The Witcher"?

But after a little digging, I found that it was not the case at all.

Although they are all demon hunters, in this game, the main plot is the hundreds of years of grudge war between vampires and humans.

The background of the game itself has a bit of a steampunk flavor. The protagonist can use both cold weapons such as swords and firearms.

It's just that this game is based on Diablo. It is a two-dimensional game with a 45-degree bird's-eye view, which is far from the 3D effect of the future Witcher 3.

The use of firearms is also similar to the archers in Diablo. You can use skills without having to specifically aim in the direction, which reduces the difficulty of operation.

So in a precise sense, this should be regarded as an action game with shooting elements, but it is completely different from FPS and TPS.

Gen Urobuchi is a standard military and firearms fan. In his works, firearms are added whenever possible.

In the past, I was a little restrained, but in "The Witcher" I was completely relaxed.

However, his writing is really touching, with an iron-blooded straight-male flavor, a strong sense of suspense, and unexpected twists, and here it has a certain depth.

It's fascinating.

…

Probably more than an hour passed.

Qing Zhiyuan read their joint proposal and let out a subtle sigh.

It’s not Resident Evil, it’s not Puella Magi Madoka Magica…

These two people created something that was beyond Qing Zhiyuan's cognition.

"So, what kind of game is this?"

"Mikami-san and I have been obsessed with vampire themes recently, and we had a sudden idea while drinking. How about taking out the mechanics of Diablo and making a vampire-themed game?"

"Yeah." Shinji Mikami nodded, "Actually, I had this idea when I was developing Diablo. After all, Diablo is a more Western-themed story. I want to make a Japanese-style Western fantasy story, more A real-time game with a sense of action and combat.”

Real-time games really have a strong charm. After the emergence of this category, many things that were previously unimaginable have become possible.

After listening to their descriptions, Qing Zhiyuan folded his hands and thought carefully for a while.

Vampire, real-time, dark...

What are these combined?

Devil May Cry?

It's not very similar, the story is completely different.

Times have changed, and these two people are different from what Qing Zhiyuan knew.

Although the story of Gen Urobuchi is very disappointing, the multiple endings in this proposal leave the choice to the players, which Qing Zhiyuan finds quite interesting.

Especially the choice itself is very thoughtful and profound.

Although the battle described by Shinji Mikami was based on Diablo, it has undergone many changes. The movements are more demanding, and the skill design is more difficult.

In order to increase the exhilaration of the game, a lot of improvements must be made in terms of impact, otherwise it will be difficult to achieve the effect he wants.

These contents are not easy for the game development team.

The two of them looked forward eagerly and stared into the president's eyes, fearing that the man would refuse him.

It took about 10 seconds.

"Okay." Qing Zhiyuan nodded.

To be honest, if it weren't for the excellent game proposal, Qing Zhiyuan wouldn't want to agree at all.

"This time, Mikami-san will be the producer."

"ha?"

Shinji Mikami was stunned for a moment, as if he did not expect that the president would entrust such an important task to him.

It stands to reason that Xuan Urobuchi has led two galgames, so he is more suitable in terms of qualifications and talents, right?

"The reason why I considered Mikami is because Diablo was handled by you later on, and I rarely participated in post-production decisions. This game can hone the planner's all-round understanding of values, combat, graphics and quality. control ability.

Based on Diablo's performance, I think you did a pretty good job, so I gave this task to you.

What's wrong? Qing Zhiyuan raised his eyebrows, "Aren't you willing?" "

"No." Shinji Mikami said with a blushing face, "I will do my best."

Lao Xu didn't have much opinion on this, as long as the script was his.

This is not the first time he has cooperated with Mikami. There is also a lot of tacit understanding between the two people. This proposal is his script plus Mikami Shinji’s game design. From the overall planning aspect, Laoxu himself also thinks that Mikami More suitable for producers.

After deciding on the production direction, Qing Zhiyuan couldn't help but frown.

Although the company does need to grow and new games, this proposal is quite good.

But……

As a result, the company's manpower will be insufficient.

Qing Zhiyuan couldn't help but worry about this.

…

…