Chapter 296: Chapter 190: Complete Victory (Second Update)_2

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Controlling the protagonist to walk out, Eric believed that the protagonist’s expression must have been exactly like his own.

This world was really too fucked up.

However, the high degree of freedom in the world gave him some hope.

With Spiritual Energy’s pollution everywhere, if we could find out why the Spiritual Energy got polluted beforehand, could we save this tragedy by restarting the game?

Yes, that must be Fang Cheng Studio’s plan, a beautiful ending lay ahead, we can do this.

The most intense despair often contains a sliver of hope.

But when they found out that this hope was like a rope with nothing at the end, a deeper despair would arrive.

Then, this process would repeat itself, making the players continuously dig their own graves towards Despair Hell, until they could no longer climb out.

Three days after its release, “Heavenly Demon” finally landed on G-site and began receiving ratings.

G-site was an internationally renowned gaming review website, which had two parts: expert reviews and player reviews, each part having a maximum score of ten, and a minimum of one.

Among these, expert reviews were more focused on the game’s artistry, completeness, and innovation, while player reviews were more focused on playability.

Usually, the scores between these two sections would be poles apart; games satisfying both were almost non-existent, and every such game was a blockbuster.

However, there were quite a few games that both groups hated, and the number seemed to be increasing recently.

And “Heavenly Demon” had created another spectacle.

Its score was exactly six, the average, but the number of reviewers reached three hundred thousand.

Considering its sales, this meant that a quarter of the players eagerly started rating it right after playing the game, while some were so engrossed in the game that they temporarily didn’t have time to rate it.

Whether experts or players, the reviews for this game were polarized.

Some people loved the game to death, and the comments below were extremely exaggerated, with overflowing praise.

[There are only two phases in your life, before playing “Heavenly Demon” and after.]

[Welcome to the world of despair, you little bastard. It’s time to feel what the pain of the world is like.]

[I tried to save my childhood sweetheart, my parents, my companions, but one by one they turned into monsters in front of me. If I didn’t kill them, they would kill even more people. I couldn’t hesitate, because the longer I hesitated, the more people would die, and the more they would suffer. This damned world, full marks.]

[While playing this game, I cried like a sissy. My roommate made me sleep in the living room after seeing me cry like that, and she started to play. Now, she’s depressed in the bedroom, and I have to comfort her while crying, full marks.]

[It’s rare to see a game where you have great power and yet get tortured to death. Fang Cheng Studio, I’ll remember you, full marks.]

[My ranking system for horror games: 13+, 16+, 20+, “Heavenly Demon”.]

However, apart from those who lavish praise, some expressed their fear.

[Now when I close my eyes all I see is “Heavenly Demon”. Although all the gory scenes are censored, the feeling of powerlessness is just too strong.]

[Great game, but I don’t want to play anymore.]

[I admit it’s excellent in all aspects, but I really can’t continue playing it. Some say to play the first part and just treat it as a farming simulation game, but I can’t. Every time I restart, I try to escape the tragedy, but each time I feel like I’m making everything worse. Compared to this game, other horror games don’t seem that scary because I know they can’t hurt me through the screen, but “Heavenly Demon” can.]

The massive controversy was also within Hoffman’s expectations.

As the reviews polarized, the game’s sales kept increasing, and by the end of the first week, sales in Europe had reached three million copies, making it a very successful game case recently.

However, Hoffman knew that some troubles were just beginning.

An email arrived at Cayman Company, startlingly from an animal protection organization.

The organization demanded the concept of equality of life be promoted in all games, and in “Heavenly Demon”, players could even slaughter animals that had been polluted, which was a heinous offense against life.

“`

Before Hoffman could reply, the Rainbow Flag also came forward to state that having only a male protagonist in the game was a form of gender opposition, demanding the immediate inclusion of a female character or the announcement that the character was gender-neutral before the game could be acceptable.

Of course, if making the changes was too troublesome, they wouldn’t mind certifying the game, but they absolutely couldn’t do without sponsorship.

Some organizations also came forward to express that the female characters in the game were too beautiful, which could easily cause gender anxiety.

Seeing these emails, Hoffman simply ignored them as if they were nonsense.

They might sound good in their emails, but at their core, it’s all business.

You wouldn’t think it from their righteous tone in the emails, but if Hoffman were to donate a portion of the revenue to these organizations, they would practically worship him the next day.

But, after all, as long as the game is fun, what does it matter to cater to these people?

So, Hoffman, adhering to his policy of “you do your thing, I’ll do mine,” ignored all the emails and continued to prepare the game’s release plans for other countries.

If it were just an ordinary little game, these organizations might shout for a bit and then let it go if there was no gain to be had.

But with “Heavenly Demon”‘s sales figures in plain sight, that juicy piece of meat was too tempting for every hungry dog not to want a bite.

Also, the game had an original sin: it was a creation from the East.

For a while, criticism of the game was relentless, and in many media outlets, “Heavenly Demon” had become the headquarters for spreading evil thoughts.

Some even claimed that buying “Heavenly Demon” was like purchasing a ticket to hell, and the train to hell would snatch up these gamers, trapping them in a world with only their consoles to play the game endlessly until they completed all the levels.

Others called for those who had bought “Heavenly Demon” to get a refund and to cease the survival of such a rotten game!

Seeing this criticism, Hoffman was indifferent and even felt the other party made good points.

He had seen too much of this. After all, if nobody criticized it, it only meant the approach was wrong.

Moreover, he trusted the gamers’ judgment.

After all, the first users after the game’s release were the gamers; it didn’t need to be politically correct, sometimes it even needed to be politically incorrect—the point was to enjoy mocking, sarcasm, and all kinds of crass humor.

Besides, if you don’t respect our game, why should we respect you?

Nevertheless, he was a bit worried about Fang Cheng, so he contacted him again to tell him not to worry about the comments.

After receiving Hoffman’s call, Fang Cheng was puzzled and asked, “Someone is attacking me online? Why?”

“Because the game is too good.”

“…Is it wrong to be too good?”

“You’re not wrong, the world is. Anyway, don’t worry about those things. I was concerned it might affect your mood, but it seems you’re doing pretty well.”

After hanging up the phone, Fang Cheng did some calculations and then furrowed his brow.

Some people were going to suffer.

Maliciously slandering others for no reason, especially an Immortal, could lead to severe karmic backlash.

If “Heavenly Demon”‘s final sales were poor, there might be a chance for redemption, implying their criticism was valid, but now, as “Heavenly Demon” was surging in momentum, they might not be so fortunate…

Three days later, Hoffman watched the pressure closely and released “Heavenly Demon” in the American market.

Despite the widespread chorus of condemnation in public opinion, it was not these voices that ultimately voted but rather the gamers.

The game broke through five million copies in the first week alone, with global sales expected to reach ten million. The enormous figures directly shamed those so-called impartial reviewers and silently ushered in the backlash.

Some organizations mysteriously suffered financial cut-offs, some companies inexplicably went out of business, and later, it was discovered that these closures were all related to “Heavenly Demon,” adding more and more urban legends to the game.

Regardless, as the first studio to enter the international market, Fang Cheng Studio won a complete victory.