Agreeing to Create Bad Games, What the Hell Is ‘Titanfall’? Chapter 57
The viewers were drenched in cold sweat!
“Holy sh**—that was intense—”
“Breaking a sweat, huh, little bro!”
“Uh-oh, the boss stopped talking.”
“F***… did the boss just die on the spot?”
“Even I’m getting cold sweats watching this.”
“This is way too d*** scary!”
“Wait, who the hell said horror games aren’t scary once you play them with friends?”
“Who could’ve guessed Bro Sheng would go full dark mode and use the players to make it scarier!”
“The worst part is, when the ghost shows up, the teammates don’t just fail to help—they jack your blood pressure up!”
“Hahahaha Tree-bro’s ‘every debt has its debtor’ line totally broke the boss.”
“This game’s absolutely insane—not only terrifying, but a total friendship destroyer!”
“Bro Sheng’s always been a master of tormenting people…”
“Straight up sent the boss into meltdown mode.”
“...”
After a long while, a trembling voice finally came from inside the VR pod—
“...D***, did Nana set the alarm threshold on the VR pod too low?”
“I was just starting to feel a little thrill, and the pod already kicked me out?”
“I didn’t even get the chance to feel scared yet.”
“That’s weird...”
As he spoke, A-Yin stepped out of the VR pod.
Leaning on the pod door, he pretended to check the equipment.
The chat was full of heckling—
“Come on, boss, stop pretending. Your legs are jelly, aren’t they?”
“Body’s all soft, only the mouth’s still tough.”
“Talk big all you want, but can you stop your voice from shaking?”
“LOL, won’t even dare reconnect.”
“I mean, seriously, this Tianjin bold guy isn’t much better than Bro Piao, only lasted five minutes.”
“Let’s cut him some slack, the old man’s age is catching up, can’t handle big scares.”
“Boss, stop fixing it already—you’ll break the pod even if there’s nothing wrong with it…”
The chat’s mockery came in wave after wave.
A-Yin didn’t even dare look back.
So d*** embarrassing!
His whole rep, gone in an instant!
He’d thought it through—just a horror game, and with teammates no less. How scary could it really be?
Who’d have thought!
Gu Sheng was twisted enough to use the multiplayer setup to amplify the fear!
The worst part? The no-weapon rule was absolutely killer!
Especially when you just stood there, watching the ghost flicker closer and closer, completely helpless…
That kind of fear nearly pushed A-Yin past his physical limit!
If jumpscares were like a sharp blade chopping off your head in one go, then Phasmophobia was more like a dull knife slowly torturing you to death!
God knows!
When that little ghost got up in his face just now, he was about to piss himself.
A-Yin squatted opposite the VR pod, trying to calm down.
“Whooo—”
He let out a long breath, feeling his heart rate gradually returning to normal.
Just as he was about to stand up—
Suddenly!
A small hand patted him on the shoulder!
“Little Yin! What are you sneaking around for?”
“Holy s***!!!”
A-Yin flinched hard!
He’d just been scared half to death by a kid ghost in the game, and now hearing a child’s voice triggered some serious PTSD.
Turning his head, he saw it was his little daughter, Yiyi.
“Oh d***—”
A-Yin clutched his chest, almost passing out. He bent down to pat his daughter’s head, speaking in a shaky voice—
“Daddy… Yiyi’s working now…”
“No, wait… uh…”
“Yiyi, Daddy’s working, go find Mommy to play, okay?”
That sudden scare had scrambled his words.
And as soon as he finished, A-Yin couldn’t help it and burst out laughing.
The chat exploded—
“Couldn’t hold it in, hahahahahaha!”
“Hahahahahahaha I’m dying!”
“So you’ve been letting Yiyi play for you all along, huh?!”
“Of course, this house can’t function without Yiyi!”
“Hahahaha I laughed so hard my neighbors called the cops!”
“Yiyi: I do my thing, you do yours. You call me ‘boss,’ I call you ‘Little Yin.’”
“I laughed so hard my mom opened the door to check if I’d lost my mind.”
“Peak stream moment, no doubt!”
“‘Daddy… Yiyi’s working now’—instant classic!”
“I never thought a horror game stream could be this hilarious!”
“My review—massive recommendation!”
“...”
After sending his daughter out of the stream room, A-Yin looked at the wall of “hahahaha” in the chat and felt it was all a bit ridiculous, letting out a helpless chuckle.
But thanks to that little interlude, his fear had somewhat subsided.
To uphold his title as the “Bold Yin,” to lead the team to mission success, and to exact revenge on Ah Cui,
A-Yin once again bravely stepped into the VR pod!
However, when he reconnected to the game, he discovered—Tree-bro had disconnected too.
“Huh?” A-Yin was confused. He grabbed the radio and asked, “Where’s Tree-bro?”
After a moment, a trembling voice came through the radio—Liuliu’s:
“After you got disconnected, Tree-bro thought it was safe. So he was on the second floor, fake-crying at your grave, going, ‘Captain Yin, you died so tragically. Curse that evil spirit, take me too…’”
“And then?”
“Then… well, he got his wish…”
There was a two-second pause.
A-Yin let out a triumphant shout—
“Serves him right!!!”
A Night of Terror! A Night of Laughter!
For all the streamers, this new Phasmophobia was a test of their physical limits.
Its unprecedented horror style made hearts race, with the VR pod’s alarm sounds practically turning into background music for the streams.
But for the audience?
Yesterday’s stream was peak entertainment!
After all—
Who doesn’t love seeing streamers boast big and then end up wetting themselves in fear?
Everyone said it wasn’t scary.
Everyone ended up scared sh**less.
The Game’s Launch Day Concludes.
As night fell again, at the Zhongjing headquarters of YiYou Platform, Yan Sheng and his senior executives all gathered.
The meeting room was brightly lit.
On the projection screen, a PPT cover blazed in red, with a gold title:
“Phasmophobia Marketing Strategy Meeting.”
“Everyone’s here, huh?”
Yan Sheng nodded.
“Thanks for staying late tonight. I believe you all understand the situation, so I won’t repeat myself.”
He turned to Secretary Li and gestured:
“Secretary Li, give us the sales report.”
“Understood.”
Secretary Li nodded and clicked the mouse. The screen showed various charts.
“This is a summary from the Marketing and Data teams on Phasmophobia’s 24-hour sales.”
“For this key project’s marketing, we used the Data Team’s latest ‘Big Data Precision Targeting’ algorithm.”
“As you can see, our data includes not just basic sales, but also player demographics, regional distribution, playtime, and eight other types of analysis.”
“The goal is to execute precise marketing for this key project, to maximize sales and ensure client satisfaction.”
“Let’s start with the basic sales data...”
Sure enough!
Ever since Shen Miaomiao bought YiYou x1’s login access for 150,000 yuan, Yan Sheng had been working overtime to plan the game’s marketing.
At first, the senior execs didn’t quite get why Phasmophobia was a key project.
But after Yan Sheng’s explanation, they all understood—
Why did Goldenwind pay far above market price for login access?
The execs didn’t get it.
But Yan Sheng, the battle-hardened veteran, did.
He knew Goldenwind was still a small game company, with only seven people, including a financial staffer sent by Shen Capital.
Which meant—they had no dedicated marketing team.
Yet a game couldn’t sell well without marketing!
So Young President Shen turned to YiYou, seeking a “deep cooperation” partnership instead of a traditional marketing agency.
They wanted YiYou, with its experience and past collaborations, to help promote Phasmophobia, just like they did with Vampire Survivors.
Sure, this kind of “deep cooperation” resembled the old guard’s backdoor recommendations, which could hurt fairness.
But in reality, they were fundamentally different.
The old guard didn’t care about game quality—pay up and you’d get featured, with them pocketing the difference, which went against company policy.
But “deep cooperation” was based on game quality, not just payment, and the funds went into company accounts, as part of its operating policy.
From a business perspective, Goldenwind was eligible for this policy—their games were consistently high quality, practically gold-standard.
The issue was their small size.
They didn’t yet qualify for YiYou’s usual standards for deep cooperation.
So—
Young President Shen “hinted” at Yan Sheng to give them a green light by paying double the access fee.
Yan Sheng wasn’t the kind of rigid rule-follower.
He always believed that as long as the game was good and beneficial to the company and the industry, there was no need to stick to rigid policies.
More importantly, Yan Sheng saw this as Young President Shen’s way of encouraging and testing YiYou!
Why 150,000 yuan—exactly matching the top-tier VR pod company, Yunwei?
Why not 100,000? Why not 1 million?
Because it was her way of saying: Come on! I believe in YiYou! I want you to become the next Yunwei!
This investment was a test of their service.
And who was Young President Shen?
The heiress of Shen Capital! The daughter of Shen Wanlin!
Her encouragement and test could signal future investments from Shen Capital into YiYou!
For YiYou, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
If they could make Young President Shen feel their service was worth every penny,
Then their relationship would grow stronger and stronger!
This was exactly what Yan Sheng wanted!
After all—besides Shen Capital, Goldenwind had a powerhouse designer—
Gu Sheng!
The hottest up-and-coming superstar game designer in China!
Practically a walking money-printing machine!
If YiYou could establish a deep partnership with Goldenwind, they’d have a steady stream of hit games in the future!
“With so many benefits right in front of us, why would we let this golden opportunity slip away?”
Yan Sheng said.
After his in-depth analysis, the senior execs finally understood. They praised President Yan’s vision, and their earlier doubts vanished.
And so—
The marketing strategy meeting began!
“...Based on our data, Phasmophobia sold 2,085 copies on day one, for a total of 93,800 yuan.”
Secretary Li reported.
There was a rustling in the meeting room.
The execs all turned to the screen, some frowning, some smacking their lips, whispering among themselves.
“This data’s a bit odd...”
“Yeah, selling over 2,000 copies on day one is already impressive for a game of this scale, but the total sales amount…”
“Isn’t their price set a bit too low?”
“Low indeed. That’s the rock-bottom price for a game of this scale, but considering the game’s quality, it really shouldn’t be that low...”
“True. Maybe 100 would be pushing it, but 75 should be fine...”
“Could be they’re new to the VR pod market, lacked confidence, so they matched the lowest price point.”
“Hmm… that makes sense...”
After more analysis, Secretary Li scrolled through eight types of data, breaking down the game from all angles.
A full half hour later, the data review finally wrapped up.
Seeing the thoughtful looks on the execs’ faces, Yan Sheng spoke:
“Alright, that’s the data analysis. Very thorough.”
“We’ve already done the maximum allowed regular platform promotion.”
“Now, it’s time for you all to brainstorm—how do we expand the marketing for this game and boost its sales?”
After a moment’s silence, a bespectacled exec from Marketing raised his hand:
“I suggest we start with game media, have professionals review the game.”
“Hmm, good idea,” Yan Sheng nodded. “Go on.”
The bespectacled exec nodded:
“Normally, game media wouldn’t review a small-scale game like this. But Phasmophobia is different.”
“I watched the stream and tried it for five minutes myself last night.”
“My overall impression? Eye-opening.”
“Unlike typical horror games, it doesn’t rely on jumpscares, but builds fear in a deeper way.”
“I’m not a professional reviewer, so I can’t describe it perfectly.”
“But I’m certain—this game deserves a review, and it’ll get great feedback!”
Yan Sheng and the execs nodded in agreement.
Having game media review it was definitely a good marketing move.
After all, while news releases were a form of media exposure, their impact was shallow and short-lived.
Reviews, on the other hand, were deep, authoritative, and respected by players.
A game scoring high on major review sites was almost guaranteed strong sales.
“Xiao Li, get in touch with the review sites and have them review Phasmophobia, under my name.”
Yan Sheng waved his hand, adopting the suggestion.
Then he asked, “Any other ideas?”
Humans are social creatures—sometimes all they need is a leader.
With the bespectacled exec’s suggestion as a springboard, the room came alive—
“I think we should promote on our official Douyin account…”
“Should we have the tech team create a custom VR pod theme for Phasmophobia—interface styles, breathing lights, stuff like that—and give it as a freebie to players who buy the game?”
“Could we do a ‘playtime lottery’ event? We’ll offer a VR pod as a prize…”
“That’s a great idea—helps promote both the game and our products…”
“Or how about this…”
The room buzzed with ideas.
For regular marketing, 80,000 yuan wasn’t a huge budget.
But for a platform like YiYou, that money was practically unspendable.
After all—
As one of the biggest platforms in China, YiYou had resources and connections everywhere!
There were even some marketing channels where Yan Sheng wouldn’t have to spend a dime—just a word, and the favor would be done.
Thus, a “worth every penny” marketing campaign was launched...