Agreeing to Create Bad Games, What the Hell Is ‘Titanfall’? Chapter 65
You’re pretty damn good!
Hearing Gu Sheng’s words, Shen Miaomiao had the urge to say, “However much you want, I’ve got it!”
But after a moment’s thought, she held back.
What if Gu Sheng went overboard and asked for a hundred million?
Even selling Golden Wind wouldn’t cover that!
“Uh... hehe...”
Shen Miaomiao let out an awkward laugh.
Ah, karma sure comes around!
Back in the day, it was always Lao Gu crunching the numbers, and she’d just wave her hand and casually double the budget.
One day, she’d be the one scraping together funds.
“At the moment, we have about seven million in available funds,”
Shen Miaomiao confessed honestly:
“So... how about you use that for now?”
Embarrassing!
Shen Miaomiao genuinely felt ashamed.
Due to company policies, she couldn’t just throw the entire company’s resources into a single project.
Even though Phasmophobia was raking in profits like crazy,
the funds the company could actually allocate right now were only around seven million.
“Hmm.”
Hearing this, Gu Sheng nodded:
“That works. The most important thing for now is to get the promo video made first.”
“As for the game development itself, we’ll figure it out as we go.”
If Gu Sheng had said this at any other company, he’d have been kicked out on the spot!
You’re a Game Director, the one in charge of the company’s core business—
and you can’t even put together a basic cost estimate?
You’re talking about winging it as you go?
Is this a black hole for funding?
Even the most capable people wouldn’t survive in a normal company if they operated like this.
Because with this kind of project, it either succeeds, or the entire company goes down with it.
But!
Golden Wind wasn’t like other companies.
Or rather—Shen Miaomiao wasn’t like other people!
She wanted Gu Sheng to bankrupt the company!
Worst-case scenario, she could always dip into her little rebate fund to patch things up.
As long as they kept losing money, she could keep this company alive forever—
and maybe even make it flourish!
So when Gu Sheng suggested “winging it as we go,”
Shen Miaomiao wasn’t mad at all—
she was even a little happy.
My Director’s finally figuring it out!
“Alright! We’ll go with your plan!”
Shen Miaomiao nodded repeatedly:
“No worries, no pressure, and don’t be afraid to fail. Just go for it. The company’s money is all yours!”
With Little Nezha’s approval,
Gu Sheng had no more reservations!
And with Lu Bian and Da Jiang both sold on the FPS 2.0 concept,
the project progressed rapidly!
Time flew by!
In the second week of the new year,
Zhongjing International Convention Center, Hall 2 hosted the first exhibition of the year!
“Careful... slowly now... alright!”
Thunk.
With the final YiYou x1 machine in place,
the Golden Wind booth was officially set up.
Dusting off his hands, Gu Sheng stood akimbo and glanced at the banner above:
10th HuayuDian Game Industry Development and Design Media Conference - Golden Wind.
He couldn’t help but crack a helpless smile.
Small, but adorable.
Yep, just as Gu Sheng had expected.
While they were lucky enough to get an invitation to this rare development media event,
due to the company’s small scale, they were stuck in the farthest corner of the hall.
The location was bad enough,
but the booth was also tiny—
barely 10 square meters in total.
A small LED screen took up two-thirds of the space,
and the remaining area fit four motion-sensing pods.
That left the team—Gu Sheng and the others—
standing outside the booth, huddled together.
At this moment, during the final prep time before the exhibition opened,
the aisles between other booths were packed with company staff, shouting and bustling.
The whole place was a lively, chaotic scene.
Except for their booth.
Dead quiet.
Gu Sheng sighed inwardly.
Not out of frustration—
just a bit amused.
Back in the day, he was part of the frontline crew with FS and Ubisoft,
crisscrossing major events.
FS was Sony’s longtime partner—
all their trailers and demos were shown at the Sony booth.
Sony’s status in his previous life needed no explanation;
their booth was massive, almost like a stage for street dancing.
Later, with Ubisoft, he’d been to countless press events and expos.
While they weren’t quite at Sony’s level,
as a top-tier global game company, their booths were spacious and flashy.
But in this life...
Tsk.
Gu Sheng smacked his lips, grabbed a little folding stool, and plopped down—
like some old guy fixing bikes by the street.
He glanced across at the entrance, where Shunteng’s booth stood like a fortress.
Gu Sheng sneered silently:
“Thirty years east, thirty years west. Don’t look down on the underdogs.”
“Someday, I’ll claim that prime spot for myself!”
As he was daydreaming,
Lu Bian, who had just finished testing the small LED screen, came over,
pulled up a stool, and sat down beside him.
“Hey, shouldn’t we put a chessboard between us?”
he joked, leaning in.
“C’mon, if we’re gonna do it, we need cards. That way, the three of us can play some Dou Dizhu.”
Da Jiang, who’d just finished setting up the motion pods, joined them too.
The three of them sat in a row in front of the booth,
hands tucked inside their sleeves.
It was early February, and snow had just fallen in Zhongjing.
The hall wasn’t very warm, and they were stuck in the corner,
so they had to huddle together for warmth.
Hearing their banter, and looking at their current situation,
Gu Sheng took his hands out of his sleeves and waved them:
“Stop it, guys... I’m about to cry.”
Any further, and they’d be singing The Song of Selling Home-Brewed Wine.
Just then—
Gu Sheng’s phone rang.
It was Little Nezha.
“Hey, where are you guys? Chu-jie and I have been circling the venue, and we still haven’t found you.”
Gu Sheng fell silent for two seconds.
“...That’s really hurtful, you know,”
he sighed, standing up.
“Just keep walking down the westernmost aisle, all the way to the north end—you’ll find us eventually.”
About five minutes later—
Footsteps approached.
Gu Sheng looked up and saw Shen Miaomiao walking over,
wearing a white cashmere coat, her twin buns swaying with each step.
“This place is so hard to find!”
Shen Miaomiao pouted, furrowing her brows.
“Why’d they stick us in this random corner?!”
But even as she said that,
Shen Miaomiao was practically grinning inside.
Hahahahahaha...
This booth was tiny!
Like a newborn, barely a month old, already coming out to play!
Compared to the Shunteng booth at the entrance,
this was like a tiny Wuling mini electric car versus a massive eight-axle dump truck!
Lao Gu didn’t lie!
Said they had the most obscure booth in the whole venue,
and they really did!
Nice!
Shen Miaomiao fought to hold back her laughter as she walked a lap around the booth.
This godforsaken spot—
any further back, and they’d be setting up a street stall in the parking lot.
A press release here?
Yeah right!
It was a miracle if no one mistook them for the trash collection spot!
Shen Miaomiao secretly thanked her lucky stars—
thank goodness she hadn’t accepted Yan Sheng’s invitation!
Yes!
Before the event started, Yan Sheng, on behalf of YiYou Platform,
had invited them to “merge booths.”
Technically, it was a golden opportunity for Golden Wind.
They wouldn’t have had their own booth,
but they’d be able to use YiYou’s massive booth for their game’s promotion.
YiYou’s booth was huge—
almost rivaling Shunteng’s prime spot!
But!
Shen Miaomiao had decisively refused Yan Sheng’s generous offer.
No way!
Technically, Golden Wind wasn’t even big enough to qualify for a deep partnership with YiYou.
They’d already gotten some side-eyes last time when they co-promoted Phasmophobia.
No way was she going to owe President Yan another favor.
Imagine if they’d merged,
and then YiYou decided to run a sizzle reel right when the crowd was thickest...
Forget it!
She couldn’t afford to let anything mess up her hundred-times-rebate-investment project!
With that in mind, Shen Miaomiao put on a fake sigh and asked Gu Sheng:
“So... is there any way we can ask the organizers to move us?”
Gu Sheng shrugged.
“No way. No company would agree to that at this point, and it wouldn’t be fair either.”
Perfect!
Shen Miaomiao cheered inside.
She smirked.
“Well, then there’s nothing we can do.”
“Yeah,”
Gu Sheng glanced back at their humble little booth.
“Let’s just roll with it. Good wine doesn’t fear deep alleys, right?”
“Exactly! Exactly!”
Shen Miaomiao nodded approvingly:
“I like that attitude!”
With that, she waved her hand:
“Well then, Chu-jie and I will leave you guys to it! Thanks for all your hard work—once we’re done, dinner’s on me!”
“Hey! Wait a sec!”
Gu Sheng called out, surprised.
“You’re not sticking around with us?”
“The booth only has three stools. One for each of you.”
Shen Miaomiao spoke righteously.
“Chu-jie and I don’t have anywhere to sit, so we’ll go outside and drum up some media attention for our booth!”
Without waiting for Gu Sheng’s response,
Shen Miaomiao grabbed Chu Qingzhou and bolted.
“...Um, Sheng-ge, maybe we shouldn’t let A-Yin and Chu-jie stay out in the cold like that,”
Da Jiang said.
“It’s freezing out there. They might catch a cold. We should swap—let them stay in here while we go meet the guests.”
Da Jiang’s words left Gu Sheng silent for a full five seconds.
Finally, Gu Sheng patted him on the shoulder.
“When you look for a wife someday, make sure to find someone honest and simple.”
“Huh?” Da Jiang looked puzzled. “Why?”
Lu Bian shook his head helplessly.
“Lao Gu’s just worried you’ll get scammed so hard, you won’t even have a pair of underwear left... Sit down, man... stop worrying.”
“Good morning, good morning! Outdoor stream today! Guess where we are?”
Meanwhile,
outside Hall 2 of the International Convention Center,
A-Yin waved at the camera on his phone, which had a huge Shark logo sticker.
The camera panned,
revealing the three people beside him, all waving at the stream.
“Hey everyone, I’m Liuliu!”
“Morning, guys! I’m Zhou Shuyi!”
“Hi hi, I’m your favorite Bobo~”
The chat exploded—
‘Holy sht! It’s the ghost-hunting squad! Two full teams?!’
‘Zhou-jie’s doing outdoor streams now? Did she forget about Paris Night Rain?’
‘Look at Riverhorse, looking all cheap again!’
‘Hahahaha——’
‘The big boss and Liuliu doing an outdoor stream together? That’s a pretty high-tier event.’
‘Yeah, normally the boss never does events. And Liuliu is a top streamer in Shark’s gaming section. This is a big deal.’
‘So what is this event exactly? What’s with all the hype?’
‘The event’s called “Don’t Look at the Room Name.”’
‘Hahahahahaha...’
‘Holy sht! Just noticed the boss renamed the room to “Today’s Outdoor Stream - HuayuDian Development Expo.”’
‘Oh yeah! It’s February—time for the motion-sensing game showcase!’
‘I heard about this ages ago. Didn’t expect the Shark streamer rep to be the boss himself.’
‘I’ve been waiting forever for this expo! They’re supposed to show the Guns & Cannons 2 trailer.’
‘I’m here for Extreme Rally 3. Supposedly, they’re showing a live demo.’
‘I’m more hyped for Fearless Sniper. They say it’s gonna have the highest graphics quality ever.’
‘You guys only care about the games? Shengzi-ge’s Weibo said Golden Wind is exhibiting too!’
‘Wait, Golden Wind too? They’re not gonna do a live ghost-hunting stream?’
‘Especially with Zhou-jie and Bobo—they were so scared last time they cried! They have to go find Shengzi-ge for revenge, right?’
‘Better bring an EMF meter—wherever it’s beeping, that’s where Shengzi-ge’s booth is.’
‘No need for the EMF. Just take a breath inside the hall—wherever it’s coldest, that’s where the booth is.’
‘Lmao! Arctic winds, huh!’
‘Too much negative energy...’
‘...’
Watching the chat blow up,
A-Yin grinned and laughed:
“Relax, everyone. No rush. We’ll check everything out one by one.
Whatever games you want to see, we’ll try them all today.
As for Golden Wind—
you don’t even have to ask.
Me, Liuliu, the four of us—
we’re definitely going over to pay our respects!”
He flashed a sinister grin,
making the viewers crack up again.
Just then,
the crowd of media reporters, influencers, reviewers, and special guests surged forward at the venue entrance.
Looking at the throng of people,
A-Yin and the others flowed into the venue, marveling:
“As expected of a HuayuDian event.”
Beside him, Liuliu nodded in agreement:
“Yeah, even though this is just a seasonal event for media and reviewers, it’s still packed.”
“Haha.”
Hearing that, A-Yin chuckled.
“At this rate, the August CJ Expo in Shanghai is probably going to break attendance records.”
As they spoke,
the group flashed their invitations and entered the exhibition hall.
Right at the entrance—
like two massive guardian statues—
stood the Shunteng and YiYou booths.
At YiYou’s booth,
footage of Extreme Rally 3 played on a giant horizontal LED screen.
On the right, Shunteng had given the prime showcase spot to their upcoming flagship FPS game—
Fearless Sniper.
Rumor had it—
Fearless Sniper was built using the most advanced Dreamscape 5 engine.
With real-time dynamic ray tracing, global illumination simulation, and virtual micro-polygon geometry,
this game’s graphics would set the new benchmark for domestic motion-sensing games.