Agreeing to Create Bad Games, What the Hell Is ‘Titanfall’? Chapter 66
After all, this was the best showcase of cutting-edge graphics in the domestic market.
As soon as he entered the exhibition hall, A-Yin followed the crowd straight to the most hyped booth according to the bullet chats: XunTeng Games’ booth, where they were showcasing a trailer and demo for Fearless Sniper.
After watching the trailer, everyone had a general idea of the game’s plot—
Fearless Sniper followed a team of special forces infiltrating a foreign criminal syndicate’s stronghold.
But due to a small oversight, the infiltration mission failed, and the team was discovered.
The game’s protagonist had to find a way out amidst extreme danger after the squad was wiped out and all support was lost, eventually taking down the massive criminal organization.
The story wasn’t particularly original—just another typical anti-terrorism spin-off, like the mainstream games on the market.
“Gotta say though, the graphics in this game are legit.”
After finishing a test run, A-Yin stepped out of the VR pod and commented sincerely:
Meanwhile, the bullet chat exploded with comments:
“The plot’s generic as hl though.”
“This game isn’t about the story, it’s all about the multiplayer.”
“True, heard from insiders that XunTeng wants to replace VR Firefight Rush with this game.”
“Fk, does that mean another 888 yuan game incoming?”
“You’re thinking too small. I’ll throw out a number—10 yuan per draw, guaranteed hero-level drop after 100 tries.”
“Damn, you really get how XunTeng rolls!”
“Honestly, all they did was improve the graphics. No real gameplay innovation here.”
“C’mon, how are you even gonna innovate on FPS? The genre’s been stagnant for a decade. Got any bright ideas?”
“Hahaha, so true.”
“FPS is a fixed genre, like racing games—you drive cars. What else do you expect, driving a dump truck to haul cargo?”
“HAHAHAHA, stop! Actually... don’t say that! I’d totally play a dump truck simulator...”
“Bro, remember—stay broke, don’t haul pipes; starve, but don’t move scrap.”
“LMAO, what a s***post of a game.”
“…”
While they were chatting, A-Yin and the crew reached the YiYou booth.
Just as the bullet chat said—
Shooter and racing games had already been thoroughly defined.
Take Extreme Rally 3 from YiYou’s partner NuYan Games—same old racing formula as always.
From circuit racing to Formula One, from off-road to rally...
Speed had always been the soul of racing games.
After waiting in line for a bit, the four Shark streamers each took a turn at the wheel.
Gotta admit, compared to NuYan’s previous game, this one did have noticeable improvements.
Car customization, map design, graphics, even driving feedback—they’d all leveled up.
It was solid.
Didn’t blow expectations out of the water, but didn’t let anyone down either.
Which made sense—
Gameplay innovation was basically a dead end in this genre. Even if NuYan wanted to innovate on Extreme Rally, they wouldn’t know where to start.
Once the two main booths were done, the streamers split up to cover more ground.
A-Yin and Liuliu took the east side of the hall, while Sister Zhou and Hippo headed west.
“Alright, let’s split up for now. If anyone finds a fun game, let’s ping each other and regroup,” A-Yin said.
“Got it!”
Sister Zhou nodded and powered up her second streaming phone:
“Let’s stay in touch…”
“No one’s coming, Sheng-ge…”
As the expo kicked off, a flood of media attendees poured in, and the venue was buzzing.
The best booths, near the entrance, were swarmed—XunTeng and YiYou had those prime spots, packed with people.
Reporters and content creators were lined up, eager to get their hands on the demos.
As for the booths deeper inside the hall, things were still lively, though less packed.
Cameras were rolling, interviews were happening—lots of activity, plenty of foot traffic.
That’s how expos worked.
The closer to the center, the less crowded it got.
And people always followed the crowd—wherever it was bustling, they gathered.
So the lines at the front booths kept getting longer, while the ones in the back saw fewer and fewer visitors, to the point where no one even bothered to glance their way.
Da Jiang and Lu Bian were getting discouraged.
“Even the best wine can go unnoticed in a back alley…”
They had been super confident in Left 4 Dead.
Whether it was the trailer or the playable demo they brought, the quality was top-notch.
Especially the second-gen FPS mechanics, which they believed blew every other shooter on the market out of the water.
But the problem was—
No matter how good the food, someone’s gotta taste it!
What’s the point of running a restaurant if you’re the only one eating the food? No customers, no business—end of story.
Watching the empty booth, the two of them were getting disheartened.
Gu Sheng, however, wasn’t too bothered.
“Just wait. The hall’s only so big, and there are only so many exhibitors. With all these media folks and reviewers, someone’s bound to wander over eventually.”
What they needed was a spark—just one person to stop by.
And Gu Sheng was 99% confident he could keep them there once they did.
After all—
These were industry pros, game media specialists.
Their perspectives were diverse.
With the second-gen FPS system, Left 4 Dead was bound to catch the attention of some sharp-eyed reviewers.
Worst case scenario—even if the game was complete garbage, the innovative FPS mechanics alone would draw in curiosity seekers who’d want to give it a try.
As Gu Sheng spoke, a voice called out behind him:
“Um... are you Mr. Gu Sheng?”
Mr. Gu Sheng...?
Gu Sheng turned around—
A man in his thirties, wearing a plaid shirt and black-rimmed glasses, was standing there. He had that classic elite vibe.
“Just Gu Sheng is fine.”
Gu Sheng smiled politely and extended his hand.
“I’m afraid I don’t recognize you…”
“Oh, oh, I’m Director Chen from Qingniao Games,” the man said, a bit flustered. He hurriedly reached out with both hands to shake Gu Sheng’s.
“I’ve heard so much about you, Mr. Gu! It was a shame we didn’t get to chat at the YiYou Developer Festival. I was hoping to learn a bit from you here.”
“Oh, so you’re Director Chen! A pleasure, a pleasure.”
Gu Sheng quickly returned the courtesy and stepped aside to invite him in.
“Learning? Not at all. It’s an honor to have you visit, Director Chen.”
Ah, the usual business pleasantries—Gu Sheng handled them like a pro.
After bringing Director Chen over to their booth, Gu Sheng pointed at the LED screen and explained:
“This time, Golden Wind went with a shooter theme combined with a bio-zombie concept. The game is called Left 4 Dead.
Of course, we also took the bold step of implementing a few innovations—
For example, what I call the second-gen FPS system…”
While Director Chen introduced himself, Gu Sheng had glanced at Qingniao Games’ booth.
It was a little bigger than Golden Wind’s tiny setup, but nothing major.
And judging by how Chen said they’d seen him at the YiYou event, Qingniao wasn’t exactly a top-tier company either.
Gu Sheng had a pretty positive impression of these smaller, scrappy studios—his fellow underdogs.
Besides, all this stuff he was explaining was meant for the media anyway, so he laid it all out clearly and thoroughly.
After the detailed intro, Gu Sheng turned back to Director Chen with a smile:
“That’s the gist of it—just a bit of naive experimentation on our part. Director Chen, any feedback or suggestions...?”
“Wait, what the…?”
Gu Sheng trailed off mid-sentence, stunned.
Behind Chen, there were now ten more people!
At first, he’d thought they were just media reporters who had wandered over.
But as he glanced at their badges, Gu Sheng’s expression twisted.
Qunfeng Games, Phantom Tech, Gale Studio, Jiahua Games…
What the actual f**k?!
They were all competitors!
You guys…
What the hell are you doing here instead of manning your own booths?!
And!
These badges—they weren’t just regular staff.
They were directors, deputy directors, even a few vice presidents!
One by one, they looked at him with eager eyes, like a bunch of straight-A students hanging on every word!
“Um… everyone…”
Gu Sheng’s face was a mix of complex emotions, bordering on disbelief.
“You’re all… here to observe and exchange ideas?”
Whoosh—
As soon as he spoke, the crowd surged forward, each trying to shake Gu Sheng’s hand:
“Hello, hello, Mr. Gu! I’m Director Li Xiaoqiang from Qunfeng Games…”
“Mr. Gu, about that second-gen FPS system—what’s the fundamental difference from the first-gen model…?”
“Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Gu…”
“Your zombie designs have such an intense vibe—mind sharing the inspiration behind that?”
“Mr. Gu, could I try the demo in the VR pod?”
“Me too, me too…”
“This design is seriously brilliant—Mr. Gu is truly a supernova, always coming up with fresh ideas.”
“Maybe Golden Wind is about to make history again with this one…”
“Mr. Gu, here’s my card…”
“…”
Gu Sheng was about to explode.
For f**k’s sake!
I wanted media coverage!
What the hell are you competitors doing here, crowding up my booth like this?!
“Alright folks, what’s your rating for this game? Out of five stars, drop your scores in the bullet chat!”
Over at the west wing, Sister Zhou was holding up her phone, engaging the audience.
They’d just finished trying a game from “Starry Games” called Haunted Gallery.
The gameplay was pretty much like Phasmophobia—gather clues, identify paranormal entities.
The only difference was Phasmophobia had players identifying ghosts, while Haunted Gallery focused on haunted paintings.
The bullet chat flooded in with a sea of 111s and 2222s:
“My review: pack it up and move on.”
“They didn’t even bother to change the gameplay…”
“Can’t even say it’s a little different. It’s exactly the same.”
“If you didn’t tell me this was a different game, I’d have thought it was a Phasmophobia DLC.”
“I can’t even say it’s bad, because Phasmophobia was fun…”
“At this point, is copying even copying anymore? These devs have it down to an art.”
“Same spooky vibe, 2/5 max. And 1.5 of that is for Phasmophobia.”
“…”
Sister Zhou nodded along in agreement:
“The scares are there, but the gameplay hasn’t changed much. I’d say... 1.5 points.”
She jotted down the score in her notebook.
She and Wang Boluo moved on.
Turning the corner, they arrived at the next booth.
“Qingniao Games.”
Wang Boluo glanced at the booth name, then at the looping promo on the LED screen.
A virtual character stood in the middle of the screen, stepping in time with colorful arrows as a dynamic beat played.
It was basically a dance machine clone.
“This looks kinda fun,” Wang Boluo tugged at Sister Zhou.
“Let’s try this one, Zhou!”
“Is this… a dance game?”
Sister Zhou squinted at the gameplay on the screen, then peeked inside the booth:
“Hello? Anyone here? We’re streamers from Shark Live—can someone explain this game to us?”
Normally, at expos, there’d always be someone from the dev team ready to greet you at the booth—
Introduce the game’s background, explain its design concepts… give the visitors a proper intro.
But at Qingniao’s booth—
Sister Zhou had to call out three times before a young girl with a staff badge emerged from behind the booth.
“Ah, ah, here! Sorry, here I am! Are you two here to try the demo?”
As she spoke, she started prepping the VR pod for them.
Sister Zhou hesitated:
“Uh… are you the game’s designer? Could you tell us a bit about the game first?”
“Me? Oh, no, I’m not the designer—sorry!” the girl laughed awkwardly.
“I’m just an event guide here to help set up the demo pods.”
Huh???
The designer… left?
Sister Zhou and Wang Boluo exchanged a bewildered look.
The expo was in full swing—
And the person in charge of presenting the game had ditched the booth?!
To hang out at other booths?!
What kind of ridiculous devs were these?!
“Ah… okay…”
Sister Zhou forced a smile.
“Then… we’ll come back later, thanks.”
With that, she grabbed Wang Boluo and moved on.
“Let’s check out this booth…”
She glanced up at the banner:
“Phantom Tech. Wonder what they’ve brought this time?”
A young man inside the booth stood up and approached them.
“Hi, welcome to Phantom Tech’s booth! The game playing on the big screen is our latest: Divine Gun.
It’s a shooter. If you’re interested, feel free to hop in the VR pod and try it!”
“Ah—”
Sister Zhou scratched her head, looking a little unsure:
“Just a quick intro on the genre? Anything else?”
The young man smiled:
“Oh, for the details, you’d have to wait for our director. I’m just an event guide here to help with the demo pods…”
What the actual f**k?!
Sister Zhou was stunned.
Again?!
What was going on?!
One after another, the devs had all… ditched their booths?!
Sure, these smaller booths didn’t have the same resources as the big players.
But still—an entire row of game studios all ghosting their own showcases?!
An outrageous, yet bold, theory began forming in Sister Zhou’s mind…
“Alright, thank you—we’ll check out the next booth and maybe come back later…”
She grabbed Wang Boluo and headed off, immediately asking the next booth:
“Hi, excuse me, is your game’s designer here?!”