Agreeing to Create Bad Games, What the Hell Is ‘Titanfall’? Chapter 87

Sunday morning, 9 AM, Dongjin.

The sun blazed down on a massive exhibition hall with its iconic inverted-triangle design, towering nearly 60 meters tall, standing proudly in the greenery of the plaza.

This was the Dongjin International Exhibition Center.

Built in 1996 under the guidance of the world-renowned Sato Integrated Design, this global-standard convention center had long been one of the most iconic buildings in Dongjin—and even across all of Nihon.

Every year, countless expos of all sizes were held here.

Naturally, the Asia Esports Game Developers Conference, one of the largest gaming events across Pan-Asia, chose this venue for its grand gathering!

Inside the venue, the entrance was buzzing with excitement as players and media flooded in, shoulder to shoulder, filling the space with a cacophony of voices.

“Gathering gaming news, focusing on what players love—hello everyone, I’m Tian Tian from Tian Tian Game News!”

“Welcome to today’s special live broadcast of Tian Tian Game News!

As you can see, I’m right here at Hall 1 of the Dongjin International Exhibition Center.

The once-every-four-years Asia Esports Game Developers Conference is about to kick off here!

From what we know, this year’s event features developers and designers from over ten countries across five major regions.

A total of 25 games have been shortlisted for the showcase:

15 small-scale games, 5 medium-scale, and 5 large-scale.

In a little while, we’ll get to see presentations from the 10 medium and large-scale titles.

The Crown Award—the highest honor—will also be selected from among these 10 games.

So, let’s take our camera crew and check out how the participating developers are doing!”

With a wave, Tian Tian led the camera team toward the developer booths at the front-right side of the hall.

In the live chat:

“Whoa, this place is huge!”

“Fun fact: Hall 1 is called the International Conference Hall. It can seat over a thousand people, fully equipped with conference systems, AV setups, and simultaneous translation in seven languages.”

“Man, this is a proper venue, given it’s a once-in-four-years Pan-Asia dev conference!”

“Compared to the esports championship at the Bird’s Nest, though, this venue is kinda mid, no?”

“LOL yeah, that Bird’s Nest setup was on another level.”

“Exactly—whether it’s a game championship or an esports title, someone’s gotta win on home turf at the Bird’s Nest!”

“I just hope our own developers can snag the crown.”

“Feels promising! We’ve got Nuyan Games and Golden Wind representing!”

“Nuyan’s strong—an old powerhouse with a full-throttle budget of 150 million on a racing game, their specialty. But Golden Wind... well, hard to say...”

“Yeah, Golden Wind’s been on fire lately, but they’re still a mid-tier company. When they said they’d compete at the Asia DevCon, I thought it’d be in the small game category... but they went for medium-scale!”

“Medium-scale means at least 50 million in investment. Did Golden Wind mortgage everything they had to scrape up the funds?”

“This feels like an all-or-nothing gamble.”

“That said... Shengzi’s FPS sequel concept is pretty sick. If they double down and make a second-gen FPS like Fireline Frenzy, maybe it won’t flop.”

“Let’s hope so! Yo, Little Huang, I don’t need you to win the championship—I just don’t want you to self-destruct this time!”

“Haha, ‘Little Huang’—that name cracks me up.”

“Right? I actually kinda like Golden Wind’s little projects.”

“Leave the crown to Nuyan. Little Huang’s main goal is to participate. As long as they don’t crash and burn, it’s a win!”

It was clear that players loved Golden Wind.

But as for them winning? Not much faith there.

After all, Golden Wind was still a mid-tier, mid-size game company. Realistically, if they wanted to compete, they should’ve been in the small game group.

Yet here they were, selling off everything they had to muscle into the medium-scale category.

It was like watching a featherweight boxer forcing their way into a middleweight or even heavyweight match.

You could guess how that would go.

Hence the comments begging them not to die.

Forget the crown—just make it through alive.

As the chat buzzed on, Tian Tian reached the developer area.

Most of the company reps were already in place, and Tian Tian began a round of quick interviews.

There was Lionheart Games from Southeast Asia, showcasing a MOBA called Super Brawl, with an 80 million investment—one of the five medium-scale titles.

Then there was Gerard Tech from West Asia—just established last year, but they were going all-in with Scorching Track, a 150 million racing game. They openly considered Nuyan Games their main rival.

Over in the Nihon sector, Kol Corp, a veteran sports game developer, was back for their second Asia DevCon, investing around 70 million into a baseball game adaptation called Baseball Hero EX.

After these rounds, Tian Tian finally arrived at the Huaxia Developers Zone.

At that moment, Gu Sheng was chatting with Li Xiaofeng, the lead director of Nuyan Games.

The two hadn’t met before, but as fellow Huaxia developers at an intercontinental event, they naturally clicked.

Plus, both companies were deep partners with YiYou Platform, so there was a bit of a connection there.

After a few pleasantries, they got into a lively conversation.

Li Xiaofeng praised Gu Sheng’s ideas and creativity, while Gu Sheng commended Nuyan’s innovative spirit and ambition.

The two were engrossed in their chat, completely unaware that poor Little Nezha, Golden Wind’s mascot, was bored out of her mind at the side, almost dying of frustration.

Ah... what are you two talking about... Gu, come play with me... is this chat never going to end...?

We’re just making a damn cooking game, what are you doing chatting up these serious industry folks...

Little Nezha glanced left, glanced right, fiddled with her fingers, tugged at Gu Sheng’s sleeve—bored to death.

Just then—

“Excuse me? Ms. Shen? I’m Tian Tian from Tian Tian Game News. Could I trouble you for a quick two-minute interview?”

A voice spoke beside her.

Shen Miaomiao turned to see Tian Tian bowing slightly, holding out her hand.

Finally, someone willing to talk to me—sniff sniff... Shen Miaomiao almost cried tears of joy.

She quickly stood up and shook Tian Tian’s hand.

“Oh! Of course!”

The chat erupted in excitement—

“Wuhu! Boss Shen’s here!”

“Boss Shen’s hair is super tame today!”

“LOL, imagine pairing a Chanel-style blazer with twin buns—too wild.”

“Not impossible, though.”

“Boss Shen is adorable.”

“Thank you, Ms. Shen,” Tian Tian smiled.

“I noticed that Golden Wind is participating in the medium-scale game category, right? Could you give us a rough estimate of the investment for your entry?”

“Sure!” Shen Miaomiao grinned, nodding.

“As everyone knows, Golden Wind is still a fledgling company. Unlike the big players, we can’t casually throw around hundreds of millions.

So this time, we barely scraped together 50 million—just enough to meet the minimum threshold and squeeze into the medium-scale group.”

“Oh—still, that’s quite impressive,” Tian Tian praised with a smile.

“After all, Golden Wind hasn’t been around long, and making it into the Asia DevCon is already an industry legend. I believe Golden Wind will keep soaring higher and higher.”

Shen Miaomiao’s smile twitched, a bit forced.

“Hehe, thank you for your kind words.”

Without noticing her awkward expression, Tian Tian pressed on:

“We also know that under your leadership, Golden Wind has always been known for its creative spirit, winning over countless players.

So this time—what kind of game are you bringing to the players?”

At that, Shen Miaomiao’s eyes lit up.

Now this was a question she could answer!

She hadn’t seen Gu Sheng’s concept draft, nor did she know the game’s core mechanics.

But she couldn’t just tell the media, “Oh, we made a silly cooking game where players cook stir-fry dishes.”

So, clever as ever, Shen Miaomiao spun it around:

“This time, we’re bringing... a game that will satisfy every player’s taste buds! A creation that will present the gaming world with a true Manchu-Han Banquet!”

Cooking, stir-frying—

Isn’t that just satisfying taste buds and serving up a True Manchu-Han Banquet (in the literal sense)?

Whoa!!!

Tian Tian’s body visibly shivered in excitement.

That sounded so epic!

Could it be that Golden Wind had been secretly working on a major surprise?

But before she could ask further, the stage announcer’s voice boomed out:

“Ladies and gentlemen, developer representatives and outstanding designers, honored guests and media friends,

please take your seats.

Our conference is about to begin...”

Hearing this, Tian Tian had no choice but to pause the interview:

“Alright, thank you, Ms. Shen. We’ll end the interview here for now. I’m looking forward to the showcase later to see Golden Wind’s game in action.”

The two shook hands again, wrapping up the interview.

Shen Miaomiao sat back down, secretly amused.

Let’s see how it all plays out.

Not that she was expecting much from the game itself.

After all, it was just a cooking game—no matter how flashy, it was basically like Little Master Chef with sparkly food.

What she was excited for... was the look on the other devs’ faces once the game was revealed.

Watching those shocked, bewildered expressions in the middle of this grand Asia DevCon—that was going to be priceless.

As she thought about it, the lights in the venue dimmed.

The 6th Asia Esports Game Developers Conference officially kicked off amidst thunderous applause!

First, Jiang Yingcai, representing the organizing committee, took the stage for the opening speech.

Then, last year’s Crown Award-winning developer went up, giving a speech and ceremoniously returning the Asia Best Esports Game Crown and Asia Best Esports Game Designer Scepter to the committee.

It was tradition at the Asia DevCon:

The crown and scepter weren’t permanent trophies.

Winners got to keep them for four years, after which the committee would produce a 1:1 replica for them to keep as a souvenir, while the originals were returned.

After the handover, it was time for the moment everyone had been waiting for—the Game Showcase Segment.

According to the rules, the ten games eligible for the Crown would take the stage one by one.

The designer or company rep would introduce the investment amount, game genre, and core gameplay—essentially a pre-launch showcase.

After that, 200 gaming media outlets and 500 invited guests would cast anonymous votes for the Most Anticipated Game Award, which would be presented at the closing ceremony.

Once the host finished explaining the rules, the venue erupted in applause.

One by one, the developers took the stage.

As expected for an esports dev conference, the games were mostly shooters, racing games, sports games, MOBAs, and card games.

Among them, the one that received the loudest applause was Sunfire Legacy, an FPS game from Kintaku Games of Korea, presented by lead designer Park Dongwang.

It was a modern warfare-themed multiplayer shooter, and what really wowed the crowd was its unique 20-Player Free-for-All Weapon Roulette Mode.

In this mode, everyone fought solo—

Every kill earned experience points.

But once you ranked up... your weapon actually downgraded!

Each level-up dropped you down the weapon tiers: from assault rifles, to SMGs, to sniper rifles, pistols, and finally... the knife!

Every upgrade was a fresh challenge for your skills.

The first player to score a kill with the knife would be crowned the winner.

This fresh and exciting concept instantly sparked a buzz among the audience.

The venue erupted in whispered discussions, amazed gasps, and excited chatter from the media, players, and even other developers—