Chen Xu remained as steady as Mount Tai. When it came to the topic of guiding online players, he is a master of it and he decided to wait patiently to time his entry point. After all, he had a clear view of the relevant data for Dark Souls.
However, many designers in the gaming industry who had been closely observing Neon Games lacked access to this data. They could only evaluate the quality of the game based on online player reviews and the surface-level content of Dark Souls.
A burst of mixed emotions filled the air among industry professionals.
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"Sure enough, although Chen Xu has been a legend in independent games, this is the first time stepping into large-scale development. It seems he's struggling a bit!"
"It's not fair to say there are no issues. The art design is commendable, and the combat system is decent. As for the story, it's unclear for now, but the world-building doesn't seem bad. The main problem lies in the game's balance."
"Exactly! The graphics and art quality are top-notch, but the difficulty is way too high."
"It's more than that! The level design and user experience are also concerns. No minimap? No adjustable difficulty? Chen Xu is being too stubborn this time."
"The player rating for Dark Souls has dropped to 8.3. Compared to his earlier works, the gap is huge!"
"This is the lowest score Chen Xu has ever received, right?"
"Looks like he's hit a rough patch. Considering the promotion budget and production cost for Dark Souls, this must hurt."
Another designer chimed in with a different perspective:
"Actually, the primary issues are the difficulty and the lack of polish in some details. If Chen Xu lowers the difficulty later and offers an easier mode, it might bounce back."
"True, but it feels like he's already a step behind."
For many in the industry, this outcome sparked reflection.
"I bet some game developers who released titles at the same time are relieved now. They probably feared Dark Souls would dominate the market with its massive hype, but it seems to have stumbled instead."
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The attention on Dark Souls from game designers was immense. Neon Games' earlier projects, though low-cost, had all been smashing successes. Being the studio's first major AAA project, Dark Souls naturally became a focal point for discussion.
Yet, its polarizing reception left many speculating whether it might fall short of expectations.
Meanwhile, some major players in the industry, including Tenghua and NetDragon, had announced the release of their VR masterpieces for early and mid-December. This timing indicated fierce competition ahead.
Neon Games, though not a large-scale developer, had built a reputation with its previous indie hits and the high-profile promotion of Dark Souls. As a result, many studios had been cautious about launching their games alongside it. No one wanted their hard work overshadowed if Dark Souls turned out to be another masterpiece.
However, the game's mixed performance gave these developers a chance to reassess their strategies.
Eagle Entertainment, a prominent domestic developer specializing in ARPG and ACT genres, was among those carefully observing the unfolding situation.
Li Xiang, the chief designer and director, has also been paying attention to Dark Soul. This is because their new ARPG Dawn of the Mind, led by Li Xiang himself, will be released soon.
Unlike some game makers who specifically avoided Dark Souls, the team announced the game's release date in advance—just two weeks after Dark Souls's launch. However, there are still points of disagreement within the company about whether to delay the release. After all, if Dark Soul proves to be truly excellent, and considering that it is also an ARPG, it could overshadow Dawn of the Mind and affect subsequent sales.
The situation, however, should be clearer now.
For the first time, Li Xiang personally bought Dark Soul and experienced it seriously. After playing, Li Xiang was completely shocked. Much like the players who complained about the game's difficulty online, Li Xiang quit the game after encountering the relentless challenges posed by Ash Guda and the Crystal Lizard.
The overwhelming feeling was one of doubt—Is there really no problem with the difficulty of this game?
When Chen Xu developed Dark Soul, did the design values go wrong? This is an ARPG, and while it may be action-heavy, the difficulty is way too exaggerated, right? Especially after researching the game online, Li Xiang learned that the later parts of the game were even more filled with malicious traps, and the earlier content was just a warm-up.
At this moment, Li Xiang felt completely confused.
By studying the design of Dark Soul, Li Xiang could somewhat guess Chen Xu's intentions. The goal seemed to be to create a relatively hardcore ARPG. This made Li Xiang think that Dark Soul would likely be a niche game with limited popularity.
Based on evaluations from online players, it seems this prediction is correct.
So, there's no more hesitation. Initially worried that Dark Soul might become a hugely popular project and cause issues, Li Xiang realized that with the right timing, location, and team, it would be a missed opportunity not to take advantage of this momentum.
Soon after, Li Xiang made a decision, and Dawn of the Mind began high-profile publicity efforts.
Not only Eagle Entertainment but also several games originally planned for release during this time have started their warm-up promotions due to the overwhelming publicity momentum of Dark Souls.
After all, there will be two huge releases in December. Although they are for the VR platform, they will definitely have a significant impact on the PC platform as well.
From the feedback of players about Dark Souls, it's clear that the game is a wolf in sheep's clothing. The early-stage propaganda seemed fierce, but once the game was released, the reality was underwhelming.
When the game goes live, it's expected that the reputation will worsen further.
In Neon Games, Chen Xu and Zhang Yi discussed the popularity of Dark Souls's follow-up.
Ruan Ningxue and Yang Xin, who had been closely monitoring the game data, made an exciting discovery.
They noticed that the player reviews of Dark Souls seemed to be gradually turning around. While many angry players still left low scores and complained about the difficulty of the game on forums, Ruan Ningxue and Yang Xin were thrilled to find that, based on Neon Game's backend data, many players who had given low scores initially didn't quit. Instead, they kept playing, with some sessions lasting over 12 hours.
Additionally, a number of these players revised their previous low scores. In the official community forum, they also spoke out, changing their attitudes and praising Dark Souls.
This shift in sentiment made them both happy but also somewhat puzzled.
What had caused this change in the players' views? Had President Chen cast a spell on them?