Lekox vs. Cruel Territories: The Fight of the Century That No One Expected
The console war? A thing of the past. The new great rivalry in the gaming industry involves two companies that no one thought would be fighting for the throne: Lekox, creator of the already established Lexstar RPG, and Cruel Territories, a Paraguayan developer that, against all odds, achieved an absurd success with Ryhy.
And what makes Ryhy special? Well… apparently, nothing.
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Ryhy: How a Nobody Sold 100 Million Copies
The protagonist of Ryhy is described as "a weak hero with a miraculous birth." In other words: a frail character, with no powers, no special abilities and who only survives by sheer force of will. In other words, the first time in history that a tutorial NPC became the protagonist and still managed to break sales records.
And you know what's most incredible? The audience loved it.
"Ryhy has no powers, but he has heart!" – Translation: You'll have a hard time beating this game.
"I never thought such a weak character could be so strong!" – Clearly an attempt at motivational poetry to justify the 300 hours spent grinding.
"This game changed my life." – Which doesn't say much, since most people nowadays consider changing skins to be "changing their lives."
With 100 million copies sold, Ryhy did what even Nintendo couldn't: sell a game that feels like a punishment and still make players feel grateful for it.
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Lekox's Reaction: "But How?!"
While Cruel Territories was rolling in money, Lekox started to wonder what the hell had just happened. After all, Lexstar RPG had incredible graphics, epic combats and a budget of millions. Ryhy? It had a protagonist who could barely open a jar of mayonnaise.
The sales drop was such a blow that Lekox went into crisis mode:
1. They announced an expansion for Lexstar RPG, but everyone only wanted to know about Ryhy.
2. They tried to create a "hardcore" mode for Lexstar, where the protagonist also started out weak... but no one thought it was funny.
3. They released a statement saying they were "happy for the competition", while secretly trying to figure out what made Ryhy so addictive.
What they didn't understand is that gamers are masochists. The more difficult, frustrating and absurd a game is, the greater the chance it will become a craze.
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The Future of Games: The More Suffering, the Better
Now, with Lekox and Cruel Territories at war, players can expect a tsunami of games where being a powerful hero is no longer fun. Soon, we'll see titles like:
Zé Ruela RPG: You start out with no food, no money and your only mission is to survive the rent.
Real Life Simulator: The game where you file a police report because someone stole your loot on the bus.
Dark Souls: Probationary Edition: Where your character fights to get a permanent contract at a company, with no guarantee of progression.
And so, while Lekox and Cruel Territories fight for the top, players continue to spend time and money to play stories that imitate real life, because apparently the idea of playing something where you are truly powerful has gone out of fashion.
In the end, the true moral of this rivalry is simple: the harder and more unfair the game, the more players will love it and defend it as if it were a close relative.