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Brandon Sterling couldn't post publicly—not after the Death Race humiliation. But he couldn't resist lurking on social media, scrolling through comments about the Avengers.
He was particularly thrilled by the critical and skeptical takes. Each negative comment felt like validation.
One comment especially killed him:
"Is Captain America seriously gonna block alien aircraft and energy weapons with just a SHIELD? Does Hawkeye think he's some mythical archer god? And that big green dude—isn't he worried his shorts will explode off and he'll be running around naked?"
Brandon nearly choked laughing. Finally, unable to suppress his agreement, he accidentally hit the like button.
Oops.
Someone with an agenda immediately noticed, screenshot it, and posted it publicly. Media outlets seized the opportunity to stir up drama again.
Sensationalist articles appeared everywhere, practically fanning the flames.
But this time, because the Avengers genuinely had polarizing reactions, public opinion balanced out. Nobody particularly cared what Brandon Sterling thought anymore.
Alex naturally had even less time to worry about what Brandon was saying. He'd heard about the player discussions from Nathan, but honestly? This wasn't his first rodeo. Fast & Furious had faced skepticism before launch too.
Alex remained completely confident in the Avengers IP. As for the game content quality, there was nothing to worry about. Once the game went live and players actually experienced the Marvel Universe's structure and became familiar with the characters, all doubts would resolve themselves.
"Has the promotional trailer been released?" Alex asked.
"Just passed review and went live," Nathan confirmed. "Currently all planned advertisements have launched sequentially. The Avengers game submits for final approval today and goes live tomorrow at 8 AM. Film promotion has also commenced in full—tomorrow you should see ads in major international media outlets. Premieres are scheduled domestically and internationally on the 15th of this month."
"Perfect. Everything rides on tomorrow's market response." Alex nodded. Despite his confidence, he felt genuine nervousness and excitement. His favorite IP from his previous life was about to be introduced to audiences and players in this world. He was deeply looking forward to it, hoping people would love it as much as he did.
ET Games Headquarters – Los Angeles
A room full of middle and senior management, game designers, planners, and creative directors gathered for a meeting.
The subject: the promotional posters for Stormwind Studios' latest game, The Avengers.
ET Games was currently recognized as a top-tier gaming company, but the founders understood they'd once been small—much like Stormwind in its early days.
They'd grown into a globally renowned powerhouse, but truthfully? After MechWarrior, they hadn't produced any work that surpassed it. They'd been coasting on reputation.
Looking back at their predecessors—once-dominant companies now declining, even getting trampled by ET itself—made them realize a harsh truth: if they didn't create more excellent IPs, or IPs that surpassed MechWarrior, they'd face the same fate.
As the saying goes: prepare for danger in times of peace. To ensure long-term survival, they needed to stay keenly aware of market changes, understand new trends, learn and adapt.
Otherwise, even their copycat strategy wouldn't catch the first wave of profits. How would they continue thriving?
Therefore, studying competitors, understanding players, and grasping market shifts were fundamental to healthy development.
A year ago, Stormwind Studios wouldn't have registered on their radar. Even after losing to Avatar in the New World Competition, they'd dismissed it.
But then Stormwind had created two more explosive racing hits. Their reputation had skyrocketed to rival ET's own. So now they had to take this competitor seriously—study their work, especially new releases.
"What are your thoughts on Stormwind's new game—The Avengers? Speak freely, even though we only have these posters to analyze," said CEO Billy Newell.
Silence stretched uncomfortably. Nobody wanted to speak first.
Billy had no choice but to call on someone directly. "Chris, you start."
Chris Donovan—ET's brilliant designer—leaned back thoughtfully.
"From available information, this game likely integrates characters from different timelines, similar to Infinite Realms' world structure. Even includes mythical Asgard. The concept is interesting, but integration like this severely tests the writers' skill. You need logical consistency, a self-coherent framework. Otherwise it's just... chaos."
He gestured at the posters.
"Judging from these images... at least for someone with a rigorous mindset like me, just seeing these characters together seems very... amusing."
Chris wasn't being arrogant—he was genuinely blunt in his assessments.
His words brought slight smiles to everyone's faces. The atmosphere eased considerably. If Chris had opened with that kind of criticism, they could speak freely.
"I completely agree with Chris's take," Mike Pierce added. "These colorful character outfits remind me of Saturday morning cartoons and circus clowns."
Everyone laughed louder.
"The art design is questionable, especially this Tony Stark character. That's supposed to be his combat mech? Looks more like decorative armor. Who wears something that FLASHY into battle against an alien invasion? You're basically a giant glowing target!"
"The character designs scream individualism, very Hollywood-esque aesthetic."
"Alright, everyone stop." Billy Newell interrupted firmly. He could see the analysis was getting prejudiced, which he understood. Everyone present was a top figure in their field with natural arrogance. Maintaining objectivity when analyzing competitors' work was genuinely difficult.
But that's exactly why he'd called this meeting. He needed to teach them to find strengths in competitors' work so they could improve themselves.
"This isn't a meeting to pick apart flaws. We shouldn't view this game with prejudice. I want objective analysis here."
He pulled up the posters on the main screen.
"First: this is positioned as an immersive role-playing experience. These characters are clearly the protagonists. We can't analyze the plot yet, only character design."
Billy zoomed in on each character.
"The issues you mentioned—bright colors, flamboyant appearance—might actually be strengths. Yes, their attire is vibrant: the billionaire in red and gold armor, Captain America in red, white and blue matching the American flag, the green-skinned radiation mutant. But doesn't that instantly increase character distinctiveness and memorability?"
He gestured emphatically.
"The colors align with character concepts. One glance and you clearly remember each character—their personalities, their labels, their roles—without needing to carefully distinguish them."
Billy advanced to the next slide showing comic book character designs.
"This method of using bold colors to differentiate characters is standard in comic books and animation. I think this is Morrison's deliberate design philosophy."
The room went quiet as everyone processed this perspective. Several designers' expressions shifted, eyes brightening with realization.
They'd failed to see the deeper strategic thinking due to their own prejudice and assumptions.
"Morrison isn't making a mistake with these designs," Billy continued. "He's applying principles from a completely different visual medium. And if it works—if players DO remember these characters instantly, form emotional connections faster—then he's actually innovating character design in gaming."
Chris Donovan nodded slowly, reassessing the posters with fresh eyes. "That's... actually really smart."
"Exactly," Billy said. "So let's analyze what Morrison is actually trying to achieve, not what we think he should be doing. That's how we stay competitive."
The meeting's tone had completely shifted from mockery to genuine strategic analysis.
Meanwhile, Alex was blissfully unaware of ET's internal discussions, focused entirely on tomorrow's launch.
Plz Throw Powerstones.