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This year's Infinite Realms Carnival was once again held in San Francisco. The event lasted three days: February 19th featured Media Day during daytime, followed by an opening ceremony at 6 PM. The next two days opened to the public, primarily featuring exhibitions, activities, and performances. The carnival concluded at 6 PM on February 21st with a closing ceremony.
As one of the exhibitors, the Stormwind Studios team arrived in San Francisco on February 14th. They immediately conducted an on-site inspection and began decorating their exhibition hall.
Exhibition halls for other developers also gradually started their setups. Due to trade secrets, each hall was initially enclosed—all construction work conducted in sealed environments.
Furthermore, the entire venue was currently closed. No outsiders allowed except exhibitors and relevant staff.
Alex arrived in San Francisco on the 18th. After landing, he went directly to the venue to check on the team's progress. After several days of work, the booth was mostly complete.
Stormwind's booth area was substantial—comparable to exhibition halls of top-tier developers like ET Games—and its location was excellent.
Worth noting: hall size and location weren't solely determined by money. They related to the invited developer's Infinite Realms performance over the past year, plus their content tier status.
Top-tier developers like ET naturally received premium treatment. As a rising star—currently the hottest developer having contributed multiple blockbuster hits—Stormwind also received preferential treatment from Infinite Realms corporate, given status rivaling ET Games.
The entire Stormwind exhibition hall was decorated with a sci-fi theme, incorporating elements from the Avengers and Fast & Furious franchises.
On the left side sat a 1:1 replica of a Dodge Charger—Dom's iconic vehicle. Next to it: a bright yellow Camaro, though this one bore custom Stormwind Automotive branding. This car was officially Bumblebee, protagonist of the new Transformers content, and also a sports car Stormwind's automotive division planned launching to market.
The right side featured 1:1 models of Avengers characters: Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Thor.
A massive glass display cabinet showcased dazzling merchandise from Avatar, Fast & Furious, Death Race, and Avengers—various lifelike collectible figures.
The hall also featured functional areas: reception zone, meeting area, game demo stations, backstage lounge. The entire space was bright and open, with the central position currently left empty.
According to the plan, this area would display character models of Optimus Prime and Bumblebee from Stormwind's upcoming Transformers release. Currently, staff members were assembling these two massive Transformer models from component parts. Once assembled, they'd be completely covered with black fabric, awaiting official unveiling after the carnival began.
"Mr. Morrison!"
"Mr. Morrison, you're here!" Staff members greeted Alex enthusiastically.
"Everyone's worked incredibly hard. Nathan, make sure to take everyone out for a nice dinner tonight!" Alex said with a smile.
"Thanks, Mr. Morrison!" Everyone laughed happily.
Nathan smiled and nodded, continuing his work report: "Danny's performance group arrives this afternoon for on-site rehearsal. Mr. Downey arrives at the venue 9 AM on the 20th..."
Alex had directly contracted Danny's idol group as promotional talent for the event.
After touring the exhibition hall and sitting in the lounge briefly, discussing the next few days' schedule with Nathan, he left the venue.
On the way back to the hotel, Alex called Morgan to arrange picking her up tomorrow.
Morgan wasn't coming for the Infinite Realms Carnival specifically, but because Jake and Danny would also be attending, the friend group planned reuniting in San Francisco to spend time together.
"Okay, see you tomorrow!" Alex had just hung up when he suddenly received a call from Emma Worthington.
Alex was somewhat puzzled—he didn't have much contact with Emma. Why would she suddenly call? Mind full of questions, Alex answered.
"Alex, it's Emma. Is your company participating in the Infinite Realms Carnival?" Emma asked.
"Yeah, how'd you know? Have you started following gaming?" Alex said with a smile. He remembered Emma saying she didn't particularly enjoy games. Had she gotten into them?
"Hehe, I saw on your company's website that Robert Downey Jr. will be attending. I'm a huge fan!" Emma said.
"Oh, I thought you'd started gaming?" Alex understood. This wasn't surprising—the success of Iron Man in film had gained RDJ massive fanbases.
Moreover, according to official statistics, Iron Man had enormous female viewership, which was also why the Avengers content had many female players.
"I AM gaming now! Started because of Iron Man, and now I'm totally into the Avengers!" Emma laughed. "Oh, by the way, are you short-staffed? I can come help out!"
"Haha, I can't afford hiring you. If you want to meet Robert Downey Jr., just come over—I'll introduce you!" Alex knew Emma's real motivation and didn't beat around the bush.
"That's amazing! Thank you! I'll treat you to dinner then!" Emma was delighted.
That afternoon, Danny had already arrived in San Francisco with his idol group. The group's managers took them directly to the venue to coordinate with Nathan, while Danny and Jake went to find Alex to hang out.
Media Day – February 19th, 10 AM
The Infinite Realms Carnival exhibition officially opened to media. Press from around the world flooded the venue.
By now, all exhibition halls were fully set up and open. Media professionals could freely visit various halls to photograph, film, and interview on-site staff.
However, as media professionals, their first priority would undoubtedly be the most-watched developers or most-anticipated content. They'd grab first-hand photos and footage, release immediately—news timeliness meant traffic and clicks.
So after entering the venue, most media professionals almost unanimously rushed toward the same destination: the Stormwind Studios exhibition hall.
Of course, many dispersed to other major companies' halls, but compared to Stormwind's, they seemed relatively deserted.
In contrast, Stormwind's hall was absolutely buzzing. Massive numbers of reporters and media personnel swarmed in, cameras and video equipment flashing wildly, lights nearly blinding.
Stormwind Studios was undoubtedly the hottest developer on the entire Infinite Realms platform, most-watched by players globally. Their next release was what audiences most wanted to know about, most anticipated.
So these media professionals all hoped to find answers from the exhibition hall setup. But to their disappointment, they hadn't found what they were looking for.
"There! It must be there! What's hidden under that black fabric must be about the next release!"
"Exactly! There must be character models inside. Something that tall has to be Gundam, no question!"
"Yeah, definitely Gundam. Stormwind's next project is absolutely Mobile Suit Gundam!" Several reporters spoke simultaneously, eyes fixed on the enormous objects covered by huge black tarps.
The objects were very tall, occupied the central position, and were cordoned off by staff prohibiting approach.
So it was conceivable that the secret they wanted to know was hidden underneath.
What they didn't realize: they were completely wrong.
The reveal would shock everyone.
PLZ THROW POWERSTONES.