Chapter 38: Public Opinion Reversal! Final Preparations Before Launch!
Ever since the debut PV was released, Honkai Impact 3rd had faced a barrage of doubt, doom-posting, and sarcasm across the internet. On a certain well-known Q&A platform, Zhihu, the topic of Honkai Impact 3rd remained at the top of the trending lists.
"How should we view the recently viral Honkai Impact 3rd?"
The top-voted answer came from a game industry professional, an employee of Anti-Entropy Entertainment.
"Thanks for the invite. I've been in the gaming industry for ten years. Next, I will analyze why Honkai Impact 3rd is a scam from a professional's perspective."
The middle was full of technical jargon, but the conclusion was simple:
"In summary, the so-called Honkai Impact 3rd is merely a man-made hoax. It is highly likely that an actual test build doesn't even exist."
This high-voted answer had stayed at the top, garnering a massive wave of agreement and comments in a short time.
However.
At noon today, the official Honkai Impact 3rd account released a gameplay demonstration video right on time!
The "hand-cam" gameplay demo proved that it wasn't a pre-rendered 3D animation! The UI, music, animations, and overall polish were all exceptionally high! It had reached a realm that no other mobile game currently on the market could touch!
The cool and beautiful girls, the flashy and interesting combat styles, and the incredibly satisfying sense of impact... In an instant, it ignited the entire gaming community!
[I can't take it! I'll die if I don't have Honkai 3rd!]
[I told you so! You have to believe in God Su!]
[God Su? Which God Su? Speak clearly, person upstairs!]
[No way, do you really not know God Su? The producer of the recent Best Indie Game award-winner, Getting Over It—that's God Su!]
[Holy crap? The Getting Over It that's been viral everywhere? That game was insane!]
[Wait, I thought God Su's next work would continue with high difficulty; instead, he jumped into making a 3D action mobile game?]
[It's a work by God Su! If I'd known earlier, I definitely wouldn't have doubted it!]
With the globally viral Getting Over It, Su Mu had left a very deep impression on the gaming world. For an unknown newcomer to create a viral, high-selling game in one go naturally drew the attention of various industry forces.
Actually, many professionals had noticed before that the producer of Honkai Impact 3rd was Su Mu. But due to arrogance and prejudice, they all believed that a young producer like Su Mu, attempting to challenge a high-difficulty 3D action mobile game, was simply seeking his own destruction!
However, they never expected Su Mu to deliver such a heavy blow. The moment the gameplay demo appeared, anyone with eyes could see... Next, the explosion of Honkai Impact 3rd's popularity would be unstoppable!
In fact, during this period, Honkai Impact 3rd had been at the center of the storm. With such massive hype, people were bound to stand on their high horses and criticize it to grab public attention and drive traffic to themselves.
Yet, once the gameplay demo surfaced, everyone understood—all their previous doom-posting, criticism, and sarcasm had merely paved the way for Honkai Impact 3rd!
It was precisely because they had spared no effort in setting "rhythms" and hiring internet trolls that, when the gameplay demo finally arrived, it pushed the game's popularity to an unprecedented height!
Meanwhile, inside miHoYo.
Carole stared at the total reversal of Honkai Impact 3rd's reputation within a single day. Looking at the spine-chilling popularity and data, she couldn't help but cheer out loud!
"Let's see who dares to look down on us now! Strength! We have the power! Where are the haters? Speak up! Speak up!"
Carole shouted in her excitement, but not a single person stopped her. Lately, everyone in the Honkai 3rd project team under Phantom Iron Studio had been holding their breath. Now that the game's reputation had completely flipped, they could finally hold their heads high!
Watching her employees' excited faces, Bronya was naturally swept up in the emotion. Finally! All the doubts had vanished like smoke... In one move, Honkai Impact 3rd had slapped the faces of every skeptic!
"Su Mu, did you... anticipate this from the beginning?" Bronya turned to look at Su Mu as if she had realized something.
Su Mu laughed. "Impossible. I'm not a fortuneteller, right?"
Although Su Mu brushed it off with a half-joking tone, Bronya had spent enough time with him to know that this man never fought a battle he wasn't prepared for. This guy must have anticipated the internet-wide denunciation of Honkai 3rd and deliberately delayed the gameplay demo just to ride the wave of traffic!
Without a doubt, Su Mu had perfectly exploited the psychology of netizens to raise the game's hype to a level never seen before.
"I know everyone is excited, but we can't relax just yet." Su Mu clapped his hands to quiet the room.
The noisy office instantly fell silent. The employees looked at their Director with excitement, waiting for him to speak. Beside him, Bronya's gaze held a trace of admiration. Su Mu was truly amazing. To be able to silence the entire project team in an instant showed just what kind of prestige he held in the hearts of the employees.
"At 10:00 AM the day after tomorrow, our game Honkai Impact 3rd will officially launch. On that day, we will prove ourselves to the entire world!"
"I've seen how hard everyone has worked during this time. Because of that, we must not slack off for even a second before the coming dawn!"
"Group A: responsible for checking the server status. Prepare backup servers and be ready for the traffic surge at launch!"
"Group B: responsible for network security. Don't let any bad actors find a way in on launch day!"
"Group C: responsible for the final check on channel advertisements to ensure everything is perfect!"
As Su Mu issued his orders, the entire project team began working in an orderly fashion.
"And Group D!" Su Mu took a deep breath and looked at the "Post-Honkai" trio led by Carole. "Your job is to drag President Kiana into the streaming room by 10:00 AM the day after tomorrow. She's definitely going to oversleep! This is a tough mission—can you do it?"
Carole instantly snapped to attention!
"Yes, Sir! Mission guaranteed!"
END OF CHAPTER
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