Plants vs Zombies' sales had completely exploded. Again, skyrocketing at an incredibly bizarre speed.
Sales growth even exceeded the first few days after release.
This situation was completely unprecedented and utterly surreal.
Alto wasn't surprised by this at all. In fact, he had to thank Reggie Trading Company for their ridiculous series of moves.
He'd been worried about how to increase Plants vs Zombies' influence.
After all, there was no internet.
No matter how excellent your work was, what good was it if people didn't know about it?
Heroes vs Dragons' appearance not only failed to impact Plants vs Zombies' core player base...
But indirectly helped expand its market.
Ultimately, those who played Heroes vs Dragons all switched to Plants vs Zombies.
During this period, Alto suddenly received a letter, from his sister Aisha, no less.
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Dear Alto, I'm about to undertake a special mission. I probably won't be home for a while, but don't worry about me!
-Aisha
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Not seeing Aisha for so long genuinely bugged Alto.
After that brief meeting after he transmigrated, he hadn't seen her again.
He originally wanted to surprise her, looks like he'd have to wait now.
Just like that, three months passed.
Plants vs Zombies' final sales data was released.
5.37 million copies.
Joseph had long since been released and was now happily reporting the good news to Alto like an excited child.
With Plants vs Zombies selling out, as the agent who'd discovered this work, he naturally received massive benefits.
Also, 5 million+ sales is anything but low. The entire Moon Elf population was only about 50 to 60 million.
What does that mean?
Roughly 10% of the entire Moon elf population has purchased Plants vs Zombies.
Additionally, in this current era of high work pressure...
Many older elves rarely entered the Dreamscape anymore.
Firstly, because of the formulaic routines.
Secondly, because of real-world responsibilities.
Though entering dream worlds had some sleep-substitute effects, as everyone knows, frequent dreaming prevents good sleep. You can't enter a deep sleep, and you wake up in the morning exhausted.
Daytime work pressure was already huge. Not resting well at night on top of that, many people's bodies couldn't handle it.
This was also the current dilemma in in spreading the word of the Moon Goddess.
"Sir Alto, this is the complete final payment for the Plants vs Zombies sales!"
Joseph solemnly handed Alto a magic crystal card.
Including previous payments, the total came to 48.33 million Baileys.
This was incredible, even some of the major merchant companies' annual net profits weren't this high!
One can imagine what an enormous fortune this was.
Saint Oros Trading Company had also made a killing through this partnership.
"Sir Alto, I wonder if you have plans to create new works next?"
"You may not be aware, but many players are already eagerly anticipating your next release!"
Joseph spoke very politely. Though Alto was just a rookie designer...
He kept calling him "Sir" repeatedly.
Though that wasn't surprising. Plants vs Zombies' terrifying sales seemed ridiculous even to many long-established designers.
He was practically a living cash cow.
Joseph wanted nothing more than to put Alto on a pedestal right now.
Alto had also leveraged his massive player base to break through to Tier 2.
At this point, Stardew Valley's development was basically complete, but many side quests weren't finished yet. He still needed time for debugging.
He spent the better part of 2 months just debugging already.
The main reason was this realistic first-person perspective required filling in extremely numerous details, far beyond what the shortcut-taking Plants vs Zombies could compare to.
And this was just a small Stardew Valley.
If he made AAA titles later, he'd need way more time.
He was already considering whether to hire some assistants.
"I already have new ideas."
He brought Joseph into his dream world.
Simply demonstrating Stardew Valley, still in its testing phase.
"Excellent, Sir Alto! When do you plan to release this new work?"
Joseph was overjoyed! He hastily inquired.
"No rush for that. I still need to refine a few things."
"However, we can enter the promotional phase now."
After he took more time to consider this time around, he didn't plan to put all his eggs in one basket anymore. Instead, he planned to spread out immensely. Relying solely on Saint Oros Trading Company was far from enough.
So he was upfront with Joseph.
However, since he currently didn't even have an assistant and was truly loaded beyond capacity...
He directly adopted a bundled agency approach.
He'd only interface with Saint Oros Trading Company.
Other merchant companies wanting to negotiate partnerships would deal directly with Saint Oros Trading Company.
He'd just take a 50-50 profit split.
As for how other merchants split revenue with them, he wouldn't interfere.
After happily finalizing cooperation details, Joseph swiftly departed.
Soon...
Saint Oros Trading Company allied with major merchant companies to release news.
Sir Alto's new work, Stardew Valley, makes a stunning arrival!
Simultaneously, Stardew Valley posters and magical projections appeared at major shop entrances.
Three months pass.
Plants vs Zombies had long since entered a stable phase, with sales now gradually declining.
News of Alto's new work about to launch spread like wildfire.
As the Plants vs Zombies' designer, he'd now gained some fame.
Many following players heard this news and immediately started inquiring everywhere.
"Did you guys hear? Designer Alto's new work is about to drop!"
"What? The author of Plants vs Zombies?"
"Yeah, exactly!"
"What's Stardew Valley?"
"I wonder what kinda game it'll be this time, I'm so excited!!!!"
"Heard it's some kind of simulation management RPG game."
"What's simulation management? Like simulating commerce?"
"And RPG, what the heck is that? Never heard of it."
People hearing these unfamiliar terms were momentarily confused.
In this otherworldly nation, systematic game reviews and categorization weren't a thing yet.
And almost simultaneously...
New news arrived. Kane would release a new work in one month.
[Adventurers of Truffle Town]
As soon as the news dropped, it immediately sparked massive public debate
Master Kane was already a long-established master-level designer.
Previously, many of his works had sold massively throughout the entire Nation.
His sudden announcement naturally caused huge waves.
"Master Kane is actually making a comeback!"
"He didn't create something new in ages!"