novelODS Chapter 136: Are sales figures important?
Chapter 136: Are sales figures important?
Chapter 136: Are sales figures important?
In some ways, Sid Meier was even more extreme than Will Wright in many ways.
Rather than artists, these two are more like stereotypical STEM guys when it comes to game design.
It extracts the most essential and interesting parts from a series of otherwise complex and obscure real-world systems and presents them to players.
Although there are obvious differences between the two in their designs.
Sid Meier would never have made a completely open-world sandbox game like SimCity.
But in essence, the two are highly similar.
"Snap"
Bill heard the sound of something falling to the ground behind him.
Then came hurried footsteps.
He looked back in confusion and saw his brother running wildly toward the door.
Bill then remembered to look at the business card in his hand.
[GAMENOVA Chairman - Lin Lixin]
"?!"
'
"Mr. Lin, it's quite a coincidence, we were just playing Gamenova's new game, SimCity."
The two men led Lin Lixin to the PC and showed him the city, which was not large but had already been built in a very respectable way.
Lin Lixin could tell at a glance that Sid Meier was seriously experiencing the game.
This is a well-functioning city.
The income wasn't too high, but it was steady and strong, continuously providing him with the funds needed for expansion.
"Wow, that's impressive. I restarted the game five times during the trial. This game is actually quite difficult."
Lin Lixin was somewhat surprised.
The original SimCity did not make as many adjustments for casual players as later versions.
Or rather, most games of this era are not simple things at all.
Even with some tweaks to the details and improvements to the disaster system, this game is still no simpler than Fire Emblem.
"As expected of Mr. Lin's work, it is as ingenious as ever, yet surprisingly fun."
Sid Meier really likes this kind of fun based on logic and absolute rationality, which fits his design philosophy.
"Strictly speaking, this was actually designed by another developer at GAMENOVA. Believe me, you'll definitely have a lot in common."
Lin Lixin laughed heartily. These two developers, who were contemporaries in the same field of gaming history, never hesitated to praise each other in later interviews.
Will Wright's later designs were influenced by Sid Meier.
vice versa.
The seemingly insurmountable mountain in the SLG game genre, the immortal monument of Civilization, is inextricably linked to Will Wright and his SimCity series.
And their fates were strikingly similar.
Such interesting IPs naturally cannot escape the eyes of capital.
Microprose was acquired during a period of business downturn, and after several changes of ownership, it finally fell into the hands of Hasbro in 98 and officially closed down in 03.
Although Sid Meier later rebuilt a new studio called Firais, it also lost its most golden decade of seizing the initiative.
Even in later generations, Firais was merely a developer of 2K games under Take-Two.
"I wonder if Mr. Sid Meier would be interested in continuing your creative work at GAMENOVA?"
"?"
Sid Meier never expected to hear such words and stood there stunned for a moment.
Join GAMENOVA?
This is an opportunity that countless game developers would dream of.
"Gamenova is definitely the greatest game company—but—"
Sid Meier spoke slowly, a polite smile on his face, "Microprose is my home, Mr. Lin. Only here can I freely develop the works I want."
Microprose was something he and Bill started in a small basement.
Just like those typical startups.
For Sid Meier, Microprose held extraordinary significance.
To put it bluntly, he is not short of money right now.
Although their works haven't reached the level of super blockbusters in the past two years, they have sold quite well and have long since made them financially independent.
For Sid Meier, making games is more like a way of realizing himself.
A free, independent studio is just what he needs.
Gamenova's greatness is also a constraint; the more it develops, the less it can focus on the games themselves like smaller companies like themselves.
What they need is a blockbuster game that sells well.
"Mr. Lin, if possible, we are willing to develop games for GAMENOVA. It would be our honor to become a third party for GAMENOVA."
Sid Meier doesn't want his ideas to be driven by capital.
Upon hearing his refusal, Lin Lixin remained silent for a moment.
Sid Meier is not Will Wright.
He is already in his thirties, which is the prime of his career.
For a gamer who has no shortage of money and no financial pressure, the greatest pleasure might be simply sitting in this office coding.
Lin Lixin approached Sid Meier's PC and gently picked up the packaging box.
"SimCity is indeed an excellent game."
He was talking about "SimCity," but his mind was actually on another game—"Civilization."
He even thought of famous works such as Hearts of Iron and Stars.
Are they fun?
That was so much fun, fucking so much fun!
That's a masterpiece that can truly keep players sitting in front of their computers all day long.
However, they all share the same problem.
It received critical acclaim but failed to attract large audiences.
"Electronic Games gave this game a very high score of 9 out of 10."
Sid Meier listened with a frown, not understanding what Lin Lixin was trying to say.
"But then—"
"Its sales had just surpassed 50 units before I boarded the plane and arrived here."
Although this game has only been released for a week, its performance is definitely at the bottom among GAMENOVA's titles.
It's worth noting that even a super hardcore game like Fire Emblem, with its incredibly high difficulty, has achieved a staggering million-level sales in Japan.
Not to mention a super hit like "Tetris" with tens of millions of copies sold.
"So little?"
Sid Meier didn't react much to the number, but Bill, who was in charge of their sales, immediately realized the problem.
This data is almost identical to some of the flight simulation games they produce.
If this were a game from an independent company, this achievement would definitely be considered outstanding.
But that's Game Nova; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it was a box office flop.
If we remove the hype brought by the GAMENOVA name, how much of its sales actually come from genuine casual buyers?
This number is definitely not good.
"Well, I'm not trying to play the victim or anything, I just want to say that game sales don't matter to me at all."
"ha?"
For a game company, game sales are irrelevant?
"I only have one requirement for games: they have to be fun!"
"In addition, I can fund the hardware barriers and help with technical difficulties."
"As long as it's interesting enough, I don't care even if it doesn't sell 10 copies."
Lin Lixin paused for a moment, then said, "To put it bluntly, GAMENOVA isn't short of money."
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