Chapter 14: Mini-Game

"Kiana, we're getting backlash." Hearing Mei's gentle voice, Kiana stopped playing the game and looked up in surprise. "Huh? Why? Isn't the game fun? It can't be, right? I'm even addicted to it myself. Are we being targeted by other companies?" "Other gaming companies are definitely involved, but the main issue is that Astrea is a standard banner character. Keqing is too. Many players who like these two characters think it's too unfair to have them in the standard banner—it's nearly impossible to pull them. Right now, their popularity is on par with Venti, the Anemo Archon." "This level of backlash shouldn't be a big deal, right? I haven't seen many people giving us one-star reviews over this." Bronya, still focused on her game, said nonchalantly: "Bronya thinks our Genshin Impact is already generous enough. You can play it without spending a single penny, and Bronya has never seen a game like this before—we can't just not make any money, right? If we don't make money, we'll have to disband and go home to inherit our family businesses." "I think we're still in the early stages, so responding to players' wishes and building our reputation might be a good idea. How about we tell the players that we'll have rate-up banners for Astrea and Keqing in the future?" Hearing Mei's suggestion, Kiana stroked her chin thoughtfully, then suddenly her eyes lit up. "We can consider a rate-up banner for Astrea in a few years, but for now, let's hold off. We need money right now. Of course, we can't ignore our reputation either, so let's update the rules for the standard banner. After accumulating 300 wishes on the standard banner, players can choose any standard 5-star character. That should solve the problem, right?" "Hmm, that could work," Mei nodded after some thought, though she sighed. "As you said, we need to make money now. Developing the game is just the first step, and it's the most crucial part of our plan to accumulate funds. Making a C6 Astrea a whale's privilege might be a bit... but with other companies as a comparison, we probably won't get criticized too harshly, right?" After all, as Bronya said, compared to other gaming companies, they were already being overly generous. If it were any other company, would Primogems—a premium currency—be obtainable for free? Dream on! You have to pay to download the game, then pay again to buy in-game items, and if you don't spend money, you can't even progress—that's the norm in the gaming industry. So... yeah, let's be confident. With so many competitors to compare us to, we don't need to fear criticism. A company's reputation is entirely built on how it compares to its competitors! "Oh, I have another idea." Kiana put her phone down completely, as if struck by inspiration, and excitedly said: "Our Genshin Impact has a major flaw—its long downtime periods. Right now, it's fine because, without a beta test, all players are still exploring the new version. But exploration has its limits, and we can't release a new map every version for players to explore. So, in the future, players will inevitably feel bored, and clearing daily tasks will feel like clocking in for work. To avoid this, I think we should add a mini-game to Genshin Impact in the 1.2 version's event. This mini-game will keep players engaged even during downtime..." Then, Kiana enthusiastically began explaining the mini-game she wanted to add. After listening to all of Kiana's ideas, Bronya couldn't help but put her phone down and look at her in awe. "Where do these brilliant ideas of yours come from? You don't seem like the same idiot from before. Could it be that your talent really lies in game development?" "Heh, now you see how amazing I am." Kiana crossed her arms proudly, then suddenly realized something was off. "Who are you calling an idiot?!" Mei ignored their bickering, deep in thought. "Will this really work? Kiana, what you're suggesting isn't just a mini-game anymore. It could be a standalone game." "No, let's tie this mini-game to Genshin Impact. Only then can we maximize its value. Trust me." Kiana said with confidence: "By then, the value of the Genshin Impact IP will far exceed everyone's wildest imaginations. It will drive players around the world crazy." —Ye had no idea what was happening in the other world. He was calmly discussing the business he wanted to pursue with Ningguang. That business was the internet. What was the internet? The games that Earth players were playing now were internet games. This time, Ye planned to popularize the internet in Teyvat as well, and to further boost the popularity of Genshin Impact on Earth. Genshin Impact was indeed a very good game, already a top-tier contender in the gaming industry. Whether in terms of popularity, profitability, or IP value, it was exceptional in every way—but that didn't mean it was without flaws. The biggest flaw of Genshin Impact was its long downtime periods. After finishing exploration, daily gameplay felt like clocking in for work. It not only made players quit other games but could even make them quit Genshin Impact itself. So, how to solve this problem? Simple—add a mini-game inside Genshin Impact. This was the main reason Ye wanted to spread the internet this time. First, open internet cafes in all nations of Teyvat, then gradually sell computers to households. From the perspective of Earth players, these internet cafes would be accessible, allowing players to go online and play mini-games embedded in Genshin Impact, experiencing the wonderful feeling of playing a game within a game. Of course, for now, Ye only wanted to release one game... though one game would be enough. Huh? What game? This game was called Genshin Clash, a 5v5 competitive tower-pushing game where players could team up with others. How about that? Familiar? Doesn't it sound familiar? Wouldn't this mini-game keep players engaged in Genshin Impact even during downtime? Finished exploring the map? In a downtime period? No problem, play Genshin Clash. Isn't it fun to play a quick match when you're bored? Naturally, since this game was called Genshin Clash, the heroes would all be characters from Genshin Impact. Their backstories were already set, so there was no need to create new ones, and players would already be familiar with every hero's background. Whatever characters you had in Genshin Impact, you would unlock the corresponding heroes in this mini-game. Of course, embedding such a mini-game would significantly increase development complexity. The game's file size aside, designing a character now required designing two sets of skill mechanics—but to retain players and expand the IP's value, it was completely worth it. And this wasn't a problem for Ye, as he had already planned to use his popularity points with Bao'er to create this mini-game. Although he didn't have enough popularity points yet, it didn't matter. According to Ye's calculations, by the time the Liyue main storyline concluded, Astrea would have accumulated enough popularity for him. Then, in version 1.2, this mini-game would officially launch. Huh? Why version 1.2 and not 1.1? Of course, because Ye had learned through Bao'er that, unlike in his memories, Kiana—that sneaky planner—had postponed the release of the Liyue region and its Archon Quest to version 1.1. Given that, Genshin Clash would have to debut in version 1.2 as part of an event. Of course, these were all minor details. Just a side project. This trip to Inazuma was mainly for Ye to plan his official debut. After all, he couldn't wait until the Fontaine version to make his appearance, right? That was too far off. Clearly, the sooner he gained popularity, the better. However, he couldn't just show up randomly. Whether in the Mondstadt or Liyue storylines, his appearance as the Supreme Prelate of Fontaine wouldn't contribute much to gaining popularity. Instead, it would just disrupt the story and affect players' experience, as his power level was too high for these two nations' storylines. In the Mondstadt storyline, the protagonist was the Traveler. In the Liyue storyline, the protagonists were the people of Liyue. Having a character with power comparable to an Archon steal the spotlight in these storylines would obviously be inappropriate. So, in these two nations, Ye would simply remain in the background, making his presence known. On the other hand, Astrea, if handled well, could gain a lot of popularity in these two nations' storylines—Ye already had a plan for that. In any case, Ye had chosen Inazuma as the stage for his debut for a reason. So, he didn't stay in Liyue for too long. After discussing business with Ningguang, he used her connections to find Beidou, then boarded her ship and headed straight for Inazuma.