ROSGT Chapter 164: The Correct Way to Play Fighting Games
### Volume 1, Chapter 164: The Correct Way to Play Fighting Games
At noon, both Street Fighter II and Goddess of Sirius went live simultaneously.
The online discussion about Street Fighter quickly reached a boiling point. As a sequel to Street Fighter, Street Fighter II naturally attracted a significant number of game enthusiasts. After all, Street Fighter I was Ye Chui's first arcade fighting game, carrying immense significance. To date, the sales of Street Fighter I had reached an impressive 2.4 million units, a staggering number.
Though subsequent games developed by Ye Chui, such as Double Dragon, Art of Fighting, and Fatal Fury, also achieved great success, they couldn't surpass the remarkable heights of the first game.
Some people had even conducted statistics, showing that the weekly game releases by Ye Chui had started to cause fatigue among his fans, leading to a gradual decline in game sales.
Of course, Ye Chui saw this decline as completely normal. After all, no matter how much one loves a particular genre of game, they can get tired of it over time. However, many so-called experts did not see it this way. They believed that Professor Ye's peak period was coming to an end. Although this opinion was in the minority online, it did exist.
Zhang Xing enjoyed keeping an eye on such information.
"It's already one o'clock," Zhang Xing looked at the time, a hint of anticipation on his lips. He logged into Ye Chui's game store to check the sales figures for the past hour. "Street Fighter II sold 220,000 units in the first hour! Last week's Art of Fighting barely reached 200,000. This sequel has seen a sales boost, but the final sales will probably just exceed one million."
This achievement was enviable. However, compared to Ye Chui's other games, it was merely maintaining the standard.
Zhang Xing then checked the sales of Goddess of Sirius. Soon, a look of surprise appeared on his face: "It sold 120,000 units in the first hour?"
To Zhang Xing, this performance was even more impressive than that of Street Fighter II! The previous game, Goddess of Sirius, had sold 80,000 units in the first hour, eventually reaching over 300,000 in total. By that ratio, the new game could surpass 500,000 units in sales!
"He actually called it right!" Zhang Xing rubbed his chin, contemplating certain matters. After a moment, he made a decision, opened his portable Optical Brain, and dialed a contact.
The call was quickly answered on the other end.
"Mr. Wu..." Zhang Xing smiled as he spoke to Wu Haotian. "Did you have lunch? Want to join me for a meal?"
...
Whenever Ye Chui released a new game, it always sparked a wave of online discussions. On Qiandu search engine, terms like Professor Ye, Wolverine Game Studio, and the names of Ye Chui's new games would quickly surge into the top ten, sometimes even reaching the top spot. Videos related to the new games would instantly become popular on the largest domestic video site, Kuyou Video, with their views far surpassing others.
In the whole of Huaxia, only Ye Chui could create such an effect. The media's title for him as the "miracle creator" was well deserved.
Today, the center of online discussion was Street Fighter II.
"Professor Ye's new game is really good. It feels a bit different from his previous games, but I can't quite put my finger on what's different."
"Yeah, Street Fighter II's character controls seem better than Street Fighter I, but mastering the characters' fighting techniques isn't easy."
"I agree, Street Fighter II is fun. But have you guys noticed that Sea Breeze Company's Goddess of Sirius is also excellent?"
"Goddess of Sirius is indeed good!"
"I like both games!"
"I prefer Street Fighter II a bit more, but Goddess of Sirius is also decent."
Seeing these comments, Ye Chui knew that Wu Haotian's promotion had been very successful. At the very least, he had managed to associate the name Goddess of Sirius with Street Fighter II, gaining a lot of visibility, whether it was positive or negative.
Ye Chui read various comments online, something he always did after releasing a new game. By examining the feedback, he could understand players' attitudes and make improvements accordingly.
With the new game released, Ye Chui gave the studio a half-day off. They had planned to go out together, but everyone seemed more interested in staying in the studio, either playing games or surfing the internet.
After reading the comments for a while, Ye Chui decided to get back to his own work—drawing storyboard sketches for his manga or working on game settings.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, Fang Xi suddenly received a communication request. After connecting, his expression turned quite grim. Before he could respond, the other party abruptly ended the call, leaving Fang Xi fuming as he jumped up from his desk, cursing loudly.
"What happened?" Fang Nan asked, startled.
"It was Zhang Xing!" Fang Xi said angrily. "He just told me he's terminating our arcade partnership!"
"What?"
Hearing this, Ye Chui was taken aback. Terminating the partnership?
He frowned and asked, "Why?"
"He contacted me just now and directly said he's terminating the contract. He mentioned paying the penalty as per the agreement and then ended the call. How should I know his reason?" Fang Xi replied, clearly upset.
Ye Chui felt a surge of anger. Although he didn't care much about the arcade revenue, the abrupt breach of contract was unacceptable. He wanted to confront Zhang Xing directly, but his communication request was flatly rejected.
"Is he afraid to face me?" Ye Chui wondered.
"Damn it!" Eva, who had only been with the studio for a month but already felt a sense of pride in it, said angrily. "Can we sue them?"
"No," Fang Xi shook his head. "They're willing to pay the penalty, so suing them won't do any good."
"Why are they suddenly terminating the contract?" Fang Nan couldn't understand. "Hasn't Zhang Xing already taken on the production of arcade machines? What will he do with the machines if they don't have games installed?"
Hearing this, a thought struck Ye Chui: "It's Wu Haotian from Sea Breeze Company stirring up trouble!"
In the current gaming industry, only Ye Chui's games and Wu Haotian's games were notable. Although Wu Haotian had only developed two games so far, both had achieved good results. While they didn't match Ye Chui's, their potential was immense.
Ye Chui had also been keeping an eye on the sales of Goddess of Sirius. He knew that the game had sold 120,000 units in the first hour, a very impressive figure. Most importantly, the growth rate was substantial.
Now, many online discussions suggested that a competitor for Ye Chui had emerged, predicting that Sea Breeze Company might challenge Ye Chui's dominance in the gaming industry. Some even forecasted that Sea Breeze Company would eventually replace Ye Chui as the new gaming leader.
"Zhang Xing must have seen the sales of Goddess of Sirius and thought I would eventually be surpassed by Wu Haotian," Ye Chui realized.
His partnership with Zhang Xing was limited to arcade games. Ye Chui had authorized his games to run on arcade machines, where players needed to pay to play, similar to inserting coins in the arcades of his previous world. Although the payment method differed slightly, the principle was the same. This arcade revenue wasn't substantial.
Zhang Xing had mentioned wanting to use Ye Chui's games for more extensive advertising, but Ye Chui had refused. This might also be a reason for Zhang Xing's decision to terminate the partnership.
After all, businessmen prioritize profit.
Thinking this, Ye Chui couldn't help but scoff at Zhang Xing's short-sightedness.
"Professor, what should we do?" Fang Xi asked angrily, approaching Ye Chui. He had never liked Zhang Xing and now liked him even less.
"Don't worry about it. He'll regret his decision soon enough," Ye Chui said with a smile. "But... I don't want to wait too long, so let's make him regret it now!"
"Professor, what are you planning?" Fang Xi asked, curious, as did the others.
Ye Chui smiled and pulled up some documents on his desktop computer. "Release these videos... and Zhang Xing will regret it soon enough!"
"These are..."
The others in the studio saw the videos Ye Chui had prepared and their eyes lit up, understanding his plan.
...
"To a successful partnership!"
In a luxurious restaurant, Wu Haotian raised his glass to Zhang Xing. "Mr. Zhang, you truly are a decisive businessman. I thought you'd wait another week to decide, but you contacted me so quickly."
"Heh, I believe in swift action. Since I've decided to work with you, Mr. Wu, there's no need to delay," Zhang Xing said with a smile. "I've already terminated the contract with Professor Ye. From now on, only your company's games will be installed on our arcade machines!"
"Let's make money together."
Wu Haotian downed his drink in one gulp.
Zhang Xing smiled, but deep down, he felt a twinge of regret. He was a decisive person who believed that Ye Chui's era would eventually end and that Wu Haotian's games would become hugely popular. Hence, he rushed to secure a partnership with Wu Haotian before it became more competitive.
However, abandoning the partnership with Ye Chui...
"No, I won't regret my decisions!" Zhang Xing resolved inwardly.
Then, a few hours later, he indeed started to regret it...
Initially, the release of Street Fighter II didn't cause much of a stir—online discussions and excitement were routine for Professor Ye's game releases, similar to the reactions for Art of Fighting and Fatal Fury. It wasn't
an explosive response, and the game's sales were moderate.
However, that afternoon, as Zhang Xing and Wu Haotian were finalizing their future cooperation over drinks, Zhang Xing noticed a sudden spike in Street Fighter II's sales while riding back.
The sales seemed to be increasing at an incredible rate.
The reason? Ye Chui had released a series of videos on Kuyou Video.
These videos ignited the hopes of countless fans, causing Street Fighter II's sales to soar.
The videos featured Wang Shiyu and Robert's match.
This series of videos showed players the correct way to play fighting games.