Game development begins with destroying Girls' Frontline.

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"Looking at the game development capabilities of China's top game companies through assigned topics."

What would Tencent be like if it didn't make pay-to-win games?

"Let's see how Tencent's first truly free-to-play game truly demonstrates the real strength of the world's number one game developer."

Similar videos have spread widely on Bilibili and Douyin.

As the saying goes, everything is subject to comparison.

Moreover, as "Changing the World" becomes more and more popular, Tencent Games has to consider another issue: whether this matter will lead to a misjudgment by the official team.

Does this mean the penguins are not taking political tasks seriously?

Although Tencent doesn't seem to be paying much attention to the development of "My Country Dream," this can't be said openly.

Normally, if everyone just did the same perfunctory thing, it would have been fine, but Xinghuo delivered a perfect answer. NetEase's Ninth Institute was also launched on the Xinghuo platform, and both the reviews and positive feedback were quite good.

Now, only "Dream of Home and Country" is stuck in an awkward position.

This is quite intriguing, which is why Ma Xiao urgently summoned people to work overtime even though it was a holiday; they had two things to do urgently.

One option is to quickly use their own money to promote "My Country Dream". Regardless of the quality of the game, at least their attitude needs to be corrected.

Secondly, he quickly used an emulator to adjust the resolution slightly, then logged into WEGAME and sent a push notification. After doing all this, Ma Xiao felt truly exhausted.

Because he knew very well that even after doing all this, in the end, Tencent Games would only be putting in a lot of effort for little reward.

But who can we blame?

It's all that brat Lin Li's fault; he took things too seriously.

It's all NetEase's fault; why didn't they just brush it off like Tencent Games did...?

~~~

"The magnificent frontier! The new game from Spark is so moving it brings tears to your eyes!"

"What game could possibly make it to the front page of CCTV's news website?"

With the positive feedback from the first batch of "A New World", the News Administration, which had been hesitant before, went all out and intensified its efforts.

On Bilibili, CCTV News' official account also released a related interview video, which even included footage of Wang Bingbing trying out the game.

Meanwhile, the game "Changing the World" is also spreading rapidly.

As a result, the number of registered users on the Xinghuo platform is also increasing rapidly.

On the second day of the holiday, "Changing the World" broke multiple records on the Spark platform, becoming the fastest game to reach 10 million downloads and the fastest game to reach the top of Spark's trending list.

While the positive reputation of "Changing the World" certainly played a part, the biggest reason for this was that the game was completely free.

This completely free offer has also generated a huge response overseas.

Even though "New World" is the first game to truly lock out regions, the region lock is unique because it takes into account the needs of overseas Chinese players.

If the client language is Chinese, you can see this game in the store.

Because it's completely free, and as is well known, the more you forbid people from playing, the more they want to play, plus it's a game by Xinghuo, tutorials on how to claim the game "Changing the Sky" quickly appeared on TikTok overseas.

These videos all start very similarly; they begin with the same premise.

"I'll teach you how to get a Spark game worth at least tens of dollars for free. All you need to do is switch your client to Chinese, and then you'll find a brand new game appearing on your trending list!"

"This is Spark's new game, a completely free game with no paid content..."

During the development of this game, we considered external distribution, so we made it available in multiple languages. However, when it was finally released, the Press and Publication Administration still had some concerns.

Ultimately, they chose to lock the language, but they didn't expect that the State Administration of Press and Publication still underestimated the influence of Spark overseas.

As these "freebie" videos went viral, more and more overseas players switched to the Chinese client to claim the game, and later that evening, the first wave of overseas public opinion also emerged.

Surprisingly, in addition to discussing the game itself, many overseas players are also discussing Starfire's completely free-to-play format.

"This is true socialism! This game is completely free! It's unbelievable!"

"BRO, it's hard to believe that such a highly polished game is free!?"

"That's amazing! The game graphics are fantastic, and the gameplay is incredibly innovative. I'm curious if this place has really changed so much?"

"After visiting this place, I feel even more interested in it."

"A Chinese version of the Great Wilderness, but here there are no cowboys and barbarism, only civilization and construction."

"This is definitely the best simulation game I've played this year."

Why is this game only released in the Chinese-speaking region!?

Soon, with the buzz on overseas communities such as YouTube and NCNC, more and more overseas streamers started playing "New World".

There's actually not much of a barrier to entry when it comes to creating content on this topic.

Especially for simulation game enthusiasts, the theme of "Changing the World" is novel enough, and the gameplay and mechanics it presents are also quite interesting.

In addition, there's the option to receive it for free.

Free-to-play has always been the ultimate marketing tactic for games, and with the continuous accumulation of feedback from overseas players, it has finally attracted the attention of many mainstream media outlets.

The source of all this was none other than the global troublemaker, the BBC, whose report was titled "..."

"Beware of dumping; Chinese manufacturers are exporting culture through free-to-play games..."

Good guy.

Xinghuo's "A New Era" was already quite popular, but this BBC report made it even more popular.

This report completely ignores the fact that Xinghuo has voluntarily locked its region, and instead promotes the "China threat" theory and claims that Xinghuo is using media tools. However, the BBC's report did not receive a very positive response.

On the one hand, Spark is a region-locked game, and it's a game that overseas players "bypass" to play. How can this be said to be Spark promoting public opinion pressure?

In response, Spark UK filed a lawsuit against the BBC, claiming that the BBC had infringed on Spark's brand interests.

This did not harm the BBC at all, but what the BBC did not expect was...

The Chinese ambassador to the UK also expressed the same sentiment to the British government and expressed his dissatisfaction with the BBC.

Chapter 423 The Allure of Games

The BBC was surprised that one of its reports would elicit a national-level response and immediately became excited.

Not only did they not stop, but they published several more articles in succession.

It details how Xinghuo, a major Eastern power, has "invaded" the world through its "cultural" approach.

To be honest, given how things have developed, Xinghuo really can't do anything about the BBC. After all, the pen is in their hands, and the BBC is what they do professionally.

Previously, he had been advocating for the collapse of the University of Tokyo, but now he is a staunch supporter of the University of Tokyo threat theory.

Interestingly, though.

Following several reports by the BBC, the number of Spark players in the UK has not decreased but has actually increased, especially players of the game "New World".

There weren't many people playing this game in the UK to begin with, but then the BBC reported on it.

"What? China has released a free game?"

This quickly caught the attention of Danie, the UK's most popular YouTuber.

DANIE is a gaming blogger, and also a typical example of a popular Western blogger: witty, fast-paced, and playful—in short, very entertaining.

With over 2000 million followers across all overseas platforms, she's a top-tier streamer even outside the UK and on a global scale.

However, he rarely plays Spark games, mainly because he doesn't play mobile games and spends more time playing various AAA titles.

Of all the games on Xinghuo, he only played "Galaxy Paradise" for a while, and after the lull period, he didn't touch it much anymore.

Hey guys, anyone watching the BBC?

"Today, let's take a look at a mysterious new game that supposedly comes from socialism!!"

"This game is only released for free in China, but it's not difficult to play. Remember Galaxy Paradise we played before? That's the game developed by that guy."

Let's take a look together...

For the BBC, their smear campaign against Spark was completely thoughtless; it was essentially a formulaic approach: find a problem and then look for evidence to support it.

Whether it's cotton from border regions or other similar products, it's all the same: first, they say you have a problem, and then they try to find the source of the problem.

However, this approach is completely ineffective in the field of video games.

The reason it won't work is simple: gamers are probably one of the most curious groups in the world, and this curiosity isn't meant in a negative way.

People who enjoy video games, especially in Europe and America, share the same curiosity about new games as those in China.

This is why there are so many game streamers on YouTube.

It's not just Chinese people who enjoy cloud gaming; foreigners also love watching others play games, especially new ones.

To them, talk of Chinese civilization, cultural invasion, and all that nonsense is like their parents nagging—it doesn't register with them at all.

Conversely, it is exclusively for China, completely free, and produced by Spark.

They actually listened to those words. It's like if a game PV featuring Kim Jong-un appeared on Bilibili one day, many people would probably click on it out of curiosity.

With Danie's live stream, the number of viewers in the live stream room skyrocketed.

They went straight to the top spot on YouTube.

"Oh... guys, I have to say, I love this game..."

"This game is so special, so very special..."

DANIE doesn't quite understand the game's plot, but the story of "Changing the World" is actually quite straightforward, regardless of the historical context.

It's the story of a group of people building something out of a wasteland.

These kinds of stories are actually quite easy to relate to and don't have much of a barrier to entry.

In addition, because "A New World" is short, it can speed up the pace and focus on the essential elements, especially in the main chapters, where there is something new almost every moment.

From start to finish, it involved building bridges, factories, orchards, expanding towns, and handling emergencies.

"I have to say this is a great game, especially considering it's completely free. Guys, if you like simulation games, you definitely have to give it a try..."

DANIE does many things in a skip-and-go fashion, so after streaming for about an afternoon, he entered the game's results screen.

DANIE wanted to make a summary after seeing the game enter the results screen.

This is essentially what gamers and gaming bloggers are like. No matter how much the media promotes a game, for them, it's always just a matter of whether it's fun, not fun, or worth buying.

It's that simple.

Just as Danie was summarizing, the game's final reality began to intertwine with the past.

Wow!! What is this?!

"WTF!? They made a modern model!!! What the hell!!!"

"Is there more to this story? No, what do these photos mean? The side quests I just encountered in the game were all based on real events!?"

"Wow, such realistic footage! Does such a place really exist in this world?"

"The frontier? OK, I'll look up that history later..."

"That's amazing..."

"Those last few minutes completely elevated the game, man. So creative! They made a whole modern model for this?! Just for those last few minutes? That's insane, man, absolutely insane..."

For domestic players, reaching the ending evokes a strong sense of emotion.

When Danie finished playing, he felt more of awe than anything else. This awe came not only from the game itself, but also from the efforts the game developers made to create this performance.

"This is a free game, man, a free game..."

"Many paid simulation games don't do this well, it's unbelievable..."

DANIE's influence is indeed considerable, but he is not the only blogger on the foreign internet to broadcast "Changing the World," just like "Black Myth" in the previous life.

What overseas bloggers broadcast also depends on viewership.

As long as players want to watch and the traffic is high, bloggers will completely ignore any attempts by the media to smear them.

It's like a football match. Even if you have an absolute advantage in public opinion before the match, even if you can convince the whole world that you will definitely win the football match.

But ultimately, this is a football match, and once you're on the field, the outcome isn't determined by public opinion.

The same applies to games. No matter how much you smear or demonize them, players will know whether a game is fun or not once they start playing it.