Game development begins with destroying Girls' Frontline.

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They always say that Spark Games is no good, and they look down on all of Spark's developments, constantly bringing up how great Spark was back then.

But every time Spark Games makes a move, I have to check it out.

After seeing it, I can't stand seeing others doing well.

Just like this time.

Everyone was here to attend the meeting, even though they were working overtime.

It's all because Spark Games released a program.

Before the big meeting, we also had to watch a program from Spark Games on a projected screen.

If you were to suggest that the main creators watch the program and analyze the useful information together, then Tong Xian would be fine.

After all, in his opinion.

There are indeed many things worth learning from Xinghuo.

But after watching it, Yu Zhong couldn't come up with any conclusions; all he could do was complain.

It's a complete waste of time and utterly useless.

"Alright, let's not worry about other people's business. Let's go over today's meeting content first."

"Before we get to the main content, let's take a look at the animation feedback we received from Japan."

Tong Xian clapped his hands, bringing the meeting back to the main topic.

Chapter 286 Such Publicity

Yu Zhong went to great lengths to stop thinking about what tricks Spark Games had up its sleeve.

They focused their energy on the meeting.

Just like the words written on the PPT on the projector.

What they're going to discuss today is the promotional schedule for Girls' Frontline 2.

Yao Xiaodong was not present.

Yu Zhong and Tong Xianxian should finish this half-day meeting, discuss and reach a conclusion, and then report the meeting materials and documents to Yao Xiaodong.

Doing it this way is time-consuming and inefficient.

but...

That's what corporate culture is all about.

Yu Zhong also went from being completely unaccustomed to it at the beginning to now enjoying meetings.

Because he found out.

Meetings are the best opportunity for him to demonstrate his status.

After all, under normal circumstances, he often had to listen to Tong Xian in private.

But in the conference room.

Tong Xian should still show some respect for him as the producer in name only.

~~~

The projector, which had just finished playing the Spark Special program, is now playing an animation.

This animation is about 3 minutes long.

After communicating with Tencent Animation for a long time, Yao Xiaodong finally realized that Tencent Animation's capabilities were limited, and there was no point in continuing to argue.

So, under the guise of a promotional video, some funding was allocated for Yu Zhong to go to Japan to find outsourcing work.

Ultimately, after Lin Li returned to Shanghai, Yu Zhong found Asahi Productions in Japan, a company that specializes in taking on animation outsourcing projects in Japan, and produced an animation.

This short three-minute session cost 100 million RMB.

Don't ask why a three-minute animation requires a million-dollar budget.

The question is, there is loss.

It was at this time that Yu Zhong truly entered Yao Xiaodong's inner circle.

After all, he's at the execution level.

He gained a lot from this trip to Japan, and learned a lot about the internal operations of Tencent.

They subsequently renewed their contract with Asahi Productions for three more PV animations, each with a price tag of approximately one million RMB.

Think of this.

Yu Zhong's mood improved considerably.

When the animation is playing, the corners of his mouth are slightly upturned.

"I really want to bring the people from the animation team over here to see what real animation is."

This 3-minute short film cost about the same as a typical episode of animation.

The effect is still very good.

Compared to the animations within Tencent, the animation is not only smoother, but the voice acting and sound effects are also much better.

It looks harmonious and is pleasing to the eye.

After the PV finished playing.

The next question is whether this PV was originally intended to be used as a promotional animation for the game.

Or, it can be used as a PV for animation.

The two seem to be the same problem.

In reality, however, they are two completely different marketing approaches.

The former is simply conventional and unconventional.

Releasing a PV for promotion aims to attract players within the gaming community.

And the latter.

It's essentially a promotional trailer for an animation.

A relatively high-quality trailer can not only attract players, but also attract many casual viewers who watch animation to learn about the game, thanks to the fact that it is the first game-to-animation adaptation in China.

From a publicity perspective

The latter method is undoubtedly the better one.

But the problem is.

The second approach has a major problem: the main episodes are still being produced by Tencent Animation, and according to the timeline, they've already reached the third episode.

They can use PV promotional animations, which skirt the edges of legality, to find outsourcing opportunities in Japan.

But obviously, this method cannot be used to make the main feature film.

After all, Penguin Animation is on the same level as Penguin Games.

The big players here are also waiting to use Girls' Frontline to expand Tencent Animation's reach.

Even so, Yu Zhong felt the animation quality was poor.

But it can only be used.

This way.

If you use Japanese-outsourced animation and promote it as an animation trailer, you'll definitely get a huge amount of attention in the early stages.

But when the animation is officially released, viewers will find out.

"What the hell? This isn't an animation at all!"

The stark contrast between the beginning and the end will be a huge test for the animation's reputation.

Ultimately, the goal is to lure the audience in first.

We should stick to doing marketing and promotion.

This is a decision that Yu Zhong clearly cannot make.

No matter how long the meeting is, it won't work.

Ever since.

The next day.

Yu Zhong and Tong Xian arrived at Yao Xiaodong's office with a stack of meeting minutes and documents.

~~~~

"For this campaign, we analyzed the reasons for the failures of our previous campaigns."

"Some changes have been made."

"The core of this round of publicity and promotion mainly consists of three points: high volume, small tests, and controlling word-of-mouth."

In his report to Yao Xiaodong, Tong Xian outlined his thoughts on the publicity campaign.

"Large volume" refers to a large-scale publicity campaign. As a reboot of Girls' Frontline and the first 3D military weapon anthropomorphic game, the publicity needs to be extensive.

"A small test refers to a test with a small scope and a small number of participants."

"Finally, controlling word-of-mouth is relatively simple because there are few testers. On the one hand, we can use the test agreement to constrain players, and on the other hand, we can also control the first wave of word-of-mouth through one-on-one communication and inviting testers."

"Ultimately, after a large-scale promotion, word-of-mouth spread in a small area. We then used a second round of promotion to amplify this positive word-of-mouth."

"To achieve a complete marketing closed loop."

After listening to Tong Xian's summary.

Yao Xiaodong nodded repeatedly.

He acknowledged Tong Xian's abilities, even though this person had been with him for many years.

Moreover, this mode is not a new way to play.

Many of Tencent's games have gone through this process.

On the one hand, it can maximize the promotion of the game.

On the other hand, there's no need to worry about any issues with the game itself causing a collapse in its reputation.

For Girls' Frontline at this current stage.

Nothing is more important than building a good reputation.

Even if it's a false reputation.

Yao Xiaodong also needs it.

Therefore, under this logic, Tong Xian's model is undoubtedly the best and safest approach.

~~~

On the way here, Yu Zhong originally thought this approach was too conservative.

Given the quality of Girls' Frontline 2, it could learn from Touhou Project: Fantasy World, launch a major marketing campaign, and then conduct large-scale development testing to build a positive reputation.

However, looking at Yao Xiaodong nodding repeatedly...

Yu Zhong ultimately abandoned the idea of ​​bringing up this proposal for discussion.

~~~

Yao Xiaodong tidied up the documents in his hand and put them back on the table.

"Your plan is good, let's proceed in this direction."

"Do you have any other questions?"

"Yes, Mr. Yao, it's about the animated PV we outsourced... What do you think is the best way to use it?"

Yu Zhong and Tong Xian repeated their questions from yesterday.

Chapter 287 Following the Trend