After flipping through the discussions related to "Ink and Smoke" and "Poor Journey" on the Internet, Pei Qian finally understood why there were so many pre-orders.

Because Qiu Hong bundled "Ink and Smoke", "Poor Road Project" and "Office Worker Survival Manual" all together for publicity!

The promotional video of "Poor Project" can arouse such an enthusiastic response, on the one hand, because it touches the common memories of many players and arouses wide resonance, and on the other hand, because there are high-quality domestic independent games as an introduction.

If there were no games and only a promotional video, it would not have been possible to arouse such an enthusiastic response.

"Ink and Smoke" is just a demo of the trial, and this demo alone is obviously not enough.

This is also the reason why Qiu Hong did not formulate a publicity plan at the beginning: without an opportunity, it is naturally impossible to achieve the best publicity effect.

However, the unexpected explosion of the "Office Worker Survival Handbook" provided such an opportunity for the promotion of the Poor Journey Project!

It is now before the Spring Festival, and it is the time for large and small companies to hold annual meetings and issue year-end bonuses.

The vast majority of office workers are dissatisfied with the treatment given by their company, and many people are thinking about getting a new job after getting the year-end bonus and taking annual leave.

The release of "Office Worker Survival Manual" resonated very well with those office workers, and the response was good, not only in the circle of indie game lovers, but also successfully "out of the circle", and many office workers who do not play games also know about this game.

With the success of "Office Worker Survival Handbook", Qiu Hong deeply tied "Ink and Smoke" and "Poor Road Project" to it, letting players know that the original "Office Worker Survival Handbook" was successfully produced because of the funding of the "Poor Road Project", and the "Poor Road Project" also funded many excellent independent game projects, such as "Ink and Smoke".

As a result, the popularity of "Office Worker Survival Manual", the feelings of domestic indie game lovers, and the expectations of players for domestic indie games have all been integrated, which has played such a good publicity effect!

It can be said that the DEMO of "Office Worker Survival Manual", "Ink and Smoke" and the promotional video of "Poor Journey" are missing, and it is impossible to achieve the current effect!

What a coincidence.

Looking at the growing number of pre-orders, Pei Qian felt a little dizzy.

In just one afternoon, the pre-sale sales of this game have exceeded 50,000 copies, and judging by the current popularity, it is very likely that it will increase tenfold in the next week!

Although domestic indie gamers are a minority group compared to mainstream players, in terms of size, no matter how small a few, there are always millions of active players.

Moreover, the smaller the circle, the more concentrated the attention to excellent domestic indie games, and I am afraid that "Ink and Smoke" will soon spark a heated discussion in the circle of indie gamers like "The Survival Handbook for Office Workers"!

Pei Qian pinched his fingers and felt that something was wrong.

The official price of "Ink and Smoke" is 45 yuan, which is considered to be above the average level among domestic independent games. This pre-sale was not a full pre-sale, but a third was paid, which is 15 yuan.

According to the current trend estimate, if 500,000 copies are sold in the next week, then the official platform's account will just arrive before settlement.

The only good news is that the game is not issued in the name of Tengda, so you don't enjoy the privilege of Tengda's high share, and you can only get 60% if you count the special preferential policies for independent games.

On this basis, Tengda takes three percent.

In other words, before the settlement, the pre-sale of "Ink and Smoke" alone will have at least more than 1.3 million in the account!

And in addition to that, there is the money earned from the "Office Worker Survival Handbook".

The money doesn't seem to be much, but Pei Qian feels that he is now like a camel with a straw on his back, and when it comes to settlement, this nonsensical more than one million is likely to be the difference from heaven to hell.

What if you add more than one million to make money? Then who do you talk to?

Pei Qian was so angry that he choked.

This Qiu Hong, how can you find something for me at such a critical moment!

Can't you honestly go home for the New Year? Do you have to make a promotional video the day before the holiday? And then send a DEMO to earn some pre-sale money?

It's too much!

Thinking of this, Pei Qian immediately dialed Qiu Hong's phone.

……

At this time, Qiu Hong had just invited everyone in the incubation base to finish a big meal, returned to the house he rented in the imperial capital to pack his things, and prepared to catch a plane home early tomorrow morning.

Receiving a call from Mr. Pei, Qiu Hong couldn't help but be a little surprised.

"Didn't Pei always see that the video of the Poor Journey Project was very popular, so he was very happy and specially called to affirm the results of my work?"

A total of two games have been completed in the entire incubation base before, and they have not sold well, but even so, Mr. Pei still praised Qiu Hong, saying that the effect is remarkable and the progress is rapid, so he can make persistent efforts.

Qiu Hong pondered, according to such a judging standard, now that the two games "Office Worker Survival Manual" and "Ink and Smoke" are out, the video response of "Poor Plan" is also good, and Mr. Pei can't be happy?

He hurriedly picked up the phone and waited to accept Mr. Pei's praise.

However, Mr. Pei's first sentence directly stopped him.

"Who told you to put the half-finished game on the official platform for pre-order?!"

Pei Qian's tone was a little stern, because he was really angry.

This game is obviously not finished yet.,You honestly release it next cycle.,Don't affect my settlement in this cycle!

As a result, Qiu Hong's pre-order directly caught Pei Qian off guard.

Qiu Hong was stunned for a moment, and said a little dazedly: "Mr. Pei, isn't this kind of thing a pre-sale very common in the indie game circle......

Pei Qian couldn't help but be silent for a moment: "Uh......"

He thought about it, and what Qiu Hong said was really fine.

ESRO's official platform actually encourages indie games to engage in pre-sales, and the reason is very simple, it is nothing more than the same as crowdfunding.

Independent game producers often want money but no money, resources but no resources, and there are inevitably various compromises in the production process.

Pre-sales, on the other hand, allow those indie games with good quality and popular with players to get some money in advance, on the one hand, to maintain development costs, and on the other hand, to enhance the confidence of producers.

Of course, there may be a few producers who don't have a product that will be suspected of cheating money, such as updating a very fun DEMO, and starting to develop slowly after getting a large amount of pre-sale money, turning the game into a lifetime series, and delaying the launch.

However, the official platform also has corresponding punishment measures for such producers, and after all, such people are a minority, and this rule that is beneficial to all independent game producers cannot be lifted because of individual black sheep.

Therefore, Qiu Hong's pre-sale of the DEMO of "Ink and Smoke" is indeed in line with the consistent routine of independent games, and it is an act advocated by the official platform.

As a result, Pei Qian's question seemed a little unreasonable.

After Pei Qian was silent for a moment, he said confidently: "Why do other indie games like to engage in pre-sales? It's because those producers are short of money and can only get development funds through pre-sales! ”

"Are the producers of the Poor Project short of development funds?"

Qiu Hong was asked: "Uh, this ......"

Pei Qian didn't give him much time to react, and continued: "Since there is no shortage of money, why do you want to pre-sell? ”

"Pre-sales, in fact, are equivalent to taking advantage of the sympathy of players and transferring the risk of subsequent game development failure from the developers to the players."

"The reason why the official platform supports this behavior is mainly because the conditions of most independent game producers are too poor, and players need to contribute and support it."

"Although this kind of behavior is a willingness to fight and a willingness to suffer, in the final analysis, it still damages the interests of players. The best way should be to pay the money with one hand and deliver the goods with the other, and the game is sold after it is released, and players will buy it if they like it. ”

"Since the independent game producers of the Poor Journey Project are not short of money, shouldn't they engage in pre-sales and just release the game directly after the development is completed?"

Qiu Hong was speechless for a while: "This ......"

He suddenly felt that what Mr. Pei said was indeed quite reasonable!

In fact, Qiu Hong just did a pre-sale according to the conventional routine of independent games, and he didn't think too much about it, but now that he takes a closer look, this kind of behavior is indeed a little inappropriate.

Qiu Hong hurriedly asked, "Then Mr. Pei, what should I do now?" ”

Pei Qian thought for a moment and asked, "Can you change the payment for the pre-order to 0?" Then refund those players who have already paid for it. ”

Qiu Hong hesitated: "Uh...... Mr. Pei, it is not possible to change it to 0, and the minimum is changed to one-third of the current one-third, that is, five yuan; The refund procedure will be more troublesome, the authority is not enough, and the ESRO official may not approve it. ”

"It's still possible to come forward in person as Tengda, but this is tantamount to announcing the relationship between Tengda and the Poor Journey Project......"

Pei Qian immediately said: "That's definitely not going to work." In that case, let's change the pre-order price to 5 yuan, and we will compensate those players who have already spent 15 yuan on pre-order. ”

Qiu Hong said: "Also, Mr. Pei, the official has always been very supportive of this kind of behavior of changing the price, because whether it is a price increase or a price reduction, it will actually affect the interests of players." ”

Pei Qian nodded: "Well, it's understandable. ”

"Our behavior must have affected the interests of the players, and we have to apologize and compensate!"

"That's it, like I said before, the pre-order money was changed to 5 yuan, for those who have already paid, the game will be directly discounted by 20%, that is, 36 yuan, and then make an announcement to apologize, just say I didn't expect the players to be so enthusiastic, we think the price of the pre-order was set high, and now it is lowered, I hope the players will understand more."

For Pei Qian, if the pre-order money is cut from 15 yuan to 5 yuan at once, then the money earned from the DEMO of "Ink and Smoke" this week can be reduced by at least hundreds of thousands.

It's also good to be able to take a handful of straw off the back of a camel.

As for those players who have already spent 15 yuan to pre-order, Pei Qian just took this opportunity to give them a discount and make a little less.

Qiu Hong hurriedly said: "Okay, Mr. Pei, I'll communicate with the people on the official platform." ”