PixelPioneers: The Birth of a Gaming Empire

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"Oh, when will the new game be developed?" John, who was lounging on the couch and feeding dog food to Doggo, asked Luna.

"Next Monday. We've already recruited finance, procedures, art, and planning. I still need to polish a few more things in Resident Evil, and I don't plan to give this project to Forestfruit Sports anymore. Their strength is still lacking," John said.

All the positions in the studio have been filled, and a dedicated finance team has been recruited, so everything is almost on track.

"So, what is our new game?" Luna asked curiously.

"A smaller game of the same kind," John said, already having a general idea in mind.

Creating a game with less risk, at least to avoid the risk of financial loss, will allow the team members to get used to working together. After all, Resident Evil is being produced on a 3A scale, so the capital cost is not small, and there are many things that John needs to accumulate. Even if Octopath Traveler made a lot of money, John was really worried about the embarrassment of suddenly running out of funds.

The two of them leaned on the sofa and discussed the next studio project. While chatting, the phone next to them suddenly rang.

"Yes, yes... Ok, no problem, of course, there is time." Hanging up the phone, John smiled.

"Who's called? What's the matter?" Luna asked curiously.

"A nomination for the Golden Game Award. They've invited me to participate next week," John said with a smile.

The Golden Owl Game Award is also known as the Best Independent Game Award in the country, which is an unspoken rule.

Although the Golden Owl Game Award itself does not clearly state this, the nomination of games shows everything. Since the beginning of the award, there has not been a 3A-level game that landed, whether it was a phenomenon-level hit or one that wasn't popular. It has consistently honored excellent independent games in the industry every year. Even if the producer does not attend, the award will still be given.

It's considered more formal than the Independent Game Conference that Martel invited John to participate in.

This is also the award with the largest content in addition to the official authoritative independent game maker and the most influential annual independent game in the country.

"You won the prize!?" Luna's eyes lit up. She knew how much the Golden Game Award meant.

"Who knows, they just invited me for a nomination." John smiled and shook his head.

Although he also thought that Binding of Isaac and Octopath Traveler had a high probability of winning, it was, after all, only a nomination.

"Oh, that's it." Luna lost some interest after hearing that.

***

On Monday morning, John and Luna drove to PixelPioneers Studio.

Not counting John and Luna, the size of the entire studio, including finance and others, has expanded to 14 people, including Evelien, who is in charge of fine arts, with a total of 3 people, the client program including Koch, with a total of 6 people, and two executive planners, with the rest being administrative finance and server-side procedures.

"I believe that everyone already knows each other, so I won't say much more than that. We will mainly have two projects next." After everyone introduced themselves, John smiled and said.

Hearing John's words, everyone immediately perked up, including Evelien and Koch, who all sat up straight. The great success of Octopath Traveler exceeded everyone's expectations. Everyone thought that Octopath Traveler would succeed, but they did not expect it to be such a hit.

While they were excited, the rapid expansion of PixelPioneers Studio also made them feel a bit pressured. Everyone privately enrolled in corresponding classes, including Evelien, who also started a simple study of the program.

Given the opportunity, no one wanted to miss it, and Evelien and the others didn't want Octopath Traveler to be the peak of their careers.

"Outlast, this is the next game we want to make, a horror game," John said as he looked at everyone.

Temporarily putting Resident Evil aside was a decision John had carefully considered, mainly due to the huge scale and cost constraints. It may not be a real 3A game, but it won't be any worse.

After careful consideration, John focused on another game from his memory, Outlast. In fact, before choosing Outlast, John also considered another horror game, Silent Hill.

But after thinking it over, John decided against it. Compared to Outlast, Silent Hill is more challenging in terms of game production. It's like the elements that most horror games use religion, psychology, and unknown mystery, are most vividly displayed in Silent Hill.

In the game, the atmosphere of suppression of terror and self-psychological suggestions had more depth than in Resident Evil.

At the same time, Silent Hill involves too many religious elements, which, although great for horror games, was something John had never been very keen on. Such themes are also very easy to misinterpret, even if that wasn't the intent.

Author: "Good Night."

Student: The word "Night" in "Good Night" tells the time. It reminds us that the sky is dark, symbolizing the darkness of society at that time and the people's lack of hope. But under the dark sky, people feel "safe," which reflects the numbness of the people, and the exclamation mark at the end of the sentence reflects the author's "sorrow, misfortune, and indifference" towards the people's numbness.

Author: ...

Whether in literature, movies, anime, or games, this phenomenon of overinterpretation has always existed.

In addition to that, Silent Hill's creation of atmosphere is excellent, especially in the scenes where the world switches between the real world and the "Otherworld," as well as the equipment, especially in the final theme soundtrack of Silent Hill 2, which is a masterpiece.

The feeling is different from the soundtrack in Octopath Traveler, and it even made John feel that if the soundtrack were missing, the game would lose a score.

After thinking for a long time, John finally decided to abandon Silent Hill as a project to work on before the development of Resident Evil and chose the more straightforward, Outlast.

Compared to Resident Evil and Silent Hill, the scale of Outlast is much smaller. The combination of self-suggestion, visual impact, and the integration of marketing and visuals is what makes Outlast so intimidating. It doesn't require as much thought about plot tactics as Silent Hill, nor does it involve resource allocation like Resident Evil, which can allow players to immerse themselves in the elements of fear.

The lower development cost and scale make it very suitable as a practice game, and learning how to create a terrifying atmosphere with visual and auditory effects is what John wants the entire team to master.

But after listening to John, Evelien, Koch, and everyone who newly joined PixelPioneers Studio were all stunned.