Tokyo: The story begins with a confession.

Page 49

As long as Uesugi Kenichi likes her, she's fine with anything. If needed, she's willing to help him kidnap the person he's set his sights on.

As for the others, they didn't notice anything, since not everyone has such keen hearing as Saeko Busujima.

After breakfast, An Yilun and the others also came over, wanting to see how well the Plants vs. Zombies game was selling that day.

At 9:00 AM on Sunday, after announcing the game's launch through Blizzard Entertainment's official WeChat account, Plants vs. Zombies officially launched on the app store, priced at 500 yen, much cheaper than big-budget games, but slightly more expensive than typical casual games.

Eriri sat in front of the computer, repeatedly refreshing the backend data. "Why is there only so little?"

She was very dissatisfied with the sales share of 236 displayed in the backend, and pouted, looking extremely unhappy.

Uesugi Kenichi picked up the tea that Kato Megumi had just brewed, took a sip, and remained completely unperturbed.

"What's your rush? It's only been ten minutes, what more do you want?" Kasumigaoka Utaha was speechless. The release had only been going on for less than ten minutes this morning, and the data was already pretty good.

"Hmph, I'm only acting this way because I'm concerned!" Eriri turned her head and glared at Kasumigaoka Utaha, then glanced at Uesugi Kenichi, who was sitting leisurely drinking tea to the side. Seeing that he was as calm as a mountain, her anxious emotions gradually subsided.

Chapter 100: The Game is a Hit! (Please Subscribe)

"Don't rush, yesterday's reports haven't come out yet. Stop staring at them and come play some games." Uesugi Kenichi greeted Eriri with a smile. Kamiigusa Misaki happily came over and immediately plugged the game console into the TV.

Data shows that the peak time for game downloads is from afternoon to evening, so you can check back in the afternoon.

Since we're now going down this path, we should play more games, see what other people's development ideas are, and what makes them popular.

While everyone was playing games, reports of yesterday's game expo quietly appeared on various mainstream game magazines and websites.

Online discussions about Plants vs. Zombies have been gaining momentum, especially after yesterday's promotion of tap water by visitors at the exhibition, which sparked numerous discussions about "587".

Yesterday, major gaming media outlets at the exhibition spared no effort in promoting Plants vs. Zombies, a game whose quality is indeed impeccable.

The various gaming media outlets provided substantial and insightful commentary, offering detailed analyses of Plants vs. Zombies from its creation and gameplay to its graphics. They also emphasized the creative process behind the game and the composition of the team at Blizzard Entertainment.

Most game media magazines and game forums gave it a four-star rating, with some even giving it a five-star rating.

As its popularity continued to rise, other game designers also took notice of the game. They didn't hesitate to click download, wanting to see what kind of game had garnered so much praise.

Aki Tomoya, Kasumigaoka Utaha, and Kamishinokusa Misaki also started recommending this game through their own public WeChat accounts.

It was afternoon, and Uesugi Kenichi sat down in front of his computer to check the sales figures. By 2 p.m., the game had sold 4689 copies.

On average, that's 800 copies sold per hour, which is quite impressive. It's currently firmly in second place among new game releases, with the top spot going to Night Soul, released by Sony yesterday, which sold over 7 copies.

After all, it's Sony, which naturally comes with a group of fans and a large following, so it doesn't need to put in the same effort to promote itself as other companies.

The real surge in data only begins after 2 PM!

Starting at 2 PM, Kenichi Uesugi recorded the increase in downloads every half hour, from an average of 800 per hour to 1200 per hour, then to 3000, until the sales data reached 20000 copies by 7 PM!

Meanwhile, Plants vs. Zombies topped the sales charts for various categories, including casual games and strategy games.

The game entered the top 300 monthly sales rankings within 12 hours of being launched on the platform at 9 PM!

The speed at which the game's popularity skyrocketed was like a rocket launch, causing many fans to cry wolf.

Sony's Night Soul and Plants vs. Zombies firmly occupy the top two spots in new game downloads, leaving the third-place game completely out of the running.

No one questions Sony's number one position; it's hardly news. In fact, it would have been abnormal if Sony hadn't taken the top spot before Nintendo entered the fray.

As for Plants vs. Zombies, a game made by a previously unknown game studio, it managed to secure the second spot on the new game sales chart. Although some people had predicted it, a large number of people were still completely taken aback.

Despite such a high number of downloads, the app store rating is as high as 9.0!

"A very interesting casual game, and the price of 500 is very reasonable."

"It's definitely worth buying. Those who are still hesitating should definitely buy it."

"The game content is very novel, the sound effects and graphics are great, and the gameplay is also very interesting, but it feels a bit too easy." This is obviously a player who hasn't been beaten up yet.

"Bought it. The zombies are delicious. Seriously, is this game really that bad? My brain gets eaten after a zombie breaks in? Are they looking down on me?"

"Is this game really made by a new game company? I can feel the sincerity in it. I've been downloading it for several hours now, and I just can't stop playing. Anyway, I'm going to finish it now..."

"This game isn't as good as advertised. I only stopped for 5 minutes to go to the bathroom."

"Please accept my condolences; the knife can't be put back."

"Speaking of which, the art style of this game is really interesting. It looks so magical. The more I look at it, the more I feel like that sunflower is mocking me."

"Taunt +1"

"Has anyone noticed that the lead planner of this game is Kenichi Uesugi, who was very popular not long ago?"

"I saw it. At first, I thought it wasn't just one person, but I believed it after seeing the report."

"What does a sculptor like him know about games? It's surprisingly good!"

……

Kasumigaoka Utaha and the others were having a great time scrolling through the various comments, and whenever they found an interesting comment, they would immediately run over to share it with Uesugi Kenichi.

Of course, there are bound to be some negative reviews among the many comments. That's for sure. Even the best works will have people who don't like them. After all, it's not like money; you can't please everyone.

Kenichi Uesugi, on the contrary, focused on reading the negative reviews. He wanted to see if he could find any flaws in the game and areas that needed improvement, excluding malicious and unreasonable ones.

By midnight, Plants vs. Zombies had sold over 12 copies, and it's not impossible for it to reach 4 by 6 AM tomorrow.

In just one day, Plants vs. Zombies 1.8 broke into the top 100 of puzzle and other game categories, and also reached number 198 on the monthly sales chart!

With such success on its first day, everyone can see that this game is a success; the next question is how popular it will become.

As expected, the afternoon to evening is the golden period for game sales, thanks in large part to yesterday's game exhibition and the promotion by Aki Tomoya and his team.

It must be said that this is truly a wonderful era, an era that is very lenient towards creators. As long as creators can produce excellent content, they will receive tremendous feedback.

After all, this is a world where piracy is almost extinct, and the concept of using genuine products is deeply ingrained in almost everyone's mind.

Chapter 101 Homepage Recommendation

Almost all the games here, except for some public welfare games, are paid, with some games priced very low, costing only 100 yen.

Of course, poorly made games don't have much room to survive here. When a game is priced and sold, players who buy it have a 12-hour return period.

In other words, if you buy a game and find that it is different from what you imagined, or that you don't like it or that it doesn't suit your taste, you can return it without giving a reason.

This also leaves little room for companies that produce shoddy goods and cheat customers to survive.

Only by creating games that players will love with the utmost sincerity can a game gain their support.

Of course, to prevent some players from repeatedly buying and getting refunds for free, each account only has one chance to get a refund after purchasing the game. After a second purchase, no refund can be processed.

This sales figure clearly stunned Eriri and her friends. What does it mean to sell more than 4 copies?

The most obvious point is that a game costs 51100 yen, which means that the daily sales are 20 million yen. Although taxes will be paid and a portion will be given to the platform, it is still a very considerable amount.

Keep in mind that this is just the revenue from 9 a.m. to now. If subsequent sales catch up, the revenue will be extremely considerable. And this is only the sales revenue of the game itself; the revenue from merchandise and other copyrights has not yet been generated!

At this moment, Eriri and the others finally understood the weight of that contract. Even though it was only two percent, with the continuous development of the studio, they could still obtain extremely considerable profits in the future.

Although Eriri herself earns a considerable amount of money as a bestselling doujinshi artist, it pales in comparison to this game. She might even earn more from this game's revenue share than she has over the years of drawing doujinshi.

It's worth noting that with the help of Misaki Kamiigusa, the original artwork for this game was completed in just over a week.

This is the difference between being a boss and being an employee.

Although she's not short of money given her family's circumstances, this money came too fast...

Eriri secretly pulled Uesugi Kenichi aside, paused for a moment, and said, "Isn't two percent of that contract too much? One percent, or even 0.5 percent, would be enough. I didn't do much, so I shouldn't get so much."

She felt that although she was a genius and did have some talent in drawing, the original artwork needed for Plants vs. Zombies could basically be done by any few people with some basic drawing skills.

The core reason this game sold so well was its creativity and gameplay; in other words, it wasn't necessary, so she felt unworthy of it.

Uesugi Kenichi paused for a moment, then shook his head with amusement. There really are fools like this who have money but refuse it and even try to push it away.

Indeed, as Eriri said, her role in this game is not essential, but it is indispensable.

He was just an unknown in the gaming industry before, and no one expected that he would succeed when others were willing to follow him and work with him on games.

In other words, this insight and trust alone are worth the 2%, and there will be many more opportunities to use her in the future.

“Take it if I give it to you. Nobody thought it would be successful at the beginning. You trusted me and were willing to follow me. That alone is worth all this. Remember to show the contract to your family.”

Kenichi Uesugi flicked Eriri's smooth forehead, finding it quite amusing to watch her crouch down with her head in her hands.

She seems to have a timid side, and she likes to pretend to be calm, which makes it very interesting to bully her, creating a strong sense of contrast.

Not only him, but even Kato Megumi occasionally couldn't help but bully Eriri.

Exhausted from a long day, no one was in the mood to celebrate. They simply washed up and went to rest.

The next day, he took a day off. Not only him, but Kato Megumi and Kasumigaoka Utaha also took a day off. After all, who would want to miss such a moment? At nine o'clock in the morning, Uesugi Kenichi refreshed the sales data in the backend one last time!

Plants vs. Zombies: 68569 downloads, rating: 8.9.

Nearly 7 units were sold in 24 hours. Although everyone had prepared themselves mentally last night, this figure still shocked everyone.

After reviewing the data, Kenichi Uesugi's gaze fell on the homepage of the app platform. Due to the explosive sales of Plants vs. Zombies yesterday, the official website had placed the game on the homepage as a featured item!

It's important to know that getting featured on the official platform's homepage isn't easy. Aside from the launch of games from major companies, you need to have outstanding achievements to get featured.

Even newly released games from large companies will be taken off the shelves if they don't sell well or get low ratings for a period of time.

This is a huge affirmation for the game Plants vs. Zombies, and the subsequent benefits will be considerable, further accelerating the game's sales.

Meanwhile, the media outlets that were also waiting for the first-day data from Plants vs. Zombies were stunned.

Although they had anticipated that sales would be high, the sheer number of sales still felt unbelievable.

"My goodness, the newcomers these days are so amazing."

"Who can argue with that? Sony's Night Soul only sold 12 units. And you have to remember, that's Sony."

Do you think this game has the potential to surpass Night Soul?

587 "That shouldn't be possible. Although Plants vs. Zombies is indeed a very powerful game, I think it's still too difficult to surpass Night Soul."

"Don't be surprised, hurry up and prepare the data for the press release."

"Okay, I'll go right away."

This game is so popular, but it's the editors who are suffering. The article has been revised again and again. How could they not revise it? The data has exceeded their expectations time and time again, and with such popularity, the coverage is also different.

After the first day's sales figures were released, and the app store featured the game on its homepage, almost all major gaming media outlets got involved.

Shocking! This month's biggest dark horse: Plants vs. Zombies

"Sales Reached 70,000 Units on the First Day: What Industry Insiders Are Saying—"