Chapter 799: Chapter 758: Hope and Despair!
Actually, at the very beginning, Wild Island didn’t name the game “Iron Fist,” but “Fighting Club” instead.
Because there were actually two core selling points for this fighting game.
First, its fitness effect.
It’s impossible for the equipment upgrade plan that took more than four months to research to cover everything.
So they adopted a somewhat cunning approach: to make this plan best meet the needs of the fighting game.
They deliberately invited professional fighters and top-level fighting coaches to provide their expertise as the foundation, and to optimize each component of the Omnidirectional Treadmill, especially the most critical traction ropes, according to their specific requirements.
With their careful design, the player could follow the tutorial step by step and complete a daily training plan, truly mastering the fighting skills.
Becoming a professional player might not be realistic, but becoming an amateur expert was entirely possible!
Of course, to become an expert, even an amateur one, competition is essential.
This leads to the second core selling point: Fight Rankings.
It’s a system akin to a ladder ranking, where players can go through the game’s tutorials, and then, apart from advancing the plot and completing tasks, they can also engage in matches and online battles with other players.
Depending on the outcome of these matches, players’ rankings would either increase or decrease.
This system was designed to encourage players’ enthusiasm, help them persevere, and maintain a daily workout routine.
Of course, those who didn’t want to participate in intense ranked battles could still play casual matches. Wild Island naturally wouldn’t overlook these game modes.
Combining these two core selling points, the game was like a club that encouraged players to constantly practice fighting, learn from one another, and continuously improve their skills.
In other words, the “Fighting Club.”
However, the name “Fighting Club” already existed.
Not as a game, but as an organization.
An organization that was born during the “Assassins’ Alliance” era and had been growing ever since.
In the “Assassins’ Alliance” main missions, there was already training for fighting and cold weapon skills. Players who enjoyed these game modes naturally gathered together.
Interestingly, because “Assassins’ Alliance” was the first large-scale virtual reality game, many player organizations were born in the metropolis.
“Fighting Club” was one, “All-Armor Combat” was another, and the “Blacksmith Guild” another… There were countless ones, each with its unique style.
But now, the “Fighting Club” has moved its base to the more violent and better-suited Night City, growing even bigger in scale.
It’s even secured a dedicated section on Cloud Dream’s official forum, with a high level of activity.
Left with no choice, Wild Island had to change the name.
Ultimately, they chose the name “Iron Fist,” which has the qualities of simplicity and dominance based on the game’s storyline.
Of course, outsiders didn’t know any of this.
The focus of the players was not even on the game itself but on the equipment—
“What about the helmet? That big helmet? Was it exchanged for a display?”
“So is Wild Island’s fourth-generation equipment just an Omnidirectional Treadmill + display? Isn’t this a step back to 0.5th generation?”
“‘Not just a game’… So, has Wild Island given up competing with Cloud Dream in gaming and decided to venture into fitness instead?”
“Does it actually work? When I play in Night City, I can singlehandedly defeat four NPCs, but in reality, I’m still weak. If I use this, can I really become an expert?”
“… Then why don’t you sign up for a martial arts gym instead?”
“Is no one curious? Wild Island’s VR equipment has nearly 10 million users, right? Can they avoid bankruptcy after upgrading all of them for free? Or do they not plan to go on?”
…
The players were engaged in heated discussions.
This large-scale free upgrade was undoubtedly costly.
Wild Island, which had been going downhill, was making this huge investment, which seemed like a “live for the moment” crazy move to many.
*
Wild Island did indeed have a do-or-die mentality, with the attitude of “succeed or die trying.”
However, the cost was not as unimaginable as many netizens thought, with no end in sight.
— Wild Island had already communicated its plans with its supply chain, third-party after-sales companies, and 90% of partners expressed their willingness to help at a very low cost, or even for free.
This was not difficult to understand.
After NetDragon’s demise, the VR equipment supply chain had been struggling, and many third-party after-sales companies had shut down.
Though Flying Fox and Wild Island hadn’t gone bankrupt yet, Flying Fox’s factories had been idle for a long time, with no promising prospects.
—— Logically, their best way out would have been to cooperate with Cloud Dream and join their system for a transformation.
But as for the supply chain, those who could join have already joined.
For those left making Omnidirectional Treadmills and helmet-mounted displays, Cloud Dream simply doesn’t need you!
As for the third-party after-sales service…
Sorry, for the consoles that Cloud Dream sells, if there are any issues within two years, they directly replace it with a new one, highlighting their massive wealth.
And this kind of game console, unless accidentally dropped, is hard to break — especially Cloud Dream’s Mirage, with players entering the virtual world to play games and not interacting with their consoles. This makes it even harder to damage.
That is to say, at least within two years, Cloud Dream’s demand for after-sales service is weak.
And from the Mirage’s launch to now, only half a year has passed.
So in the construction of the after-sales system, Cloud Dream stands out as being neither anxious nor slow, and third-party providers simply can’t wait.
If Wild Island were to stop its factory operations or suddenly go bust, manufacturers that rely on VR equipment ecosystems would not be far from death either.
Now, seeing Wild Island still having the courage to make a desperate effort, and it seems to be hopeful, they naturally want to support it with all their strength.
Not only for Wild Island but also for themselves.
*
Ever since cooperating with Cloud Dream, the Flying Fox project team, immersed in the development of the virtual reality version of “The Last Moment” for quite a while, has not been bothered by worldly matters.
Their development process has gone very smoothly.
Once the most time-consuming part of their development, “game world construction” has become quite a simple thing in the virtual world —
Using Cloud Dream’s development tools, following “The Last Moment” map and architecture, the team effortlessly put everything together.
Creating everything they wanted with unlimited freedom and instant results, they were overwhelmed by the high degree of freedom and efficiency, enough to move them to tears.
After experiencing this process, they no longer have the patience for sitting in front of a computer doing modeling and coding work with an aching waist and back.
One job takes a toll on their health while the other job allows them to be gods who can create everything they desire.
By simply working, the difference in the experience is like night and day!
It wasn’t until now that they understood why Cloud Dream can produce a game every month — before this, they thought it was impossible even if they worked themselves to death.
But now, their thoughts have changed to — I can do it too!
Of course, this only applies to replicating games and knowing clearly what to do.
If there isn’t a mature game plan and one has to start from scratch by planning, meeting, and modifying, then the time required is harder to predict.
Once again, this proves: Lincoln is truly awesome!
When they talk to Cloud Dream staff about their admiration for Lincoln, they learn even more outrageous things from the staff —
“The boss once completed a new game in a week, and his assistant was a little girl under ten.”
“???” The Flying Fox staff felt a great challenge to their worldview.
After the shock, the idea of “jumping ship” began to brew…
In this state of unrest, the development of the virtual reality version of “The Last Moment” has steadily progressed and is now entering the final stage.
The only thing they didn’t expect was that Wild Island would take the lead.
They were only somewhat surprised.
However, their boss, Lance, upon seeing Wild Island’s do-or-die move, inexplicably had a bad feeling.
Compared to Wild Island’s complete transformation, Lance’s strategy of “stepping back to make PC games” seems less risky, but it only prolongs the dying phase for a while.
Wild Island takes risks, but they have hope.
They are conservative, but with no promising future.
Among the game media and industry insiders who know a little about this, many share Lance’s thoughts.
Wild Island is clearly going for differentiated competition.
Moreover, they smartly bridged the gap between [Game]and[Fitness]industries.
They don’t have to make the best[game]or the most professional[fitness], they just need to be the[most professional in gaming industry]and[most fun game in fitness industry], and that would be enough to survive, and even thrive.
For a former industry giant, this is entirely possible.
—— It’s much easier than surpassing Cloud Dream.
As long as there are no accidents and given enough time, they might really be able to turn the tide and make a miraculous comeback!