[2/5 Chapter]
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These days, while Lucien Sinclair was buried in the development of his new game, he still made sure to set aside time to read the online discussions surrounding the New World gaming platform.
He wanted to hear the community's feedback regarding the platform's future development and see if there was any room for improvement.
But Lucien quickly noticed something was off. The number of people discussing the platform's actual future was completely dwarfed by the number of people talking about Tifa!
Everywhere he looked, gamers were obsessing over her. From her face to her figure, from her voice to her personality, every single aspect of Tifa was being analyzed and dissected with microscopic attention to detail.
One guy even theorized that Lucien had secretly implemented a hidden affection system for Tifa, claiming that players needed to reach a certain threshold before unlocking "further interactions." The guy's breakdown was so logical, well-reasoned, and convincing that if Lucien wasn't the developer himself, he almost would have believed it!
I guess lust really is the ultimate driving force of human innovation?!
Another issue was the endless complaining. Most users especially the guys were tearing into Lucien, whining that Tifa felt too distant. They hated that she was purely for display and couldn't be interacted with, demanding that he change this in a future update.
The phrase [Begging for Tifa Interaction] was even trending on Twitter.
Hordes of gamers had also flooded Jenny's Twitter, "politely" suggesting that they patch the "bug" preventing them from interacting with Tifa.
Lucien couldn't help but laugh. He didn't even want to call out these thirsty degenerates. Do you really just want to "interact"? Bullshit! You just want to cop a feel!
He had also noticed the most popular thread on the forums: [Warning! I just got kicked by Tifa!]
It was true. Lucien had programmed a specific Easter egg into the platform: under the right conditions, Tifa would launch an attack on the player. However, the trigger required the player to relentlessly stalk Tifa around the virtual lobby for over three hours straight.
Over three hours!
He honestly never expected anyone to actually trigger it! Do these people literally have nothing better to do?!
And the OP of the thread actually had the audacity to claim he had only been following her for "a few minutes." A few minutes, my ass!
What baffled Lucien even more were the comments. Hundreds of people were actively asking the OP how to trigger the kick!
Why do so many people want to be kicked by Tifa?!
Lucien fell into deep thought. He suddenly realized that he often felt out of place among these gamers, simply because he wasn't degenerate enough.
Truth be told, Lucien really did want to give the community some solid fan service. But given the strict regulatory, he simply didn't dare. This was, after all, a general gaming platform rated for all audiences.
If he actually allowed full interactive physics with Tifa, the platform would be banned and scrubbed from the U.S. app stores within minutes. It would never see the light of day!
What else could he do? He was devastated about it, too.
But the ESRB and the mighty Banhammer reigned supreme, and no one dared cross them!
"Lucien! Lucien!" Just as Lucien was wallowing in his own despair, Jenny came sprinting down the stairs, clutching her phone. "Another massive studio is trying to reach you!"
"Didn't I tell you to reject all those corporate suits?" Lucien said, waving a hand dismissively.
"But this isn't a tech company!" Jenny replied.
"Oh? Then who is it?" he asked.
"It's Disney!!!" Jenny squealed excitedly. "They want to hire you to make a movie!"
Jenny didn't care much for Silicon Valley tech giants, but she was definitely familiar with the world-famous Disney. She had watched her fair share of Hollywood blockbusters, the family-friendly kind and knew exactly how massive Disney's animated films were.
That was why she was so hyped. Being headhunted by Disney felt like they were one step away from Hollywood stardom!
"Didn't you say you hate dealing with those fast-talking Hollywood executives?" Lucien asked, confused.
"I do! But this is Disney!" Jenny replied. "And they sounded incredibly sincere. They said they wanted to discuss a potential partnership with the head of New World."
"Forget it. Turn them down," Lucien said, waving her off.
"Huh? Just flat-out reject them?" Jenny blinked, wanting to make sure she heard right.
"Yeah. It's Disney. They obviously just want me to do the CGI and visual effects for their upcoming movies," Lucien replied calmly.
It didn't take a genius to figure it out. Considering how insanely photorealistic his game engine was, rendering CGI for a movie would be an absolute walk in the park for him.
Sure, Hollywood CGI had reached the point where it was nearly indistinguishable from reality, but compared to Lucien's games, it still fell severely short.
Under those circumstances, it was only natural that the major film studios had their eyes on him.
But Lucien simply didn't have the time for that. He vastly preferred making video games over producing movies.
"Oh... alright, I'll go turn them down then." Jenny nodded, turning around to leave.
"Hey, wait a sec!" Lucien suddenly called out to her. "Jenny, if you really want to be a star, do you want to make a cameo in my next game?"
Jenny froze in her tracks. "A cameo? How?"
"We just scan your face and feet, model an NPC after you, and boom... You're officially a character in my game!" Lucien explained with a grin.
Jenny lit up instantly. "Wait, really?! We can do that?!"
"Of course. It's not exactly hard to do," Lucien nodded.
"That's amazing!!!" Jenny did a little jump of joy, cheering out loud. "Lucien, I wanna do it! I want a cameo!"
Jenny knew exactly how massive the New World player base was. If her face was featured in one of Lucien's games, she would basically become an overnight celebrity.
"So, Lucien, can I play a drop-dead gorgeous princess with legions of devoted fans who lives a long, happy life?!" Jenny asked hopefully after a moment of thought.
Lucien flatly shook his head. "Keep dreaming. There's no role like that."
"Okay, then how about just a totally normal girl who lives a quiet, ordinary life?" Jenny compromised.
Lucien shook his head again. "Nope. Don't have that either."
"Well... can I at least have a character who doesn't die a horrible death?" she asked meekly.
Lucien didn't say a word, but the pitying look on his face told her everything she needed to know.
"Ugh, never mind then, I'm out." Jenny wildly waved her hands and shook her head. "I've seen what happens in your games! Your NPCs always meet the most horrific ends. I'm not doing it. Knowing you, you'd probably cast me as some doomed passenger in Pod 2 or the doomed captain of the Aurora. You wouldn't even need my face model, you'd just loop my agonizing death screams!"
Lucien: "..."
As much as Lucien wanted to defend himself, he genuinely couldn't argue with that.
Looking at his track record, being an NPC in his games was a tiny bit of a tragedy...
"Alright, suit yourself," Lucien shrugged dismissively. "There is one more thing, though. Jenny, I want you to put out a tweet right now. Announce that New World Studios will be hosting a game showcase this weekend evening. I'll be taking the stage personally to reveal our next big title."
A massive game showcase was practically mandatory for any AAA title. The only reason he hadn't done one for Subnautica was because he had been rushing to break into the market. But now that he had a massive player base and New World was rapidly growing into an industry titan, he was absolutely going to give his next game the full AAA red-carpet treatment.
"Whoa!!!" Jenny's jaw dropped. "Lucien, you've already finished the next game?!"
"Not entirely," Lucien shook his head. "But it doesn't matter. It's just a showcase event, not a launch day. We'll be dropping a teaser trailer, at the very least."
"Oh, got it. So, what city is the showcase going to be in?" Jenny asked. "Have you reached out to an event organizer yet?"
"Why would we need an organizer?" Lucien chuckled. "We're going fully digital. We'll host it straight from the New World platform! Any player who has the platform downloaded can log in and attend live!!!"
Jenny's eyes widened in realization, and she slapped her thigh excitedly. "That's genius! I didn't even realize the New World platform could be used like that!"
"Heh. We've barely scratched the surface of what this platform can do," Lucien smirked. "Now hurry up and get to work."
"On it!"
Jenny flashed an 'OK' sign, spun on her heel, and hurried off.
A few minutes later, Jenny fired off a tweet.
[Ahem! Got some amazing news for you guys! This Saturday night at 9:00 PM, the madman Anon himself is hosting a live showcase to announce the next title coming to New World!
Attending the event is simple! Just put on your VR headsets, log into the New World platform right on time, and you'll be able to join the live audience!]
The moment the tweet went live, the internet exploded in heated discussion.
[Holy shit, Anon is a genius! Hosting a game showcase inside a virtual platform? I never would have thought of that!]
[That is actually a god-tier idea!]
[Bro, New World is insane. Subnautica has barely been out for a month and they're already announcing the next game!]
[Fr! New World is carrying the industry on its back right now! I'm so hyped for this. A virtual event sounds fresh as hell, I'm definitely tuning in!]
[Ahem, as hyped as I am, I'm still obligated to say: ANON, HURRY UP AND FIX THE BUG THAT STOPS US FROM INTERACTING WITH TIFA!]
But even as players eagerly awaited the next New World announcement while continuously begging for a Tifa "bug fix" the hype around Subnautica was far from dying down.
Later that very night, the prominent YouTuber PewDiePie uploaded a mind-blowing new video. [Just how many Easter eggs did Sinclair hide in Subnautica?! I ventured into the Dead Zone and found a LIVING Ancient Leviathan!]
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