198: Chapter 198 It's a pity we didn't bring the Black Myth: Wukong

Having thought this through, Jiang Yuan wasn't all that angry. She simply asked in a clear, crisp voice:

"Sister Lan, are you at the office right now?"

Wen Lan nodded and said:

"Yes, President Jiang, I'm at the office. Director Qin, Director Zhou Ming, Director Lin, as well as Sister Su and Chen Yu are all here. The tech team is currently tracing the exact path of how that screen recording was leaked."

Nodding slightly, Jiang Yuan said calmly:

"Alright. Put me on speaker, I'll speak to everyone directly."

Hearing a rustling sound from the other end of the line, Jiang Yuan looked out the window at the pitch-black night and continued:

"First of all, don't panic about tonight's matter. A leak of this level isn't the first time for Spark Games, and it won't be the last.

From Plants vs. Zombies being mocked as a childish, casual game that couldn't make it to the big leagues, to Minecraft being called a pixelated cash grab, when has Spark Games ever not been badmouthed before a release? Every single time, countless people wait to watch us fail, but every single time, the reality slaps them right in the face!"

The other end of the line fell silent for a few seconds.

Although it wasn't a video call, Jiang Yuan could almost envision the shifting expressions on everyone's faces. She said softly:

"Second, the tech team should continue investigating the source of the screenshots. There's no rush, but make sure to preserve the evidence. A former employee leaking internal test materials is a matter we can take legal action on. As for when exactly to proceed, we'll talk about that after the release."

"Third, there's no need to spend money to take down the trending topics, and don't make any direct responses on our official channels. First thing this morning, Qin Gong, double the monitoring of social media. Archive and take screenshots of all the paid troll accounts and those maliciously stirring up trouble. We'll settle accounts with all of them after the release."

As she reached the end, even someone as calm as Jiang Yuan grew serious, her voice deepening:

"Fourth, and most importantly."

"Resident Evil officially launches in about four days. During these four days, we have countless ways to directly prove the quality of the game!

But there's no need. Since they've set up this stage for us, we'll just step on them and let all the players drawn in by this incident experience the game themselves to find out! With the quality of Resident Evil, what they're doing is nothing more than rushing to make clowns of themselves!"

After she finished speaking.

Even over the phone, Jiang Yuan could still feel that everyone who had rushed to the office had instantly calmed their anxious and tense emotions.

This was only natural. Given the glory and prestige Jiang Yuan had accumulated within Spark Games over the past few years, let alone a speech as logical and well-reasoned as this.

Even if she could only babble "aba aba aba aba" right now,

Qin Gong, Wen Lan, and the others on the other end would probably still be instantly re-energized.

After a brief silence, Qin Gong's booming voice suddenly rang out:

"Rest assured, President Jiang. I will personally keep a close eye on all social media platforms and won't let them affect our pre-order conversion rates."

A smile appeared on Jiang Yuan's exquisite and bright face, and she said with interest:

"Don't worry too much about pre-order conversions. The people who are going to buy it will still buy it."

"Those who cancel their pre-orders over a few blurry screenshots will buy it back twice over once they see the actual gameplay footage after the game is released. A truly great game is never short of players."

"I can only say that their desperate, frantic actions might actually end up helping Spark Games create an unprecedented sales myth that will likely be hard to replicate in the future!"

Wen Lan took over, her voice finally sounding much more relaxed and gentle as she said respectfully:

"President Jiang, please go back to sleep. We'll keep an eye on things here. When you come to the office tomorrow morning, I'll have a complete public opinion report ready for you."

Nodding slightly, Jiang Yuan said in a crisp voice:

"Alright, thanks for your hard work, everyone."

Hanging up, Jiang Yuan casually placed her phone on the nightstand and slipped back into her fragrant, still-warm bed.

She didn't fall asleep right away. Instead, she stared at the ceiling with her bright, beautiful eyes, her mind quickly processing a few things.

For instance, why Tencent chose to make their move at this exact moment.

This wasn't actually hard to understand.

It was because the Resident Evil project was the largest and most heavily funded project since the founding of Spark Games, as well as the first true AAA survival horror game in the country.

If this game succeeded, it would mean Spark Games had taken another massive step forward in expanding its genres. And this step happened to tread right into the hardcore single-player territory that Tencent had always wanted to enter but failed to.

They didn't want to see Spark Games succeed, so even if it was just to annoy them and slow down the pre-order growth by a few tens of thousands of copies, it was worth it to them.

It could only be said that...

Just how terrifying the impact of the title "the nation's first AAA game" could be was something that perhaps only Jiang Yuan herself fully understood right now.

As for Tencent, they probably only had a vague grasp of it, and they certainly couldn't imagine just how absurdly spectacular the sales explosion and the resulting myth would be.

To be honest,

Jiang Yuan herself felt a bit of regret now. She thought to herself, if she had brought over black myth: wukong—with its optimized and further improved quality—to serve as the nation's first AAA game, combined with her own reputation, just how mind-bogglingly massive would the final sales figures have been?

Letting her imagination run wild,

Jiang Yuan soon felt sleepiness wash over her again. She rolled over, buried her face in her fragrant, soft pillow, and closed her eyes with a slight smile, drifting off to sleep with a peaceful mind.

As for the commotion Tencent had put all their effort into creating...

Unfortunately, it couldn't even manage to cause Jiang Yuan a slight bit of insomnia.

A few hours later.

Having slept sweet and sound, a refreshed Jiang Yuan walked with light steps through the doors of the Spark Games office. Holding a cup of Chagee she had just bought downstairs, her complexion was so good it looked as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened yesterday.

However, the atmosphere inside the office stood in stark contrast to her breezy and calm demeanor.

Wen Lan, Zhou Ming, Lin Zhengtao, Chen Yu, Su Meng, Qin Gong, and countless other employees were sitting wherever they could find a spot, with laptops and tablets spread out in front of them. Every single face showed varying degrees of exhaustion and tension.

Clearly, even though these people were no longer worried after receiving Jiang Yuan's "buff," they had still dutifully stayed at the office all night. By contrast, it made Jiang Yuan, the boss, look a bit unprofessional.

Seeing Jiang Yuan walk in wearing a black jacket and loose, light-blue jeans, almost everyone stood up at the same time.

Seeing this, Jiang Yuan calmly waved her hand and said in a crisp voice:

"Sit, sit, no need to stand. How is the public opinion tracking right now?"