37: Chapter 37 Isn't money in China money?

After browsing Twitter for over half an hour, Jiang Yuan finally ended her high-intensity surfing session, placed her phone on the desk, and continued working on her unfinished tasks.

As for the people on Twitter questioning and discussing her identity, while it was indeed a bit annoying to look at, who in this world could completely avoid such discussions?

Everyone has their own mouth; let them talk if they want to. All she needed to do was continue creating game after game to bring the joy of another world to the players of this world continuously!

Anyway, these people spouting nonsense wouldn't affect the game's sales, and Jiang Yuan didn't care what those comments were saying.

In the intervals between her work, Jiang Yuan didn't forget to open the Steam backend to check the real-time sales of Slay the Spire.

Good heavens.

It was just like last time, when Vampire Survivors gained attention overseas because of Hideo Kojima's recommendation.

The 2.3 million sales that Slay the Spire had achieved in nearly ten days since its official release had, in just one day and night, surged again to reach a staggering 2.73 million copies!

Compared to those top-tier IPs that break ten million or five million in three days, this achievement might not seem that exaggerated. However, one must realize that this result was achieved by an indie game selling on just the PC Steam platform alone. If you really convert and compare it, it's actually quite terrifying.

After checking the latest positive and negative reviews in the Slay the Spire comment section on the developer backend and slightly easing the nerves that had been taut since the new project started, Jiang Yuan opened the document for [Plants vs. Zombies] and began working again.

The document was filled with dense lists of various plants, attribute parameters, and level designs.

Jiang Yuan rubbed her slightly sore and reddened eyes and continued typing on the keyboard, producing a series of crisp, pleasant sounds.

And just as she was busy, a burst of noise suddenly came from outside the office door.

"Holy crap!"

"Are players this good at complimenting?"

Jiang Yuan stopped what she was doing and walked out expressionlessly. She saw Chen Yu holding his phone and looking at something with a brilliant smile, while those two knuckleheads, Zhou Ming and Lin Zhengtao, were huddled next to him. All three of them were staring at the screen, each looking happier than the last.

She didn't say a word, but walked over silently, stood behind them with her hands in her pockets, and started watching with them.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be an article by an editor at Minyou Xingkong, titled: "Slay the Spire! Why can a turn-based strategy game from the East drive the entire European and American gaming scene crazy?"

The article was very long, accompanied by several game screenshots and memes from Mark's livestream. The author analyzed the game's gameplay design, numerical balance, and class differences, finally concluding: The success of this game is by no means accidental, but a reflection of the all-around competence of the lead designer and all employees at Spark Games.

The comment section was even livelier: "How much did Spark Games pay you? Complimenting it like this? You media outlets really have no shame, do you?"

"Finally someone wrote about this. It was so satisfying to see it on foreign websites yesterday!"

"Paid for what? Did you just start using the internet yesterday? Slay the Spire is so popular right now, have you never heard of this game?"

"The title is indeed a bit exaggerated, but what it says isn't really wrong. Slay the Spire is indeed very popular on foreign websites right now!"

"I suggest the big companies come and learn from this. Sigh, when will there be more companies like Spark Games in the country and fewer like NetEase and Tencent?"

"Tencent and NetEase say: 'Are you dreaming? Me, learn this? Isn't it better for me to make free-to-play games and make money while lying down? Your Slay the Spire sells so many copies, but does it compare to me releasing one set of skins in a free-to-play game?'"

"Tearing up. The last time I saw a domestic game have this kind of popularity overseas, it was Vampire Survivors. Domestic games have really stood up! What? Vampire Survivors is also from Spark Games? Then never mind!"

As the three of them looked at the various fancy compliments from players and were about to laugh out like pigs, they heard Jiang Yuan's clear, heavenly voice slowly ring out from behind them: "You must be very happy to be so sought after and praised by players, right?"

The three of them were about to nod subconsciously upon hearing this, but suddenly they shivered, felt a chill down their backs, and their scalps went numb. Turning around slowly, they saw Jiang Yuan's exquisitely breathtakingly beautiful face. Among the three, Chen Yu was the first to speak, looking embarrassed: "Sorry, Boss. I saw a player post this link in the official group, got a bit curious, and clicked on it to see..."

Jiang Yuan said indifferently: "It's not that I don't let you look at these things during work, I just want to say one thing: since you are so happy to be praised and sought after by players, then we need to strive to make even better games to repay them."

Chen Yu, Zhou Ming, and Lin Zhengtao nodded quickly, their expressions serious: "Boss is wise. In our hearts, that is actually exactly what we were thinking!"

Jiang Yuan gave a hum and turned back to her office. Walking to the door, she suddenly remembered the purpose of coming out, turned back, and said in an unfriendly tone: "Don't make too much noise next time you slack off. It's fine to slack off and rest during work, but you can't disturb others!"

The three nodded repeatedly, knowing that their voices had indeed been a bit too loud when they were carried away by their happiness just now.

And while Jiang Yuan and the others continued to be immersed in the busy work of their new project, such a post suddenly appeared in a certain gaming Tieba.

Title: [Foreigners have all been conquered by Spark Games, what are some people in the country still being salty about?]

The main post included a screenshot of that popular English post, as well as a summary of the hot comments on Twitter, with the caption: "Ever since Slay the Spire sales broke one million in three days, I originally thought those clowns would disappear completely. But one by one, they are still being stubborn against the wind, saying that over 90% of Slay the Spire sales are from domestic buyers, and it's just a stray dog on the roadside abroad! I won't even talk about whether domestic money is money or not! I just want to ask these people now, look at these pictures, and then tell me, is Slay the Spire popular abroad or not?"

"Laughing to death, foreigners are praising it even harder than our own people!"

"Some people domestically: Domestic self-indulgence, nobody cares, garbage that doesn't even have an MC score! Foreigners: Strategy Game of the Year!"

"Spark Games is really giving face to domestic games. Love it, love it."

"Over two million in sales, Steam weekly chart global number one, all exchanged for a sentence of 'domestic self-indulgence'. What else is there to say to these CS?"

"Don't understand, asking: What does CS mean? A game?"

When Zhang Qingquan was surfing the internet after getting off work at night, he also saw this post. Feeling extremely refreshed, he immediately logged into his Tieba main account, which he hadn't used in years, and excitedly replied: "There's nothing to say to these dark rats. Once a rat, always a rat. Just roast them and be done with it!"

He had already beaten [Slay the Spire] over a dozen times and reached Ascension level 15, where he was currently stuck. He had originally wanted to come to Tieba to see if there were any high-quality strategy posts, but ended up seeing this post instead. Watching the game he loved being liked and accepted by more people, Zhang Qingquan's heart at this moment really felt like drinking a bottle of '82 Sprite; it was extremely satisfying.