6: Chapter 6 Lu Shao? Is he just an ordinary livestreamer?

She opened the store and began browsing the prices of game information.

[Stardew Valley] — 20,000 Points

[hollow knight] — 20,000 Points

[Undertale] — 10,000 Points

[The Binding of Isaac] — 12,000 Points

[Terraria] — 20,000 Points

The more Jiang Yuan looked, the more she felt she was still a long way from "financial freedom in points."

But her gaze landed on another category.

[Game Optimization Pack] — 500 Points

[Player Psychology Analysis] — 300 Points

[Market Gap Detection] — 400 Points

[Update Content Suggestions] — 200 Points

[Art Enhancement Pack] — 500 Points

[Numerical Enhancement Pack] — 500 Points

These were cheap.

And they were all things she could use right now.

Jiang Yuan thought for a moment and spent 200 points to buy the [Update Content Suggestions].

The next second, information flooded into her mind.

[Based on current player feedback and data analysis, it is recommended to prioritize updating the following content:]

[1. New Characters: Add characters with different starting weapons to enrich early-game choices]

[2. New Maps: Unlock a second map to add a sense of novelty]

[3. Achievement System: Add achievement rewards to motivate players to replay]

[4. Hidden Characters: Set up hidden characters that can be unlocked by meeting specific conditions]

[5. Balance Adjustments: Optimize the power curves of certain weapons]

Jiang Yuan read through them one by one, nodding slightly.

These suggestions were quite practical, especially the new characters and maps, which could counter the risk of players getting bored; it just so happened she had similar ideas.

She opened a document and began listing an update plan based on the memories in her mind.

A week later.

"Vampire Survivors" welcomed its first major update.

Jiang Yuan wrote the update announcement herself; it was very simple:

["Vampire Survivors" V1.1 Update Content]

New Characters: Arca (Starting Weapon: Axe), Porta (Starting Weapon: Holy Water)

New Map: Library (Higher monster density, faster pace)

New Achievement System: Complete specific challenges to earn achievements

Hidden Character Unlock Condition: Collect all achievements to unlock the hidden character "Death"

Balance Adjustments: Optimized the damage curves of some weapons

Fixed several bugs

On the day the update announcement was released, the comment section in the Steam backend immediately became lively again.

[Holy crap, a free update? So generous?]

— Recommended, Playtime: 28.3 hours

[The new characters are so fun. Arca starting with an axe is awesome.]

— Recommended, Playtime: 19.7 hours

[The Library is way too hard, I can't even last eight minutes...]

— Recommended, Playtime: 14.2 hours

[The hidden character is Death? You can play as Death? I'm going to grind so hard!]

— Recommended, Playtime: 35.6 hours

[This is what an indie game should be like. The updates are much more frequent than those big companies! I'm talking about you, NetEase and Tencent. Watch and learn!]

— Recommended, Playtime: 17.4 hours

[Stop being a hater. Would NetEase or Tencent ever make a single-player game for you? You're living in a dream!]

— Recommended, Playtime: 31.1 hours

Jiang Yuan looked at these comments, feeling quite good.

She glanced at the backend data.

Total Sales: 3,278.

Number of Reviews: 712, 99% positive rating.

Less than twenty days since the game went live, and it's already sold over three thousand copies.

She did the math.

Calculating by three thousand copies at eighteen yuan each, that's 54,000.

After deducting Steam's cut and taxes, she'd get about 35,000.

Adding the 110,000 left by her predecessor, she now had nearly 200,000.

It was enough to make the next game, even more than enough.

But what should the next one be?

Jiang Yuan transformed into a salted fish, slumped on the lounge chair, her bright eyes staring at the ceiling as she fell into deep thought.

...

Ten days after "Vampire Survivors" officially launched, sales barely climbed to 30,000 copies.

This number was actually already very good.

For an indie game made by one person, it was enough for Jiang Yuan to gain a foothold in the industry and build a certain level of fame.

But she knew in her heart that the sales growth curve had recently slowed down significantly.

Daily new sales had dropped from a peak of three or four hundred to fifty or sixty.

The excitement in the comment section had long since passed. Occasionally, a few new players would pop up and say "this game is really fun," but the replies below were all "already finished it" or "waiting for an update."

It was the same for Lin Xi.

She was still streaming every night, but the bullet chat was clearly not as crazy as before. After all, watching the same game every day would get boring for anyone; it's only human nature.

"Xiao Yuan, you need to release something new quickly."

Lin Xi, dangling a popsicle from her mouth, slumped on the sofa in Jiang Yuan's home:

"The old fans in my stream keep asking me every day if there's a new game. I'm getting embarrassed."

Jiang Yuan stared at the computer screen and said crisply without turning around:

"I'm thinking about it."

Lin Xi rolled over and looked at her with those bright, beautiful eyes, unable to resist saying:

"How long have you been thinking? It's been almost half a month! Why don't you make a sequel? Or something similar? You're good at this anyway."

Jiang Yuan shook her head.

It wasn't that she didn't want to, but she hadn't decided what to make.

She had gone over the game information in the system store countless times, but she still couldn't make up her mind.

Stardew Valley was too complex, Slay the Spire was too much of a gamble, hollow knight was too much work—each had its issues.

And she had a faint thought in her mind:

The next game couldn't be another small-scale project like this.

If she was going to do it, she had to make something that could truly establish her position.

Lin Xi threw the popsicle stick into the trash can:

"Alright, I'm heading back. There's a big streamer broadcasting tonight, so I'm going to OB a bit and see if I can learn some streaming tricks."

Jiang Yuan asked casually:

"A big streamer? Who?"

"Lu Shao."

Lin Xi said:

"The one who used to be a pro player and is now the top streamer on Mouyu Platform. He hasn't streamed a game in a long time, but today he said he's going to play something new. I don't know what it is."

Isn't he a has-been streamer?

Jiang Yuan wasn't very familiar with the streaming scene in this world, but she had heard the name "Lu Shao." In this world, he was also a major streamer, with hundreds of thousands of people in his room year-round; anything he said could end up on the trending searches.

"Then good luck."

Jiang Yuan encouraged her.

Lin Xi waved her hand and left happily.

Jiang Yuan continued to stare blankly at the computer.

At ten o'clock that night, while she was struggling with a still-blank design document, her phone suddenly rang.

A series of messages from Lin Xi on WeChat:

"Xiao Yuan, Xiao Yuan, Xiao Yuan!!!"

"Lu Shao!! Lu Shao is streaming your game!!!"

"Go watch it, quick!!!"

Jiang Yuan was stunned for a moment.

Lu Shao? Streaming her game?

She quickly opened the streaming platform and found Lu Shao's room.

Stream Title:

[Playing a new game tonight, supposedly it's addictive as hell]

Online Popularity: 1.87 million.

Jiang Yuan's hand shook.

How many? 1.87 million?!

She took a deep breath, suppressing the violent thumping in her heart, and clicked in.