Chapter 13

The university’s winter break officially began on January 10th. Xie Yunfan didn’t rush home, choosing instead to stay in his small apartment to prepare for the operation and promotion of his new game.

There were many ways to monetize his Underworld Maze.

The first was the common “Item-Based Microtransaction Model.” He could open an in-game store and add items like [Underworld Guide Cards] or [Reincarnation Cards] that players could buy with real money. If they got lost, they could pay for directions; if they died, they could pay to revive… This method would undoubtedly generate a lot of revenue.

However, Xie Yunfan disliked this model. Relying on microtransactions to buy cards, allowing anyone willing to throw money at the game to clear it, completely went against his original intention for designing the maze. Moreover, it was a greedy practice that would disgust players.

Another option was the “Free-to-Play, Ad-Supported Model.” When a player died, they would watch a 30-second ad to get an item or revive. The game would generate profit through advertising… For a lighthearted casual game like Candy Crush, this model worked well, and there were many successful examples.

But his maze game was inherently difficult. When a player died in the maze, they would already be frustrated. Interrupting them with an ad right then would only backfire, causing them to simply abandon the game.

After a long time pondering, Xie Yunfan finally decided on a “Premium Download” model.

Paid downloads carried significant risks. After all, there were many players who absolutely refused to spend money on games. And his studio had zero reputation; seeing a price tag, many players wouldn’t even bother downloading it.

But there were advantages as well. A one-time payment unlocked the entire game content, allowing players to play freely after downloading. Even if they couldn’t clear a level right away, they could look up guides, study it slowly, and feel a greater sense of accomplishment when they finally beat it themselves.

Xie Yunfan checked the paid games section on the “Mobile Games Hub” and, referencing market prices, set the price of Underworld Maze at a rather cheap 15 RMB.

For the price of a cup of milk tea, players could experience a wealth of maze content.

After setting the price, he uploaded the game to the backend of the “Mobile Games Hub” website.

This third-party platform had massive traffic. Small studios like his could directly publish their games there, and the platform would take a 20% service fee for providing the download links.

Of course, without promotion or recommendations, a small game like his could easily sink without a trace.

As for the specific launch date? He had to wait a bit.

For the past few days, he had been keeping a close eye on the trends in the gaming sector.

On the VR game side, major titles were hosting various tournaments, but that had nothing to do with him; the user base for VR games and mobile games didn’t conflict.

The key was the mobile game battlefield. Besides a few old games releasing new expansion packs, the gaming giant “Dream Wings” also had a major move planned for this winter break.

Dream Wings’ independently developed and operated Elf Kingdom was set to begin its nationwide public beta on January 13th. It was a cute, chibi-style elf breeding and combat MMO. This style was Dream Wings’ signature, and they had a massive player base for it.

Recently, the internet had been completely flooded with advertisements for this game.

Various adorably cute elves, dazzling combat effects, rich breeding mechanics, guild battles, elf home building, and more—it had attracted the attention of a huge number of players.

Dream Wings clearly placed great importance on this game, launching a viral marketing campaign across the entire internet: buying trending searches, hiring celebrity spokespersons, placing splash screen ads on Weibo, releasing teaser short videos, initiating streamer incentive programs…

The investment in this promotional campaign must have been at least tens of millions, right?

They truly were wealthy and imposing.

Xie Yunfan planned to temporarily avoid their sharp edge and wait a week.

He set the game’s launch time for January 20th at 8:00 PM.

The 20th was a Friday. Office workers would be resting, making the two-day weekend the perfect time to download a new game to play. Schools nationwide were also on winter break, giving students ample time to immerse themselves in the maze.

After setting the launch time, he registered an account for “Sailboat Studio” on Weibo and posted a simple promotional message.

“On January 20th at 8:00 PM, the single-player game Underworld Maze officially launches on Mobile Games Hub. Thrilling traps, rich and interesting gameplay, and uniquely styled mazes await your challenge!”

The message was sent out, but unfortunately, the view count remained at zero.

After all, this official account didn’t have a single follower…

Xie Yunfan shared the link with Little Hu: “Help me forward this in your gaming groups ^^”

“Received!” Hu Fei clicked the link and couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy. Your official Weibo has zero followers? That’s too miserable! Who’s going to see this promotion?

Hu Fei casually dropped a follow and asked, “Boss, didn’t you find a professional game publisher?”

“Someone did reach out to me, but we couldn’t agree on terms, so I’m doing it myself,” Xie Yunfan replied.

“The public beta for Elf Kingdom just launched recently, and we’ve already received a lot of power-leveling orders for it. Boss, if you don’t find a publisher, it’ll be very hard to stand out, right?”

Hu Fei had tested the game multiple times during this period and had developed a bit of affection for Underworld Maze. He really hoped more people would discover this fun game.

It was a pity his boss had no backing. Going up against a massive game was just too difficult!

“It’s fine. Our game is suited for slow and steady growth,” Xie Yunfan said calmly.

“…” Hu Fei was speechless.

Not hiring an operator and still daring to charge into the winter break release window? You’re definitely going to be cannon fodder!

Compared to Hu Fei’s frantic anxiety, Xie Yunfan was quite calm.

He had experienced far too many fiercely competitive winter and summer release windows in his past life.

He had playtested Dream Wings’ Elf Kingdom. The art style was very cute, the combat effects were beautiful, and the production quality was quite fine.

However, the items in the game’s cash shop left him dizzy. Daily limited gift packs, elf potions, random S-rank skill books, various gemstones…

It was hard to evaluate.

Selling skill books directly? Fellow developer, isn’t your greed showing a bit too much?

It was a classic “pay-to-win or you can’t play” game.

Contrasted against his competitor, his 15 RMB buyout game was truly a bargain of conscience.

---

At 8:00 PM on January 20th, Underworld Maze officially launched on Mobile Games Hub.

Mobile Games Hub had a “Recent New Releases” chart, sorted by the release time within the last three days. Underworld Maze also appeared on this list.

On a Friday night, people who had worked all week could finally go home and rest.

Many netizens who habitually looked for games on Mobile Games Hub saw Underworld Maze, which had just launched at 8:00 PM, on the “Recent New Releases” list and wore confused expressions.

“Who releases a game late at night? The poster looks weird too.”

“What kind of garbage game is this? And they have the nerve to charge 15 bucks!” Netizens who never spent money on games scrolled past with a curse, continuing to look at the next one.

“Sailboat Studio? Never heard of them.” Someone hovered their finger over the “Download/Purchase” button, hesitated for a moment, and ultimately didn’t press it. “Games from new studios are usually not fun. I’ll wait for reviews before deciding whether to buy it or not.”

“A maze game? 15 bucks is pretty reasonable. I’ll buy it and try it out.” A casual game enthusiast downloaded the game with a “give it a try” mentality.

Xie Yunfan’s “Mobile Game Producer” manager could view the backend download numbers in real time.

Launched at 8:00 PM. By 10:00 PM, two hours later, the total number of downloads in the backend was 105. This included the power-levelers, artists, and music producers who had downloaded it as “friendly support” after receiving his message. Excluding these acquaintances, the number of strangers who had downloaded his game was less than 100.

It was truly cold.

It wasn’t even in the same league as the neighboring Elf Kingdom with its 10 million downloads.

At that moment, in Dorm 404 of the Rongcheng Academy of Fine Arts.

Chu Yue downloaded Underworld Maze using the link his boss had sent him. As soon as he opened it, he exclaimed in shock, “Holy shit! The concept art we drew looks even more terrifying after 3D modeling! Did the boss make this game just to scare people?!”

His roommate muttered, “The boss is probably some rich second-generation kid making games just for fun, right? The downloads haven’t even broken ten thousand, and there’s no promotion at all. It’s probably going to flop…”

Chu Yue said, “Let’s promote it in our class group chat. Every person we can pull in counts.”

In a single apartment, Ning Sha downloaded Underworld Maze. Seeing the Black and White Impermanence she had drawn appear so vividly on the screen, she couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement.

Ning Sha recommended it in her university group chat: “A new game just launched. If anyone is interested, go play it. I drew the character concept art for this game.”

A few classmates gave her face and downloaded the game. But most people were just watching the fun. Who would play a small game made by an unheard-of studio?

Ding Huaian also posted a recommendation on his Moments: “Underworld Maze has officially launched! We were honored to participate in the music production. Friends, please support it!”

The main reason these people were willing to act as the first wave of organic, unpaid promoters was because the boss was easy to talk to, generous with his money, and didn’t make things difficult for his workers.

Such a client was too rare, and the collaboration process had been very pleasant.

Having taken so much money, they felt a bit bad. Their abilities were limited, so they could only help the boss promote it in their Moments and classmate group chats.

…

Compared to the trending searches, advertisements, and even celebrity endorsements of professional operations companies, relying solely on a few organic promoters meant Xie Yunfan’s game couldn’t even surpass 500 downloads on its first day.

He had long been mentally prepared for this result.

Xie Yunfan opened the country’s largest video editing website, searched for uploaders in the “Gaming Zone,” filtered out a few who specialized in recommendation videos, and sent out a mass message:

“Hello, I am the designer for Sailboat Studio. Our single-player game, Underworld Maze, needs promotion. We are looking for a recommendation-style video no shorter than 10 minutes. Promotional fee starts at 3K RMB. If interested, please DM.”

At the same time, he found several gaming streamers on the country’s largest streaming platforms, Blue Fish Live and Civet Live, who had decent popularity and were currently on the rise, and sent them private messages:

“Hello streamer, I am the designer for Sailboat Studio. Our single-player game, Underworld Maze, has launched. If you are willing to promote it via live stream, we can pay by the hour…”

This type of challenging game that tortured players was actually very suitable for promotion within the uploader and gaming streamer circles; it would attract more casual viewers.

Dream Wings had monopolized trending searches, hired big celebrities for endorsements, and had ads flying everywhere… so he would take an unconventional path and try for a breakthrough through gaming streamers.

After sending the messages, Xie Yunfan patiently waited for replies.

Soon, he received some private messages.

“Sorry, I’ve been streaming the Elf Kingdom dungeon raids lately and won’t be streaming other games.”

“Apologies, I don’t have time to take on promotions right now.”

“I don’t do ads. If your game is truly fun, I’ll recommend it for free!”

“I’m going to stream the Desert Island Crisis tournament. Let’s collaborate next time there’s an opportunity.”

There were many polite rejections. This was also within Xie Yunfan’s expectations. Uploaders and gaming streamers also had to worry about their own reputation; they couldn’t just casually accept any promotion.

At this moment, in a rented room in the Imperial Capital.

A middle-aged man stared blankly at a half-edited video on his computer.

A family member had undergone surgery a while ago, draining his savings. Money had been tight recently, and rent was due again soon. For a mid-tier uploader like him, the money earned from video traffic was only enough to cover his own expenses…

Just as he was having a headache over how to make money, a private message suddenly popped up in the bottom right corner.

“Underworld Maze?” The uploader [Black Bird] scratched his head in confusion. “A studio I’ve never even heard of. If I take this promotion, my fans will scold me for taking dirty money, right… Cough, 3,000 RMB, though…”

I’d be a fool not to take it! Black Bird shamelessly replied, “Hello Boss, I’m willing to take the promotion. Let me play the game a bit and then I’ll edit a recommendation video for you. Hehe, can you pay a deposit in advance?”

Meanwhile, in an apartment in Rongcheng.

The gaming streamer “Brother Liu” looked at the private message in the bottom right corner and said curiously, “A single-player game? Well, I need popularity right now anyway. The top streamers on Blue Fish are all streaming Elf Kingdom dungeons; the homogenization is severe. If I stream something different, maybe I can attract some random viewers.”

Thinking of this, he immediately replied to Xie Yunfan: “Boss, I’ll go download it right now!”

Inside Live Room 606 on the Blue Fish platform.

[Brother Liu, finally online?]

[What are we streaming today? Still sweeping Elf Kingdom dungeons?]

[Fuck, I’ve watched so many streamers sweep dungeons lately, I’m almost throwing up.]

Brother Liu smiled and said, “Don’t rush, fam. I’ve decided to be a guinea pig today and experience a newly launched, obscure new game with everyone—Underworld Maze!”

A row of “666” (awesome) scrolled across the chat.

Brother Liu opened the Mobile Games Hub, spent 15 RMB to download it, and said as it installed, “15 bucks is pretty reasonable. The style of this game is a bit unique. The installation progress bar is actually a skull?”

Installation complete. The game icon was a black background with red text.

Filled with curiosity, Brother Liu opened the game: “Oh, an 18+ maze game that requires identity verification… Why do I have a premonition that this new game is going to be very thrilling?”

The game started, and eerie music reached his ears.

[An 18+ maze, that’s a first!]

[Hahaha, could there be sexy beauties and handsome guys in the maze?]

[This music is weird, and the graphics are so dark. What kind of game is this?]

[Looks like a new studio. Let’s judge it first.]

The game loaded, and a prompt popped up on the screen.

—Please select game difficulty: [Normal Mode] [Nightmare Mode]

Brother Liu raised an eyebrow and said confidently, “There are different difficulties? Normal Mode is definitely for noobs and clumsy players. As a professional gaming streamer and a 10-year hardcore mobile gamer, of course I’m choosing Nightmare Mode, no hesitation!”

He pressed Nightmare Mode.

System: Are you sure you want to enter Nightmare Mode directly? Please choose carefully.

Brother Liu pressed confirm again.

For this kind of single-player game, as long as you have hands, you can play it, right?