In the morning, the online player count for Fall Guys wasn't very high, but it still climbed up to fifteen thousand concurrent players, which was already an excellent result.
Checking the comments on several gaming forums, the reviews for the game were overwhelmingly positive. Most players left favorable impressions. The controls weren't difficult, the stage designs were interesting and plentiful, and with sixty players competing on the same stage at the start, a crowd of bean-like characters tumbling and shoving into one another was undeniably entertaining.
Even if you lost a match, you could still witness all kinds of hilarious and unexpected eliminations—impossible not to laugh.
By the afternoon, as more streamers went live, Fall Guys' popularity surged even further. As a variety-style multiplayer party game, its streaming value was beyond doubt. Ichin browsed through several streams from his office, and each one showcased different comedic moments.
It was clear: as long as the game maintained a steady update schedule and gained traction with streamers, its sales and daily active players wouldn't be low.
"What we need to watch now is our server capacity."
Closing the browser, Ichin asked Utaha to play Fall Guys in the office while he stepped out.
Outside, the Dark Souls team had naturally abandoned work and were all at their computers, controllers in hand, playing Fall Guys.
Compared to the earlier internal builds, this public network test was vastly improved—both in maps and character cosmetics.
As soon as Ichin walked out, he saw Eriri leap from her chair, controller in hand.
"Yes! First place! Now I can buy a skin!"
Beside her, Aoba and Momiji had matched into the same game, but unfortunately both were eliminated in the second round. Still, seeing Eriri secure the win made them cheer as well.
Watching Eriri enter the in-game skin shop, Aoba asked curiously:
"Eriri, which skin are you going to buy?"
"Heh, of course the orange tabby cat skin!"
Without hesitation, Eriri spent the three crowns she'd saved up and purchased it. Once equipped, her round little Fall Guy turned even plumper, covered in yellow-and-white stripes, complete with cat ears and a swaying tail—an unmistakable fat orange cat.
Seeing Eriri get her first skin, Aoba and Momiji exchanged a look and quickly queued for another match themselves.
After observing for a while, Ichin walked over to the Fall Guys development team.
Since it was the first day of testing, Hazuki, the producer, had been glued to her desk all day. Even lunch was just a delivered bento eaten in front of the monitor.
Ichin approached her.
"Hazuki, how's the backend data looking?"
"Downloads have already broken eighty thousand," Hazuki replied. "Thirty thousand on Switch, fifty thousand on Steam, and the numbers keep climbing. Concurrent players on Steam are close to twenty thousand, and Switch has already passed ten thousand."
"How's the server load?"
"So far, stable. No significant pressure yet." Hazuki leaned back in her chair. "Even on Switch, after our optimizations, the frame rate is holding steady at 30 FPS. Even the two largest maps don't stutter. And this is just day one—two full weeks should be more than enough to build momentum. I'm confident online numbers will keep rising."
"That's great to hear."
Ichin smiled in satisfaction, glanced around at the busy developers, and said:
"It's the afternoon already. I'll order some milk tea and snacks for you all—don't forget to take a break."
Half an hour later, milk tea and freshly baked pastries arrived. Under Hazuki's direction, the devs grabbed their drinks first, then rotated to the break area to enjoy the sweets.
Taking a small bite of a Swiss roll, Hazuki finally let out a breath.
"Even though it's just network testing, it's still nerve-wracking. Luckily, things have gone very smoothly so far."
Yagami Kou chuckled nearby.
"Judging by the current results and the online reviews, when Fall Guys officially launches, sales will be strong for sure."
Ichin agreed with confidence.
"Exactly. For this test we've only released part of the maps. During the second network test we'll add more maps and skins. When the full release comes, there'll be tons of stages and cosmetics, plus ranked seasonal modes. Players who joined the tests won't ever feel bored. The success of Fall Guys is practically assured."
As the company's first live-service online multiplayer game, Fall Guys required continuous updates. The half-year to one-year post-launch operation plan was already prepared.
Once released, they just needed to follow the roadmap—and perhaps explore collaborations for crossover skins. Of course, that would require a dedicated business team later on.
As evening fell, part of the company staff stayed behind to monitor network data. With two weeks of testing ahead, it was crucial to stay sharp. No one complained; instead, they volunteered for rotation shifts.
After grabbing dinner outside and returning home, Ichin took a shower while Utaha settled into the bedroom, booted up the PC, and dove back into Fall Guys with her controller.
This test included several appealing skins, and she was determined to unlock them all.
By the time Ichin came out of the shower, Utaha was already wearing headphones, completely absorbed in the game. He didn't interrupt her, instead opening his laptop on the bed and working quietly.
Utaha didn't play games often, but when she found one she liked, she was serious about it. With Pokémon Legends: Arceus, she had painstakingly completed the entire Pokédex, captured Arceus, and even hunted multiple shiny Pokémon she found beautiful.
Ichin himself had caught Arceus too, but aside from a few shinies encountered along the way, he never bothered grinding—he shelved the game right after.
Utaha played until nearly ten o'clock. After finishing a round, Ichin gently removed her headphones.
"Alright, take a break. Go shower first."
Rubbing her eyes, Utaha nodded obediently and headed off with her change of clothes.
Watching her leave the bedroom, Ichin smiled.
"Fall Guys, huh… I wonder just how high its popularity will climb next."
*
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