The flood of positive reviews was so unanimous that people started to wonder if these outlets were paid off.
Well… alright, Target Software did pay for some PR work.
But this was also mainly because of Dark Souls' own quality.
Otherwise, for big names like GameSpot, a simple PR payment wouldn't be enough to make them blatantly lie.
As for the results, they were pretty amazing.
Players who follow reviews from major gaming media are usually the more experienced ones, not the casual players who just hear about a popular game from the news, ads, or streaming platforms and then decide to buy and play it.
Dark Souls has a hardcore style, which has caught the attention of many players.
On a large overseas gaming forum, players from different countries were discussing various gaming topics.
One of the trending threads there was about Dark Souls.
"Have you heard? There's this new game that just came out called Dark Souls."
"Of course. GameSpot and some other media outlets gave it very high scores."
"Seems like it's a game from the East."
"Let me check. Oh my god! Did GameSpot get paid for this?"
"Haha, my friend above, you should go watch Dark Souls' promo CG on YouTube. I promise it's insanely cool!"
"Yeah, you should check it out. It's really cool—unless it's just a teaser scam."
"Don't worry, my friend, I can guarantee it's not. The game has already been out for almost a month in their country, and there are videos on YouTube from local streamers and content creators. You can clearly see how the game actually plays."
With Target Software's push into the overseas market, the popularity of Dark Souls started to rise.
The high ratings from major gaming media, along with its top-notch CG animation, made many overseas players curious.
Was the game truly as good as it was hyped to be, or was it just all talk?
A lot of players wanted to find out for themselves.
......
As for the overseas promotion, after learning about Target Software's marketing approach and strategy, Lucas stopped paying attention to it for the time being.
Everything that needed to be done had been done, and the rest was up to the market to decide.
Besides, Lucas had something else on his mind that was even more exciting.
The golden item he had drawn earlier had finally reached the required points thanks to Dark Souls' performance in recent days.
In his office, Lucas eagerly opened the golden capsule toy from his inventory.
A burst of golden light flashed.
A card appeared in front of Lucas.
[Game AI Performance Technology]: Optimizes game AI performance to make it more like real life intelligence.
Requirements: Own a fully-funded AI technology company (X), 20 million in research funds (X).
Lucas was stunned when he saw the golden card in his inventory.
It was the first time he had ever drawn an item like this.
Game AI was no stranger to Lucas.
For any game, AI was one of the most important elements.
The quality of a game's AI greatly affects how immersive it feels to players.
In this parallel world, AI performance was already better than in his previous life.
But it still couldn't be called true artificial intelligence.
In Lucas's view, real artificial intelligence should at least be on the level of the "Terminator" from his previous life.
But whether such technology is good or bad for the world is hard to say.
In parallel worlds, many industries already use AI, such as smart homes and certain jobs that involve dangerous work.
However, these uses don't really apply to the gaming industry. Compared to AI that can be used in games, the technology level isn't actually that high.
Also, AI in the gaming field is different from AI in other fields.
Even so, the gap between big game companies and small studios in this area is still huge.
Just like building up experience in action mechanics, AI also requires strong technical foundations.
The reason Lucas chose to make Dark Souls before was that both the action and AI requirements for Dark Souls were relatively low.
This is a game focused mainly on level and boss design.
But for games that need a lot of player interaction with the game world, AI plays a very important role in the experience.
In Lucas's original plans for Nebula Games, besides continuing to research action performance, AI and related technologies were also on the roadmap.
Now, this item came at just the right time.
The only thing is that it has certain conditions for use.
And judging by the × symbol at the back, it seems there are also requirements for the so-called AI tech company, though they're not specified.
Lucas then checked the points he had saved up, and he had to admit, Dark Souls was definitely a great points-farming tool.
With 136 draws' worth of points, this was the richest Lucas had ever been so far.
But he didn't rush to use them right away. On one hand, his current abilities were enough for now, and there weren't any big projects coming up.
On the other hand, the overseas version of Dark Souls was about to launch, so he planned to save them up and enjoy a big draw all at once later.
After thinking for a while in his office, Lucas called Lisa in and asked her to make a list of AI technology companies, both domestic and overseas, to see which ones could meet the requirements of the item card.
It was also a way to get a better idea of the market size. The condition clearly stated full ownership.
So that meant he had to buy an AI tech company.
Of course, building one himself would also count as long as it met the requirements.
But starting from scratch would be much slower than buying one.
Still, Lucas wasn't in a rush this time. Unlike the previous time-limited items he drew, this one had no time limit written on it.
Even if he couldn't use it right away, he could just hold on to it for now.
Then Lucas called Hector into the office. Based on the players' current progress in Dark Souls,
it was just the right time to prepare a small surprise gift for them.
And the new mode would also be a great way to rack up more points!
(End of The Chapter)
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