Chapter 10: Who Could Resist a Match-3 Game with Beautiful Girls?
"Wow, what a surprise!"
Inside the rented apartment, Alex looked at the sales statistics on his official platform with some surprise. The overall increase far exceeded his expectations. On the first day, 162 copies were sold, a number that was neither too high nor too low. On the second day, sales quadrupled, reaching an impressive 610 copies. The main reason was his promotional work.
With a budget of $4,000, normal advertising was simply not feasible. This was partly due to a lack of funds and partly due to the unique characteristics of the game. So Alex focused his attention on a forum frequented by foreign adult gamers. After all, visibility was fundamental for Alex. As for his method, it was the most primitive: using elite online trolls.
Alex hadn't considered a massive online troll bombing. That wouldn't be very effective and could even be counterproductive. So Alex resorted to buying accounts to become an elite player. He bought old accounts on forums and posted reviews. After posting, trolls from other platforms would post them. Of course, the most crucial factor is that the quality of the game is excellent. Otherwise, this promotion method is even less effective than a large-scale troll army.
The key to the success of this model lies in converting players who know the game into groups of friends, encouraging them to share it with their friends. As a professional game planner and a simple, honest player in his previous life, Alex naturally understood one thing: what do players care about? The theory is simple: most players enjoy doing one thing: engaging in lewd activities in normal games and then engaging in normal activities in lewd games. This contrast is what makes them addicted.
As an online gamer joke goes, "The two great hobbies of men are to entice decent women into prostitution and to persuade prostitutes to change their ways." The same goes for gamers. There are always players who enjoy outrageously manipulating the game. Of course, this alone is not enough for success; ultimately, the quality of the game itself matters. But at least this characteristic is enough to attract players, and that's enough.
Judging by the sales of Mirror, this promotional strategy has been a complete success. After all, choosing Mirror was a thought-out decision by Alex, not a hasty one. He had researched all aspects in advance, including the performance of similar products on the market, whether player preferences were different from his, and the sales platform and feasibility of promotion. Alex had it all planned out. Under these circumstances, the success of Mirror was completely under his control. The only unexpected thing was that the players' enthusiasm was much higher than Alex had anticipated. With 610 copies sold on the second day, Alex believed that this increase was only the beginning. In time, word-of-mouth from players would undoubtedly boost the sales of Mirror.
"Well, if we continue this model, I'll be able to pay off the money I owe the payment software next week." "Luckily, official foreign platforms use real-time settlement. Once the player's refund period has passed, the funds are deposited directly into their accounts." "But, just like in my past life, the commissions that these third-party platforms charge are really difficult to swallow."
Alex couldn't help but laugh when he thought about it. The official game platform takes a 30% commission, which mainly covers the daily maintenance of the platform, engine updates, and the development of the latest technology. As for other third-party gaming platforms, they are much more lucrative. Especially when it comes to mobile channels, they usually start at 50%. Some even go up to a 70/30 split. This is comparable to Goose Farm and the major mobile app stores in my past life.
However, there are undoubtedly advantages: these third-party platforms have a significant user base, in addition to fewer official recommendations and unscientific algorithms. Therefore, despite the higher commissions that many of these platforms offer, video game studios and companies still make a profit. They simply enjoy the broth while the platforms eat all the bread. For Alex, however, these platforms were just a passing interest; they completely lacked interest.
It wasn't that he didn't want to use them because he considered them too suspicious. In fact, if he really used them, they would undoubtedly help him accumulate funds quickly. This was mainly because Mirror was a somewhat peculiar game, so even if it appeared on the platform, they wouldn't give it a recommendation. Of course, it was a national platform, while foreign platforms had less strict restrictions. But with the official platform already established, there was no need to use third-party channels. National platforms don't have much influence abroad; their main objective is domestic sales.
From afternoon to evening, Alex closely followed the game's sales data. This was also the peak period for sales growth. By updating the backend data every hour, he could see that the sales of Mirror were constantly increasing. Previously, more than 100 new units were added per hour, but during this peak period, it had already exceeded 200. Clearly, through various information channels, the name Mirror had gradually reached the ears of various players. This increase in sales demonstrates the support that friendly players give to the game.
And with the lifting of the ban on player ratings, the rating for Mirror was also successfully displayed: 9.7 points, a score that could be considered explosive. However, Alex was not too enthusiastic. The main reason was that, being an 18+ game, players are extremely tolerant of this type of game, and their tolerance has increased considerably. Compared to traditional games, this score does not have much reference value.
Just as some forums are full of insults and different rhythms, in some forums frequented by adult gamers, user comments can be said to be extremely harmonious. They either say that the host is a good person and that good people will have a peaceful life, or they exchange their own cinematographic experiences and their love for certain teachers. The only thing that the soundtrack of Mirror can show is that, for players, this game is definitely worth starting and recommending. After all, who can refuse such an interesting and attractive girl-matching game?
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