Chapter 141: Trophy, Can I Touch It? It's Mine!
The presenter took the stage and, unlike previous years, there were no elaborate speeches. Only a few brief presentations followed, and then David Yang, head of the city's Game Department, took the stage to announce the list of designers selected for this year's senior professional titles.
Just like obtaining a certified game designer title to enter the industry, the same applies to senior professional titles. Generally, it requires a track record of at least five years in the video game industry and a certain level of success.
As for Alex, while his experience may not be the best, as the saying goes, what you lack in time you make up for in performance. He had won first place in the Game Department Competition for two years, and his titles like Fall Guys, Dark Souls, and Outlast had achieved notable success. Therefore, he was selected for this year's list.
Fourteen other game designers were also selected along with Alex, but Alex was clearly the most prominent. When Alex took the stage to express his gratitude and receive his certificate from David Yang, the audience erupted in applause. Countless game designers looked on with envy.
"As expected."
"To be fair, even though Alex lacks experience, it would be unacceptable for him not to be selected given his two years of success."
"How I envy him! I've been in the industry for seven years and I don't know if they will accept my application next year."
"Forget it, they probably won't."
"Shit!"
After Alex left the stage, some well-known game designers gathered. After returning to their seats, Mark, standing next to him, smiled and congratulated him. Alex smiled back. But soon, both Alex and Mark fell silent. The climax of the night was about to begin.
Meanwhile, the nominated game designers in the front row perked up, listening intently as the presenter announced the winners.
Under the watchful eye of the audience, the first award was soon announced. First the nominees were announced, and finally, the presenter, standing on stage, took the microphone and announced: "I declare that the game with the Best Story of the year is 'Loulan,' developed by designer Ling Hai!"
As the winners were announced, all the game designers present burst into applause. Alex also smiled and applauded. As the first prize winner of the night, all the game designers applauded with the same generosity. Ling Hai, the winner, took the stage with excitement and accepted the trophy from the presenter.
He then delivered his acceptance speech. After he finished, the audience continued to applaud.
Next came the second award, for Best Art Direction, which was also awarded to an indie game. As before, all the winners were very excited and expressed their gratitude.
The previous awards were generally smaller, such as Best Art, Best Performance, and Best Indie Game. These were not considered major awards.
Shortly after these preliminary awards were presented, the awards for the big names began. The first of the following categories was for Best Adventure and Puzzle Game of the Year. As expected, Alex won the first award of the night.
"I declare that the Best Adventure and Puzzle Game of the Year is Valiant Hearts: The Great War, developed by designer Alex!"
Amidst thunderous applause, Alex took the stage to accept the trophy and formally thanked the game department and the players for their support. For Alex, this award was a pleasant surprise.
The awards ceremony continued, and next came the Sports Racing Game category. With only a few national developers in this genre, there weren't many surprises.
Next came the Best Action Game category, with Dark Souls also nominated. However, the final award went to Goddess Adventure 3, a game from Platinum Interactive.
This game is considered an established action IP in the city, and Alex was not particularly disappointed. He understood that Dark Souls' nomination was simply a matter of numbers. After all, Dark Souls is not an action game, so if he won, it would simply be thanks to the support of his colleagues.
Then came a more unique award, one that everyone took for granted. Unlike its previous slow presentation, as if to keep the audience in suspense, the presenter directly announced the winning game.
"Congratulations! The winner of the Best Casual Game of the Year award is Fall Guys, developed by designer Alex!"
The announcement was met with enthusiastic applause. No one showed surprise. This was the most predictable award. After all, Fall Guys was incredibly popular at the time, a true phenomenon. Many game designers present couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
"This is the most predictable award!"
"Yes, you could say it's the most phenomenal game of the year. Not even Alex's latest game, Dark Souls, compares in popularity."
"Alex is a monster!"
"That's just the beginning. We'll see. There's probably more to come. Don't forget that Dark Souls hasn't won any awards yet. It's crazy! And yet, all these awards are well-deserved."
Then came several major video game awards. At this point, unlike the previous awards for Best Soundtrack and Performance, the current awards are very important.
They all show that the games, at least in this year's category, deserve recognition. Best Shooter Game, Best Adventure Game, Best Strategy Game... During this period, Alex also won several awards, including Best Level Design for Dark Souls and Best Cooperative Game for Overcooked.
Additionally, unlike previous years, this year's event also included a Most Popular Game award, chosen by online voting. This was the biggest difference between this year's event and previous ones. Dark Souls triumphed over NetDragon's Star God and won the award.
Seeing Alex come down from the stage, Mark, sitting beside him, felt a sudden heart attack. It was as if he was back at the ceremony a year ago. And this was just the beginning.
Once again, Alex took the stage to collect an award. This time, he received the Best Mobile Game award for the mobile version of Three Kingdoms Tactics. The audience's applause had become somewhat muffled, and the presenter was speechless after announcing the winners. Alex, clutching the trophy, thanked all the participants as usual.
Meanwhile, the live stream of the event was a hive of viewers commenting on the event.
"Oh my God, 2333333! Has anyone counted? How many awards has Alex won?"
"Hey, are you here to sell trophies wholesale?"
"Haha, did anyone notice something? It seems Alex repeated his acceptance speech from before."
"Alex must be in a bad way. He's been up there so many times, how is it possible that he has so many acceptance speeches?"
"Haha, try that with Alex! I want to see where he's going to put all those trophies!"
Countless people on the live stream were commenting non-stop. Similarly, many had just met the incredible game designer Alex. It was perfectly normal.
After all, most players play video games, so designers and even manufacturers are not usually taken into account. Some players don't even know that games like Dark Souls and Fall Guys were created by the same designer.
But compared to the online curiosity and conversations, Alex felt a little awkward.
"Ahem, Mark, could you help me hold the trophies? I have so many that they won't all fit," Alex said to Mark, who was beside him, a little embarrassed, returning to his seat.
Although the trophies were not large, there was a surprising number of them. Six in total. Although there were prizes of different sizes, the video game department treated them all equally: all of the same shape and size, only the inscriptions on the bases varied.
Additionally, there was no staff to handle them, so Alex couldn't place them on the ground. So he could only look at Mark, who was beside him. It had to be this designer that Alex knew. And, based on his previous encounters, Alex had a feeling that Mark was very accommodating.
Upon hearing his words, the game designers sitting nearby silently turned their heads. 'Too many trophies? Did they hear what others were saying?'
Mark, the man questioned, finally understood why he had panicked before. 'I should be outside, not inside,' he thought for some reason. But what he said was: "No problem. I'll just take advantage of Alex's kindness and touch the trophies to experience the excitement."
Alex: ...
'Okay, but why does that sound so strange?'
But before Alex could think about it, he heard the presenter on stage utter a familiar name.
"Congratulations! The game that won the Best Role-Playing Game of the Year award is Dark Souls, developed by designer Alex!"
Hearing these words, all the game designers in the room turned to look at Alex. A camera focused on the scene, causing instant laughter from the audience watching the live stream.
'Oh my God, again! Haha! Alex says he gets up before he gets warm!'
The players and game designers laughed. But at that moment, many designers also commented on the situation.
"Was Dark Souls awarded Best Role-Playing Game?"
"Deserved, but a little disappointing."
"Yes, I guess it will be a final battle between 'Star God' and 'Sin City'."
The designers in the nomination area were excited with the discussion. One of them, a man in his thirties with glasses, had his eyes closed and his hands clasped together, as if praying. He was the designer of 'Sin City.'
Mark, also with a bunch of trophies from other players in his hand, was also excited.
Alex himself didn't seem to feel much. After accepting the trophy from the presenter and taking the microphone, Alex delivered an acceptance speech.
"I am deeply moved by all the players who support me."
"Dark Souls is different from many other ARPGs, but fortunately, the players' opinions have been very encouraging." "I also want to share the joy of winning this award with the Nebula Games team. It is an achievement that we all share. I also want to thank the game department leaders and judges for their recognition."
"Finally, I would like to sincerely thank all the players once again. You made this possible, and we are deeply honored." "In the coming days, I will continue to create even better games."
"Thank you all!"
After Alex's final words, the audience erupted in thunderous applause. On major live streaming platforms, countless players were also frantically discussing Alex's award.
"Haha! Alex finally said something new about this prestigious award!"
"Haven't you noticed something? The producer who once claimed to love warriors said something crucial: the players' opinions make him very happy!"
"Yes! Dark Souls is a game of intense difficulty and suffering. Does this mean Alex is happy to see us players suffer?" "Confirmed, confirmed! Alex is a person like that!"
"But I still feel a little disappointed. I feel that winning this award means missing out on Game of the Year, right?"
Countless players online engaged in a heated discussion. At that moment, Alex also came down from the stage.
Next came the final award of the night: Game of the Year. The nominated designers from Aether Games stared at the big screen on the main stage, clutching their knees tightly, clearly excited. Next to Alex, Mark, although he seemed to be chatting quietly with the others, kept glancing furtively at the stage.
The lights suddenly dimmed. Fragments of the nominated games appeared on the large screen on the stage. Each fragment was accompanied by its corresponding background music and a message.
The magnificent palace of the gods, from prosperity to ruin, countless legendary monsters appeared on earth, and a magnificent landscape unfolded before the players.
A young man with a mysterious lineage from the mountains embarked on a journey to find the lost gods. 'Star God' was filled with the bloody gang life and the vibrant nightlife of the city. As an undercover agent infiltrating the gang, the protagonist struggled in this endless purgatory.
Family, responsibility, and friendship were reflected in classic scenes from the game. 'Sin City' featured Gundyr, the Farron Undead Squad, the Nameless King, the Fire Keeper, the Lothric Walls, Farron Keep, and the Firelink Shrine. Each scene, familiar to the players and full of fond memories, passed by. Finally, with the tolling of bells, Unkindled emerged from the coffin. After all the presentations of Dark Souls, the lights came on.
The presenter announced loudly, and the designers from Aether Games cheered enthusiastically. Mark, next to Alex, covered his face with his hands.
The Game of the Year award went to Sin City. From Alex's perspective, this was not a surprise. Honestly, Sin City far surpasses Star God in terms of plot depth. Technically, Sin City is no less impressive than Star God. The only thing that surprised Alex was Star God's complete failure at this event.
"Mark... think positively. Star God's performance in the market is still very good, and players have given it a positive opinion," Alex said, looking at Mark, who was holding his trophy with a look of disappointment.
'After all, Mark is a good person!'
Upon hearing Alex's words, Mark looked at the trophy in his hand and then at the one he was holding. Suddenly, he felt like crying. With that, all the awards were handed out and the reformed annual game event concluded. Major media outlets quickly published their reports.
However, the most prominent topic online was not Sin City's victory in the annual award. It was Alex and Nebula Games, who had only been on the market for two years.
After all, it was truly striking that they won so many awards at the awards ceremony. Although the biggest prizes were in three categories, it was still incredible.
Of course, there was another topic that many players discussed: Star God did not win anything. In terms of popularity and reviews, Star God was doing well. Before this, no one would have thought that the true runner-up would be Star God.
Especially in the last shot of the live stream, the director also included an image of Alex and Mark in the same frame, which made it even more contrasting. Many players copied it and turned it into emoticons.
In the image, Mark and Alex faced each other with several trophies, and then players added some words to the side.
[Mark: It feels so good to hold the trophy!]
[Alex: Is it nice to touch the trophy? Remember to give it back later, they're all mine!]
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