"We'll know after looking at the gamers' feedback in two days."
Pei Qian did not care too much about this matter. As long as Meng Chang was still working hard to pursue the commission, he was trustworthy.
He could not tell if this publicity plan was feasible or not.
Even though the news of Ghost General 2 had been released and the actual combat demonstration video had caused some reaction among the Ghost General players, the popularity had yet to spread after all.
Right now, most of the people who were looking forward to Ghost General 2 were old players of Ghost General and fighting game enthusiasts. This group of people only made up a small portion of the player base, and their attitude did not mean anything.
Ghost General 2 had invested a lot into it. Whether it could recoup its losses depended on how much it could break out of the circle and how many non-fighting game players could be willing to pay the bill.
If it was only fighting game players who liked it, the best outcome would be that it would not earn any money.
Thus, Pei Qian was not in a hurry and planned to observe.
He had many more important things to do at this stage.
"Let me see how Safe and Civilized Driving is doing."
"Hmm …"
"The game is very popular, but the sales are not bad. It's a little better than I expected."
Pei Qian first looked at the sales of Safe and Civilized Driving and realized that it was not as popular as many other Tengda games.
Safe and Civilized Driving had a huge investment in itself. It would not be able to recoup its costs in the short term with these sales.
Pei Qian could roughly guess why the sales were so optimistic.
The main reason was that the game mode had worked!
At the moment, most racing games on the market were similar. The difficulty of getting started in the early stages was very low, and the keyboard and controller could be used relatively well.
Even some especially hardcore driving simulation games would at least add a driving assistance system so that players could successfully complete the entire process after entering the game.
However, Safe and Civilized Driving was not only a very hardcore driving simulation game, but it also innovatively added a driver's license test segment!
This segment could be said to be the ultimate dissuasion for keyboard and controller players.
Of course, some keyboard and controller gods could rely on their exquisite micro-control to pass the driver's license test. However, such gods were in the minority after all, and they had to put in a lot of time and effort.
Thus, this driver's license test dissuaded many people.
After taking the driver's license test a few times, he could not pass no matter what. He then looked at the time and saw that it was still within the refund period.
What was he hesitating for? Refund!
This time, there was no mockery from Repent and be Saved's officials. Gamers were very determined to refund the game.
After buying a steering wheel and passing the driving test, the experience of the game would indeed increase exponentially, but most players would not be able to make it that far.
Spending a few thousand yuan on a steering wheel just to play games meant that if you gave me a plate of vinegar, I would make a special meal of dumplings.
Many people had the same mentality, so they would rather choose to be a cloud player and watch the streamer fail the local driving test time and time again than suffer in the game.
Hence, the current situation: many keyboard, mouse, and controller players were dissuaded, and many players were hesitant to buy a steering wheel.
Although Safe and Civilized Driving was a hot topic on the internet, it had only attracted the attention of the livestream circle and the hardcore driving simulation circle. It hadn't really broken through the circle and reached the level of "national game" of some racing games.
Pei Qian could not help but heave a sigh of relief after reading this.
Fortunately, fortunately!
Pei Qian had been worried for a long time after the collision results for Pashat were released. He was afraid that the collision function of the game would cause a terrifying chain reaction that would cause the game to become popular.
However, from the looks of it, the situation did not seem that bad?
It might have become popular, but it did not seem to have any effect on the sales of the game.
Many people on the internet were playing around with the matter of Pashat, causing a heavy blow to the sales of the new Pashat in China. However, most people would not choose to buy it just because a game exposed the quality problems of Pashat, right?
Pei Qian could not help but feel more at ease.
"How's the sales of Let me Kangkang Safe and Civilized Driving Simulator?"
"Hmm … it's not bad."
From the sales figures, there was no sales boom like the Fully-Automated Bickering Machine and the smart fitness drying rack. There was no shortage of stock on the product details page either. It looked pretty good.
"It's perfect!"
Pei Qian could not help but be pleasantly surprised. The current situation was already beyond his expectations.
The game did not become popular, and the simulation equipment did not become popular. Wouldn't that be a huge success?
Pei Qian was no longer looking forward to the game dying. He did not hope for no one to care about the game. As long as it remained within a small audience, it did not matter how good its reputation was. In any case, there was no way to break out of the circle. It would be impossible to recoup the huge investment.
Given Tengda's current size, every new project was fully invested. Thus, the definition of 'success' was getting higher and higher. Achieving the level that ordinary small companies could achieve was not considered a success at all.
"Since that's the case, can I rent or buy a few more large warehouses?"
"I have to take a look at the warehouse!"
Pei Qian was about to take a look at the warehouse on a whim.
Tengda had several large warehouses and many warehouses in Jingzhou. The warehouse system was networked: there were large warehouses in the suburbs of Jingzhou City in different directions. Then, there were smaller warehouses near Tengda's physical industrial complex with Fish-Catching Internet Cafe as the center. Finally, there were some goods stored in Upwind Courier stations.
The other cities were more or less the same. They were all planned according to this plan.
The three-level warehouse layout was like dams upstream. It could ensure that Upwind Logistics could deliver products to customers as quickly as possible. At the same time, it could ensure that there would be no shortage of goods.
Of course, as these stocks piled up, the backlog of goods would be terrifying. Once prices fluctuated, they would have to lower their prices. So many stocks would be enough to kill some weak small companies several times over.
However, this was exactly what Pei Qian wanted.
From the looks of it, as long as no one bought the backlog of goods, it would be a win-win situation: Pei Qian would win twice!
Whether he was forced to lower his prices to incur losses or stubbornly refused to lower his prices and let the inventory depreciate, Pei Qian would win both ways.
Of course, the worst-case scenario would be for all the goods to be sold successfully. What's more, no matter how much stock he had, he would not be able to stop the bleeding. That would be too scary.
However, that should not happen at the moment.
Of course, these warehouses were not all filled with driving simulators. They were filled with all kinds of Tengda's products. Be it new products, old products, digital products developed by Otto Technologies, or furniture and home appliances that Pei Qian worked with other manufacturers, the inventory contained everything.
Upwind Logistics was trying its best to deliver the goods to Pei Qian's doorstep in the shortest time possible.
Pei Qian pondered. If all the driving simulators in the warehouse were not sold, would he be able to legally rent a new warehouse?
For things like warehouses, the more the better!
At that thought, Pei Qian gave Ye Zhizhou a call and said that he wanted to take a look at the warehouse in the suburbs.
After seeing the situation in the warehouse, he could also chat with Ye Zhizhou about the game's recent situation.
…
An hour later, Pei Qian arrived outside Tengda's largest warehouse in the suburbs of Jingzhou.
Ye Zhizhou should be waiting in the warehouse.
In fact, Pei Qian had wanted to call Chang You over as well. However, Chang You was still suffering on the island and could only return at the end of the month. Thus, he did not call anyone else from Otto Technologies.
However, Pei Qian sensed that something was amiss the moment he got out of the car.
This was because there were two trucks parked at the entrance. One of the trucks was unloading, while the other was loading!
The truck that was being unloaded was filled with safe and civilized driving simulator equipment. Some were packaged in large boxes, while others were packaged separately with steering wheels, gear levers, and other small parts.
A few forklifts and workers were unloading the goods in full swing. The drivers of the two huge trucks looked rather young. They found a place to sit, smoking and chatting as they watched the loading and unloading.
"Have you played Safe and Civilized Driving?"
"What's that? I've never heard of it. "
"You've never heard of it? It's the thing that we're transporting. There's a steering wheel simulator behind it! "
"Is it a game? Why does the name sound so strange? "
"It's a game about driving a huge truck. It's really fun."
"Huh? You've been driving every day. Isn't that enough? You're going to continue driving in the game? Is your brain fried? "
"Eh, how can you say that? It's really different. You'll know once you try it."
The two of them chatted passionately, not paying attention to Pei Qian. They treated him as an ordinary passerby.
However, Pei Qian lost his composure when he heard their conversation.
What was going on?
Even truck drivers were playing this game?
That was ridiculous!
However, on further thought, this was a chauffeur who transported goods for Tengda after all. It seemed reasonable for him to buy it out of curiosity and practice his driving skills when he had nothing to do at home after understanding the use of this simulator.
It was not a big problem for truck drivers to play Safe and Civilized Driving. The problem was, why were there still trucks loading and unloading goods?
That was the real reason why Pei Qian was so wary.
Logically speaking, Tengda had been preparing for the Safe and Civilized Driving Simulator even before it was officially released. Tengda had first shipped the Safe and Civilized Driving Simulator to Tengda's large warehouses after it was purchased from the original factory. Then, it would gradually be distributed to other cities, including smaller warehouses and Upwind Courier stations.
In other words, the warehouses should have been fully distributed long ago. All the warehouses should have been filled up.
What was going on with such a large scale of purchases and shipments? There shouldn't be so many sales, right?
As he continued walking, Pei Qian noticed that the large warehouses were also busy.
As Tengda's scale grew, the warehouses became more and more formal.
When Tengda first set up its own warehouses, it only had a very small warehouse. The shelves were filled with other manufacturers' digital products, memory chips, graphics cards, and the like. It was quite makeshift.
Now, not only had the number of warehouses increased significantly, but the interior of the warehouse had also changed. It had become a neat row of tall shelves. All sorts of products were placed neatly, and small forklifts were used to load and retrieve the goods.
Several small forklifts were busy loading all sorts of goods.
Ye Zhizhou had already arrived. When he saw Pei Qian, he quickly came forward to welcome him.
"Boss Pei!"
Pei Qian looked at the situation in the warehouse as if he was facing a formidable enemy. "Recently … sales of the Safe and Civilized Driving Simulator have increased significantly?"
Ye Zhizhou nodded. "That's right. Boss Pei, you already know?"
Pei Qian was embarrassed. At that moment, he did not know how to reply.
What do you mean I already know?
I know that it's a hammer!
I guessed it based on my usual bad behavior and the abnormal movements in the warehouse!
Seeing Boss Pei's expression, Ye Zhizhou suddenly understood. "Oh! Boss Pei, you didn't know. You guessed it, right? "
Pei Qian, "…"
While he felt that it was ridiculous, Pei Qian was also very puzzled. Sales of the game did not seem to have skyrocketed.
Logically, the number of people who bought the Safe and Civilized Driving Simulator should show a certain positive correlation with the number of people who bought the game. The proportion of players who used the steering wheel to play racing games should be roughly stable.
Now, the sales of the game had not skyrocketed, but the number of people who bought the simulator had skyrocketed. What was going on?
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