EWN CH15
Hearing Shen Qinghan’s question, a strange expression appeared on Zhao Ming’s face:
“The core?”
“The core of this game… is to torment the player.”
“Only by playing from the perspective of the Polish Federation can players experience what true despair feels like.”
“Otherwise, whether you stand with the Empire or the other Federations, it’s too easy to trigger censorship.”
“So I chose the angle of player suffering instead.”
“But it’s not like the Empire or the other federations won’t be playable—”
“Once the Polish Federation storyline is over, players will be free to choose their faction.”
Then Zhao Ming began explaining further to Shen Qinghan.
At the start of the game, players take on the role of Prime Minister of the Polish Federation, holding power over the entire country.
But with the Empire’s massive army closing in, the fate of Poland rests entirely on the player’s shoulders.
At this point, players must command and mobilize their forces, analyze the regional situation—this doesn’t just help immerse them in the game world faster, it also gives them a sense of being on equal footing with the Empire’s leader, the Anglo-French Federation’s Prime Minister, and the Soviet Federation’s leader.
This heavy sense of responsibility—and the high-stakes start as a Prime Minister—
Would absolutely inspire players to imagine themselves using all their life’s knowledge to lead the Polish army to countless victories.
Ultimately unifying the world.
Zhao Ming’s lips curled into a subtle smirk.
Once the CG animation is fully released, players will quickly distinguish between the two camps:
The Empire and the Federations.
The Empire is clearly the aggressor, and the CG shows the Anglo-French and Soviet Federations as defenders fighting to protect their nations.
So naturally…
The idea that the federations are the “good guys” will be deeply planted in players’ minds.
But then…
When players see the Empire advancing rapidly, and their careful troop deployments falling like dominoes before overwhelming firepower—
And as they play as the Polish Prime Minister, looking to the allied Federations behind them, thinking of those brave soldiers engulfed in flames fighting to protect their homeland—
They’ll believe those soldiers can stop the Empire’s advance.
And just as players eagerly send out a request for reinforcements—
Heh~
Guess what?
Your nation is gone.
Reality will slap the player in the face.
They’ll learn what real cruelty feels like on this parallel Earth.
No more Prime Minister.
At that point, the player moves into Chapter Two.
With the fall of the Polish Federation, the protagonist gets a new identity—and now they’re free to choose their faction.
Pick whichever side you want.
See if you’ll become cannon fodder for the Empire, or cannon fodder for the Federations…
From Prime Minister to expendable grunt.
That kind of identity whiplash will trigger a huge emotional response.
Just imagine—
One moment, you’re making strategic moves against the Empire’s leader.
Next moment—your homeland is wiped out. You’re now a nameless soldier at the bottom, sent to the frontlines on the Empire’s orders, and the next shell drops—
BOOM—
Game over. Time to restart.
But unlike Normandy Landing, where one death = one round—
The immersive storyline allows revives—otherwise, no one would ever finish the game.
Every time the player dies, they’ll respawn as a different person.
And take on a new life background.
Once a player completes the entire campaign, all the characters they’ve played—and their families—will appear in the final CG.
Watching how each character died because of your poor decisions…
And how their loved ones received news of their death—with unbearable grief and hopelessness—
It’s meant to deliver an emotional gut-punch, shaking the player to their core, questioning their very soul.
After hearing Zhao Ming’s detailed explanation—
???
Shen Qinghan was just staring at him, completely dumbfounded.
Zhao Ming spoke those cold, heartless words with such a nasty smile on his face that it was hard to believe:
“Are you serious?!”
“Are you even human?!”
Zhao Ming simply shrugged, looking unconcerned:
“The more people curse me, the more popular it gets.”
In truth, the whole anti-war message and torturing the player was just a bonus.
The real core idea…
Was to stir up players’ emotions.
As long as he could harvest more emotional responses, let them curse all they want—
It’s not like he’s losing anything.
Meanwhile, Shen Qinghan could barely stand thinking about it—it made her scalp tingle.
Sure, the immersive storyline allowed revives, and each time the player came back, they got a new identity. On the surface, that didn’t sound too bad.
But Zhao Ming’s final twist…
Was like throwing people into a roasting fire.
Because the player could revive, they’d start dying recklessly.
And every time one of those characters died, their family’s reaction—total breakdown, heartbreak—would keep replaying in the player’s mind.
The weight of death would keep hammering at the player’s conscience.
The brutality of war would become tangible.
Who would dare romanticize war after this?
If this game doesn’t win an award, it’s practically a crime against art.
Shen Qinghan was full of mixed emotions—this game really was amazing. But the amount of mental torment…
That was just brutal.
She made up her mind.
She had to hide her identity a bit more carefully.
Otherwise, if people started flaming Zhao Ming online and ended up dragging her name in too—
She was, after all, the game’s main investor.
If the CEO’s like that, what kind of person would she look like to the netizens?
She looked over at Zhao Ming:
“When will the CG be released?”
“On the day the competition starts?”
The “Anti-War Game Competition” held jointly by the six federations was starting at the same moment across different time zones. For the Daxia Federation, it would begin at 3 PM.
Zhao Ming stroked his chin and replied:
“Then let’s release it at noon on launch day. Let’s wait and see what Emperor Penguin Group does.”
“It’ll be lunchtime—”
“That’s when people are most active online. And a single CG trailer… give it three hours of exposure.”
“Even if Emperor Penguin Group catches on—”
“They won’t be able to react fast enough.”
After all, he had a system data bank, and had spent the past week grinding emotional value nonstop just to finish the game.
Even if they wanted to copy, three hours wasn’t enough. Not even if they worked themselves to death.
Not to mention, all they’d see is a CG trailer—they had no idea what the game content was.
But for players, the CG would be more than enough to establish the tone of the factions:
The Empire vs. the Federations.
It would give them a solid foundation going into the game.
Shen Qinghan didn’t have any objections, and quickly agreed.
Then she snatched Zhao Ming’s virtual headset, ready to pull an all-nighter and finish the game.
Zhao Ming watched her helplessly.
Then he pulled out his phone and ordered the latest virtual sensory gaming pod.
“If you’ve got the money, you might as well spend it.”
Three days later.
Emperor Penguin Group, Game Division.
It was nearly noon.
Since morning, the various competition games had launched one after another—some paid, some free.
But in the Daxia Federation, all eyes were focused on two companies: Emperor Penguin Group and Polestar Games.
According to rough estimates from netizens—
In just ten days, the two sides had spent over 100 million Federal Coins just on buying and suppressing hot searches.
The competition hadn’t even started yet and it was already this intense—
This level of warfare was rare, even in Daxia.
Other game devs had basically given up.
Just the marketing budget of these two giants could fund 10 or even 100 of their games.
What could they do?
“When gods fight, mortals suffer.” 😩
So on this launch day, a lot of gamers and developers alike were watching closely:
Would Emperor Penguin’s new DLC for Ruins of the Future: 2100 drop any surprises?
And what exactly was Polestar Games’ mysterious new title World War II: Rise of the Empire?
But then—
It was already noon, the time with the highest online traffic.
And still… nothing from Polestar Games.
Xu Huan (from Emperor Penguin Group) was sweating buckets. Over the past three days, they’d tried to guess the story of Polestar’s game based on its brief CG—but without the full version being released, he just couldn’t relax.
The clock ticked to 12:03 PM.
Still nothing from Polestar.
Xu Huan clenched his jaw:
“We can’t wait anymore.”
“Release the DLC.”
“Push the update package!”
Everyone in the room exhaled in relief and got to work.
A few seconds later—
The new DLC update for Ruins of the Future: 2100 was pushed out to all players.
And within just one minute—
Two hashtags shot straight into the top 3 trending topics:
#WorldWarII: Rise of the Empire – Official CG Released!
#Ruins of the Future: 2100 – New DLC Update!
Seeing Polestar’s CG trailer dominate the #1 trending spot, crushing Emperor Penguin’s DLC, Xu Huan’s forehead twitched violently:
“F*ck!”
“Can’t catch a break, can we?!”
A single damn CG trailer shot straight to #1?
How much money did they throw at this thing?!