Building a Gaming Empire From Scratch

Chapter 416: 400: Dance of Demons

Lincoln was a bit confused as he saw the report Mavis handed to him.

He didn’t pick it up to read – he had just gotten out of bed, there were too many words to read, and he didn’t feel like reading them.

He directly asked, “What is this?”

Mavis rolled her cute eyes, “Should Mavis read it to you, Master?”

“Sure, sure.” Lincoln nodded and continued eating.

“Cough cough!” Mavis cleared her throat seriously and began reading the report:

“Cloud Dream and NetDragon, Virtual Environment and VR, this is not a very fresh topic anymore, but yesterday’s phenomenon that occurred simultaneously on multiple live-streaming platforms has brought this topic back into the public’s eye.

The phenomenon was that – the vast majority of streamers who had once streamed VR games, after switching to streaming virtual environment games for only about three months, experienced a significant decline in their physical fitness, with alarming decreases in their physical and athletic abilities.

This forces us to reconsider the pros and cons of VR games and virtual environments.

Next, I will discuss around the three keywords of technology, industry, and measures.”

After hearing this introduction, Lincoln knew what was going on.

But he didn’t interrupt Mavis and continued to listen patiently.

“First, technology.

Without a doubt, Cloud Dream’s virtual environment technology is epoch-making and unparalleled.

VR games face virtual environment games and have virtually no ability to compete.

What has happened over the past few months has already proven this:

Since the birth of Cloud Dream’s virtual environment game console [Mirage], it has continuously expanded its territory, taking new ground on a weekly basis.

Up until now, the number of users has long exceeded 100 million, and the total number of consoles sold is close to 200 million.

This has already created a commercial miracle.

At the same time, VR equipment manufacturers’ sales have plummeted, and user activity has continued to decline, leading to a struggle for survival.

This is a situation everyone clearly sees.

Now, let’s move on to the next issue: industry.

Virtual environment technology is so amazing and incredible that using it solely for the gaming industry – is it an under-utilization?

Furthermore, is it suitable to be applied in the “game” industry, which is a mass entertainment sector?

In the face of such an epoch-making technology, we obviously cannot judge whether it is right or wrong to be used in the gaming industry by commercial success alone.

Because one obvious fact is:

When Lincoln holds such an epoch-making technology in his hands, no matter which industry he chooses to enter, he is almost destined to succeed!

The success of Journey Prosthetics Company is right in front of us, a ready-made example.

And the application scenarios of virtual environment technology – even an outsider like myself can imagine many uses. Are there really no more suitable industries than gaming?

To put it more bluntly, is gaming really the most suitable industry?

The answer is likely to be negative.

Players spend too much time in the virtual world, and the decline in physical fitness is inevitable.

Cloud Dream must have anticipated this, hence the anti-addiction mechanism that covers adults as well.

This brings us to the third topic of discussion: measures.

Cloud Dream needs to take more measures to address the decline in players’ physical fitness.

With Cloud Dream’s current user base and its core users being primarily young and middle-aged, the problem has already gone beyond a simple commercial issue and become a serious social issue.

A 16-hour anti-addiction system is practically equivalent to having no anti-addiction system at all, making such measures essentially a formality.

So, what is a better measure?

Is it a shorter anti-addiction time? Physical exercise compensation in reality? Or a more advanced technology?

I don’t think I’m more professional than industry insiders, nor do I think I can be wiser than Lincoln, so I won’t be finger-pointing in this regard.

But I sincerely hope that this article will draw Cloud Dream’s attention, help develop better countermeasures, find the balance, and better serve players and society.”

“Mavis finished reading!” Mavis, in the screen, put down the newspaper in her hand.

After listening to the entire report, the most obvious feeling Lincoln got was – “awkwardness.”

When talking about the negative impact of virtual environment games, it seemed like the author was deeply concerned, and was just short of shouting, “If we don’t solve this, there will be big problems.”

But when it came time to actually propose solutions, the author didn’t even mention any of their own suggestions, simply brushing it off with a blithe “I believe in Cloud Dream’s wisdom.”

Also, even when discussing the negative impact of virtual environment games, the author prefaced it with a long preamble, praising Cloud Dream heavily before daring to mention the problem.

It was as if they were complimenting their opponent before a debate, indicating “I’m a friendly force, I’m one of you, I really have nothing against you, and I even admire you. Let’s talk about the issue.”

Something…seeking survival.

It made Lincoln a little uncomfortable.

If this was from a hater, he could easily refute them.

Because many of the points in the article are simply blurring the focus.

VR games can exercise the body, indeed, but how many users who can actually afford and regularly play them?

Without even mentioning efficiency, is this exercise method truly correct, safe, and healthy?

Of Cloud Dream’s hundreds of millions of users, do they all spend their days lying in bed, wasting their lives in the virtual world?

Don’t they work, make money, or attend classes during the day? Can they live on just drinking the northwestern wind?

If there were no virtual environment games, would they go running, exercising, or playing sports after work?

Still lying in bed, exhausted, playing with your mobile phone?

Lincoln could think of a whole basket of similar questions in a split second.

The Mirage certainly has an effect on users’ physical fitness.

But it definitely doesn’t have such an exaggerated impact—Lincoln has been looking at the backstage data, and if it were that serious, he would have started thinking about solutions himself instead of waiting for others to say something.

Players who can play for more than 10 hours a day make up such a small proportion that they can be almost ignored.

Ultimately, everyone has to live their lives, and entertainment is only a part of it.

This time it seems so exaggerated purely because the sample is too special—

Streamers are indeed a rare group of people who can make a living and even support their families by lying in bed all day and playing games in the virtual world.

Even for the streamers, lying in bed all day playing games is a sign of hard work…

So the impact of virtual reality games on their physical fitness would be especially great.

Even the 16-hour anti-addiction mechanism for adults is not worried about players’ physical fitness decline.

Lincoln is worried about people who play too long and literally die suddenly!

“How did such unprofessional reporting catch on?” Lincoln asked Mavis, confused.

Since Mavis specifically brought it to him, it must have had some impact.

But the report is just so unprofessional!

“It was published early!” Mavis gave a simple and crude answer.

Lincoln rubbed his face without words, “Alright.”

No wonder reporters from all countries are famous for running fast…

So “fast” is the core competitiveness of the media.

“What about the other media outlets?”

Mavis waved her hand, and a row of titles appeared before Lincoln—

‘Although VR games are no longer the most advanced form of gaming, they should not be eliminated like this.’

‘Truly good technology should be beneficial to the country and the people, not harmful.’

‘Indulging in pleasure, neglecting the physical body, is a sign of the decline of civilization.’

‘In three to five years, will our Daxia have spirited men and fighting soldiers left?’

“What a chaotic scene.”

The bunch of reports pulled up by Mavis are obviously divided into three categories.

One is: “I’m not targeting Cloud Dream, I’m just worrying about the country and the people, reminding society to pay attention to the existence of the problem.”

Another is: “The technology of Cloud Dream is good, but it must be used more cautiously and not expanded without limits as it is now.”

The last category is more specific: “Cloud Dream is the bane of the community, a social tumor that must be shut down as soon as possible.”

The last category mostly comes from the media on Lincoln’s blacklist that have survived to this day.

Yes, even though they are on Lincoln’s blacklist and their reputations are almost ruined, many are still alive.

They just don’t live very well.

These media usually can’t find an opportunity, but now that they have one, they spare no effort in cursing Cloud Dream.

After all, they are already on Lincoln’s blacklist, so they have nothing to fear.

Their “reports,” from the headlines to the conclusion, show “personal grudges” in every line.

They even came up with outrageous slogans like “If Cloud Dream is not banned, the nation will not be strong!”

With so much conflicting information, Lincoln is too lazy to look at each one and directly asks Mavis, “What about ordinary netizens and players? How are they reacting?”

“Many ordinary netizens are expressing their concerns and unease, while players…are cursing.”

“In short, netizens who don’t know the situation are being led by unprofessional reports.”

Lincoln nods and roughly clears up the current state of public opinion.

There are many ways to respond: citing examples, showing data, explaining reasoning…and so on.

But Lincoln feels that these are all too passive.

Especially when the current public opinion is still in chaos, and the media offering suggestions are attacking each other due to different positions.

With the addition ofApp