Screenshot of the game page.
"This person will definitely pursue Elden Ring as well." A short sentence completely ignited the enthusiasm of gamers around the world for Elden Ring.
On February 25th, Elden Ring, created by well-known game producer Hideko Miyazaki, was officially launched and quickly attracted attention in the global game market. In just one week, the game broke the sales records created by previous similar games and easily won the first place in the Steam weekly sales list. The peak number of online people reached nearly 900,000, and it became a new phenomenon game on the Steam platform after CS: GO, GTA5, and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.
Behind the popularity of the game, in addition to the developer’s three-year persistence and the IP that is sought after by countless players, the cross-border cooperation of top fiction writers has made the game successful "breaking the circle" and attracting the attention of more groups. "At a time when players are more and more picky about the game’s plot and character, the attraction of Elden Ring itself to players, coupled with the success of the cross-border cooperation of top writers, may bring some inspiration to more game manufacturers in the future." Ma Jing, a game industry observer, said on March 1.
hot globalWhat is it?One-week sales hit an all-time high
"Although the character of this game may’die ‘at any time, it can’t be stopped once you get started." On March 1, Lao Han (a pseudonym), a veteran gamer for many years, told reporters, "Needless to say, the quality of the game, three years has not been in vain."
The game that Lao Han talked about is the Elden Ring that is currently popular around the world. Shell financial reporters learned that this game not only provides players with a variety of different career choices, but also can freely combine and change according to different class skills and weapons to play their own system; at the same time, you can also invite real friends to play together and experience the fun of the game in the virtual world.
Fighting gameplay and an open and free gaming experience quickly attracted the attention of players around the world.
In fact, as early as 2019, the game attracted the attention of countless players at the E3 game exhibition with its trailer, and in 2021 it was selected as the "Most Anticipated Game of the Year" 3A masterpiece by the TGA Game Awards. Shortly after the game was released, 50 participating media on the well-known website Metacritic gave full praise to Elden Ring, including 28 media such as IGN and GameSpot. And on OpenCritic, another platform for media and players to score, the game once became the highest-rated game.
The fanatical pursuit of players has caused the sales of the game to rise. According to media reports, its sales have far exceeded the most popular "Black Souls 3" in the previous similar games, becoming the most popular "soul" game in history. Now in the game sales list, it is second only to "Pokémon Legend: Al Zeus" and "Horizon: Forbidden West" two popular masterpieces.
"Game makers are definitely making a lot of money." A Fei (a pseudonym), a player who also started the game at the first time, told reporters that although the price of the game is as high as 298 yuan, countless players still place orders to buy it. Even as early as November 2021, the game sold more than 4 million copies as soon as it went online, which means that the game has received nearly 1.20 billion yuan in revenue before it was launched.
In the Chinese market, Elden Ring has also attracted players’ attention and pursuit, and once caused heated discussions on platforms such as Weibo, Douyin and Bilibili. As of March 1, its Weibo reading volume reached 420 million and discussion volume 130,000. Countless players share their game experiences and communicate with each other. And live broadcast platforms such as Bilibili and Douyu also have many UP owners live streaming the game, attracting millions of players to watch it online.
Reporters noticed that many game companies even announced a day off on the day of release to allow employees to experience the fun of the game. Some media reported that Ye Qianluo, CEO of well-known game publisher GameraGame, said in the "Holiday Notice" that "global key project research needs to be carried out, please try not to disturb during this period."
"For players who like’soul ‘games, this is a grand festival." In order to play the game, Ah Fei also asked the company for three days off. Although he was deducted a lot of money, he did not regret it.
Hand in hand top-tier creatorPossible future trends?
The popularity of Elden Ring in the market has also led to an increase in sales of computer hardware and mainframes.
On March 1, a game seller told reporters that recently, many consumers have come to inquire about purchasing a variety of game consoles, including PS5 and Xbox. After communicating with the other party, it was found that the reason behind it was the desire to experience the game on the console.
The reporter learned that Elden Ring is not only sold on the computer side, but also on the PS5, PS4, Xbox and other console platforms, which has aroused the enthusiasm of many console players.
"I wanted to play the PS5 many times before, but I didn’t know what game to play, so I didn’t start," said one player. "But after learning that the game will be launched on the console, I decided not to hesitate and just want to experience the fun of the game on the console as soon as possible."
In fact, in addition to the positive impact on game console sales, the sales of hardware devices such as graphics cards have also increased.
"The previous graphics card took a few years, but it was not replaced due to the price. This time it coincided with the launch of the game, so I simply gritted my teeth and placed an order." Although the game did not require high computer configuration, Lao Han decided to replace the graphics card because he hoped to experience the highest image quality. "After all, I don’t know when I will encounter such an interesting game again."
"Behind the explosion of the game is the trust that players have in game developers and producers," Ma Jing, a game observer, told reporters. "After all, Hideko Miyazaki’s previous’soul ‘games have been successful."
Shell financial reporter learned that the game producer Miyazaki Higao has quickly become a "game god" in the hearts of players with games such as "Demon’s Soul", Dark Souls and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Although before the launch of Elden Ring, Miyazaki Higao did not launch a new game for more than three years, but there are still countless players eagerly anticipating his works. The game writer George R. R. Martin, a well-known American novelist who won the Hugo Award, Nebula Award, and World Science Fiction Award for his works such as "Light Gone" and "A Song of Ice and Fire", also made the game "break the circle" smoothly and attracted the attention of countless science fiction fans.
In December 2021, George R. R. Martin said on social media that Mr. Miyazaki’s team’s proposal made him feel "unable to refuse," adding, "They want a deep, resonant world from me as the foundation for the game they plan to create. As it happens, I love making worlds and writing the history I imagine."
"When I learned that it was jointly created by these two’great gods’, I was full of expectations for the game. I have been paying attention to the development of the game before, and I placed an order as soon as it was officially released." Lao Han said.
In fact, this is not the first time game makers have collaborated across fields. With today’s players’ requirements for game backgrounds, plots, and characters improving, more and more game makers are beginning to cooperate across borders.
According to media reports, as early as 2018, Filipino-American writer Alyssa Wong joined Activision Blizzard’s "Overwatch" team, responsible for the design and supplement of the world view background and game character background of "Overwatch", and participated in the story creation of other large-scale game IPs under Blizzard. In the early years, well-known science fiction writer Christie Golden also participated in the creation of official novels for games such as "StarCraft" and "World of Warcraft".
In October 2021, Tencent officially announced the release of the new game "Honor of Kings · World" based on the "Honor of Kings" IP, and announced a cooperation with the famous science fiction writer Liu Cixin to bring the novel "Shiyun" and "Honor of Kings · World" to co-create inspiration. This news also quickly attracted the attention of different groups such as players and science fiction fans to the game.
"Manufacturers seek cross-border cooperation, in addition to hoping to bring attention to different groups of people in the game, but also to ensure the quality of the game content. After all, today’s players are more and more critical, and to achieve success, manufacturers must also show more sincerity," Ma Jing said.
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