"Huh. Unexpected."
Inside the rental apartment, Chen Xu was surprised by the sales figures appearing on his game's backend dashboard.
Some of the numbers had far exceeded his expectations.On the first day, the game sold 162 copies — not great, but not terrible either.But on the second day, sales shot up nearly fourfold to 610 copies.
The key? His marketing.
With only a 20,000 yuan budget, traditional advertising was out of the question — too expensive, too ineffective. And besides, his game was a bit... special.
So Chen Xu targeted overseas instead. Specifically, a certain "gentleman's forum" where his game's niche would fit right in.All he needed was exposure — not elaborate marketing.
He went old-school: buy aged accounts, post quality comments, and make the game seem like a hidden gem. Once the posts were up, he used other platforms to upvote and bump the content.
It worked — but only because the game itself was strong.If it wasn't, this strategy would've backfired.
Chen Xu knew:Once players discover a hidden gem, they'll tell others. If you make a good impression, they'll become your best marketers.
He understood the psychology of gamers:In serious games, players love to mess around.In silly, over-the-top games, they act weirdly serious.That contrast is addictive.
It's like a joke from the internet:"Men have two hobbies — dragging the virtuous into debauchery, and persuading the depraved to reform."
It's the same with games.A 'gentleman's game' with unexpected depth? Irresistible.
But even so, quality mattered most. Without a solid foundation, none of this would've worked.
"Magic Mirror" had been carefully chosen and built.Chen Xu had studied market competitors, player behavior, platform rules, and promotional feasibility.Every variable was accounted for.
So while the rising sales delighted him, he wasn't surprised.What caught him off guard was the sheer enthusiasm from the gentlemen.
Sales climbed steadily. Chen Xu believed this was only the beginning — word-of-mouth would drive even more growth.At this rate, he could pay off his app loan by next week.
"Good thing the overseas platform credits in real time," he muttered. "Once the refund window closes, payments hit the account instantly."
There were downsides, though.Third-party platforms were exploitative.The official platform took a 30% cut — fair enough, given their maintenance and engine updates.
But some mobile channels?They took 50%, even 70%.Dev gets 30, platform keeps 70 — just like in his past life working with local giants.
Still, those platforms had huge user bases and better discoverability. Even if devs only got the leftovers, it was often worth it.But not for this game.
"Magic Mirror" was too niche, too risky. No platform would recommend it anyway. So why bother?
Especially when the official overseas platform was working just fine.The domestic platforms weren't even relevant to his current audience.
From afternoon to evening, Chen Xu kept refreshing his sales dashboard.It was peak hours — and the numbers kept rising.
Sales increased by over 100 in a single hour — then over 200.Clearly, "Magic Mirror" was making waves among its intended crowd.
The gentlemen were showing their support.And once player ratings were unlocked, the game's score appeared: 9.7 — a near-perfect rating.
Chen Xu didn't celebrate.
He knew 18+ games were judged differently.Players were more forgiving, the bar lower.Those ratings didn't mean much in a broader context.
He'd seen this before:In mainstream forums, opinions varied wildly.But on gentleman forums?It was all warm wishes, playful banter, and "the dev is a good person" vibes.
The 9.7 score only proved one thing:In the eyes of his target audience, "Magic Mirror" was absolutely worth recommending.
After all — who could resist a charming matchmaking game full of beautiful girls and unexpected depth?