The founder of Giant Group, Shi Yuzhu, talked about why he did ZT Online when he attended an event. He said, “I started to make ZT Online in 2005 because Chen Tianqiao blocked my game account in the first half of 2005, so I didn’t have to play anymore, so I invested 20 million to develop it myself, and then I made up another 20 million and got a team of more than 100 people to develop it for two or three years.
Shi Yuzhu said that the game will certainly be an evergreen industry, ZT Online has lived for more than ten years and is still doing well. Because once a player plays a game, it is very difficult for him to accept a game change, because the social relationship, operating habits, etc. are in this game.
At the same time, Shi also admits that ZT Online has taken a wrong turn in the development process. 2008, after the IPO, Shi retired to the second line because the listed company had pressure to perform and the R&D team was looking more at revenue than gameplay, which led to a lack of player-friendliness at the back.
Later, the producer of Journey changed several rounds until Zhao Jianfeng came to take charge a few years ago, and Shi Yuzhu gave the request to put 99% of the effort on gameplay, “to make players feel fun, which is the foundation”. The new game “Primitive Journey”, which is produced by Shi, is following this path.
It is reported that “The Original Journey” has started iOS reservation and will be launched to the market in the second half of this year.