CHAPTER 13 - SILIENT HILL RELEASE

At seven the next morning, Natalie was still curled up in bed, sleeping soundly.

Meanwhile, Tony had already gotten up, booted up his computer, and logged onto Steam.

Steam was the largest game distribution platform in the world, home to countless titles across every genre. For every sale made on the platform, Steam would take a 30% cut.

The process of uploading a game was straightforward, just register an account, link your bank details, pay $100 and go from there.

Tony registered the game under the name 'New World Studio'. The meaning was simple, to bring a brand new gaming experience to players around the world.

Once that was set, he began uploading the game files. The whole process took about twenty minutes.

As for pricing, he kept his word. 'Silent Hill PT' would be completely free.

With a sip of water, he set the publish time to 9:00 a.m and waited.

Finally it hit 9 o'clock and almost instantly, he watched in awe as the download count jumped from zero to 1,852.

A second refresh, 4,251.

"It's only been a few seconds... and the numbers are already shooting up like this?"

Clearly, Natalie's preview stream last night had worked wonders.

Thousands of players had been waiting to hit download the moment the game went live.

Tony had assumed that horror games, especially one as intense as 'Silent Hill PT', would have more watchers rather than players.

But clearly, people were eager.

"Tony, did the game go live already?" Natalie's sleepy voice said from bed.

"Yeah, just released it."

"How many downloads so far?"

"Hold on... let me check..."

He refreshed the page again.

"Over ten thousand."

"WHAT?!" Natalie jumped out of bed, rushed over in her slippers, and stared at the monitor.

12,430.

She blinked in disbelief.

"No way. That's all just in the past few minutes?!"

Then she slapped her brother shoulder dramatically. "Ahhh! We're losing money, huge loss!"

"Think about it, even if you only charged one dollar, we would be rich!"

"A complete loss! A financial tragedy!"

She grabbed Tony's shoulders and shook him.

"Can you not?" Tony said looking at her helplessly. "Don't you get it? The reason it's got so many downloads is because it's free."

"And to be honest, this isn't a full game. It's more like a short demo. If you know what you're doing, you can finish it in about ten minutes."

"You want to charge people for a ten minute experience? That'd just be scam."

Tony wasn't the kind of person who wanted to squeeze money out of players unfairly, especially not for something incomplete.

"Ten minutes?!" Natalie stared at him, stunned. "You're telling me the whole thing only takes ten minutes?"

"Then why did it feel like I was trapped in there for hours?!"

"Because you were too scared to move forward." Tony explained with a laugh. "Your nerves stretched time out."

"...Yeah, that actually makes sense." Natalie nodded thoughtfully. "Your game is way too scary."

She looked at the download count again.

"Still can't believe this many people are playing it. I guess the stream really turned everyone into thrill seekers?"

"Well, it's free. It doesn't hurt to try. But whether they actually finish it... that's another story." Tony chuckled.

He leaned back and sighed.

"To be honest, even I feel like 'Silent Hill PT' kind of strays from what a game is supposed to be."

"Games should be fun first and foremost, even horror ones. Fear is part of the thrill, but if it gets overwhelming, the experience becomes... unpleasant."

In his mind, 'Silent Hill PT' was probably only appealing to players who were gluttons for punishment.

Sure, it looked hyper-realistic, more advanced than most current games.

But it was also too terrifying. That kind of intensity meant it likely wouldn't become a mainstream hit.

Next game he would focus more on the enjoyment and tone down the intensity.

---BREAK---

At the same time, thousands of players who had been waiting for the release flooded online.

"It's out! 'Silent Hill PT' actually dropped right on time!"

"Downloading now!"

"I want to see if it really looks like the demo video!"

"Same here. If it turns out to be fake, I'm leaving a bad review!"

Players downloaded the game at lightning speed.

But once the download was complete, their reactions split into several distinct camps.

Some players, especially those who had watched Natalie's live stream the night before, downloaded the game but didn't dare open it at all. They left it untouched on their hard drives, just seeing the icon was enough to give them chills.

They wanted to play... but they were afraid. So they hesitated, tormented by the thrill and dread, paralyzed by anticipation.

Many others, however, were skeptical, especially many players who believed the viral demo video was nothing more than an scam. They downloaded the game out of sheer curiosity, determined to debunk it live.

---BREAK---

A popular youtuber, known for making content on reviewing games, launched his own stream with a sarcastic grin plastered on his face.

"Alright everyone, I've just downloaded what's being called the scariest game in history... 'Silent Hill PT'."

"You've probably seen the so called demo video. Personally, I think it's fake. Just marketing fluff."

"Let's expose this scam, live."

His chat filled with laughing emotes and mocking comments.

"No way that trailer was real."

"These developers are bluffing hard."

"Bet it's just a cheap knockoff with a edited trailer."

The streamer slapped on his VR headset and skipped past the warning screen without reading it.

The moment the screen went dark and transitioned into the opening scene, a dim lit, cockroach infested room, the smirk vanished from his face.

"What...?"

The game looked exactly like the demo.

He stood frozen as the wooden door in front of him creaked open by itself. With a hesitant step forward, he entered a hauntingly narrow corridor.

He didn't speak. His audience did.

"Wait, this looks real..."

"No way, this is the exact same footage from the trailer!"

"Are we sure he's not just playing a video?"

"Okay... maybe this isn't a scam."

Confusion turned to disbelief, then to grudging admiration.

---BREAK---

This wasn't just one streamer. All around the world, other skeptical people booted up the game with folded arms and raised eyebrows, only to be left speechless minutes later.

"Holy shit, this game looks insane!"

"Is this real life? I can't tell anymore!"

"The lighting, the textures, the sound design, how is this even rendering in real time?!"

Even veteran developers chimed in from social media.

"This is a game? Not a render? I need to sit down."

For a brief moment, the conversation was all about the visuals. But the horror hadn't even begun yet.

Because once the players made it further into the game, once they reached the bathroom door and heard the pounding, once they saw the ghostly girl's face in the mirror, then the screaming began.

"F**k, what's that sound?! Something's behind the door!"

"OH GOD SHE'S RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME, DON'T MOVE, DON'T MOVE!!"

"WHY IS SHE IN MY FACE!?"

Stream after stream exploded with panicked shrieks, dropped controllers, and VR headsets being flung off in fear.

In less than an hour, 'Silent Hill PT' surpassed even the biggest games on the Twitch, overtaking 'League of Legends' and 'CS' to become the number #1 most watched game on the platform.

1244 Words.