This Online Game Developer is Definitely Problematic

Description

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A turn-based online game that hadn’t been updated for half a year, had a development budget seven times that of its competitors, yet only made a tenth of their revenue—a total failure. A game that everyone had already abandoned, right at the brink of being shut down… suddenly released a new version.

Lead designer Lin Yao.

From that moment, she became a legend.

—”The wildest ideas, the boldest moves, a complete game-changer. We never understand what she’s doing, but she always ends up making more money than us…”

Associated Names
One entry per line
Cái này võng du kế hoạch quả nhiên có vấn đề
这个网游策划果然有问题
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
Starting as a Manga Editor (2)
Giving Interstellar Players a Horror Ghost Game Shock (1)
The Game Director That Returned from Hell (1)
Losing Money to Be a Tycoon (1)
Every Day the Protagonist Wants to Capture Me (1)
The Reader and Protagonist Definitely Have to Be in True Love (1)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Showbiz Girlboss
  2. updating Baihe I'm drooling over
  3. Summer 2025
  4. Yuri and Other (0 v 0)/
  5. making games in the modern world

Latest Release

Date Group Release
07/07/25 BOTI Translation c306
07/07/25 BOTI Translation c305
07/06/25 BOTI Translation c304
07/06/25 BOTI Translation c303
07/05/25 BOTI Translation c302
07/05/25 BOTI Translation c301
07/04/25 BOTI Translation c300
07/04/25 BOTI Translation c299
07/03/25 BOTI Translation c298
07/03/25 BOTI Translation c297
07/02/25 BOTI Translation c296
07/02/25 BOTI Translation c295
07/01/25 BOTI Translation c294
07/01/25 BOTI Translation c293
06/30/25 BOTI Translation c292
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11 Reviews sorted by


Skysabeast
New Skysabeast rated it
July 19, 2025
Status: c330
I honestly really quite enjoy novels like this; these types of novels don't have that kind of one track story and can be branched off quite easily, with the story not being too serious. This novel is the relaxing sort of novel to read after going through a bunch of serious or over dramatized novels.

The novel is basically about someone from our world transmigrating into another world where the tech is at the same level but the world was more focused on war and had only recently stepped into the... more>> games industry, this gives the story the start of the main character plagiarising games from our world. Right, I know that sounds bad BUT this story does it well and give good reason for the MC and it doesn't feel bad either; the reason the MC started plagiarising other games was because she was truly bored out of her mind when she wasn't working and since this world didn't have games she decided to get into it herself, and she also wanted to feel connected to her old world because of homesickness and nostalgia. The other point is that it truly doesn't feel bad to read about the MC copying work because rather than copying the work she is more showing to this new world these popular games from our world and getting their reactions and making peoples lives better.

I've seen a few people complaining about the repetitiveness of the story and I am only halfway through simply because I would rather wait for the official translation to come out but so far I haven't felt bored a single time and I truly enjoy the parts which show the populations reactions to the games.

I also want to mention the girls love romance (which is the only reason why I started reading this in the first place, , , I only rly enjoy GL _O_/), this was done pretty well so far, with it being slow paced and kinda of out of the way for the most part, with few hints here and there. At the part of the story I am at they haven't confirmed any relationship but are slowly making progress, which truly fits this story of a low consequence read (no unneeded drama getting in the way). I hope it works out!

All in all great read! I read this for 2 days straight and have only just finished the translated chapter, will definitely come back to this!

PS... completely forgot to write about the system! TBH the system doesn't have too much impact on the story and I like it like that, it just kinda is there to give the MC a confidence boost and a goal for her to achieve. Sure it has a few moments where it gives the software of a few apps that are needed for plot development but that just adds to the relaxed feel I talked about before! So, no need to worry about overpowered MC because of system type thing in this story, it really barley pops up (forgot about it ong). <<less
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ikstarven
ikstarven rated it
June 7, 2025
Status: c500
As with all these long novels, the initial chapters are very nice, but it does kind of bore you out because... Literally the whole premise is completely plagiarising games down to a single mesh and how the whole world is amazed at this, not only games, anything that was remotely popular gets copied... software, hardware, art, music I'm very annoyed and cringing hard when "We will rock you", yknow, the football music is put on every single event by the protagonist's company and almost the whole chorus gets written in... more>> chapters, you dont have to wonder what song is the author's favorite, even literature is completely carbon copied. It's that typical face-slap cultivation novel where every single time people underestimate the protagonist and laugh at them and every single time they are silenced by how protagonist was right all along and how they are enlightened, only to turn around and repeat this whole thing again after 5 chapters. It's also not explained how the protagonist can remember and write down dozens, if not hundreds of games in great detail, to plagiarize them. Although in this one the protagonist actually tries to make somewhat unique games, mix-matching different games together, while the newer work by the same author (Manga editor) just throws it out the window and literally copies everything with the all-mighty brain that remembers everything with photographic memory

Spoiler

Later on there is a system that helps the protagonist make games by finishing up 30% of work after the protagonist does 70%, which is pointless tbh.

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Also... there are way too many descriptions of characters' bodies and figures. Like one paragraph there will be extensive details and statistics of a game production, and then for no reason there will be a sentence describing the protagonist's shapely and rounded figure.... why? Sometimes a whole chapter is dedicated to this... and the descriptions, as unneeded as they are, never change, like the author REALLY wants the readers to know about the body shape of characters by constantly repeating the same sentence dozens of times, and the Manga Editor novel is also guilty of this

Spoiler

The last straw for me was when the protagonist makes 1 game, but splits it into 2 identical games with just different visuals for characters, players from both games can play with each other, and the owner of 1 game can literally replace character visuals to the one of the second game, and if you buy both games you only have to pay for one, and LITERALLY NO REASONING FOR IT IS EVER WRITTEN BY THE AUTHOR.... once again, why?

[collapse]

Spoiler

Also that review about making a game that flopped is false, it just had a slow start and then immediately became sky-high worldwide innovative game that everyone glazes after literally 1 chapter

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Kittybob
Kittybob rated it
March 28, 2025
Status: c120
A competently written game development story, with a more plausible progression than some of the other ones. The main plot is essentially the MC accelerating the growth of the gaming industry by achieving new milestones through developing her own games and software. Although I have some nitpicks I'd definitely recommend this if you enjoy that kind of story. The main character is fun and compelling, and works hard to achieve her goals. Some of the interpersonal relationships really help humanize the characters, which is great.

The first arc is centered on... more>> a turn-based mmorpg in the style of 2000s era giants like Ultima online, but my unfamiliarity with that genre and specifically the Chinese mmos being referenced made it more interesting to me personally. I'm glad it's not just immediately aping every popular game in the market, and focuses on gradually growing towards bigger goals.

For worldbuilding, the concept of a world with an archaic 2000s era entertainment industry and infrastructure but the hardware to match 2020s standards is honestly a pretty unique backdrop, and the more I thought about it the more I appreciated the strangeness of it. The fact it is distinctly 'not earth' helps separate it from some of the other game development stories.

There's some elements of slow romance and some face-slapping as usual, and generally I think all the characters are pretty fun, if a little one-note aside from the main leads. Speaking of, Lin Yao and Mu Wanqing are really cute together, and their moments are a nice reprieve from the game dev bits, but avoid overshadowing the main plot.

There is one quirk of the writing that's a little annoying- they'll constantly cut sentences using "--", and it makes the flow of the writing a little staggered, if that makes sense? It's minor enough to ignore and could be a translation thing, but it's still notable. (It's definitely a translation thing).

Anyways, I've thoroughly enjoyed these first hundred chapters, so I'd definitely recommend checking it out! <<less
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Graestra
Graestra rated it
June 24, 2025
Status: c280
Quite good. I have some nitpicks, but my only real criticism is of the translation. It reads well, but it’s inconsistent as though there’s two translators with no collaboration or proofreader or editor.

The formatting will change every few chapters. Sometimes there’s no spacing between line breaks, other times there is. Names also change back and forth repeatedly every so often.

A game company called ImagiNation will suddenly be called Dream Nation, and then maybe a chapter or two later swap back. Same with a game engine being called Blue Star Engine... more>> and then Bluecore Engine. And again with a game called Breakthrough and then Breakout. Same with a project called the Year Highlights Project and then the Yearbook Plan.

This swapping back and forth of names and terms every few chapters continues all the way up to the most recent publicly available chapter. It’s not too difficult to ignore since it at least doesn’t happen with character names or most of the other groups and games, but it’s still noticeable and for a group that seemingly charges money for advance chapters I would have expected more effort put into the reader experience.

It really shouldn’t be difficult to make a document of common names and terms used in the story to use as reference and to have someone proofread the chapters to make sure it’s consistent. <<less
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breeziiily
breeziiily rated it
May 17, 2025
Status: c690
As a whole, this game serves as a Love Letter to Games and Gaming (If you know, please forgive the pun). It's not perfect, some of the developments are rushed, while others are inconsistent, or don't fully make sense, but honestly, what is? It doesn't diminish the excitement of one of your favorite games being listed onto the list, and the descriptions of people finding out and enjoying what made it so special. Throughout the entire story, it maintains the energy of an author and protagonist who loves games, and... more>> conveys that to her staff. If you've ever wanted to imagine what your favorites could look like without corporate and monetization hanging over your head, then I'd recommend giving this a read.

9/10, not perfect writing, but very much so worth the read for someone who's passionate about games and gaming culture rather than seeing it as a financial cheat code. <<less
3 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Sky3Fall
Sky3Fall
April 17, 2025
Status: c143
5/5 for me. My favorite thing about this story is that while it references popular games from our world, the MC doesn't just copy and paste. She actually does, ya know, game development, in accordance with what she thinks that world would find fun. I know nothing about game development so I don't know if the process described in this story is realistic, but just having scenes where the characters actually discuss the development process with some even doubting the MC elevates the story by a ton.

Edit 1, Chapter 172: Spoilers Ahead
Spoiler

Holy crap the MC actually made a game that flopped because she misread the market! I legitimately never thought something like this would happen! Kudos to the author for not just letting the MC roll over the entire world.

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metaeatscake
metaeatscake rated it
April 27, 2025
Status: c165
I spent the better part of my weekend just shredding through the chapters. The synopsis captures the story quite well. At the beginning, the MC doesn't start with much - a game that has awful monetization, bad gameplay design, mocked by the industry as a joke, and full of incompetent staff. The early arc is mostly office politics drama and groundwork for what would be the MC's "girlfriend". From there, it gets more about the games and how it's making the competition seethe. It later features an eSport tournament that... more>> I think is very well written.

The story references real gaming industry companies and events, such as Tencent and Netease, even mentioning miHoYo's Genshin Impact and the recent Battlefield game. To me it's nice that I don't have to deal with random Wacdonalds-type brand alterations by the author.

I don't think I can do much justice for the story, I recommend just starting it and giving it the 10, 20 or whatever chapters test to see if you'll like it. BOTI Translation does a good job, and the release rate looks pretty steady. I would say that it has a good grasp of how to write a story around the gaming industry. <<less
2 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
AsianessPride
AsianessPride rated it
May 7, 2025
Status: --
Ooooh this is getting translated! 5/5 from me, gotta love how she builds on what she has and remains a gamer through and through.

slight yuri vibes which I’m totally here for. She’s always ahead of the game
1 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
jkreijkamp
jkreijkamp rated it
May 26, 2025
Status: c219
Good translation with a fast rate of releases. The story is a very light read but with an overload of game facts where the MC analyses what makes the game she blatantly recreates fun. The female characters are very feely-touchy for a Chinese web novel, probably a yuri tag wouldn't be out of the place here. The story is full of plot holes like how games are a new thing is this world but we have modern gpu's that are already quite close to what we have today and also... more>> game consoles that are way past gen 1. My main gripe is that the MC just recreates games from our world without even bothering to change style or story. Even though the author lets the MC steal all kinds of ip mainly from Japan and the USA, it doesn't stop the author from the usual Japan, Korea and West bashing. Still the story has many fun moments and the interaction between characters are often quite enjoyable. <<less
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camperment
camperment rated it
May 25, 2025
Status: c83
Truly a hidden gem. This is like kingdom-building but for game development! I'm not a gamer girlie myself so I don't understand that many references (and that's fine), but I feel like the author must have been a big gamer or at least worked in the gaming industry themself. If not, then they must have done an extensive research cuz these conflicts between different divisions of development team feel real... Like you can feel that the author creates conflicts not for the sake of needing conflicts to drive the story... more>> but because each character has different motivation and interests that drive them to be in conflict with other characters.

Overall, a must read (even for non GL readers) <<less
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Piknos
Piknos rated it
May 20, 2025
Status: c210
Super fun to read, it's a reincarnation/business mogul type of story in a game developer setting. It isn't fast paced or jumpy, so far she's really only released three games but still it's gone by quickly with a mix of in game events and real life interactions. I sunk an entire day reading the whole thing in one shot!
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