Season 4: Chapter 15: Victory Tour (3)
For a month, Almond’s viewers had suffered immensely. After all, he was a game streamer who couldn’t play games. Certain posts started popping up in gaming forums.
[How long is Almond going to be unable to play games?]
These fans eagerly anticipated his return to real gaming.
— He’s still playing games, though?
Technically, Almond did play games whenever he went live, but these casual titles using a keyboard and mouse weren’t the games people had been waiting for.
└ The OP meant when will he start getting good at these games
└ LOL too harsh.
└ That’s actually probably true, haha.
└ Almond, stop playing so badly!
Everyone wanted to watch Almond play capsule games. Simply put, Almond was horrendous at using keyboard and mouse. His right hand was sluggish, and he only chose detective or puzzle adventure games that totally went against his strengths.
[Almond playing detective games... I swear I need to smack him.]
[Is he doing this on purpose?? LOL]
[If he debuted before capsule games existed, he’d have been Bubblegum’s spiritual successor.]
Fans cried out in frustration. They just weren’t used to this kind of pain.
[Too spicy, chef.]
[This is Bubblegum-tier suffering.]
[The worst thing is that he keeps calling himself “Almond Doyle.” It’s killing me.]
[I was literally on the toilet for hours because of Almond’s detective stream.]
The most uproarious reactions came from Almond’s attempts at detective games.
"The culprit... is YOU!"
Ddundundun~ dundundun~
He always played the dramatic BGM from a famous detective anime while pointing out the culprit with total confidence, but he was always wrong. The worst part was that the game had an option to just shoot the suspect instead of arresting them. There was no turning back if he was wrong, but that didn’t matter because Almond always chose to shoot.
"Chikicha!"
BANG!
— LOL
— I’m dying
— This is Almond Doyle!?
— That BGM though
— Grit grit
— My teeth are grinding...
— What even is chikicha? lol
— I can’t take it hahahaha
This clip became one of many shorts, and Detective Streamer Almond Doyle became a humiliating meme.
[short] Almond Doyle: The culprit is me!]
— The culprit is ME!
— Almond Doyle: I’m headed to the next scene.
— ??? Where?
— Almond Doyle: Right here.
└ LOL
└ He just accused himself, hahahah
— Creative Grown-up.
Almond defended himself, saying he’d never read a detective novel or watched a mystery movie in his life. This put him at a disadvantage, but it didn’t matter. The shorts kept spreading, and forums started cataloging his logic.
[Big: The Almond Doyle Method of Deduction]
==== ====
Choose the person with the most punchable face.
Glance at the crime scene.
Glance at the evidence.
Shoot #1.
*Steps 2 and 3 are often skipped.
==== ====
— LMAOOOO
— The shoot part kills me
— Where’s the actual deduction?
— That’s not deduction. It’s a teamfight targeting system.
— God, this is hilarious
— FAIL = murder. SUCCESS = deduction! Iconic logic.
Eventually, Almond Doyle became a one-way ticket to viral fame.
[Big: ??? I’m not going there to die. I’m going to see if I’m alive.]
==== ====
The monochrome photo came from a magazine shoot where Almond struck a stylish pose with a finger gun. Someone just added [Bang!] underneath it and made it the perfect meme.
— LMAO stop it
— Oh, that’s what he meant by “going to see if I’m alive”
— Didn’t say who, classic.
— This is gold.
— Oppa, I’m dying here!
— YOU.
— Spike-sensei vibes...
— ??? The culprit is me!
— Bang!
— Bro, this is art-level comedy.
[Big: Will you date me? Or die?]
Another post also used a similar formula.
==== ====
— LOL omg
— Option 4 = Die LOL
└ No chill lol
— Ultimate sigma male energy
— Miho better not confess or she’s done for
└ What confession? Stop projecting, loser
└ Bro it’s not even from the stream lmao
└ You a Miho simp? Calm down, this is hilarious.
As terrible as Almond was with regular games, his fans found a way to enjoy it in the end.
[OMG Almond is finally coming back to capsule games!]
Some even felt sad he was returning to capsule games.
— End of an era.
└ LOL I’m crying.
— Then who’s gonna yell “Bang!” now?!
— Almond Doyle Game Vote: 1. Kingdom Age 2. LIL Survival War 3. Damn World
└ "4. Shoot."
└ That dang “shoot” again lol
— The age of Bang! has ended...
└ Waaah I’m Baby Bang. I know nothing.
└ Damn
Still, most fans rejoiced. Finally, the dark age of Bad Gamer Almond had ended.
[Finally...]
[What game is he gonna play first?]
[Almond back to capsule games omg... is he bringing back LIL?]
[So the tour’s finally over?]
[Please play Kingdom again, Almond!]
[Something big is coming...]
Amid all the hype, Almond finally went live. No one saw it coming.
[Game Legends Return! Ghostwo Busters (feat. Bubblegum)]
— ???
— Wait, it’s a collab?
— Is this a new release?
— Yeah, it just came out.
— Whoa, what?
— He came back with a bang!
— Let’s goooo
— Finally!
***
Ghostwo Busters, a two-player co-op game, had just been released. Given the current era, streamers naturally marketed new games.
Big publishers typically cast a wide net, handing out sponsorships to multiple streamers at once. However, Ghostwo Busters was a mid-tier title developed by a domestic mid-sized studio instead of a AAA juggernaut. As such, their ad strategy was all about selectivity and focus.
"Let’s get just one high-profile streamer at a premium rate!"
Their first pick was Bubblegum. As a well-established variety game streamer and known early adopter, he always tried out new titles as soon as they launched. There was only one catch.
"How am I supposed to promote a co-op game by myself? It’d be weird to have someone random as my partner."
Bubblegum declined because the game required two players, which meant the ad budget also had to double. What could the developers do? That was just the nature of their game. They scraped together a bigger budget and circled back to Bubblegum.
"We’ll sponsor two people. Who do you want to play with? But the total budget... is only this much."
"Hmm. I’ll have to think about it."
Bubblegum first thought of Takoyaki, a fellow streamer from the same agency. They gave the game a test run together.
"AAARGHH!"
"B-Bro!"
[You died.]
"GUH!"
"Bro?!"
[You died.]
"Sorry."
"COME ON, bro!!"
[You died.]
Takoyaki simply wasn’t up to the task. No amount of carrying could salvage their cooperation. Ghostwo Busters was not the kind of game where one player could carry the other to victory.
"This freaking game is basically a co-op Soulslike!"
To make things worse, the game was genuinely hard.
"The cutesy design totally tricked me."
"Why would they give this kind of game to you, bro?"
"I don’t even know..."
Usually, skilled streamers suited difficult games better. Otherwise, viewers would tune out because it seemed too frustrating.
"Bro... what’s the ad requirement? Like, do you have to stream a certain number of hours?"
"They want us to beat the game."
"..."
That explained it. The developers were trying to milk the sponsorship deal.
"They’re really trying to get their money’s worth."
"Huh?"
"It’ll take over a month to beat this. They figured that’d stretch the ad value."
"No way. Is that why the pay was so high?"
Bubblegum frowned and recalled his worst month ever when a game ad forced him to play a brutally long title.
"Should I just pass on this?"
The fee was tempting.
Takoyaki licked his lips and finally said, "Bro. Let’s just hold off until Almond comes back."
He suggested that they save the deal for later so Bubblegum could still cash in.
"What?"
"Almooond~!"
"Yeah, I know it's Almond, but..."
Bubblegum scratched his head. He would love to play with Almond.
"But that guy’s too expensive."
He couldn’t even guess Almond’s current asking price. At this point, Almond was worth more than even Bubblegum himself. The devs’ proposed budget only covered half of what Bubblegum usually got alone. For Almond, that amount would be out of the question.
"So... I was only picked because I’m cheaper?!"
"Yup."
"Damn."
It was common knowledge. They didn’t need to pretend otherwise.
"Still..."
Takoyaki slicked back his hair (wiped his bald head) and suggested a workaround.
"Try asking his manager. Word is, they’ll take the ad if the manager thinks the game will make for good content."
Streamers didn’t always pick ads based solely on money.
"Oh... maybe I will."
***
Maybe the idea of tag-teaming with Bubblegum intrigued Ju-Hyeok because things moved quickly after that.
[Game Legends Return! Ghostwo Busters (feat. Bubblegum)]
Before he knew it, Bubblegum went live with Almond for the collab stream.
— LOL
— Legendary collab!
— LET’S GOOOO
— First day is just sandbag training, huh?
— Already bracing for disaster hahaha
‘I-Is this really happening?’
Bubblegum felt skeptical.
‘Is this really how I’m getting paid?’
Ju-Hyeok had worked something out with the devs. Before long, everything was in place. The twist? The payment model had changed.
‘We’re getting paid based on copies sold? What if it flops?’
They had switched to a royalty model. For two quarters after the campaign’s start, Bubblegum and Almond would get paid based on the increase in sales.
‘Aren’t these usually based on link clicks?’
Even royalty-based campaigns usually tracked clickthroughs. Getting paid per unit sold was rare. Granted, each copy sold would bring in a lot more than a click. Whether viewers would buy the game because of them was a huge unknown.
‘When I played with Tako... we couldn’t even clear stage two. No matter how funny the failures are, would people still want to buy the game?’
Game ads followed certain principles. Viewers would likely buy a game that looked light and easy. If it looked hard, they needed to feel like it was worth the challenge.
‘This game was clearly hard as hell.’
From his past test run, Bubblegum knew Ghostwo Busters was tough. He and Takoyaki hadn’t even made it thirty percent through.
‘What if even Almond and I can’t finish it?’
He had never played co-op with Almond before. Almond had insisted on not testing the game in advance, saying it would ruin the stream’s authenticity.
‘I like that he’s confident and all, but... is he overestimating me?’
The nightmare of a month-long death march resurfaced in Bubblegum’s mind. Still, he agreed to try it, and the day had come.
"Bro. Can you hear me?"
"Ah, yeah. I hear you."
"Did you go live?"
"Just about to turn it on."
Pop!
The chat popped up on the screen.
— Hey hey~
— Whoa, a collab!
— With Almond? Hype!
— Looks like their roles have reversed, huh? lol
— Another spicy game, huh?
— Wait, is this an ad?
The game finally launched.
[Ghostwo Busters]