42: Chapter 42 Douyin Mall Officially Launched

The next day. Tencent Group headquarters. Ninth-floor conference room.

Both sides of the long table were filled with people, and the projection screen was frozen on the final frame of the league of legends trailer.

The two characters "IceFrog" were circled in red.

The atmosphere in the conference room wasn't exactly tense, but it certainly couldn't be called relaxed either.

Sitting at the head of the table was Vice President Chen Yongnian of the Tencent Group Game Division. He was in his early fifties, with a buzz cut and broad shoulders. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an immense sense of pressure.

Sitting next to him was the producer of dota 2, Braden, a blond-haired, blue-eyed foreigner.

If IceFrog deserved sixty percent of the credit for the glory of dota back then, then he deserved the remaining forty percent.

When Tencent Group prepared to make an upgraded graphics version of dota 2, their philosophies diverged.

Braden wanted to continue the hardcore nature of the original version and had no intention of making any changes to the gameplay.

IceFrog, however, advocated for simplification.

In the end, Tencent Group chose Braden's plan and chose to kick out the uncompromising IceFrog.

"Speak up," Vice President Chen Yongnian said, shifting his gaze away from the projection and scanning everyone present.

"What is the background of this Riot Games?"

In the corner, a young man responsible for market intelligence analysis stood up.

"We've checked. It's a company registered domestically, and the registrant is IceFrog himself."

"What about other information?"

"We can't find any," the young man said, his voice lacking confidence.

"The company's registration documents are very clean, and we haven't found any connections to other enterprises for the time being. However, what we can be sure of is that to produce a CG of this caliber, the capital invested in this game is definitely not small."

"IceFrog alone, along with this so-called Riot Games, certainly couldn't come up with that much capital."

"Therefore, we judge that there must be other companies investing behind Riot Games, or it might even be a wholly-owned subsidiary of some enterprise."

Vice President Chen Yongnian leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers on the table twice.

"There are many game companies that make MOBA games. But, there are very few in the country that have the guts to go head-to-head with dota 2."

"Go check those major game enterprises and see if there's any movement."

"The only ones who would dare to do this are those old rivals of Tencent Group."

After saying this, Vice President Chen Yongnian looked at Braden beside him. "What's your take on this game?"

Braden spoke in somewhat unfluent Chinese. "This game is likely the more simplified MOBA game that IceFrog has always wanted to make."

"But we have long since had market validation that only hardcore games can attract players."

"This game might get some attention in the early stages because of IceFrog's presence."

"But to compete with dota 2?" Braden shook his head. "There isn't a shred of possibility."

"I share the same thought." Vice President Chen Yongnian nodded, and just as he was about to continue, his phone on the table began to vibrate.

Vice President Chen Yongnian glanced at the caller ID, and his expression changed slightly. Sun Qiang.

He picked it up. "Sun Qiang."

Everyone in the conference room fell silent. They all knew what position Sun Qiang held now.

Just a few days ago, Sun Qiang was promoted from Vice President of the Social Business Group to Senior Vice President of Tencent Group. Although he had lost to Douyin in the Short Video field, he had contributed too much to Tencent Group over so many years.

It was in his hands that QQ was carried forward and popularized.

Long before Douyin appeared, the personnel transfer within Tencent Group had already determined his promotion.

"Old Chen," Sun Qiang's voice came from the other end of the phone, his tone very steady.

"You've seen that league of legends trailer, right?"

"We are currently holding a meeting to study it."

"Mr. Ma attaches great importance to this project."

Hearing this, Vice President Chen Yongnian's pupils shrank instantly.

Within Tencent Group, the only person who could be called Mr. Ma by Sun Qiang was that one person.

Back then, the internet in the Great Xia was just beginning to develop, and this person seized the opportunity to launch OICQ, which is what is now known as QQ.

Now, within the group, there aren't many projects that can catch his attention.

At the same time, Sun Qiang's voice continued to ring out.

"Games are the foundation of Tencent Group, and dota 2 is a load-bearing wall within that foundation; absolutely nothing can go wrong."

He changed the subject. "Originally, a MOBA game made by some studio from who knows where wouldn't even be worth a second glance, but they have IceFrog."

"With IceFrog, it is worth your attention. After all, without him, there would be no dota."

Vice President Chen Yongnian was silent for a beat. "I understand."

After hanging up the phone, he stood up and walked a few steps.

"When league of legends goes into closed beta, we must get a closed beta account."

"At that time, we will set up a special team to keep a comprehensive eye on this game and analyze its closed beta version clearly for me."

Braden nodded and said in less-than-standard Chinese, "I also want to see what on earth IceFrog has created."

Vice President Chen Yongnian, who had been struggling in the gaming field for many years, rarely underestimated his opponents, and this time would naturally be no exception.

... At the same time, in another conference room at Tencent Group headquarters, Sun Qiang hung up the phone and placed it on the table.

Standing in front of him was Old Xu, the person in charge of Douyu's live streaming business, who had just knocked and walked in.

"Is it just about ready?" Sun Qiang asked.

Old Xu nodded, but his expression was not relaxed.

"The PK feature for Douyu and Huya can officially launch tonight. We have already arranged PK activities for top streamers, so the revenue data for the first day shouldn't be bad."

"Moreover, we have even connected the two platforms; now, streamers from Douyu and Huya can PK together."

He paused. "But Sun Qiang, over the past half month or so, although the popularity of PKs on Douyin has been declining, the users we lost haven't all returned."

"Many users have already gotten used to watching live streams on Douyin, and they might not find the PK feature on Douyu to be that novel."

"After all, more than half a month has passed now, and many users won't easily get carried away during PKs anymore."

"What if..." Old Xu's voice was somewhat hesitant. "What if the data isn't good?"

Sun Qiang glanced at him, his voice calm. "If it's not good, you have to fake the data for me even if you have to inflate it."

"On the first day the PK feature launches, I must see a PK livestream room with ten million in revenue, no matter what method you use. Understood?"

"Understood." Wiping sweat from his forehead, Old Xu exited Sun Qiang's office.

That night, Douyu and Huya pushed out version updates at almost the same time.

There was only one line of text on the update description: The live streaming PK feature is officially online.

In the livestream room of Douyu's top female streamer, Qiao Wei, the title had long since been changed: "Tonight at eight o'clock, the first PK showdown; be there or be square."

Huya wasn't to be outdone either. Xue'er, in her livestream room, directly called out the top streamer from the opposing platform: "Whoever loses tonight has to shave off their eyebrows!"

Just as Douyu and Huya were heavily promoting their first day of PKs, preparing to aim for ten million in revenue in one go,

in a quiet corner, Douyin pushed out a quiet version update.

The update description had only a few short lines: "Douyin Mall is officially online, the shopping order function is open simultaneously, and the product promotion function is already built-in and will be launched soon."

There were no trending searches. No hype. And no official blog posters. Only a notification popped up at the top of every Douyin user's phone screen: Douyin Mall is here.