57: Chapter 57 On the Eve of the Great Battle, Proxy Crossfire

Four and a half months is neither a long nor a short period of time.

During this time,

Douyin's daily active users had already surpassed fifty million. Having recently completed a round of financing, its valuation made the entire internet industry take notice.

However, Qin Mo did not release any shares, instead raising funds through debt financing.

Inspur Technology's cash flow was so abundant that Zhao Lei had to rub his eyes every time he saw the financial reports.

Qin Mo had purchased the entire office building, and the number of employees had expanded from the original dozens to hundreds.

Riot Games occupied two entire floors, where IceFrog led the core team, working day and night to polish the open beta version of league of legends.

However,

although Douyin's achievements were already quite staggering, at this point in time,

countless netizens around the world were still focused on those three MOBA games about to enter open beta.

And at this moment, Qin Mo was not in the country.

...

Seoul, South Korea.

In a conference room of an office building, the curtains were drawn tight.

Qin Mo leaned back in his chair, holding his phone.

Zhao Lei and Zheng Yue were behind him, their eyes also fixed on Qin Mo's phone screen.

The screen was playing the latest trailer for dota 2.

This trailer was more refined than the first one, with actual gameplay footage taking up most of the length.

This was the final promotional video released just before the dota 2 open beta.

As the video ended,

the dota 2 logo emerged from the darkness, followed by a countdown timer below.

Fifteen days until the open beta.

The trailer concluded, and the image froze on the pre-registration numbers.

Global pre-registrations: fifty-three million.

Qin Mo placed his phone on the table, and Zhao Lei, standing behind him, spoke after a moment of silence.

“Global pre-registrations for both dota 2 and heroes of the storm have broken fifty million.”

He took out his phone and looked at the latest research report.

His voice continued.

“The pre-registration for our league of legends is twelve million, with the bulk of it still coming from the domestic market.”

“Logically, our game shouldn't have such high attention, but by piggybacking on the momentum of Storm and dota 2, along with our esports plan, the level of interest has indeed risen somewhat.”

“But now.”

Zhao Lei paused.

“Of the three games, we are making the least noise. Players are questioning whether esports can actually be pulled off.”

“After all, there are only two and a half months left until the open beta, and we haven't announced any details about the global tournament system we promised.”

Hearing Zhao Lei's words, Zheng Yue, who was standing nearby, also nodded.

Over the past few months, he had started from the periphery of Riot Games and gradually proven his ability, as well as the fact that he wasn't a corporate spy.

For this trip to South Korea, Qin Mo had specifically brought him along.

“People online are already saying that the ten-million-dollar prize pool is just a pie in the sky.”

“They say we deliberately made it up for hype and discussion, but in reality, we won't build any esports tournament at all.”

“While I don't know if Penguin is behind these discussions, it has indeed had some impact on the reputation of league of legends.”

“Not to mention that right now, the tournament doesn't even have a single sponsor.”

Listening to Zheng Yue's words behind him, Qin Mo did not respond.

He knew, of course, that the esports system wasn't just empty talk.

During this time, Riot Games had already completed the entire tournament pipeline internally.

Schedule rules, the referee system, anti-cheat systems, and the live broadcast production process—every single item had been implemented.

There was only one problem.

No capital had entered the fray, let alone any sponsorships; there wasn't even a single professional team yet.

“There's no need to worry about these things; I already anticipated this.”

Qin Mo picked up the coffee on the table and took a sip.

“Even if league of legends becomes a hit after the open beta, capital won't immediately enter the esports scene.”

“Because esports and game popularity are two different concepts.”

“Even if a game is popular, the outside world doesn't necessarily believe people will watch its matches.”

“Without an audience, there are no sponsors; without sponsors, no capital enters; and without capital, there will be no professional teams.”

“It's a vicious cycle.”

He set down his coffee cup.

He had long since thought of these issues, so this first league of legends global tournament would not be a professional circuit like in his previous life, but would start from scratch.

He then explained the detailed tournament process to the two of them in full.

“So for this tournament, we cannot wait for capital.”

“We will go directly to all players, with no restrictions on qualifications; anyone can form a team and compete.”

“First, we'll determine the strongest teams in each server region online, followed by an online round-robin points stage.”

“The top thirty-two teams will go directly to an offline double-elimination tournament. At the same time, these matches will begin to be broadcast live on the client and authorized websites.”

“Finally, each region will determine three teams to participate in the Global Finals.”

“This process will be long, but it is essential. It will let the whole world know the potential of esports.”

Qin Mo took a deep breath.

“The term 'esports' is still unheard of right now, but I want it to completely ignite the global internet in a year's time.”

In his mind, Qin Mo recalled the terrifying popularity of the World Championship in his previous life.

The most-watched edition had over fifty million people watching simultaneously worldwide.

This number

was second only to top-tier traditional sporting events like the World Cup.

Both men were infected by Qin Mo's words, their eyes filled with a touch of fervor.

“Understood.” Zhao Lei nodded.

Meanwhile,

at the next moment, there was a knock on the conference room door.

A middle-aged man in a suit walked in, followed by two assistants, each carrying a briefcase.

“President Qin, sorry to keep you waiting.”

The middle-aged man bowed slightly and greeted him in somewhat broken Chinese.

He was the business lead for this South Korean online game company, surnamed Kim.

“This is the licensing contract for crossfire. The terms have been drafted according to what we previously discussed.”

An assistant pulled two thick contracts from a briefcase and placed them in front of Qin Mo and Zhao Lei respectively.

Zhao Lei took the contract, flipped through it, read it carefully from beginning to end, and then nodded.

President Kim sat down nearby, his expression still somewhat uncertain.

“President Qin, let me confirm once more.”

He paused.

“Are you really willing to license crossfire alone? Giving up the competition with Penguin for alliance of valiant arms?”

Qin Mo picked up a pen and signed his name on the last page of the contract.

“Sign it.”

Zhao Lei followed suit and signed.

Looking at the two signed contracts, President Kim finally looked relieved. He wanted to say something, but after hesitating for a moment, he kept his mouth shut.

Within their company, the game crossfire had always been treated as an afterthought.

Its graphics were average and its engine was outdated; it wasn't even in the same league as alliance of valiant arms.

When they had negotiated with Penguin, Penguin had specifically asked for alliance of valiant arms, and crossfire was bundled in almost as a freebie.

Now, a company had actually come specifically to license crossfire alone.

And they had even offered a decent licensing price.

He could wake up laughing from his dreams over such a good deal.

The two parties exchanged contracts and shook hands.

After President Kim left with his assistants, Zheng Yue looked down and said to Qin Mo,

“I've compared both games.”

There was a hint of excitement in his eyes that he couldn't hide.

“While alliance of valiant arms has better graphics, there are issues with the engine optimization. The high system requirements will shut out most domestic players.”

“crossfire might have average graphics, but its requirements are low, it's easy to pick up, and the pace of matches is fast.”

“Its foundation can definitely beat alliance of valiant arms.”

Qin Mo glanced at him and nodded.

The man's business sense was indeed good; he was one of the few in the company who could see that crossfire had a better foundation than alliance of valiant arms.

As everyone was preparing to leave, Zhao Lei thought of something.

He spoke up.

“But Boss, for a small matter like licensing a game, why did you have to come in person? Wouldn't it have been enough to leave it to me?”

Qin Mo smiled and didn't answer directly, instead saying to Zhao Lei,

“You go back to the country first. The dota 2 open beta is imminent, and heroes of the storm isn't far behind. Someone needs to keep an eye on things at the league of legends side.”

“Contact me anytime if anything happens at home.”

Zhao Lei put the contract into his briefcase, looking a bit puzzled.

“Boss, are you staying in South Korea for a few more days? Is that the real reason you came here?”

“I have another contract to sign.”

Qin Mo picked up his coat and nodded.

“I previously acquired a significant number of shares in a game company. I need to go sign the equity agreement in a couple of days.”

Zhao Lei was stunned for a moment.

“What game company?”

Because of the company's expansion and abundant cash flow, Inspur Technology had made many investments. But among them, there were few that would warrant Qin Mo's personal involvement.

“You'll know when the time comes.”

...

A few days later.

A few leaves had fallen on the early autumn streets of South Korea. Qin Mo and Zheng Yue crossed two streets and stopped in front of a somewhat old, small building.

The sign at the entrance had a few Korean characters on it, seemingly the name of a game studio.

Zheng Yue looked up at the sign.

He had done quite a bit of homework on South Korean game companies, and this name was not among the well-known ones.

Qin Mo pushed open the door and walked in.

There was no one at the front desk.

A few unopened cardboard boxes were piled in the hallway, and an old arcade machine stood in the corner.

A man wearing black-rimmed glasses hurried out from the end of the hallway. His hair was a bit messy, and his eyes were sunken.

He said a few words in Korean, then switched to somewhat broken English.

“Mr. Qin, the contract is ready.”

Qin Mo followed him into the conference room.

Since he was entering the gaming industry, Qin Mo didn't want to have only a few games like league of legends in his hands, so he had begun a long-term layout.

This game studio was currently on the verge of bankruptcy. The core team had mostly departed, and the remaining staff were working on the planning for their final game.

It would still take at least a few years to launch.

Without an injection of funds, there was a high probability that this game wouldn't even be made.

The reason Qin Mo chose them was that

the popularity of this game when it launched a few years later

would even briefly surpass league of legends, taking the global player base by storm.

After entering the conference room, Qin Mo sat down and pulled the equity agreement from his briefcase.

The number written on it was very clear.

Eighty percent of the shares.

In other words, this game studio was about to become an entity like Riot Games, belonging to Inspur Technology.

Because they were already on the verge of bankruptcy and Qin Mo's offer was not low, the other party signed quickly.

After signing the contract, Qin Mo stood up.

After some simple pleasantries to reassure the other party that he would not interfere with the game's production, he left the small building with Zheng Yue.

And the Korean characters written on the sign at the entrance translated to Chinese as—Bluehole.

And the game they were currently in the early planning stages for

was PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds.