58: Chapter 58: Dota 2 Officially Launches Open Beta!

Ten days passed in the blink of an eye.

In the three days leading up to the dota 2 open beta, Tencent's promotional machine ramped up to full power.

QQ pop-ups were pushed to every user's phone, the homepage recommendation slot on Tencent Video was replaced with dota 2 countdown posters, and crossover events for all games under Tencent were launched simultaneously.

Even in subway stations and bus stops across hundreds of cities nationwide, dota 2's open beta advertisements covered entire lightboxes.

Promotions for dota 2 could be seen on almost every software related to Tencent.

The pre-download channel opened three days in advance.

In just a few hours, global pre-downloads had already exceeded five million.

All data pointed in the same direction.

On the first day of the dota 2 open beta, the daily active users could exceed dota 1's 1.5 million, and might even set an even more exaggerated record.

The eyes of the entire internet were fixed on the first shot of this MOBA war.

Everyone wanted to know the quality of the first game launched in this MOBA game war.

...

Tencent Group Headquarters.

Vice President Chen Yongnian had not long returned from a business trip to South Korea, and he still had a smile on his face as he walked into the conference room.

Though it was called a business trip, he actually spent most of the time traveling, staying an extra week to play before returning home.

“The matter regarding alliance of valiant arms has been settled.”

He pulled out a chair and sat down, speaking to Pony Ma in the head seat.

“crossfire was picked up for exclusive distribution by another company, saving us a lot of money.”

“I was wondering why the other party relented and was willing not to bundle crossfire; it turns out they had already found another buyer.”

An executive nearby smiled and chimed in.

“The graphics and engine of crossfire are more than a grade below alliance of valiant arms.”

“The company distributing this game is practically doing charity.”

“When we were choosing games back then, we tested both alliance of valiant arms and crossfire. After digital model analysis and internal research, crossfire simply couldn't beat alliance of valiant arms.”

Just as Vice President Chen Yongnian was smiling and about to say more.

Pony Ma in the head seat raised his hand, and the conference room instantly fell silent.

“The alliance of valiant arms open beta is at least half a year away. For now, our energy must still be focused on dota 2.”

“This is currently our most core and important project.”

Pony Ma leaned back in his chair, his voice steady and unhurried.

“My requirement is for dota 2's peak daily active users to reach five million after the open beta.”

“Ultimately, the daily active users must stabilize at over three million.”

“But there is one prerequisite.”

He scanned everyone present.

“It must be above heroes of the storm.”

“If heroes of the storm's numbers are higher than this, then dota 2's numbers must be even higher!”

The conference room fell silent for a beat.

At the mention of heroes of the storm, everyone's expressions became somewhat strained.

Over the past four months, the momentum of heroes of the storm had not only failed to weaken, but instead, the hype had grown wave after wave as Blizzard continued to release character skill demonstrations.

Fans of those classic IP characters were active on major global gaming forums, and threads discussing heroes of the storm were almost constant.

These fans, even if they hadn't played heroes of the storm yet, could already be identified as core players.

This number...

...likely exceeded the number of core players for dota 1.

Although dota 2's pre-registrations were on par with heroes of the storm, the opponent was Blizzard, after all.

Blizzard products must be masterpieces.

These five words had been etched into the hearts of global players for nearly twenty years.

So when facing heroes of the storm, no one present dared to guarantee a sure win.

As if sensing the oppressive atmosphere in the conference room...

Pony Ma took a deep breath.

“No matter what.”

“We'll only know once we clash.”

“This confrontation with heroes of the storm will likely be the most difficult battle in Tencent's gaming sector in many years.”

Everyone nodded.

The atmosphere in the conference room was somewhat heavy, but everyone's face was quite determined.

Clearly, they were already prepared for a grand battle with heroes of the storm.

Just then, Sun Qiang, who hadn't spoken much during this meeting, suddenly thought of something.

“By the way, what about that league of legends?”

The conference room went silent for a beat.

Then Vice President Chen Yongnian laughed.

The others followed suit and laughed as well.

Pony Ma leaned back in his chair and couldn't help but click his tongue.

“If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten that game even existed.”

He placed his teacup on the table.

“league of legends is the last of the three games to enter open beta; by then, dota 2 and heroes of the storm will have been fighting for over a month.”

“This game is just cannon fodder.”

“I can't even imagine how it's going to snatch players away from dota 2 and Heroes.”

An executive nearby nodded.

“league of legends will probably die without a sound.”

“Caught between two blockbusters already in open beta, it's almost certain that this game will be dead on arrival.”

Pony Ma took a sip from his teacup, a rare look of appreciation appearing in his eyes.

“However, this man Qin Mo indeed understands the internet and promotion very well.”

He paused.

“From the very beginning, piggybacking off our dota 2 trailer to later launching some ten-million-dollar esports plan to attract traffic.”

“His methods are very precise and have managed to garner attention from many players.”

“It's just that esports competitions...”

Pony Ma shook his head and laughed.

“Who would watch a competition for a game?”

“How could it possibly compete with the excitement of traditional sports? Playing the game yourself is what really matters.”

“Those players aren't stupid. No matter how big the promises are, if they can't be fulfilled, it's just a joke.”

“But I'm afraid league of legends won't even live long enough to fulfill those promises.”

Everyone nodded.

Pony Ma also looked at Sun Qiang, who had just spoken.

“In short, there's no need to worry about league of legends.”

“Concentrate all energy and keep a close eye on heroes of the storm.”

“I want dota 2 to set an unprecedented record for daily active users!”

...

After the three games were announced one after another, global players fell into a period of waiting.

Having waited for over half a year, three more days naturally didn't matter.

And three days indeed weren't long.

They passed in the blink of an eye.

Finally, dota 2 officially entered open beta!