60: Chapter 60 False Prosperity

Inspur Technology.

Qin Mo sat at his desk, the screen in front of him displaying the game interface of dota 2.

He had just finished a match playing as Shadow Fiend, and his score was quite respectable.

Zhao Lei had just walked in, coffee in hand, looking at the dota 2 post-game screen.

"Boss, you're playing dota 2 as well?"

"Know yourself and know your enemy."

Qin Mo exited the game and leaned back in his chair.

"dota 2 is indeed well-made. The graphics are upgraded, and the operational feel is preserved."

"It is exactly the sequel that dota players have always wanted."

"But therein lies the problem."

He pointed to the item shop interface of dota 2 on the screen.

Once the item synthesis tree was expanded, the dense web of connections covered the entire screen.

"A veteran dota player with ten thousand hours can memorize this synthesis chart with their eyes closed."

"But a novice who has never played a MOBA before will only want to close the game when they open this interface."

"Denying, losing gold on death, using trees to break line of sight."

"Each of these is a design that hardcore dota players take pride in."

"But each is also a barrier that keeps casual players out."

He turned off the computer, and the screen went black.

"dota 2's ceiling was already set in stone before the open beta even began."

"It can keep the old dota players and attract a batch of new core players, but it can't break into the mainstream."

"It can attract a group of die-hard fans, but it will discourage even more newcomers."

"And what truly determines how far a game can go isn't those hundreds of thousands or millions of hardcore players."

"It's the tens of millions, even hundreds of millions, of potential users."

Qin Mo stood up and walked to the window.

Outside was the skyline of the Demon City.

Then he clicked his tongue and whispered.

"The Tencent Group of this world has been making games for so many years, yet they haven't even figured out how many potential MOBA players there are."

Fragments of memories from his past life flashed through his mind.

In his previous life, league of legends reached a peak of seven million concurrent users globally, with thirty million daily active users and a staggering one hundred and fifty million monthly active users.

If these numbers were made public right now...

I'm afraid no one in the world would believe them.

After all, in this world, the highest daily active users for dota was only 1.5 million. Although it has now doubled to 3 million because of dota 2, it is still far too distant from the potential tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of MOBA players.

Thirty million daily active users globally, one hundred and fifty million monthly active users.

Those are not numbers a hardcore game can reach.

That is a height only a truly universal game can touch.

And in this world, Tencent is still clinging to their dota, thinking the world's MOBA players are just those few million hardcore veterans.

...

The day after the first week of dota 2's open beta.

The official Weibo released the latest data.

"dota 2 peak daily active users break five million!"

As soon as this number came out, the entire internet was in an uproar.

Five million daily active users globally.

Before this, no game in the world had ever reached such a number.

dota 1's record was 1.5 million; dota 2 had more than tripled it.

Tencent's promotional machine was running at full power again. Hot searches and headlines across major platforms were occupied by dota 2's battle reports.

Of course.

The main reason this number could reach such heights was that the rewards for the global crossover events launched by Tencent would reach their peak on the seventh day!

However.

Regardless of how it was achieved.

dota 2's daily active users had indeed set an staggering record.

Hot searches filled major platforms worldwide.

"Global peak concurrent users reach five million; dota 2 makes history."

"The pinnacle of MOBA games has appeared."

"Is there even a point for heroes of the storm and league of legends to enter open beta?"

...

Tencent Group Headquarters.

In the conference room, the atmosphere was as relaxed as a party.

Plates of fruit and snacks were laid out on the long table. Someone had even brought champagne, though it hadn't been opened yet.

Vice President Chen Yongnian spread the data report on the table, unable to contain the smile on his face.

"Peak five million concurrent users."

He tapped his finger on the report.

"This number—forget dota 1—has never been seen in the entire history of gaming."

Sun Qiang chimed in, his tone carrying an irrepressible excitement.

"In our previous market model predictions, the total number of potential MOBA players globally was only around six or seven million."

"In other words, the maximum number of players globally who could be interested in MOBA games is only seven million."

"And dota 2's current performance has already met our expectations."

Another executive couldn't sit still either.

"Exactly. dota 2 has achieved five million concurrent users. Nearly eighty percent of the world's MOBA players are with us."

"dota 2 can be called a complete victory."

A burst of laughter rang out in the conference room.

Some leaned back in their chairs, loosening their ties, and even wanted to pop the champagne.

After all, having worked in gaming for many years, they understood one thing: even if two games are of equal quality, as long as the first one occupies the market and grabs the players early...

...then the latecomer, even with the same quality, cannot steal those players back.

Unless the latecomer's quality far exceeds the predecessor, or it is extremely differentiated, only then is it possible to steal players.

But the next moment.

From the head of the table, Pony Ma raised his hand to interrupt everyone's discussion.

The laughter in the conference room slowly died down.

"Do not let your guard down."

Pony Ma leaned against his chair, tapping his fingers twice on the table.

His expression was not as relaxed as the others.

"I've been watching the online discussions lately."

"Positive reviews for dota 2 indeed make up the majority, but there is one problem that cannot be ignored."

He picked up his phone and scrolled to some Tieba screenshots he had saved earlier.

"A segment of casual players, novices who have never touched a MOBA, can't get into dota 2."

"On Tieba and Bilibili, there are already many posts saying dota 2 is too hard to pick up."

"Discouragement from denying, overly complex equipment, newbies getting flamed—these comments are buried under the positive reviews, but they are numerous."

The laughter in the conference room vanished completely.

Vice President Chen Yongnian put down the report in his hand, his expression becoming more serious.

"President Ma is right."

"heroes of the storm indeed deserves attention. Blizzard's approach of simplification appeals exactly to these casual players."

"heroes of the storm promotes no gold, no last-hitting, and team-wide shared experience."

"If these casual players are picked up by heroes of the storm, it will pose a significant threat to us. They might even reach two or three million, or even higher daily active users."

As they spoke...

...the contempt on the faces of the others in the room faded, even though dota 2 had achieved a great start.

But heroes of the storm still posed a threat to them.

This great MOBA war was not over yet.

...

Another week passed.

dota 2's daily active users had stabilized at around three million.

On this day.

The official Weibo for heroes of the storm posted an announcement: the fifteen-day countdown to the open beta had officially begun.

The poster featured silhouettes of five classic Blizzard characters with The Nexus logo in the center.

The caption was just one sentence.

"Your heroes, assemble here."

This announcement triggered a new wave of discussion on overseas Twitter.

After all, Blizzard still had many fans overseas.

One must know...

...that the initial pre-registrations for heroes of the storm were no fewer than dota 2's. After dota 2 achieved such exaggerated results, many people wanted to see what kind of record heroes of the storm would set during its open beta.

And whether it could split the world with dota 2.

But many people did not expect...

...that on the same day...

...the official league of legends Weibo also posted an announcement.

It was released at ten in the morning, almost simultaneously with the heroes of the storm countdown announcement.

The content of the announcement was long, detailing the complete plan for league of legends global esports events.

"The detailed rules for the league of legends Global Esports Plan are officially announced."

"Esports for everyone, no barriers, no restrictions on qualifications."

"Anyone can freely form a team to compete."

"The schedule is divided into four stages: Online Regional Qualifiers, Online Group Stage, Offline Double-Elimination Playoffs, and finally, the Global Finals!"

"Every region will have thirty-two teams entering the offline double-elimination playoffs, with the top three eventually advancing to the Global Finals."

"The global championship prize is ten million dollars, plus a share of the global sales of the champion skins."

In addition to the general schedule, there were more detailed rules for each stage of the competition.

After this announcement was posted...

...it took less than two hours...

...for the Weibo hot search to explode again.

The comments section was instantly overwhelmed.

"They're for real?!"

"league of legends actually remembered their esports plan; it wasn't just empty talk!"

Overseas, this announcement similarly triggered earthquake-level discussions.

"The ten-million-dollar tournament is real! They've even released the details!"

"This schedule from online to offline is clearly aimed at long-term operations."

"Don't get excited yet, everyone. If this game doesn't survive, this so-called esports is just empty talk. And from the current situation, this game is likely to become cannon fodder; it simply can't beat dota 2 and Storm."

Although there was a lot of discussion at first, many voices of doubt soon emerged.

After all.

For this esports scene to take off, the most critical factor was for the game itself to survive.

If the game league of legends couldn't survive, this so-called esports plan would naturally have no meaning.

But this announcement...

...indeed made many gamers certain that Riot Games was not joking and truly wanted to build a so-called esports scene.

Based on this point alone...

...many players hoped league of legends would survive.

However, only a small number of players who participated in the closed beta firmly believed this. Most people felt it was too idealistic; even if league of legends survived the pincer attack of dota 2 and Storm...

...whether it could build an esports scene remained an unknown.

But for now, the discussion caused by esports still couldn't compare to heroes of the storm and dota 2.

As time passed...

...amidst the expectations of countless players...

...dota 2 was about to welcome its first challenger, heroes of the storm.