73: Chapter 73: Just how many daily active users does League of Legends have?

Moreover, it wasn't just about the internet cafe market share.

In the gaming sector, league of legends had also surpassed dota 2 in search indices on Google and Baidu over the past week, climbing to the number one spot.

Although league of legends still hadn't released any daily active user (DAU) data, based on these two key indicators, it was highly likely that the DAU of league of legends had already exceeded that of dota 2.

This news undoubtedly caused quite a stir among the global player base.

Discussion threads were flooding Twitter, Weibo, and overseas gaming communities.

"league of legends' internet cafe market share has surpassed dota 2? I just started playing dota 2!"

"It even surpassed it in search indices. The momentum of this game is too fierce, right?"

"dota 2 has been in open beta for almost three months, while league of legends has only been in open beta for two weeks. Can it already surpass dota 2 in a single dimension?"

"DAU data hasn't been released yet, but I feel like it won't be that far off."

"league of legends still hasn't officially announced its current DAU. I think it's hard to say."

However, less than an hour after the internet cafe rankings were updated, the official dota 2 Weibo account released a statement.

The wording was very restrained, but every word carried a tone of counterattack.

"dota 2 remains the MOBA game with the highest DAU currently on the market."

"The number of players logging into the game daily remains stable at over three million."

"Search engine indices are related to the time since open beta. dota 2 has been in open beta for over two months, so a natural decline in indices is a normal phenomenon."

"Whereas league of legends has just entered open beta, so a higher search index follows standard patterns."

"As for the internet cafe data, there is a possibility of interference by individual behaviors; in other words, it can be faked and cannot be used as a basis."

This last sentence was loaded with subtext.

"Internet cafe data, there is a possibility of interference by individual behaviors, it can be faked."

It was almost as if they were naming names, pointing fingers at league of legends with sarcasm.

With this statement released, many dota 2 players breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, previously, when dota 2 claimed to be the only MOBA game in the world with a DAU of over one million, they had inside information; at that time, the DAU of heroes of the storm indeed didn't even reach one million.

Since dota 2 dared to claim it was still the game with the highest DAU on the market this time, it meant they must have inside information about league of legends.

However, the outside world didn't know that this time, Tencent didn't actually have inside information from Riot Games, nor did they know what the actual DAU of league of legends was, or whether it had exceeded dota 2.

They had simply concluded that league of legends would not announce its DAU.

Since the other side wouldn't announce it, they could say whatever they wanted.

Meanwhile, Tencent's internet water army department also started to exert its influence simultaneously.

On the morning of the second day after the new week's internet cafe data was released, a Weibo hot search appeared out of nowhere.

"league of legends internet cafe AFK data farming?"

Clicking on it revealed a video. In the footage, an internet cafe hadn't opened yet, and the rolling shutter was half-closed.

But through the glass, one could see that on the screens of hundreds of computers inside, the league of legends client was lit up on all of them.

Yet, there wasn't a single living player inside the internet cafe.

The person filming even deliberately zoomed in to clearly show the screen of every computer.

The video caption only had one sentence: "Is this league of legends' internet cafe market share?"

"No wonder it could take number one in the country."

"Everyone said the company behind Riot Games was rich; now I believe it."

"If you do it like this, I could do it too!"

After this video was posted, it took less than half an hour for the comments section to completely explode.

"What the f*ck? Is the data farming confirmed?"

"Hundreds of computers all idling with league of legends? If this isn't farming, what is?"

"I knew it, how could the internet cafe market share surpass dota 2 in two weeks?"

"It's too disgusting to use such tactics to hype it up."

"Where are the league of legends players? Come out and explain!"

But at the same time, a large number of league of legends players stood up to speak out, feeling that there was a problem with the video and that it looked very much like a staged smear piece.

After all, they knew that the potential of this game was indeed far greater than dota 2, and in internet cafes, there were indeed more people playing league of legends.

For a moment, many league of legends players also rushed into the comments section.

"Are you guys joking? Go to the internet cafe and see for yourselves; there are definitely more people playing league of legends than dota 2 in internet cafes now."

"When dota 2 was number one in market share, you didn't say it was farmed. Now that league of legends is number one, it's farming?"

"The data came out yesterday, and the hot search is here today. Heh."

At the same time this hot search appeared, Tencent also started to exert force, paying for a large number of smear pieces to discredit league of legends, saying it was just a trash game that only increased its market share by idling in internet cafes.

A large number of water armies flooded major platforms, using the same rhetoric to disparage and smear league of legends.

Both sides were arguing endlessly online. Weibo, Tieba, Bilibili, and Zhihu—the gaming-related sections of every platform were occupied by this flame war.

dota 2 players said league of legends faked its data. league of legends players said dota 2 couldn't handle losing. Neither side could convince the other.

At this point, many players who were still watching from the sidelines couldn't even figure out whether league of legends was actually fun or whether it had truly surpassed dota 2. They were all confused by this flame war.

It wasn't just these players. Even inside NetEase, another major company, they didn't know what the true performance of league of legends actually was.

After all, from the beginning to the end, besides announcing its DAU on the first day, league of legends had made no subsequent moves, only conducting occasional bug fixes and updates, and its official Weibo account was as dead as a doornail.

... At NetEase headquarters, in the conference room, CEO Ding leaned back in his chair, with screenshots of the online flame war displayed on the big screen in front of him.

"This scene looks a bit familiar to me." He muttered.

The executive next to him replied, "It's exactly the same as when heroes of the storm and dota 2 were fighting, only this time, the online argument is fiercer; even I am a bit confused."

There was silence in the conference room for a while. Another executive spoke up, with a tone of watching the fun.

"Regardless of whether league of legends' data is faked or not, it has at least forced dota 2 to the point of having to deliberately smear it."

"When heroes of the storm was in open beta, dota 2 was never this nervous."

"We did indeed underestimate this game at the beginning."

"Presumably, dota 2 is the same, only just realizing the potential of league of legends now and starting to respond."

Hearing this, the other executives felt a bit like they wanted to laugh but couldn't.

It should have been their heroes of the storm fighting it out with dota 2. But in the end, heroes of the storm died silently, not even able to insert itself into the competition between league of legends and dota 2.

Meanwhile, CEO Ding turned his gaze to the video conference screen on the other side of the big screen. Kotick's face was on the screen, his expression hard to define as curious or indifferent.

This was a routine meeting, but it just happened to coincide with the online flame war between league of legends and dota 2.

"Has league of legends surpassed dota 2? What do you think?" CEO Ding muttered while leaning back in his chair.

The executives in the conference room exchanged glances. Someone shook their head.

"dota 2's three million DAU is right there. league of legends only had one million on the first day; it's impossible to exceed three million in two weeks. This data is indeed very inflated, and what's being said online might possibly be true."

"But the internet cafe market share and search indices won't lie. Even if it is inflated, league of legends' actual DAU is definitely not low."

"I estimate that the real DAU of league of legends should be over two million, close to dota 2 but not yet exceeding it."

The conference room was buzzing with discussion. Some even started placing bets, gambling with the executives next to them.

"I bet league of legends can reach 2.5 million by the end of the month."

"I bet it tops out at 2.2 million."

Listening to these discussions, CEO Ding's eyes lit up with interest. After waving his hand to stop the crowd's discussion, he looked at Kotick on the screen.

"Kotick, what do you think?"

Kotick in the video leaned back in his chair and was silent for a moment.

"league of legends does have potential; otherwise, it wouldn't have such a loud voice right now." He paused.

"But to surpass dota 2? Impossible."

Thinking of dota 2's achievements, Kotick couldn't help but take a deep breath.

"dota 2 is too exaggerated. It forcibly doubled the record of 1.5 million DAU. Three million DAU—it's too exaggerated."

"And league of legends is a new game, with a studio behind it that doesn't even dare to disclose its investors. How could it possibly surpass dota 2, which Tencent built with the full force of its entire group?"

"At most, its DAU is approaching dota 2; that is already the limit. Surpassing it is simply impossible."

Hearing Kotick's answer, CEO Ding smiled. "I don't see it that way." He picked up the teacup on the table.

"I am bullish on league of legends; I am very confident in my judgment."

Kotick raised an eyebrow. "CEO Ding, have you forgotten the cautionary tale of heroes of the storm?"

"You once said you were quite confident in heroes of the storm back then."

CEO Ding hurriedly coughed twice, almost dropping the teacup in his hand. He hurriedly tried to remedy the situation.

"league of legends is not the same as heroes of the storm."

"We overestimated the acceptance level of MOBA players. heroes of the storm was changed too much, while league of legends just happened to hit that limit."

"These two games were not on the same path from the very beginning." He put down the teacup. "This time, I have confidence."

Kotick was silent for a moment, clearly disagreeing with CEO Ding's view. Seeing this, CEO Ding leaned back in his chair, the corners of his mouth curling up. "Want to make a bet?"

"Bet on what?"

CEO Ding thought for a moment. "Let's bet on the agency fees for Blizzard games for NetEase next year. With the regular increase, let's bet on a 10% increase or decrease, how about it?"

"You certainly have a big appetite. Accepted."