82: Chapter 82: Over 100 Million Yuan in Revenue in a Single Month – Why is Dota 2's Revenue So High?

The next day.

Tencent Group headquarters.

The atmosphere in the conference room was completely different from before.

Vice President Chen Yongnian stood in front of the projector screen, the smile on his face not yet fully faded.

"This move by Mr. Ma is truly brilliant."

He opened the data report in his hand.

"Before, we were worried that league of legends' twenty million daily active users would crush us, leaving us unable to breathe. But as soon as Mr. Ma made that phone call to Old Ma, the situation completely reversed."

Several executives nearby nodded one after another, their gazes toward Mr. Ma becoming much more respectful.

"So, Mr. Ma insisted on making dota 2's daily active user count public back then to step on league of legends regarding revenue. It really was deep, far-sighted planning."

"We were worried at the time that we would be suppressed by league of legends after releasing the daily active user data. Looking back now, Mr. Ma had already thought of the follow-up."

Mr. Ma leaned back in his chair, a faint smile on the corner of his mouth.

"That phone call back then was me asking Old Ma for help."

"I had him give me the revenue for the two games in Great Xia."

He picked up his teacup and took a sip.

"If I hadn't known in advance that league of legends' player payment rate was ridiculously low, I would have agreed with your idea not to disclose dota 2's daily active users at that time."

He set down the teacup.

"But now, I'm afraid IceFrog and his team can't laugh anymore."

A burst of relaxed laughter erupted in the conference room.

This time they had fought a beautiful comeback battle, using three million daily active users to place their reputation above league of legends' twenty million daily active users.

Subsequently, Vice President Chen Yongnian turned to another page of the report, his expression becoming slightly more serious.

"However, there is some bad news."

"Half a month from now is this year's Global Game Influence Awards ceremony."

"Although our revenue is high and our player payment rate far exceeds league of legends, league of legends' twenty million daily active users is simply too astonishing. The organizers have already contacted us, saying that this year's Game of the Year can only go to league of legends."

"dota 2 can only take second place."

The conference room went quiet for a moment, the smiles on everyone's faces dimming quite a bit.

This award was originally brought to the country by Tencent throwing money at it. They had assumed dota 2 would secure Game of the Year, with at most some competition from heroes of the storm.

But no one expected league of legends to appear out of nowhere.

And the money they had thrown into it could not be recovered.

Seeing everyone silent, Vice President Chen Yongnian laughed instead.

"However."

He changed the subject, attracting everyone's attention.

"Although we can only take second place, I have already communicated with the organizers and modified the award presentation speech."

"At that time, the host will emphasize dota 2's revenue data."

Vice President Chen Yongnian smiled and scanned everyone present.

"Everyone, imagine that scene."

"Game of the Year goes to league of legends, twenty million daily active users, monthly revenue of twenty million."

"Second place dota 2, three million daily active users, yet monthly revenue exceeds one hundred million, several times higher than the first place."

"At that time, even if league of legends takes first place in influence, it will be mocked by the global gaming circle."

Hearing this, everyone in the conference room laughed again.

Mr. Ma nodded with satisfaction.

"This was handled well."

"By then, the intensity of the mockery against league of legends will be even greater than it is now. After all, the first place's revenue is a fraction of the second place's; this situation is too stark a contrast."

Subsequently, Sun Qiang took over the conversation, his tone carrying a hint of analysis.

"Now, league of legends players have almost become the target of mockery in the global gaming circle, and their reputation will decline."

"Under these circumstances, league of legends' daily active users definitely won't be able to hold up."

"And for league of legends, this is a dead end!"

He held up one finger.

"league of legends itself has many casual players, and their willingness to pay is not high to begin with."

He held up a second finger.

"Plus, their Battle Night directly gave away three permanent skins, which further lowered players' desire to spend."

"If they want to raise player spending desire to a normal level, it won't be reversible without several years."

"If the payment rate doesn't go up, league of legends' revenue will likely be kept under dota 2's feet forever, and we can also attract more players."

Mr. Ma sat up straight, a glimmer of agreement flashing in his eyes.

"That's about what I was thinking."

"Now dota 2 has also optimized the newbie training and lowered the barrier to entry, but the problem is that many casual players don't know that and still think dota 2 is as difficult as dota 1."

"So, we can seize this opportunity to promote and attract a large batch of new players."

The more Mr. Ma spoke, the more excited he became.

"league of legends let us know that there are so many potential MOBA game players globally."

"If we can snatch all these people over, I don't know how high dota 2's revenue will be."

The atmosphere in the conference room was completely ignited.

"Mr. Ma is right. league of legends paved the way for us, and now it's our turn to reap the rewards."

"Twenty million potential players—even if we only snatch half, dota 2's daily active users could multiply several times over."

Mr. Ma also let out a long breath, as if he had already seen the scene of dota 2's resurgence.

He immediately gave the order.

"This matter can be set in motion."

That afternoon.

A brand new entry appeared at the top of the hot lists on major global social platforms.

"Over 100 million in a single month? Why is dota 2's revenue so high!"

Clicking in revealed a detailed analytical article, discussing from multiple angles including dota 2's payment design, player consumption habits, and skin pricing strategy.

The article concluded with one sentence.

The reason dota 2 players are willing to spend money is that this game is truly fun.

Right next to this trending search was another entry.

"Why is league of legends' revenue low?"

The two entries hung side-by-side on the hot search; it was hard not to see them.

The reasons analyzed in the article were very direct.

league of legends players don't spend money, and the root cause is that the game itself is not as fun as dota 2 and lacks the depth of dota 2. People who truly get into dota 2 know that this game is better than league of legends, and naturally, they are willing to spend money.

In the comment section, dota 2 players got energized.

"That's so right. Not enough depth means not wanting to spend money."

"I spent thousands on skins in dota 2; I deleted league of legends after playing it for a few days."

"What's the use of league of legends having twenty million daily active users? The player quality is too low."

Because the revenue gap between league of legends and dota 2 was indeed too large, this article did convince quite a few players who were still on the fence.

After all, many people indeed wanted to see why dota 2's revenue was so high; there had to be a reason.

So after this hot search appeared.

That afternoon, dota 2's download numbers began to increase crazily, almost reaching the data from when it first launched in open beta.

Everything seemed to be going according to Tencent's script.

And a few hours later.

The league of legends official blog also posted a new announcement.

"New hero, the Wind Samurai Yasuo, goes live tomorrow."

"The seasonal battle pass system will launch simultaneously, with massive rewards waiting for you to collect."

"Limited-edition skin dragon fist Lee Sin, available via limited-time lucky draw. The first draw costs six yuan for an unowned skin."

Below the announcement, there was a skill demonstration video for the new hero and a skin preview image, but there was no specific in-game demonstration of the skin, and only the first page of battle pass rewards was posted, with no follow-up.

Other details would only be known after the update tomorrow.

However, Qin Mo did not completely copy the dragon fist skin from his previous life in this world; instead, he maxed out the special effects and feel based on the original characteristics, fully maximizing the quality.

However.

Since it was a lucky draw skin, there was a line of small print below this announcement.

Although this line of small print did not disclose the skin's guarantee data, it mentioned that according to normal probability, the dragon fist skin would likely be drawn between two thousand and five thousand yuan.

This announcement was also quickly flooded with a large number of players.

Everyone could see that this was an event urgently launched by league of legends to boost revenue, but almost no one was optimistic about it.

dota 2 players rushed into the comment section almost instantly to mock and ridicule.

"Panicking, they're panicking. Is this an event to boost revenue? But no matter how they do it, it's impossible to increase marketing by several times."

"Lucky draw? Limited-edition skin? Copying dota 2's playbook?"

"dragon fist? The name is quite intimidating, and the preview is handsome too, but it's so expensive, who would draw it?"

"Normal probability takes two thousand to five thousand to get it? The most expensive limited-edition skin in dota 2 is only this price. Is league of legends crazy for money?"

The waves of mockery were overwhelming. After all, one had to know that league of legends had just given away three skins a week ago. Releasing an event so quickly, how could it possibly give players the desire to spend?

It wasn't just dota 2 players; even league of legends' own players felt that this event was unlikely to raise the payment rate. Just a battle pass and a new hero they hadn't heard of, plus a lucky draw skin, was simply too crude.

Based on this, no one thought it could raise revenue much.

"Although I want to support league of legends, this lucky draw is indeed a bit expensive. The battle pass looks okay. I can't afford to draw dragon fist, so I'll just do the first charge to test the waters."

"They gave away three skins before; topping up the battle pass will be like paying for the ticket."

"I will top up too, but I guess there won't be too many people doing it."

Tencent's reaction was even faster.

That evening, another black hot search landed.

"league of legends giving up on itself? Why release such an expensive skin?"

The comment section was once again occupied by dota 2 players. After all, it was understandable for dota 2 to have such expensive skins—hardcore players naturally had a high desire to spend—but for a league of legends, where did so many big spenders come from?

On this day when league of legends released the announcement, almost no one thought that this event could attract any attention.

Soon, time reached the next day.