90: Chapter 90 Global Game Influence Awards

Although league of legends only announced its revenue for the first three days of the event and kept subsequent data private, the sheer popularity of the event suggested that its income would not be low for some time to come. In terms of both revenue and player count, the game had set a record that would be extremely difficult for any newcomer to break.

However, as a few days passed, the attention of global gamers began to slowly shift toward another matter. That was the Global Game Influence Awards ceremony, which was being held in Magic City and landing in Great Xia for the first time. This award ceremony garnered significant attention within the global gaming circle every year.

Only games released within the current year were eligible for the awards, and most of the accolades were given to blockbuster single-player games from that year. The only online game that had ever won an award was Blizzard's Overwatch.

Originally, dota 2 was almost certain to take home the Game of the Year award, which was why Tencent Group had spent a fortune to bring the ceremony to the country. But no one expected league of legends to appear out of nowhere. With twenty million daily active users and a revenue of five hundred million in just three days, the outcome of the Game of the Year award was no longer in doubt. The money Tencent Group had poured into the event had all gone to benefit someone else.

Just one week before the awards ceremony, the official Weibo account for the Global Game Influence Awards announced the specific live broadcast time. The awards would be streamed simultaneously on major global platforms. Domestically, Bilibili and Douyin would also have official broadcast channels. Once this announcement regarding the broadcast time was released, it quickly climbed to the top of the trending topics on Weibo. The comment section was extremely lively.

"Game of the Year is 100% going to be league of legends. If they give it to dota 2, I'll eat my keyboard."

"To the person above saying they'll eat their keyboard, I'll join you. If the organizers dare to give the award to dota 2, they'll be slapping themselves in the face in front of global players."

"It's just that this award mostly goes to single-player games. I wonder when a domestic single-player game will be able to produce a masterpiece of Game of the Year caliber."

"A Great Xia single-player game? What are you thinking? It's already good enough if we can make a decent online game."

A week passed in the anticipation of countless players. On the day of the Global Game Influence Awards ceremony, the topic had been hanging at the top of the Weibo trending list for a long time. Although the live stream hadn't started yet, a massive number of viewers had already flooded into the live broadcast rooms on various platforms. The chat was scrolling by rapidly.

"No need to guess Game of the Year, just give out the award already."

"Will we be able to see the big boss behind Riot Games today?"

"This is the first time Great Xia has hosted a gaming event of this scale; we must make sure it's done with style."

At the same time, tens of millions of players worldwide were tuning in to the live stream. Beyond the awards, many game companies chose this moment to announce the latest game news. Some game trailers were also released at this time. And this year, because of the twenty million daily active players of league of legends, the popularity of the event had reached an unprecedented height. ...

Magic City, the awards ceremony venue. The venue was the Mercedes-Benz Arena, and the entire building was glowing in the night. A red carpet stretching over a hundred meters was laid out at the entrance, with huge posters of game characters standing on both sides. Further ahead was a montage wall of this year's nominated works.

Lights shone through the back of the posters, outlining the silhouette of every character with great texture. At the end of the red carpet was a signature wall, surrounded by media reporters holding cameras. The camera flashes never seemed to stop.

The interior of the venue was even more extravagant. On the dome was a giant circular LED screen, cycling through highlights of this year's nominated games. From dota 2 to the CG of league of legends, and then to representative scenes from several single-player games, every time the footage switched, a low ripple of applause would erupt in the venue.

At this moment, the founders of major domestic game companies had basically all arrived at the venue, whether it was Pony Ma or CEO Ding, or even Blizzard CEO Kotick. Numerous big-name figures in the gaming industry had appeared in the venue.

In addition to the gaming industry bigwigs, quite a few celebrities were also present. Some were there to present awards, some to perform, and a few were spokespersons invited by game companies to support them. This was the annual global gaming feast, and because it was being held in Great Xia this year, there were far more big names in attendance than in previous years. The live stream had not yet begun, but the atmosphere at the venue was already quite heated.

Just then, at the entrance of the venue, a black business car pulled up to the end of the red carpet. Qin Mo pushed the door open and stepped out, with Zhao Lei following behind him. The two had arrived quite late; most of the guests had already gone in, and the media on both sides of the red carpet were starting to pack up their equipment to relocate. IceFrog had already arrived at the venue early because he had received news from the organizers in advance.

This year, the influence of league of legends was simply too great, so the organizers had contacted IceFrog a day in advance to confirm the award. Qin Mo and Zhao Lei were not in a hurry. The live stream wouldn't start for a while anyway. Qin Mo adjusted his suit cuffs and was about to walk inside when he suddenly heard a familiar voice.

"Senior."

He turned his head. Jiang Youyou was standing by the red carpet. Today, she was wearing a wine-red backless haute couture gown, her dark hair pinned up at the back of her head, with a few stray locks hanging by her ears. The diamond necklace around her neck shimmered under the lights.

Standing next to her was another person. Xue'er, a rising star who had been extremely popular in the entertainment industry recently. Xue'er was wearing a white short dress with exquisite makeup, which was a quite eye-catching outfit, and she was known for her beauty in the entertainment industry. However, when standing next to Jiang Youyou, everyone's gaze still landed on Jiang Youyou first, and her thunder was completely stolen.

Qin Mo walked over, a hint of confusion appearing in his eyes. "Why are you here?"

He knew that Jiang Youyou's family background was not simple; the building his company had purchased was one of her family's properties, but he hadn't expected Jiang Youyou to be interested in a gaming conference.

Jiang Youyou blinked. "Didn't expect that, did you? I have an invitation too."

"I wasn't interested at first." She changed the subject and glanced at Zhao Lei behind Qin Mo. "But Zhao Lei told me that you would be coming today, so I came. I've been waiting for you here for ages. Why are you so slow? IceFrog went in a long time ago."

"You've been busy with work lately and haven't really looked for me, so I'll just have to take the initiative." A hint of resentment flashed in Jiang Youyou's eyes.

Qin Mo turned his head and glanced at Zhao Lei, who was getting out of the driver's seat. Zhao Lei closed the car door, looked off into the distance, and coughed twice, pretending he hadn't heard anything.

Jiang Youyou smiled and pulled over the Xue'er beside her. "Let me introduce you. This is Xue'er; she's been really popular lately."

Xue'er extended her hand generously. "Mr. Qin, I've heard so much about you. I scroll through Douyin every day."

Qin Mo shook her hand. "Hello."

Xue'er withdrew her hand and said with a smile, "So you are Mr. Qin. You're much younger than I imagined."

After a few pleasantries, the group showed their invitations and walked into the venue. Quite a few people were already seated inside; they were among the last batch to arrive. The lights hadn't dimmed yet, and the circular LED on the dome was still cycling through game footage.

Qin Mo walked in front, with Jiang Youyou holding his arm, her eyes scanning the crowd in the hall. Hardly anyone noticed the few who had just entered. Everyone's attention was on the giant screen in the center of the stage.

After walking a few steps, Jiang Youyou suddenly let go of his arm, surprise in her eyes. "I see the fairy sister." She pointed in another direction, where a few actresses from the entertainment industry were sitting. "I'm going over to chat for a bit. I'll come find you later." After saying that, she pulled Xue'er and walked over there.

Qin Mo watched her back; before he could say anything, the two of them had already disappeared. Zhao Lei stood next to Qin Mo and sighed with emotion. "Childhood sweethearts, devoted and loyal—why can't I encounter something so wonderful?"

Qin Mo glanced at him. "You should learn to control your mouth first."

Zhao Lei scratched his head with a smile and then scanned the venue. "Boss, our seats are over there, first row on the right. We can go over now."

Qin Mo was about to walk over when he suddenly heard a voice behind him. "Mr. Qin?" He turned around. Standing not far behind him was a person. He was in his forties, not very tall, wearing a dark gray suit.

This person was someone Qin Mo could say was both familiar and strange. Although he knew the other party would definitely come today, he hadn't expected to run into him before the awards ceremony began. Although the two had clashed many times, this was the first time they had met face-to-face in person. And the middle-aged man who greeted Qin Mo was none other than the founder of Tencent Group—Pony Ma.