"Immortal? There are actually immortals in a world of monstrous beasts!" Hearing this, both Chinese people and foreigners watching the live broadcast were somewhat bewildered. The discussion about these "immortals" soon flooded the internet once again.
"Brother-in-law, why did you have the company create this 'immortal'? Are you planning some big move?" Leng Zhimeng asked curiously in Huang He's office, her mood quite pleased.
"No big moves, just planting some foreshadowing for the future of the movies!" Huang He said with a smile.
"Foreshadowing? What kind of immortal foreshadowing can there be in the world of Warcraft?" Leng Zhimeng asked with a grin. Without further ado, Boss Huang opened his laptop and flipped to a certain page to show Leng Zhimeng.
"Warcraft 1: Son of Light, Warcraft 2: Son of Elves, Warcraft 3: Son of Burning. That's the entire plot for Warcraft 3!" Leng Zhimeng muttered.
However, as she continued to read, Leng Zhimeng's expression changed slightly, because the next movie titles were: StarCraft 1: Titan's Arrival, StarCraft 2: Queen's Rebirth, StarCraft 3: Protoss Eternity.
"Brother-in-law, so after the Warcraft trilogy, you plan to make the StarCraft trilogy as well!" Leng Zhimeng exclaimed excitedly. She was actually a fan of the StarCraft series and was surprised to see news of the StarCraft trilogy in advance.
"No, not after the Warcraft trilogy, but after Warcraft 1!" Huang He chuckled. "Actually, StarCraft 1 has already been greenlit and is scheduled for release in early 2008, only about three months after Warcraft 1."
"All subsequent movies will be released at roughly this pace."
"Brother-in-law is generous!" Leng Zhimeng excitedly licked her lips and continued to read. The names below turned into "Immortal Dynasty Conquest 1".
"Immortal Dynasty Conquest? Isn't that the game we're still developing and preparing for internal testing?" Leng Zhimeng was surprised again at the name.
After the outstanding success of Warcraft and StarCraft, many game developers began to follow suit and create real-time strategy (RTS) games. Softstar Entertainment planned to create a game called "Immortal Dynasty Conquest."
Softstar Technology was the company that had previously developed "The Legend of Sword and Fairy" and was also the first game company acquired by Jiangnan Group.
Over the years, thanks to Jiangnan Group's continuous promotion of the "Sword and Fairy" IP, "The Legend of Sword and Fairy" did not fall into stagnation as it did in later generations after the release of Sword and Fairy 4, requiring a full decade to resume development.
Instead, they managed to release a new "The Legend of Sword and Fairy" game every year.
Of course, this referred to a main installment of "The Legend of Sword and Fairy." The following year, they would release a spin-off and DLC, and only in the third year would a new main installment be released. This method allowed them to maximize profits and earn a substantial amount of money.
Furthermore, with increased earnings came the ambition to develop new games. Softstar was not like its later self, clinging solely to the "Sword and Fairy" IP. Instead, they boldly launched a brand-new game plan, which was "Immortal Dynasty Conquest," a game that was essentially developed and about to undergo internal testing.
As the name suggests, "Immortal Dynasty Conquest" is an RTS game. Its gameplay is actually very similar to Warcraft and StarCraft.
At the beginning of the game, players are given a base, from which they continuously produce buildings and units, gather resources, cultivate cultivators, and finally engage in a large-scale battle between cultivators. Essentially, it's a very traditional RTS game.
When this game plan was first proposed, it was met with opposition from the oo Group and even Leng Zhimeng herself, and it was almost rejected outright.
Leng Zhimeng believed the plan was incredibly foolish, essentially copying the basic settings of Warcraft and StarCraft, with no other innovation apart from a reskin to a cultivation theme.
Moreover, this cultivation reskin felt particularly awkward. For instance, simply building a "Sword Training Hall" could immediately produce a "Sword Immortal." Such gameplay felt incredibly dissonant with the concept of cultivation.
Additionally, according to the internal data analysts at oo, RTS games were on the verge of a decline and would no longer enjoy their current glory.
RTS games had a high barrier to entry, making it difficult for casual players to derive sufficient enjoyment. They also often faced strong feelings of frustration. Even with countless hours of practice, players might still perform poorly, which was a stark contrast to online games where simply grinding monsters could lead to character progression, providing players with a sense of reward and satisfaction.
These were not mere speculations by the oo team but conclusions drawn from solid data analysis.
It might be hard for many to believe, but out of every 10,000 PC game sessions globally, 6,565 were initiated through the oo Game Lobby.
Note that this refers to the entire globe, not just the nation. Thanks to the enormous revenue generated by the oo Game Lobby, major game developers were compelled to list their games on the oo Game Lobby for sales.
Upon listing, these developers were pleasantly surprised to find that the oo Game Lobby was a godsend for single-player games. By requiring games to be playable only through an online connection, the issue of piracy could be effectively resolved.
As long as network authentication was required upon login, the breeding ground for pirated copies would be completely eradicated. Consequently, major game companies shed their reservations, joined the oo Game Lobby, and leveraged the server network authentication services provided by the oo Game Lobby, along with its vast player base, to enjoy enormous profits.
While the prohibition of piracy meant losing a considerable number of free-loading players, it also significantly increased the number of paying customers.
Games not listed on the oo Game Lobby were almost immediately cracked and enjoyed a period of rampant piracy. These game manufacturers then sadly discovered that the money they earned was a fraction of what they would have made on the oo Game Lobby.
Later, some game manufacturers decided to establish their own servers for network authentication, thereby avoiding piracy even if they branched off from oo.
However, when they did this, they were unexpectedly met with widespread ridicule online.
"Without the oo Game Lobby, you dare to implement network authentication?"
"Are game merchants this shameless now? You should at least get listed on the oo Game Lobby!"
"You don't have the 'oo's fate, but you want the 'oo's disease. Get lost!"
These manufacturers reluctantly realized that the market had cultivated a preference for purchases made exclusively through the oo Game Lobby, rejecting payments made in any other capacity.
There were many reasons for this, but the core reason was that the oo Game Lobby, leveraging its extensive resources, could offer numerous bundled discount services.
For instance, there were daily game discount events where three games were randomly selected from the entire game library and sold at a 20% discount.
Every Wednesday, there was a "Wednesday Big Sale," where ten games were sold at a 50% discount.
There were also seasonal sales held in the first week of each of the four seasons (spring, summer, autumn, winter). During these periods, at least several hundred games would be on sale, with discounts as low as 70%.
The most aggressive sale was the annual New Year's Day Grand Promotion, where oo mandated that all games in the library, except those released less than three months prior, must be discounted, at a minimum of 10% off, and manufacturers were absolutely not allowed to refuse.
In addition to this, oo frequently organized various promotional activities, such as game blind boxes, game bundles, and "cut the price for free" offers for some games.
In short, there were all sorts of promotional tactics. Although, according to the cooperation agreement, manufacturers had the right to refuse any discount activities exceeding 20% off.
However, a large number of players specifically chose to purchase games during promotional periods. This led to a situation where if no promotions were held later, their own games would hardly sell. Ultimately, all game manufacturers were forced to engage in a promotional "arms race."
This was also why players were so fond of the oo Game Lobby. After all, who wouldn't like a store that frequently offered discounts?
Some might argue that game manufacturers could offer discounts when selling games themselves.
While that was possible, the oo Game platform also offered other promotions, such as top-up rebates. Typically, if a user topped up 500 oo coins at once, they would receive an additional 200 oo coins.
To further maximize profits, players often chose to top up a large amount of oo coins at once and spend them gradually. If they purchased games from those game companies' platforms, these topped-up oo coins could not be used, giving players a feeling of loss. Naturally, they would be unwilling to do so.
Are there not enough games on our oo Game Platform to satisfy you players?
Through these methods, oo amassed a large and stable user base, leading to a situation where attempting to go independent would result in no one buying their games and sales plummeting by a hundredfold. That would truly be a colossal loss.
Over time, all PC games were forced to be listed on the oo platform. Without being listed, it was impossible to profit; it was a dead end.
Conversely, through the collective listing of these games, the oo Game Platform also "hijacked" all players, compelling them to launch games only through the oo platform. Thus, oo gained control of the gaming data of over 60% of PC players worldwide.
Through this data, it was determined that the proportion of players in RTS games was steadily declining, and the demise of RTS games was a foregone conclusion, irreversible. The future belonged to online games.
Of course, this conclusion held little significance for Boss Huang. Even without this global player data, he was already aware of the future that RTS games were about to face.