boyutpedia Chapter 323 Sakura Game Betting
Chapter 323 Sakura Game Betting
The next morning, as soon as Chen Mo arrived at his office, his assistant knocked on the door and came in.
"Mr. Chen, the data for League of Legends came out last night."
Chen Mo took the report and glanced at it.
Downloads: 31 million. That's an increase of 8 million from before.
Peak concurrent online users: 1.2 million. An increase of 400,000 from before.
Average user playtime: 112 minutes. This is an increase of 6 minutes compared to before.
After reading it, he put the report on the table without saying a word.
The assistant stood beside him, a hint of excitement on his face: "Mr. Chen, it's only the first day, and we've already surpassed one million concurrent users. At this rate, reaching two million within a week shouldn't be a problem."
Chen Mo leaned back in his chair, his hands clasped in front of his chest, his expression less optimistic than his assistant's.
"Do you think this is a good thing?" he asked.
The assistant paused for a moment, then said, "Isn't that right? The data is rising so quickly, which proves that our previous decision to cooperate was correct. This game definitely has potential."
"Cooperation is the right thing to do," Chen Mo said, "but the data is increasing too fast, which is also a problem."
The assistant didn't understand: "What's the problem?"
Chen Mo stood up, walked to the whiteboard, picked up a marker, and drew two lines.
One curve goes up, and one curve goes down.
"Look," he pointed to the upward curve with a marker, "the faster the data for League of Legends grows, the stronger the user stickiness of TUTU becomes. The more time users spend on TUTU, the more inseparable they become from TUTU."
He then pointed to the downward curve: "And the time that Tencent users spend on Tencent products will be squeezed. Time is limited; if a user spends an extra hour on TUTU, they will spend an extra hour on Tencent."
The assistant's expression changed: "Are you saying that once TUTU grows bigger, it will squeeze our space?"
"It's not a question of whether or not, it's a certainty." Chen Mo put down his marker, dusted off his hands, and said, "TUTU's daily active users are already close to 100 million. If League of Legends becomes a national phenomenon, it's not impossible for TUTU to reach 200 million daily active users. At that point, TUTU will no longer be our partner, but our competitor."
The assistant was silent for a moment, then asked, "Should we continue promoting League of Legends?"
"Push." Chen Mo's tone was firm. "Not only do we have to push, we have to push hard."
The assistant was somewhat puzzled: "But you just said..."
"I'm talking about long-term risks," Chen Mo interrupted him. "But the immediate issue is that EA and Sakura Games are accelerating their development. Their products are about to launch. If we don't help TUTU promote League of Legends now, and let EA and Sakura Games' products get there first, the consequences will be even more serious."
He walked back to his desk, picked up his phone, and scrolled to an industry news article: "[Sakura Games' 'Samurai Warriors' Dragon Kingdom Edition Opens for Pre-registration, Closed Beta Expected Next Week]".
"Look," he handed his phone to his assistant, "Sakura Games is moving even faster than we expected. 'Samurai Warriors' is going into closed beta next week. EA's collaboration with Perfect World is also reportedly working overtime to catch up."
The assistant took the phone, glanced at it, and frowned.
"These foreign companies are eyeing the Chinese market. If we let them gain a foothold, it will be difficult to drive them out." Chen Mo's tone was very serious. "So the most important thing now is not to worry about whether TUTU will threaten us after it grows bigger, but to keep foreign competitors out first."
The assistant nodded: "I understand."
"Notify the marketing department," Chen Mo said, "increase the promotion of League of Legends. Use all available resources: the featured spot on the TUTU homepage, the splash screen, push notifications. Also, contact our partner channels and ask them to help promote it as well."
The assistant quickly jotted down notes in his notebook: "What specific content should we be promoting?"
"Our main focus should be on competitiveness and social interaction." Chen Mo thought for a moment and said, "The biggest selling point of League of Legends isn't the graphics or the storyline, but the fun of playing with friends. We need to tell users that this game is fun to play alone, but even more fun to play with friends. We need to emphasize its social aspect."
"OK."
"Also," Chen Mo paused, "we need to contact the professional teams and esports clubs we've signed with and ask if they're interested in setting up League of Legends divisions. If managed properly, this game could definitely become a professional league. We need to plan ahead."
After finishing her notes, the assistant looked up and asked, "What about Sakura Games? They're still waiting for our reply."
Chen Mo thought for a moment and said, "Reply to them that Tencent's current resources are mainly focused on League of Legends, and they don't have the energy to promote other collaborations for the time being. Let's talk about it after we're done with this busy period."
The assistant paused for a moment, then said, "Isn't this a rather perfunctory reply?"
"So be it," Chen Mo said. "Let a loyal dog know that Tencent has more important partners now. If he wants to talk, he'll have to wait."
The assistant nodded, turned and walked out of the office.
Chen Mo sat alone in his office, turned on his computer, logged into TUTU, and found the official website of "League of Legends".
The download count on the page is still fluctuating, increasing every second.
He stared at that number for a long time, his mind not on the data, but on Lu Ran.
That young man went from having nothing a year ago to becoming the founder of TUTU and the creator of League of Legends.
Every step was taken steadily and firmly, each step landing precisely on the crucial points.
Chen Mo was also somewhat relieved that he hadn't fallen out with Lu Ran, otherwise they would have inevitably become irreconcilable rivals from the very beginning.
This will have a significant impact on the domestic gaming industry.
Lu Ran is a reliable partner, but a terrifying competitor.
Chen Mo closed the webpage, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes.
The rise of League of Legends is a double-edged sword for Tencent.
If used properly, it can help Tencent fend off attacks from EA and Sakura Games, consolidating Tencent's position in the Chinese game market.
If used improperly, TUTU could grow into Tencent's biggest competitor.
But no matter what, the most important thing now is to keep external competitors out.
As for TUTU, we'll talk about that later.
...
Tokyo, Sakura Games headquarters.
A dog sat in the office, its computer screen displaying data reports for the two days since the launch of League of Legends.
Downloads have exceeded 30 million, and peak concurrent users have exceeded one million.
After reading the report, he took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"Yamamoto-kun," he began, "what do you think of these statistics?"
Ichiro Yamamoto sat opposite him, his expression somewhat grave: "It's better than we expected. Much better."
"Just much better?" A dog gave a wry smile. "It's much better."
He stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the gray sky over Tokyo.
"The Chinese market is bigger than we imagined. But the competition is also fiercer than we expected. This game from Tutu Technology had a lot of attention before its launch. The data after launch is also very impressive. If it continues to rise like this, by the time our 'Samurai Warriors' is launched, there may not be much room left."
Yamamoto Ichiro stood up and walked behind him: "Mr. Ichijo, shouldn't we speed things up?"
"It's already being sped up." A dog turned around. "What did the technical department say?"
"They said that the localization work for the Chinese version of Samurai Warriors is 90% complete. The rest mainly involves server deployment and testing. If everything goes smoothly, the closed beta can start next week."
"Next week," a dog repeated, shaking its head. "Too slow."
Yamamoto Ichiro hesitated for a moment: "But if we go any faster, the quality might be compromised..."
"Quality can be optimized later," a dog interrupted him, "but time waits for no one. Tutu Technology's League of Legends is gaining users and seizing market share every day. Every day we wait, we lose another opportunity."
He walked back to his desk, picked up the phone, and dialed a number.
"Notify the technical department to complete all localization work within three days. Begin internal testing within five days."
What was said on the other end of the phone? A dog's tone was firm: "I know time is tight. But this is a critical moment; we can't proceed according to plan. I'll take responsibility if anything goes wrong."
After hanging up the phone, he looked at Ichiro Yamamoto: "Any news from EA?"
Ichiro Yamamoto opened his notebook: "David Morrison sent an email this morning saying that the product EA is collaborating on with Perfect World is also progressing rapidly. Their technical team is working overtime to catch up, and they expect to have a playable version within two weeks."
"Two weeks," a homing dog nodded. "Slower than us."
"Yes," Yamamoto Ichiro said, "but Perfect World has a deep-rooted presence in the Chinese market, and their distribution channels are stronger than ours. Once their products are launched, their promotional efforts will be substantial."
One of the dogs remained silent for a moment, then said, "Keep a close eye on it. The collaboration between EA and Perfect World poses no less of a threat to us than that of Rabbit Technology. If their products also succeed, the Chinese market will become a three-way competition."
Yamamoto Ichiro wrote it down in his notebook.
"And another thing," one of the messenger dogs paused, "any news from Tencent?"
Yamamoto Ichiro shook his head: "Chen Mo's assistant replied that Tencent's current resources are mainly focused on League of Legends, and there is no energy to promote other collaborations at the moment."
The dog's expression didn't change much after hearing this, but the fingers gripping the pen tightened a little.
He had anticipated Tencent's response.
Chen Mo is a man of great cunning and scheming.
If they see that League of Legends has good data, they will allocate more resources to it.
In Tencent's eyes, Sakura Games has changed from a "potential partner" to a "potential partner that can be discussed later".
"Keep in touch," a messenger dog said. "Don't give up after just one reply. Tell Chen Mo that our terms are still open to negotiation. We can discuss whatever Tencent wants."
Yamamoto Ichiro hesitated for a moment: "Mr. Ichijo, aren't these conditions a bit too..."
"Too generous?" A dog chimed in, "Yamamoto-kun, you haven't grasped the situation. It's not a question of whether we want to cooperate with Tencent, it's a question of whether Tencent wants to cooperate with us. If League of Legends really becomes a national phenomenon, Tencent will need us even less."
He paused, his tone heavy: "Therefore, we must launch 'Samurai Warriors' before 'League of Legends' fully establishes itself. We must find a foothold in the Chinese market. Otherwise, all of Sakura Games' plans in China will be in vain."
...