Chapter 12: The Experience Store
The experience store was located in the northeast part of the imperial capital, near the Fourth Ring Road, beside a mid-to-high-end residential community. The location was a bit out of the way, but the advantage was that it was relatively quiet and not particularly noisy.
Chen Mo got out of the taxi, dragging his suitcase to the entrance of the experience store.
The experience store was a two-story shop, not very large in area. There was no sign outside, and the door was locked. Chen Mo opened the door to the experience store and dragged his suitcase inside.
The interior was quite spacious. Each floor was about two hundred square meters, and there were already some sofas and other furniture arranged.
"Pretty spacious."
Chen Mo was a bit surprised. He had originally thought that an area of over a hundred square meters for the experience store would already be impressive, but he hadn't expected it to be this big.
Two hundred square meters. If arranged like a typical internet cafe (non-VR internet cafe), it could fit 30 to 40 machines, with extra space for sofas, plants, drink machines, and so on.
Basically, the first floor was set up like an internet cafe for players to experience games, while the second floor was the designer's studio and lounge.
The first floor was still largely empty at the moment because different designers had different layout plans. Some designers focused on developing VR games, so the first floor needed to be set up with VR game pods. Therefore, the competition organizers had to discuss with the designer before making a decision.
The decoration was fine, and it had been cleaned very thoroughly. Chen Mo was quite satisfied.
Going up to the second floor, it was all the designer's own space.
The designer's studio had a standard VR game pod, a high-end computer, and various brand-name phones. In addition, there was a professional computer specifically for game design, which already had the game editor installed.
Game designers needed to play a large number of games to gather inspiration, so the studio was equipped with devices for VR, PC, and mobile platforms. These were all included with the experience store.
The lounge had a desk, bookshelves, and a large bed. The overall decoration was minimalist, and there were some basic household appliances. Living here long-term wouldn't be a problem, and at least the living environment was much better than the apartment Chen Mo was currently renting.
Many designers in this world were workaholics, so a lounge had to be right next to the studio.
The entire layout of the experience store could be changed. Minor adjustments could be made with the help of the competition staff, but major changes would have to be paid for out of pocket and required the approval of the competition staff.
This was because Chen Mo only had the right to use the experience store, not ownership. After all, a commercial property of this size, in the land-scarce imperial capital, would cost eight figures to buy. Even joining as a franchise would cost at least several million. No matter how deep the pockets of the competition organizers were, they couldn't just give away the ownership of the property.
Of course, just having the right to use it saved Chen Mo a huge amount of rent every month, so he had no complaints.
After roughly surveying the situation, Chen Mo called the staff member he had dealt with before and asked him to come over and help with the setup.
About half an hour later, the staff member arrived.
"Two-thirds of the hall for computers, one-third for massage chairs, for mobile game users. Also, install a bar counter here. For drinks, we can just use an automatic drink machine for now."
"Add a freezer here, and a snack rack."
"Put a bookshelf here. I plan to buy some game-related magazines and books."
"Make a small partition for the sofa area as a meeting room, with a small conference table and a projector."
"Help arrange some plants on the second-floor balcony."
"And here..."
As Chen Mo spoke, the staff member took notes.
The first floor was basically set up like an internet cafe, but the computers weren't too crowded, leaving some space. According to Chen Mo's plan, the first floor would temporarily have 18 computers and 10 massage chairs.
The massage chairs were mainly for mobile game players, and each chair was equipped with a high-end phone and a tablet.
As for the second floor, it was entirely arranged according to Chen Mo's personal preferences. He didn't ask for too much; he could slowly tidy it up later and add whatever style of decoration he liked.
After everything was arranged, the staff member nodded. "Alright, I'll arrange for people to come over. It should be mostly done by this afternoon, or at the latest by tonight."
Chen Mo said, "Okay, I'll leave it to you. I'll go back tonight to pack up and come back tomorrow."
The staff member nodded. "Don't worry, there are no major changes. These aren't difficult to set up, just a bit of trouble moving things around. It will definitely be done by tomorrow morning."
"Also, I've sent you the specific authorization agreement. Please take a look at the rules again, and let me know if there are any issues."
Chen Mo nodded. "Okay, I'll read it carefully."
Chen Mo felt he could trust the competition staff, so he left the staff member at the experience store and took the subway back to his previously rented apartment.
On the subway, Chen Mo read through the experience store's authorization agreement several times.
Simply put, Chen Mo only had the right to use the experience store, not ownership. Ownership belonged to the competition organizers. Of course, Chen Mo could buy it, but it would be at market price, with hardly any discount.
There was no way Chen Mo could come up with that much money right now.
The items in the store, such as computers and VR game pods, also did not belong to Chen Mo. He only had the right to use them. These items were all recorded in the agreement, and he would have to compensate for any losses.
Chen Mo did not need to pay rent or any usage fees, nor did he need to pay for daily expenses like utilities. These were all covered by the competition organizers.
However, this didn't mean Chen Mo could live there forever. There were performance indicators.
The games Chen Mo developed had to guarantee a certain level of revenue; otherwise, the experience store would be taken back.
Moreover, the revenue requirement was not fixed but increased over time.
In fact, this experience store was equivalent to an investment by the competition organizers. If the first-place designer could consistently maintain a high standard of game development, the organizers would let him keep using the experience store as a form of retention. If the designer's skill level declined, the store would be taken back.
Chen Mo thought this rule was pretty good. At least it wasn't directly about taking money, and Chen Mo wasn't worried at all that the revenue from his games wouldn't meet the target.
In this world, when it came to making money from games, if Chen Mo ranked himself second, he doubted anyone would dare to claim first.
...
Getting off the subway, Chen Mo returned to his residence.
After a busy afternoon, it was almost dark. Chen Mo grabbed a quick bite at a small restaurant nearby and then went home to start packing.
He didn't have many belongings. Four large cardboard boxes were enough to pack everything, and there were no large pieces of furniture to move. After booking a van online for the next day's move, Chen Mo lay down to rest.