Chapter 90: Caught Off Guard
Wu Zhao was also keeping a close eye on Thunder Chess & Cards. He was starting to panic now; the first day's download numbers had given him quite a shock.
It was especially after Chen Mo's first combination of moves that he fully realized his own oversight.
Wu Zhao himself was in the chess and card game business. After Thunder Chess & Cards launched, the daily active users of Imperial Dynasty Interactive Entertainment's own chess and card games plummeted by over a hundred thousand people—no small number at all.
Clearly, a large portion of those players had flocked to Thunder Chess & Cards. Some were drawn by novelty, others by the prizes.
Moreover, Wu Zhao sensed the killing intent immediately. He had a strong premonition that this was only the beginning.
With no other choice, Wu Zhao had to report to Lin Chaoxu.
……
In the office, Lin Chaoxu's expression was grim.
"You said this game wouldn't cause a massive loss of our users. What's going on now, huh? On the first day, our chess and card game's daily active users dropped by over a hundred thousand—and you call that not a massive loss?"
Wu Zhao wiped the sweat from his forehead. "President Lin, please let me explain slowly."
"Chen Mo had been planning this for a long time. It's just that the game installation package he sent showed no flaws at all, so I overlooked it."
"He had already figured out how to use the tournament mode combined with prize incentives for promotion. When I saw the installation package, I thought the 'tournament mode' was just a gameplay innovation. I never realized he would leverage it this way, so my judgment was off…"
Lin Chaoxu was silent for a moment before asking, "Is there any way to salvage this? Mainly for Imperial Dynasty Chess & Cards. We'll also give away game pods—ten times more than he does! Let's keep the players first."
Wu Zhao said, "President Lin, it's not that simple. We can indeed give away prizes, but we don't have a tournament mode!"
Lin Chaoxu frowned. "If we don't have a tournament mode, use a lottery system. As long as players reach a certain amount of online time or number of rounds played, they get a lottery chance. That should boost daily active users, right?"
Wu Zhao replied, "President Lin, there's still a difference. With a lottery, most players will think they definitely won't win, so their enthusiasm will be low. We have millions of users. Even if we give away ten or even thirty game pods a week, the winning probability is still only one in hundreds of thousands."
"Moreover, with a lottery, players won't be very enthusiastic. Most will just idle or grind for chances, which won't stimulate daily active users much."
"Chen Mo's tournament mode gives away fewer prizes—only three game pods a week—but his cleverness lies in creating the illusion for all players that this is a real competition. As long as they have the skill, they can definitely win the prize."
Lin Chaoxu frowned. "Can we also build a tournament mode? How long will it take? Can it be done in a week?"
Wu Zhao said, "I've already urgently assigned people to work on it, but the rules for tournament tables are quite complex. The workload accounts for about 30% of the entire chess and card game. Including testing and optimization, it will probably take two weeks."
Lin Chaoxu's face darkened. "Two weeks? Too long. I don't care if you have to work through the night or pump yourself full of adrenaline—get it done in a week. In the meantime, use the lottery. Give away game pods, phones, computers, shopping cards—anything we can give away every day. Just stabilize the daily active users!"
Wu Zhao quickly nodded. "Yes, President Lin. I'll arrange it immediately."
……
Imperial Dynasty Interactive Entertainment reacted quickly. On the second day after Thunder Chess & Cards launched, Imperial Dynasty Chess & Cards started a lottery event. Players who maintained a certain login duration and number of rounds each day could earn lottery chances, with prizes ranging from shopping cards to VR game pods.
Clearly, facing Chen Mo's offensive, Imperial Dynasty Interactive Entertainment had no choice but to respond. They weren't foolish enough to just sit back and take the hit passively, but the lottery approach was hardly a masterstroke.
Unfortunately, Imperial Dynasty Chess & Cards hadn't built a tournament mode, so this was the best they could manage for now.
After this, the daily active user count for Imperial Dynasty Chess & Cards did stabilize, even recovering slightly. However, most of the returning players were just logging in to idle and try their luck with the lottery, rather than seriously playing cards.
In contrast, a large number of players were having a blast in Thunder Chess & Cards. In particular, Thunder Poker quickly gained a loyal following, and more and more players began studying the strategies behind this new type of poker.
Many players discovered that in Thunder Poker, skilled players had a significantly higher win rate than in Fight the Landlord or Mahjong. As long as you stayed disciplined, folded weak hands wisely, and kept your cool, you could basically ensure steady profits.
Of course, some players didn't like this style. They found it too frustrating—you had to stay calm at all times and never bet impulsively, or you'd lose everything.
Still, that didn't dampen Thunder Chess & Cards' popularity. Even if those players didn't like Thunder Poker, they could still play Fight the Landlord or Mahjong.
Soon, player reviews for Thunder Chess & Cards started piling up.
"The newbie tutorial is very detailed. I feel like some of the little touches are better than other chess and card games."
"Feels very generous. They give away a lot of chips every day, plus three bankruptcy reliefs. Perfect for a charitable gambling king like me."
"Reply to the above: You only lose a few thousand chips a day. That's not a gambling king—more like a charitable gambling dog."
"I never noticed there were so many skilled players before. I always thought I was pretty good, but now I can't even break into the top 100 in points…"
"Don't stop me—I'm definitely winning that VR game pod!"
"Even though my card skills aren't great yet, next week's champion is definitely mine!"
"I've decided to switch to Thunder Chess & Cards because they give away more free chips…"
……
Sunday.
The number of players for Thunder Chess & Cards had already exceeded 1.5 million. This growth rate was even faster than I Am MT's!
Of course, the vast majority of these players were free users. Thunder Chess & Cards' revenue probably couldn't even touch I Am MT's little toe. But just the increase in active users alone was enough to shock industry insiders.
There was no doubt about it—Thunder Chess & Cards was a hit. Even some PC and mobile game streamers, during their downtime, had switched from Imperial Dynasty Fight the Landlord to Thunder Fight the Landlord.
Some chess and card game streamers even used "Live Streaming to Win a Game Pod" as a gimmick to broadcast the tournament mode, drawing tens of thousands of viewers.
This gimmick had been hyped up to the max. The tournament mode, combined with Thunder Poker's unique gameplay, was now spreading from the chess and card game enthusiast community to a much wider audience.
This site remembers the address: