Chapter 110: Overseas Release?
Late at night.
From time to time, miserable cries came from the second floor of the experience store.
"Damn it!! Give me a storyboard skill book!!"
"F*ck his grandpa, why is it art animation again!!"
"I want to unlock the second stage!! Don't throw any curveballs at me, just give me a storyboard skill book, okay!!"
Fortunately, the soundproofing in the experience store was pretty good; otherwise, the neighbors would probably have called the police on Chen Mo for disturbing the peace.
A month had passed since *Warcraft* officially launched, and its first-month sales figures were out: 740,000 copies sold! At 88 yuan per copy, Chen Mo actually pocketed nearly 41 million yuan in the first month.
This time, a large portion of the sales came from the Thunder Game Platform, unlike the official app store which takes a 20% cut, so the actual amount he received was a bit higher.
That was one of the benefits of having your own distribution channel.
Sales in the final days of the first month had declined somewhat, after all, the RTS user base in China was limited. But even so, Chen Mo had already made a decent profit, basically recouping his previous investment in just one month.
It wasn't surprising. *Warcraft* was a classic after all; works like this were few and far between. Earning this much money, Chen Mo still felt a bit unsatisfied.
Future sales were hard to predict, but Chen Mo felt his estimate of 2 million copies might have been too conservative.
After getting the money, Chen Mo planned to continue with ten-pull draws to max out his special skills and unlock the second stage.
But the more he drew, the more it hurt.
The main issue was that his designer skills were already maxed out in the first stage. Drawing any more first-stage skill books only gave him points in exchange, losing 7,000 yuan net per book. Damn, it felt like cutting flesh!
For special skills—including concept art, 3D art, art animation, and so on—to all reach 100 points, he needed 255 more books.
Based on a 5:3:2 ratio, considering some special skill books would repeat, and factoring in the points from regular skill books, Chen Mo would need to do ten-pull draws nearly 80 times.
That was a ton of money! Even though Chen Mo had cash now, he couldn't just burn it like this!
After a few ten-pull draws, progress was painfully slow.
Chen Mo considered how much more he needed to unlock the second stage and reluctantly gave up for now.
Let it be for now; he'd deal with it later.
The only good news was that he got a bunch of special items.
Half of them were Memory Recall Potions, and the rest were Reaction Injectors and APM Boost Potions.
Chen Mo gritted his teeth in pain and consumed all these special items.
What use were these things?
As the names suggested, Reaction Injectors improved reaction speed, while APM Boost Potions increased hand speed. Both were exactly what esports players needed most.
These two types of items, as far as he could tell, were utterly useless except for playing games.
What was the point of this? Was heaven giving him a chance to take revenge on society?
Chen Mo was also frustrated. If he didn't play games after getting all these Reaction Injectors and APM Boost Potions, wouldn't all this money be wasted?
With infinite heartache, Chen Mo went to sleep.
Little did the RTS players know what kind of nightmare was coming their way...
...
During this time, several media outlets called Chen Mo wanting to schedule interviews, but he turned them all down.
Chen Mo's Weibo had also gained a huge wave of followers thanks to the momentum, and his follower count had now reached over a million, making him a fairly well-known designer.
Despite being in the spotlight, Chen Mo's reaction was surprisingly low-key. He hadn't updated his Weibo in a whole month and hadn't accepted any interviews, leading many players to wonder if he had fled with the money.
It wasn't that Chen Mo was being aloof; it was mainly that the sudden flood of praise from the outside world made him a bit uncomfortable.
Hmm, he felt that developing money-grubbing games suited him better!
In the Fantasy World Editor's ratings, Chen Mo's scores skyrocketed.
[Chen Mo: Game Designer (B-Rank)]
[Creativity: 78]
[Systems: 67]
[Balance: 76]
[Level Design: 77]
[Story: 85]
[Concept Art: 77]
[3D Art: 46]
[Monthly Resource Quota Used: B]
All attributes had surged, and Story had shot up to 85 points.
With such a classic game under his belt, Chen Mo had finally become a B-rank designer. Of course, his actual abilities might now surpass some A-rank designers who were just coasting along, but since Chen Mo was still too young, the officials didn't directly promote him to A-rank.
However, Chen Mo didn't care about that empty title at all. To him, the ratings in the Fantasy World Editor were meaningless; for every game, he had his own judgment.
...
The next day, Chen Mo got up as usual.
Before he even opened the door, people were already lining up outside. Within ten minutes of opening, all the computers in the experience store were occupied.
After *Warcraft*'s reputation spread, Chen Mo's experience store became a hit. Many local players skipped internet cafes and came straight to the experience store to play *Warcraft*.
Chen Mo had originally wanted to grab a computer for himself, but after thinking it over, he decided to let the players use it. Besides, he was planning to head to the internet cafe anyway.
After dealing with a few fans who came to ambush him, Chen Mo prepared to leave.
Just then, his phone rang. It was an unfamiliar number.
"Hello?" Chen Mo answered.
A stranger's voice came through the phone: "Hello, is this Mr. Chen Mo, the designer of *Warcraft*?"
Chen Mo cleared his throat: "Indeed, it is I."
There was a two-second silence on the other end. "Hello, I'm the head of overseas publishing at Meteorite Technology. I'm calling today to discuss cooperation on *Warcraft*."
Chen Mo was taken aback. Meteorite Technology?
Meteorite Technology was a fairly well-known company in China, specializing in overseas publishing—translating domestic games into other languages and releasing them abroad.
They handled everything: translation, launch, overseas approvals, and so on, so the designer didn't have to worry about it.
In fact, Chen Mo had been thinking about finding an overseas publishing company, and now this guy had come knocking.
It made sense. *Warcraft* had performed too well domestically, even showing signs of surpassing *Legion Conquest*. Plus, with its Western fantasy theme, it would definitely be popular in European and American markets.
So, these publishers had all noticed this hot property and wanted to secure the overseas publishing rights for *Warcraft*.
Chen Mo thought for a moment. "Alright, we can talk. How about this: come to the experience store tomorrow, and we'll discuss it in person."
After setting the time, the other party hung up happily. Apparently, no other publishing company had reached Chen Mo yet, so they had a slight head start.
Chen Mo didn't take it too seriously. To him, given *Warcraft*'s quality, no matter which company handled the overseas release, the results wouldn't be bad. So, it was just a matter of haggling—nothing to worry about too much.
Grabbing a can of soda from the experience store, Chen Mo headed toward the Zhiyuan Internet Cafe.