Chapter 179: Chen Mo Begins His Lecture
As soon as the staff member finished speaking, the venue instantly erupted.
"Huh? Qiu Bin's not coming?"
"Why isn't he coming?"
"Heard it's for personal reasons."
"Damn, I was really looking forward to this lecture. How can he just not show up?"
"The organizers are a joke too. They decided this ages ago and only now bother to inform us."
"Forget it, forget it. I saw there's a lecture on VR games next door. Let's go check that out."
"Ugh, I was hoping to learn how to make a card mobile game myself since they're so profitable this year. What a shame."
Many people started standing up, ready to leave.
But just then, Qiu Jiang walked up to the stage, took the microphone, and said, "Qiu Bin didn't come, but Chen Mo is here. You all better say something nice and get him to give you a talk. Wouldn't that be even better than Qiu Bin?"
A lot of people who were about to leave stopped in their tracks when they heard Qiu Jiang.
"Chen Mo? The designer of *Onmyoji*? He's here too?"
"Holy crap, Chen Mo's *Onmyoji* completely crushed Qiu Bin's *Demon Slayer 2*. If he's willing to talk, it'll definitely be better than Qiu Bin!"
"Right, *I Am MT* was made by Chen Mo. When it comes to card mobile games, he's the pioneer."
"Where's Chen Mo? Which one is Chen Mo?"
"I'm not leaving. Where's Chen Mo? Let him go up and speak!"
Qiu Jiang smugly stepped down from the stage, grabbed Chen Mo by the arm, and pulled him up from his seat. "Go on."
Chen Mo was speechless. What was this all about? Wasn't he supposed to be here to listen to a lecture? How had he been sold out in the blink of an eye?
Was it just because he had teased her about her age earlier? Was she really that petty? Seriously?
But as soon as Chen Mo stood up, the audience below got instantly excited. They were all incredibly enthusiastic, clapping wildly.
"Is that really Chen Mo? Damn, clap!"
"I want to hear him speak! Get him up there!"
Chen Mo was a bit exasperated. He hadn't planned on going on stage at all, but with the audience this enthusiastic, saying "Sorry, I can't speak" would just be a letdown.
Besides, talking a bit wasn't a big deal. Others might be afraid of their ideas being copied, but Chen Mo wasn't.
With a hint of resignation, Chen Mo stepped onto the stage, looked at the sea of faces in the audience, and said, "Alright, since everyone wants to hear it, I'll say a few words."
Another round of thunderous applause.
Many people in the audience started whispering among themselves.
"So that's Chen Mo? He's ridiculously young. Unbelievable."
"He looks like he's only twenty-four or twenty-five. Graduated from university and entered the industry, so he's been at it for just over two years."
"And at that age, he's already an A-Grade designer. Damn, I can't even compare!"
"Plus, his game's net monthly income is over 200 million!"
"200 million? That was last month's data. It's probably even higher this month. With *Onmyoji*'s current momentum, it'll dominate the charts for at least another three to five months, right?"
"Man, is this what a genius looks like?"
"Awesome. This trip was totally worth it. I need to listen carefully."
Those who had been about to leave all sat back down, waiting for Chen Mo to begin.
Originally, the lecture had been arranged long ago. Since card mobile games had performed exceptionally well this year, the Game Committee had decided to schedule a talk on the subject. After much deliberation, they had settled on Qiu Bin.
After all, *Demon Slayer* had held the top spot on the mobile game bestseller list for a long time. In terms of player count, popularity, and revenue, Qiu Bin was qualified to give this lecture.
But no one had expected that Chen Mo, who had been doing well on the PC side, would suddenly make a comeback. *Onmyoji* swept through the entire mobile game bestseller list, leaving all other card mobile games in the dust.
However, the content for this award ceremony's lecture had already been finalized, and Qiu Bin had submitted his speech draft. Besides, Chen Mo was still a newcomer. The organizers felt it wouldn't be right to pull the plug on Qiu Bin after he had prepared for so long, so the original lecture arrangement remained unchanged.
But Qiu Bin wasn't happy. Since *Demon Slayer 2* had been utterly outclassed by *Onmyoji*, why would he want to give this lecture? Wouldn't that just be embarrassing?
He found an excuse not to come.
The official staff understood and planned to cancel the lecture. But a communication error occurred, leading to all these unforeseen circumstances.
Chen Mo glanced at the time. It was about time to start.
The computer on the table was connected to the projector, and Qiu Bin's lecture PPT had already been submitted and was on the desktop. Chen Mo thought for a moment. He couldn't just talk off the cuff, or he might go off-topic. Since there was a ready-made PPT, he might as well use it.
Chen Mo opened Qiu Bin's PPT. The big screen displayed the title: *Analysis of Profit Models for Card Mobile Games*, Speaker: Qiu Bin.
Chen Mo typed a few words on the keyboard, adding something after "Speaker: Qiu Bin."
"Speaker: Qiu Bin (crossed out) Chen Mo."
Chen Mo cleared his throat and said, "It's an honor to stand here today and share some of my insights and experiences in designing card mobile games."
"I might be a bit casual in my delivery, so please bear with me. It's not that I don't want to follow a script—the problem is, I don't have one."
Some people laughed.
Chen Mo continued, "I'll just roughly follow the outline of this PPT. Actually, the core of card mobile games is relatively simple. Most designers can understand it if they study it carefully. On this point, Mr. Qiu Bin and I probably don't have too different an understanding."
As he spoke, Chen Mo flipped to the next page of the PPT.
The first page was an overview. On the topic of "Secrets to Profitability in Card Mobile Games," Qiu Bin had prepared four points.
1. Build players' recognition of card value.
2. Leverage the advantages of mobile games by utilizing fragmented time.
3. Low-cost, rapid iteration to adapt to market demands.
4. Prioritize IPs to maximize the influence of major IPs.
The next page elaborated on the first point, "Build players' recognition of card value," explaining things like what "card value" meant and how players could come to recognize it.
Chen Mo said, "Let's start with the first point: how to build card value."
"In essence, 'card value' refers to how much money a player is willing to spend on a virtual card. On this point, different players have different perceptions of card value. Some players are willing to spend thousands to pull an SSR, while others won't even spend ten bucks..."
Qiu Bin's PPT was well-prepared, so Chen Mo just followed it. Although he was covering content that most card mobile game designers already knew, Chen Mo's understanding was deeper. Many vague areas became crystal clear with just a few words, leaving many designers with a sudden realization.
"So that's how it works."
"This numerical model is interesting. I always felt like there was something I was missing. So this is it."
"Right, before, it was like blind men touching an elephant—only grasping the details. After Chen Mo's explanation, I finally understand the ins and outs."
Qiu Jiang was also listening intently, a hint of surprise in her eyes. She worked on VR games and didn't really care about card mobile games, but hearing Chen Mo's explanation, she found the intricacies fascinating!
Soon, the first point was finished. Chen Mo flipped to the next page of the PPT, arriving at the second point: "Leverage the advantages of mobile games by utilizing fragmented time."
Chen Mo thought for a moment and added a few words to the title.
"Leverage the advantages of mobile games, [but not necessarily] by utilizing fragmented time."