Chapter 201: VR Version of Diablo?
After explaining the new version of *Diablo* and the design concepts behind *Don't Starve* to everyone, they all went off to handle their respective tasks.
Chen Mo's main focus was still on *Diablo*. He had to oversee the new scenes, new classes, and new storylines for the expansion, so he was quite busy.
The specific work on the expansion was handled by Zheng Hongxi and Qian Kun, while Su Jinyu led a smaller team to develop *Don't Starve*.
In his previous life, *Diablo 3* received a poor reception upon its initial release. A large number of players quit in a very short time, especially since *Diablo 2* set such a high standard. Many veteran players refused to acknowledge *Diablo 3* as a true sequel to *Diablo 2*, and the reviews were disastrous.
This situation didn't improve until the release of *Reaper of Souls*.
Before this expansion was released, *Diablo 3*'s Metacritic user score was only 41% positive. After the expansion, that number rose to 72%.
After the release of *Reaper of Souls*, *Diablo 3*'s reputation among players improved dramatically. It could be said that the game before and after the expansion were two completely different experiences.
The way it was saved relied on the points Chen Mo had analyzed earlier:
Adding a leaderboard ladder, removing the Paragon level cap, closing the auction house, changing the color palette of new scenes, continuously introducing new gameplay, redefining difficulty levels, and adding a new seasonal mode...
These moves allowed players to rediscover the fun in *Diablo 3*, pulling it back from the brink of death.
In this parallel world, although Chen Mo had made many changes to *Diablo 3*, bringing its artistic quality closer to that of *Diablo 2*, the game still faced the risk of losing momentum over time.
In fact, the most important reason was that player tastes had changed. *Diablo 2*'s design was classic and pioneered countless trends, which was certainly true. But one must also consider that back then, there were virtually no strong competitors, and veteran players' nostalgia for it was also heavily influenced by sentiment.
If he were to simply create a high-definition version of *Diablo 2* exactly as it was, success was far from guaranteed. After all, the entire market environment had completely changed.
In Chen Mo's previous life, the original team behind *Diablo 2*, after leaving Blizzard North, also created *Torchlight*. On Steam, there were also games like *Grim Dawn*.
However, neither *Torchlight*, made by the original team, nor *Grim Dawn*, which had a very "Diablo-like" style, came close to *Diablo 3*'s success. They lagged far behind.
The reasons for this were complex, but "the changing times" was clearly a very important factor. Times shift and circumstances change; approaching problems with a rigid, outdated mindset simply wouldn't work.
The *Reaper of Souls* version of *Diablo 3* was the most successful third-person perspective RPG Blizzard had released at that time after learning from its mistakes. Therefore, Chen Mo also needed to absorb some of the essence of the *Reaper of Souls* version to extend the lifespan of *Diablo*.
As for *Don't Starve*.
Just like when he made *Lifeline*, Chen Mo hoped that Su Jinyu and the others would have some fun and gain some inspiration during the development of *Don't Starve*.
So, Chen Mo didn't provide too many specific settings. Instead, he let them first consider the various settings in the game on their own, giving full play to their imagination.
In Chen Mo's previous life, *Don't Starve* was considered an indie game, but it was by no means niche.
The multiplayer version of *Don't Starve* sold 5 million copies in the Chinese region on Steam. After launching on the TGP platform, it broke the million-sales mark in just two weeks and surpassed five million in its first month.
As a high-quality single-player game, *Don't Starve*'s appeal was beyond doubt. Chen Mo made this game partly to test this world's players' acceptance of open-world and sandbox games, and partly to give his employees something to do so they wouldn't get idle.
...
While developing the new version of *Diablo* and *Don't Starve*, Chen Mo was also busy with the overseas version of *Diablo*.
With the previous success of the *Warcraft* collaboration, the person in charge of Meteorite Technology didn't try to haggle with Chen Mo this time. The two sides quickly finalized the development of the overseas version of *Diablo*.
The main reason was that with *Warcraft*'s successful precedent and *Diablo*'s impressive performance in China, Meteorite Technology had nothing to worry about.
The promotion strategy remained the same as before: a global simultaneous release.
With *Warcraft* paving the way, all aspects of the work proceeded smoothly. Chen Mo felt reassured and only occasionally checked in on translation issues, trying to ensure that the English version could faithfully reproduce the spiritual essence of *Diablo*.
Chen Mo decided not to pay too much attention to *Diablo*'s overseas performance. After all, even if it didn't become a massive hit, it certainly wouldn't be a failure. The immediate priority was still to finish the new *Reaper of Souls* version.
...
One day, while Chen Mo was busy, he received a phone call.
It was from Xu Xiaojun, the head of the game promotion channel at Imperial Dynasty Interactive Entertainment.
Chen Mo was surprised. Why was he calling?
The two had been in contact before, during the *I Am MT* bet, when Lin Chaoxu sent Xu Xiaojun to negotiate with Chen Mo about recommendation slots.
But they hadn't contacted each other since then, because everyone knew that Chen Mo was ambitious and that he and Imperial Dynasty were natural enemies.
Chen Mo answered the phone: "Hello?"
Xu Xiaojun said, "Hello, Mr. Chen Mo. The reason I'm calling is to discuss a potential collaboration with you."
Chen Mo: "Collaboration?"
Xu Xiaojun said, "Yes. It's like this: the *Diablo* you developed has achieved impressive sales. Have you considered turning it into a VR game?"
Chen Mo said, "I have no such plans for now. If there's nothing else..."
Xu Xiaojun quickly interrupted, "Please wait a moment, hear us out. The worldview of *Diablo* is relatively dark and hopeless, and the entire atmosphere of the game is very immersive. Considering that players take on the role of heroes saving the world in this game, the thrill of slaying monsters is very strong. So, this game is quite suitable for adaptation into a VR game."
"Imperial Dynasty hopes to collaborate with you to create a VR version of *Diablo*. Of course, considering that you are the original creator of this game, we will fully respect your creative input."
"You probably don't yet have the capability to independently develop a VR game, and your funds are relatively tight. So, we hope to arrange for an S-class designer to work with you to jointly create the VR version of *Diablo*. What do you think?"
Chen Mo was silent for a moment, then said, "I don't think that's a good idea. I will develop the VR version of *Diablo* myself. You don't need to trouble yourselves with this."
"Please don't rush to refuse. Hello?"
Before Xu Xiaojun could finish his sentence, Chen Mo had already hung up the phone.