Chapter 267: COG, a Competitive Map
Lin Mao asked, "Chen Mo, your game platform has been causing quite a stir lately. You've got some guts, but you've also made a lot of enemies, haven't you?"
Chen Mo smiled. "Enemies? You mean those channel distributors? I never had much goodwill for them anyway. Besides, what do you mean by 'enemies'? I don't need to care about their expressions now. Whether they're happy or not, that's none of my damn business. In fact, they should be sucking up to me now."
Lin Mao laughed too. "Alright, alright. You're getting cocky, but it's a good kind of cocky. Come on, cheers to your cockiness!"
The three of them raised their glasses and downed their drinks in one go.
Chen Mo refilled their glasses.
Lin Mao grabbed a bottle of beer and poured for Chen Mo as well. "Honestly, I'm a bit curious too. What exactly are you making this game platform for? I mean, Thunder Game Platform is already the third-largest in the country. You could easily follow the same path as Imperial Entertainment, taking a 70-80% cut from games and just lying back to rake in cash. Why force it down to 30%?"
Chen Mo said, "If others don't get it, don't you?"
Lin Mao blinked. "You just hate those channel distributors, don't you?"
Chen Mo grinned. "Yeah, I just hate those channel distributors."
Zhao Zihao gave a thumbs-up. "Badass."
Chen Mo continued, "Actually, there are channel distributors abroad too. Big game platforms average a 30% cut, at most 50%, never more. But these big domestic channel distributors? Relying on their user base, they bully newbie designers with no power, even taking 80% or 90%!"
"On top of that, these distributors monopolize the game market. To make money, they push a bunch of garbage games onto players, which does no good for anyone."
"Both players and designers suffer. Some designers are forced to submit to exploitation by the distributors just to get recommendation slots and attract more players. They have to change their game's monetization model, ruining perfectly good games in the process."
"Many independent game designers with backbone even choose to launch their games overseas. Over time, innovative games in the country are becoming fewer and fewer."
"I just really hate those channel distributors. Most people with resources choose to go along with the corruption. I'm different. Even though I'm running a platform, I'm still a designer. If I don't step up, no one else will. So I have to take a stand."
"A lot of people think I'm starting a price war, but that's not it. I have money and resources now, so I want to do the right thing. That's all."
Lin Mao nodded. "Alright, Chen Mo. Just for that speech, I respect you! But honestly, I admire your courage. You're basically smashing those distributors' rice bowls."
Chen Mo smiled. "So what? E-commerce smashed the rice bowls of brick-and-mortar stores, and so what? Things that shouldn't exist deserve to be eliminated by history. I know I'm doing the right thing, and that's enough."
Lin Mao said, "Well said. Speaking of which, my new game is almost finished. I plan to support you by putting it on your platform."
Chen Mo nodded. "Welcome! Don't worry, I'll make sure to promote it well. How complete is your game?"
Lin Mao replied, "Pretty much done. I'm planning to put it on the official app market in a couple of days. By the way, how many designers have contacted you recently?"
Chen Mo thought for a moment. "So far, dozens of designers have reached out. But a lot of them are still on the fence. After all, Thunder Game Platform has never promoted other designers' games before, and things are tense with the major distributors. Their hesitation is normal."
Lin Mao said, "No worries. Take it slow."
Lin Mao had already made four games by now, roughly one per year, and he was already a B-level designer. Honestly, his progress was pretty solid. It's just that compared to someone like Chen Mo, who seemed to cheat, he came off as a bit low-key.
The three of them continued chatting casually.
Suddenly, Zhao Zihao remembered something and said to Chen Mo, "Oh, by the way, when I was abroad before, I found a pretty good RPG map that isn't available domestically. It's called Hall of Gods. Have you played it?"
Chen Mo was taken aback. "Translated into Chinese... 'Struggle of the Gods'?"
Zhao Zihao nodded. "Yeah, that's the name. The gameplay is interesting too. It's similar to your Chenghai 3C map—three lanes, but the layout is a bit different. It's 5v5."
Chen Mo frowned slightly. "Oh, is there a video?"
"Yeah, hang on."
Zhao Zihao fumbled through his phone for a while, found a trial video of COG, and showed it to Chen Mo.
The video was recorded by pointing a phone at a screen, so the quality was a bit grainy. Most people would find it confusing, but Chen Mo could see it clearly.
It was a map made with the Warcraft editor. Like Chenghai 3C, it had three lanes from left to right, but it already introduced the concept of a jungle and neutral monsters.
Ten players each controlled a hero (packaged as a "god" in the game), with the ultimate goal of destroying the enemy base.
The trial video didn't show much, but from the minimap, Chen Mo could roughly infer the map's structure.
Chen Mo nodded. "Yeah, it's interesting."
Zhao Zihao said, "This map is pretty popular abroad, especially in Europe and America. It's been climbing the ranks and recently hit number one among competitive maps. I really enjoy playing it too. It feels more balanced than Chenghai 3C, and it's easier to pick up."
Chen Mo could regularly check some data on the overseas version of Warcraft, but he'd been busy lately and hadn't kept up. If Zhao Zihao hadn't brought it up casually, he might have discovered this map a week or two later.
Chen Mo asked, "Are any Western companies trying to turn this map into a standalone game?"
Zhao Zihao thought for a moment. "Uh, I heard the map's creator is talking to some big game companies, but because his asking price is high, nothing's been settled yet. I don't know how it's going now."
Chen Mo nodded. Good, it was within his expectations.
The original creator of this map must have been well aware of the potential of this gameplay. But for now, COG was a derivative of Warcraft. To monetize it, they'd have to overhaul everything from the engine to the character designs. Clearly, the creator didn't have the resources for that right now.
As for those big Western game companies, they certainly wouldn't want to throw that many resources at him over some random map. So in the short term, it would be hard for both sides to reach an agreement. COG was still a long way from becoming a standalone game.
Chen Mo asked, "Can you get in touch with the creator?"
Zhao Zihao was taken aback. "Uh, probably. Why?"
Chen Mo said, "I want to have a chat with him."