Chapter 347: Hard to Get Approved
Two more brand-new items caught Chen Mo's attention.
[Fear Blocker: After use, you lose your sense of fear, allowing you to think in a state of absolute rationality for 30 minutes.]
Chen Mo was a bit speechless. What the hell is this? It's not like I'm working the night shift as a security guard or a cemetery caretaker. Would I use this thing... to boost my courage?
[Intelligence Reduction Halo: After use, your target's intelligence short-circuits, making them more susceptible to your persuasion. As long as they agree with your viewpoint during this period, it will remain effective afterward. Lasts 10 minutes.]
This one seemed pretty useful. Next time Jin Jieguang came to the experience store, using this item should allow me to forcefully persuade him within three minutes.
But then again, I feel like he probably won't be coming back...
After using up all the skill books, Chen Mo started thinking about the new game.
Currently, "League of Legends" had established a firm foothold on the PC platform and was poised to become the most popular PC game.
However, Chen Mo was well aware that the situation in the parallel world was different from his previous life. In his past life, when "League of Legends" launched, the PC platform was the hottest gaming platform. At that time, there were no VR games, and mobile games were still in a primitive state.
In that unique environment, "League of Legends," leveraging its gameplay perfectly suited for PC, quickly captured the market. Within two to three years, it became the most popular game worldwide, achieving a miracle in gaming history.
But in the parallel world, VR, PC, and mobile platforms were all highly developed. The PC platform didn't hold absolute dominance like in his past life; instead, it was somewhat squeezed and struggling.
It was foreseeable that "League of Legends," as it continued to evolve, would inevitably dominate the PC platform. However, for the mobile and VR gaming sectors, it would hardly have any impact.
So, relying on "League of Legends" to skyrocket to success overnight was still unrealistic.
For Chen Mo, the biggest advantage of "League of Legends" was that on the PC platform, he had a golden brand and a lasting cash cow. Although this cash cow was still a small sapling now, it would grow quickly.
Moreover, the esports-related industries spawned by "League of Legends" were also part of Chen Mo's strategy.
The previous siege by domestic game channel distributors against the Thunder Game Platform had completely collapsed with the sudden emergence of "League of Legends." Now, the Thunder Game Platform had firmly established itself, at least reaching a level where it could stand toe-to-toe with these traditional distributors.
Of course, completely crushing these traditional distributors was somewhat of a pipe dream. Just like in his past life, even though "League of Legends" was incredibly popular and Penguin Communication Software had such a massive user base, it couldn't fully monopolize the game distribution channels. Moreover, in the parallel world, Chen Mo didn't have a weapon as powerful as Penguin Communication Software.
These traditional distributors would certainly take countermeasures, such as lowering revenue shares, introducing various incentives, and so on, to attract independent game designers to release their games.
But Chen Mo's goal had already been achieved: he had overturned the domestic market's "channels are king" mentality, steering the entire game market toward a healthier direction.
Next, Chen Mo planned to refocus his attention on the VR platform.
He had already released the VR game "Minecraft," but that game was essentially exploiting a loophole, taking a shortcut. Its success model was completely different from the major VR games currently on the market. In fact, it was an unrepeatable product.
This was somewhat similar to "League of Legends." Both were "non-mass-producible" works that might only appear once every many years, the result of a flash of genius from a talented designer.
The area Chen Mo wanted to explore next was "mass-producible" blockbuster games. The production process for such works was relatively clear, and the immersion would be very strong. For Chen Mo, this was also a way to expand the VR platform.
However, before finalizing the next new game, Chen Mo decided to make a trip to the Game Committee to see Qiao Hua.
Because the next game he wanted to make was quite special, and he wasn't sure if it would pass the review, so he needed to sound things out in advance.
As for whether this attempt would succeed, Chen Mo himself wasn't confident. But he had just drawn the new item "Intelligence Reduction Halo," and he hoped it would come in handy.
After roughly drafting the concept design for the new game, Chen Mo felt the content was about ready and headed to the Game Committee with the concept draft.
He had been there once before when making "Diablo," so he was familiar with the route. He went straight to the Game Committee office building and found Qiao Hua's office.
Chen Mo gently knocked on the door.
"Come in," Qiao Hua said.
Chen Mo pushed the door open, entered the office, and nodded at Qiao Hua. "Director Qiao."
Qiao Hua smiled. "Chen Mo, you're here. Have a seat. I've got some things to handle, so I don't have much time. Let's keep it brief, okay?"
Chen Mo nodded. "Yeah, it's about the new game's review. I've brought the concept draft. Take a look."
As he spoke, Chen Mo handed the printed concept draft to Qiao Hua.
The Game Committee, overall, wasn't very bureaucratic. This might have been due to the nature of the department and the personal character of Chairman Zhang Zhongxiang.
Chen Mo had known Qiao Hua for quite a while. It was Qiao Hua who had brought Chen Mo into the Game Committee, so their relationship was close, and they spoke casually in private.
Chen Mo first showed the concept draft to Qiao Hua to sound things out. Once Qiao Hua felt it was fine, it would likely pass the review without much issue.
Qiao Hua took the concept draft, flipping through it as he said, "For you to make a special trip here, this game must be another one that's hard to get approved."
Chen Mo smiled but didn't respond.
Indeed, if the game were easy to approve, Chen Mo wouldn't have bothered to come in person. He could have just submitted the relevant materials through the normal process. It was precisely because this game would easily be rejected through the standard procedure that Chen Mo had to first discuss it with Qiao Hua.
Qiao Hua frowned as he flipped through the concept draft. "Outlast?"
Chen Mo nodded. "Yeah, this time I want to make a horror game."
Qiao Hua finished reading the entire concept draft with a grave expression, thought for a moment, then flipped back to the first page and read it again.
After reading it twice, he looked up at Chen Mo. "This game of yours really is hard to get approved."
"Last time, 'Diablo' barely passed the review, but we could still force it through by calling it a Western ancient adventure, role-playing game. After all, that game was on PC and followed the traditional monster-killing, leveling-up formula. It just had a more cultish visual style, which was still manageable."
"But this 'Outlast'... there are way too many sensitive elements in it. For example, a lot of bloody, horrifying scenes, corpses everywhere, and most importantly, it's a first-person VR game. The visual impact it creates is too strong, and the immersion is on a completely different level from 'Diablo.' This... it's really hard to say."
[Reminder: Your output must contain ZERO Chinese characters. Translate or transliterate everything.]