Chapter 357: Chen Mo Actually Made a Horror Game?
“What the hell? The S1 World Finals venue is at Grand Plaza?! Holy crap, how much did Chen Mo spend to rent this place? It must cost tens of thousands a day, right? And this place probably can’t be rented short-term!”
“Yeah, Grand Plaza is right in the downtown area! What a freaking tycoon!”
“And look at these pictures, it looks like it’s been completely renovated inside. There’s a big screen, a dedicated commentary booth, and even a holographic projection setup! Damn, this is incredible.”
“This time, the official invite includes teams from all over the world. It seems like the old-school clubs from Europe, America, and Korea will all be here. This should be the most prestigious tournament yet!”
“Let me check the ticket prices. Damn, the highest price is 580? That’s robbery!”
“Yeah, weren’t the front-row tickets for previous events only around 300 at most? This is double!”
“Too expensive!”
“Upstairs, if you think it’s too expensive, don’t buy it! Look at the venue, the equipment, and the fact that watching the match gets you skins and figurines. Think about whether that 580 is worth it.”
“I’m in Magic City anyway. Already bought two 180 tickets. Planning to go watch with my girlfriend!”
“I don’t believe it. These tickets definitely won’t sell out! I’m waiting for the official price drop!”
Some players thought the ticket prices were a bit high and wanted to wait, planning to buy cheaper tickets closer to the event. But within just a week, all the tickets were sold out!
Not a single one left!
Because the venue wasn’t a massive stadium, it didn’t have that many seats, and the prices weren’t that high. So many players in Magic City were scrambling to buy tickets, and even some players from other cities bought tickets, planning to take the high-speed rail to watch the matches.
At first, many people thought scalpers were driving up the prices maliciously, but they quickly discovered that these were electronic tickets. You had to scan your ID to enter, so scalping was impossible!
That’s when the players waiting for cheaper tickets panicked. They posted everywhere trying to buy second-hand tickets, but they couldn’t find any!
Most of these tickets were bought by domestic players, especially those in Magic City. Because the esports scene in this world wasn’t very mature yet, the World Finals’ popularity was far from what it was in Chen Mo’s previous life. Many viewers couldn’t be bothered to travel to another city to watch the matches, finding it too troublesome.
But Chen Mo knew that in two or three years, this esports craze would ignite quickly, and tickets for the S-series World Finals would soon become incredibly hard to come by.
...
On September 20th, while all the League of Legends players were eagerly anticipating the S1 World Finals, Chen Mo released another blockbuster announcement.
The new game, Outlast, was already available for early access at the experience store. The official release date was set for September 23rd, when all players could experience this unique VR game.
Many players were caught off guard. What the hell? Hadn’t Chen Mo been busy with the World Finals? How did he find time to make a new game, and a VR one at that?
At first, everyone thought this game would be another small-scale production like Minecraft, or a VR version of Don’t Starve. But after reading the game’s promotional materials, the players were stunned.
This was a full-fledged AAA title!
And it was a horror game!
Without much promotion, the news quickly spread through the player community.
The reason was simple: the horror game gimmick was too strong!
Although there were some horror games in the domestic market, they were all like Haunted Mansion Terror—unplayable, with ratings never exceeding 4 points, and drowning in criticism.
Players had long been disappointed with domestic horror games, knowing they were all cash grabs that sold dog meat under the guise of lamb, not worth playing.
But if the game was made by Chen Mo, that was a completely different story.
Chen Mo had built a stellar reputation among players. Having already released so many classic games, with his previous VR title Minecraft setting sales records, many players blindly believed that even though horror was a tough genre to master, if Chen Mo made it, it was definitely worth playing!
This time, Chen Mo also released some game materials for Outlast, mainly concept art.
No gameplay videos were released, as he wanted to give players enough surprises.
The concept art mainly featured scenes: a picture of using the camera’s night vision to observe a monster in the dark, a shot of the psychiatric hospital’s main administration building at night, a fountain covered in blood and corpses, and a mental patient trembling under a hospital bed...
The atmosphere in these concept pieces was incredibly eerie, sending chills down everyone’s spines.
Soon, Chen Mo’s new game Outlast became a hot topic among players and designers alike.
“Did you hear? Chen Mo released a new game, and it’s a horror game!”
“I was just wondering when Chen Mo would release his first big VR game. I didn’t think it would be this soon!”
“Yeah, I thought with how League of Legends was dominating the PC scene, Chen Mo’s focus would be on that for a while. I never expected he’d already finished his first VR masterpiece!”
“Right, and looking at the concept art, it seems like this isn’t another Minecraft-style game. It’s a serious AAA title.”
“No kidding. A horror game has to make the scenes as realistic as possible, otherwise, what kind of horror game is it?”
“I really didn’t see this coming. I thought Chen Mo’s first VR game would be an MMORPG. He always manages to surprise everyone!”
“A horror game? No domestic company is willing to make those right now. What is Chen Mo thinking? This genre is way too niche!”
“Yeah, the main issue is that horror games are hard to get right. They require the designer to have an absolute mastery of player psychology. Can Chen Mo pull it off?”
“I heard his experience store already has it playable. Want to go as a group and try it?”
“Holy crap, I wouldn’t dare. A VR horror game? I feel like it could literally kill someone!”
“Relax, all the domestic VR horror games so far haven’t been scary at all. Putting a horror game in VR just makes the immersion a bit stronger, like a haunted house. It’s not that terrifying.”
“Heh, don’t try to trick me. I’m not going!”
“Just because it’s a Chen Mo production, I have to check it out.”
“Exactly because it’s a Chen Mo production, I’m not going! Think about it—every game Chen Mo has made so far has been a huge success. This one probably will be too. A hugely successful horror game... Damn, just thinking about it is terrifying!”
“The scarier, the better! Today’s horror games are way too weak. They’re less thrilling than a roller coaster. As a veteran horror game fan, I have to experience this!”
“Brave warrior upstairs, take care. If you die in your game pod, I’ll come collect your corpse!”