Chapter 368: S1 Finals Prize Pool
Chen Mo’s late-night livestream of playing *Outlast* was quickly uploaded online by viewers. Many who didn’t dare watch the live broadcast felt the same after seeing the recording: How come Chen Mo’s *Outlast* didn’t seem scary at all?
This gave many players who hadn’t played *Outlast* a false impression, as if the game was really that simple.
Plenty of players boldly tried the game after that, and as for the outcome… well, they still got scared out of their wits.
Still, Chen Mo’s *Outlast* livestream did boost sales further, convincing many who either didn’t know about this horror game or were too afraid to buy it to add it to their VR game library.
As for the concern that Chen Mo’s stream would spoil the fun of *Outlast*, that wasn’t an issue at all.
Chen Mo streamed on the third day after the game’s release. By then, a large number of players had already beaten *Outlast*. After all, the actual gameplay time was under two hours. Even if a player was terrible or got lost easily, they could finish on easy difficulty in about four or five hours.
Even if Chen Mo hadn’t streamed, other horror game fans would have made walkthroughs, commentary videos, and guides anyway. Chen Mo’s stream had no impact on their secondary creations.
Moreover, even though Chen Mo showed players the correct way to clear the insane difficulty, others would still wet themselves when playing.
If you didn’t believe it, just download *Outlast* and try it yourself.
In just three days, *Outlast* sales had already exceeded 30,000 units. For a niche horror game, that was a very impressive number.
*Outlast* was priced at 688 yuan, which was mid-range for VR games. The investment wasn’t huge, and development time wasn’t long. In Chen Mo’s previous life, *Outlast* was essentially a low-budget indie game, with a development team of fewer than 20 people. Porting it to the VR platform just required a bit more investment, with no major difficulty.
On the Thunder Game platform, *Outlast* received unexpectedly high ratings, achieving an outstanding score of 9.4.
Players generally agreed it was a sufficiently terrifying horror game. If they had to describe it in one word, it would be: scary!
As for what made it scary, opinions varied. The night vision mode of the DV camera, the no-combat gameplay, the story background and plot, the immersive VR experience—all these elements contributed to the horror.
After the *Outlast* craze, not only VR players but also PC and mobile gamers learned about the game through streams and recordings.
The impact of *Outlast* far exceeded its sales figures.
…
At the experience store, Chen Mo was reviewing the S1 Finals schedule and related materials sent by Yan Huang.
Earlier, Chen Mo had used the Fear Suppressor during his *Outlast* stream; otherwise, he couldn’t have stayed so calm. Although game designers know all about level layouts and monster spawns, they still get scared when actually playing.
Just like many players, even after beating the game on easy difficulty and knowing the monster spawn patterns and high-energy scenes, they still panic on a second playthrough. It’s an instinctive reaction.
Thankfully, the system had the Fear Suppressor item. Otherwise, Chen Mo wouldn’t have dared to stream the insane difficulty, and he couldn’t have pulled off that cool act.
As he was reading, his phone rang.
Chen Mo glanced at the caller ID—it was Qiao Hua. He quickly answered, “Minister Qiao?”
Qiao Hua’s voice came through: “Chen Mo, I heard *Outlast* sales are good. Congratulations.”
Chen Mo replied, “That’s also thanks to you, Minister Qiao, and Chairman Zhang for approving *Outlast*. Otherwise, players wouldn’t have been able to enjoy it.”
Qiao Hua chuckled. “Right, I’m calling to let you know that players’ feedback on *Outlast* has been very positive, and the response is good. So don’t worry—*Outlast* definitely won’t be taken down.”
“Also, the Game Committee has basically reached a consensus on *Outlast*. It’s considered a successful attempt in the domestic VR field. For similar themes in the future, the review process will be more lenient. That’s good news.”
Chen Mo said, “Yes, it really is good news.”
“But,” Qiao Hua shifted the topic, “this type of game still carries some risks, and you need to keep that in mind. Summarize the experience, and if you develop similar games later, it’s best to give me a heads-up first, just like this time.”
Chen Mo nodded. “Don’t worry, I will.”
After hanging up, Chen Mo felt relieved.
In truth, horror games aren’t that terrifying. Many people have an excessive fear of them, mainly due to preconceptions. At least from the news, you hear about people dying from playing games, but rarely about anyone being scared to death by a horror game.
As long as a person is a normal adult without heart disease, high blood pressure, or other conditions, and is healthy, exposure to some horror elements won’t do much harm. At worst, they’ll just quit the game and stop playing.
Everyone has a rough idea of their own courage, and Chen Mo had implemented many preventive measures in the VR version of *Outlast*, so there was no risk of problems.
With the experience of getting *Outlast* approved, Chen Mo would have a clearer path when making future games. After all, the entire game industry in this parallel world was completely different from his previous life, and some rules needed to be figured out gradually.
However, Chen Mo had no time to deal with *Outlast*’s follow-up feedback, because the *League of Legends* S1 World Finals were about to begin.
…
As the competition date approached, more information about the finals was being revealed, including the venue, schedule, and team profiles.
What excited players the most was the prize pool.
Chen Mo, in his capacity as the official representative of *League of Legends*, announced that the total base prize pool for the S1 World Finals was 40 million yuan. The champion team would take 20 million, the runner-up 10 million, and teams in the semifinals, quarterfinals, and round of 16 would all receive prizes.
In other words, even if foreign teams were eliminated in the group stage of S1, they would still get 200,000 yuan.
Converted to US dollars, the total prize pool was nearly 7 million USD!
Of course, since S1 was an invitational event, this prize distribution might seem a bit odd. Some might wonder why teams that didn’t advance from the group stage, without winning a single match, still got 200,000 yuan.
This was mainly for future considerations. Once *League of Legends* went global, every World Finals spot would require passing through layers of selection. Compared to the effort these pro teams put into earning an S-series spot, 200,000 yuan was nothing—just a consolation prize.
Moreover, Chen Mo also announced that the Champion’s Blade Riven skin would be released during the finals. Purchasing this skin would grant a commemorative S1 World Finals avatar and avatar frame, and 50% of the skin’s revenue would be added to the finals’ prize pool.