Chapter 369: Finals Promotional Video
The price of the Champion's Blade—Riven skin was set at 99, meaning that for every player who purchased this skin, the total prize pool for the League of Legends S1 World Finals would increase by another 50 dollars.
(Players who had already purchased tickets to the S1 World Finals would automatically receive this skin.)
Moreover, in the most prominent position on the League of Legends official website, the real-time changes to the current S1 Finals prize pool would be displayed and updated live.
This news immediately sparked heated discussion among the League of Legends player base. Everyone was stunned. With so much prize money, had Chen Mo gone mad?
There had been many esports competitions before, both domestic and international, but no one had ever heard of such a high prize pool. The highest prize pools were basically around one million US dollars. As for domestic competitions, it was common to see champions winning only a few hundred thousand RMB in prizes.
And now, Chen Mo had directly raised the total prize pool to the level of 7 million US dollars?!
Furthermore, half of the revenue from purchasing the Champion's Blade—Riven skin would go into the total prize pool. Given the current popularity of League of Legends worldwide, this income stream would definitely not be insignificant. Although players couldn't estimate the exact figure, adding a few hundred thousand US dollars in revenue was certainly no problem.
This wasn't just a limited-edition skin; it also bundled a limited-edition S1 World Finals icon and icon border. This served as proof of a veteran player's identity and held great commemorative value.
Many players were marveling at Chen Mo's boldness. It was probably hard to find a second person in the country who dared to play it this way!
And indeed, as things stood, Thunder Entertainment wasn't the most profitable game company in the country. Ahead of it were established companies like Imperial Dynasty Entertainment and Zen Entertainment.
However, the difference between Thunder Entertainment and these companies was that here, Chen Mo had the final say. He could spend this money however he wanted, and no one would ever step up to oppose him.
For large companies like Imperial Dynasty Entertainment and Zen Entertainment, if they wanted to fork out this much money to host a competition, it wasn't as simple as a single word from Lin Chaoxu or Liu Yuanfeng. These companies faced earnings report pressure and had to be accountable to all their shareholders. A venture that was purely a loss, spending money just for publicity, would face immense resistance.
So, in the country right now, the only one who dared to play it this way was indeed Chen Mo alone.
The massive prize pool instantly grabbed the attention of a huge number of players and became the biggest talking point before the start of the League of Legends S1 World Finals!
...
One week before the start of the S1 World Finals, the promotional video for this finals was simultaneously posted on the homepages of the Chinese server and the global server clients, as well as on various video websites.
Due to time constraints, this video wasn't made to be very flashy. It was just a mix of some game cinematics and tournament footage, interspersed with some remarks from Chen Mo.
The purpose of this promotional video was simple: to allow players, especially overseas players, to better feel Chen Mo's determination to promote League of Legends and build a complete esports system.
"League of Legends S1 World Finals is the most grand League of Legends event to date, and it is expected to become the most grand esports event."
"Professional players from all over the world will gather in Magic City to compete for the highest esports honor in history."
"Here, I will introduce to you the League of Legends Season 1 World Finals."
"For this World Finals, we are providing a prize pool of over 7 million US dollars, and the prize pool is still continuously expanding. When players purchase the Champion's Blade—Riven skin, half of the revenue will be added to the prize pool."
"Sixteen top-tier teams will compete, but only the most outstanding team can lift the championship trophy and claim the champion's massive prize money."
"Here, we make a promise to all League of Legends summoners around the world: In the years to come, League of Legends will become the representative of the strongest esports game. We can't wait to find out how many summoners will watch this S1 World Finals with us."
"We want players and the whole world to see Thunder Entertainment's determination in promoting esports. This is why we have invested such enormous resources in this finals."
"This League of Legends Finals will be different from any esports competition you have known before. You will witness the top two strongest teams in the world engage in a pinnacle showdown."
"On October 5th, we will witness it together in Magic City!"
This video was translated into multiple languages, subtitled, and simultaneously posted on the Chinese server, European server, North American server, Korean server, and video websites in various regions.
The main purpose of this video was to help domestic and international players better feel the atmosphere of this S1 World Finals.
League of Legends had only been launched overseas for a little over half a year. Although it was developing well and spreading quickly, with major clubs forming their League of Legends divisions, its popularity wasn't that high yet.
So, for this S1 World Finals, Chen Mo adopted a more straightforward approach. The teams were directly invited, and as for broadcasting, it was done directly through the League of Legends client.
Some foreign video websites and streaming platforms would also broadcast it, but they couldn't push it to every League of Legends player as conveniently as watching directly through the client.
This video successfully sparked anticipation among foreign players for this finals, and the S1 World Finals became a hot topic among players on the European, North American, and Korean servers.
"Oh my god, League of Legends is providing a prize pool of over 7 million US dollars? That already far exceeds all current esports events, right?"
"Is this Chinese company crazy?"
"Obviously, this guy named Silent in the video is the producer and boss of League of Legends. He is very optimistic about the future of this game. But really, you have to admire his boldness!"
"From the video, it certainly seems that way. He actually said he wants to make League of Legends the representative of the strongest esports? What a great goal!"
"I wasn't paying attention to this event at all. I thought it would just be a very ordinary competition, but this video successfully caught my attention!"
"Indeed, it seems Silent is preparing to make it an unprecedented esports competition. This guy's ideas are really ahead of their time! It's just a pity I can't go to the venue to watch the matches in person."
"I didn't hear about tickets being sold before?"
"Yes, the tickets weren't sold overseas. What a shame. After all, League of Legends is a game that has only been out for half a year, so it's impossible to cover everything perfectly."
"I'm paying more attention to this S1 World Finals now. I hope the League of Legends officials can bring a different esports viewing experience!"
Genius remembers this site's address in one second: