Chapter 382: The Channel Providers' Unexpected Turn
After the group stage ended, Chen Mo posted a Weibo update.
"Regarding the 'League of Legends' Season 1 World Finals: The group stage attracted over 7 million viewers through online or television broadcasts. The majority of these are domestic viewers, but regions such as Europe, America, and Korea also contributed over 2.7 million viewers. This means that the 'League of Legends' World Finals has become the most-watched esports event in history."
As soon as this post went live, it sparked widespread discussion!
Previously, most players and industry insiders could only vaguely sense that the 'League of Legends' matches were popular, but they lacked a clear concept of just how popular. However, the data of 7 million viewers truly stunned everyone!
Because this figure far exceeded all previous esports events, it meant that the 'League of Legends' World Finals had become a significant tournament, even comparable to some traditional sports!
On the forums:
"Over 7 million viewers for the S1 finals? Really? Isn't this just a 'League of Legends' match?"
"I think it's probably true. Just on Moyu, a single streaming platform, there were over 2 million viewers. That doesn't even include other platforms, official channels, and overseas viewers. Even if Moyu fudged the numbers, Chen Mo wouldn't release fake data."
"Don't you feel like during this period, a lot of chat groups and forums have been talking about the finals? Obviously, this is real data!"
"I don't think 7 million is that much. The Global Tech Conference held in Magic City had 6.3 million viewers, and probably a lot of people hadn't even heard of that conference. But 'League of Legends'? Hardly anyone in the country hasn't heard of it."
"No, no, it's only well-known among us internet-addicted youths. 'League of Legends' isn't that famous yet."
"But it's still pretty high!"
"Let's just say it's an international event. At first, many people didn't pay attention, but after the two Chinese teams crushed the foreign teams, the event's popularity kept rising!"
"Awesome. Can't wait for the finals. If a domestic team can lift the trophy, I think this World Finals might make history!"
...
At the headquarters of Imperial Dynasty Interactive Entertainment.
An emergency meeting was being held among the Imperial Dynasty Game Platform, the Divine Fantasy Game Platform, and several other influential domestic platforms.
Xu Xiaojun chaired the meeting, and his expression was grim.
Everyone present was a direct manager of a major platform, each holding vast channel resources. These were all prominent figures in the gaming circle, people that independent game designers dared not offend.
As the saying goes, "It's easier to deal with the King of Hell than the little ghosts." The real power over channel resources for major game platforms wasn't held by CEOs like Lin Chaoxu or Ding Xing, but by these platform managers. If they united, they could decide the fate of a large number of games.
If the majority of domestic channel providers refused to promote a game and joined forces to block it, then for most average designers, getting their game in front of players would become extremely difficult.
But now, the atmosphere in the meeting room was very heavy, and everyone's faces looked terrible.
Xu Xiaojun cleared his throat, his expression somewhat serious: "The viewership for the 'League of Legends' Global Finals has reached 7 million. It's currently flooding all major forums, video sites, and streaming platforms. It's safe to say that the influence of this event is now comparable to many traditional sports. It's expected that after the finals, 'League of Legends' will see another explosive surge in popularity domestically."
He looked around at the attendees: "CEO Lin organized this meeting to discuss our countermeasures. Everyone, please share your thoughts."
Yao Bo, the manager of the Divine Fantasy Game Platform, sighed: "CEO Ding was furious too, but... given the current popularity of 'League of Legends,' I'm afraid no countermeasure will work."
Xu Xiaojun knew Yao Bo was right. With 'League of Legends' current momentum, what countermeasures could they, as channel providers, come up with? The success of the 'League of Legends' finals was built on the game itself. Only when the game was hot could the esports event be hot.
But since this meeting was meant to discuss countermeasures, they couldn't just sit in silence, could they?
Xu Xiaojun said in a low voice: "Although the current situation can't be reversed by any one person or a few people, we should at least analyze the success factors of this finals. Even if we can't come up with countermeasures, it'll be enough to report back."
Yao Bo nodded: "Right. CEO Lin and CEO Ding called this meeting partly for that reason. Let's at least analyze the success factors of this 'League of Legends' finals."
...
It wasn't just these channel providers. Most designers in the gaming circle were also analyzing the success factors of the 'League of Legends' S1 World Finals.
Earlier, the domestic promotion of 'League of Legends' had already slapped these channel providers in the face. The domestic channels had united to suppress the Thunder Game Platform, but the sudden emergence of 'League of Legends' had crushed all competing PC games of the same period, firmly establishing the Thunder Game Platform's dominant position in the PC market.
Now, Chen Mo had highly successful works on both mobile and PC platforms, and on the VR front, he had carved out a place with two very distinctive VR games: 'Minecraft' and 'Outlast.'
It could be said that since the start of this channel war, these traditional domestic channel providers had been in constant retreat. All these companies combined couldn't beat Chen Mo alone—it was a monumental disgrace.
And this 'League of Legends' finals was like rubbing salt into the wound.
Originally, these channel providers had generally predicted the finals would fail. The reason was simple: they had organized many esports events themselves and knew the ins and outs.
For example, the Divine Fantasy Game Platform had hosted many tournaments, and Yao Bo was a well-known figure in domestic esports.
The reason for the pessimistic outlook was that, in the eyes of these channel providers, esports events were a loss-leading venture to generate buzz. They were a means for game companies to promote their games.
Esports events required spending money on venue rentals, purchasing various equipment, offering attractive prize pools, and inviting famous players from around the world—all of which cost money. And ticket sales? They couldn't be priced too high. Breaking even was considered good; making a real profit was nearly impossible.
Sponsorships were also hard to come by, at most from a few motherboard, keyboard, and mouse manufacturers.
Many esports events were outright money-losers, and even prize money was sometimes delayed.
Chen Mo's setup this time was too extravagant. Whether it was the venue or the prize pool, every investment broke records. If it had followed the usual esports event popularity, he would never have recouped his costs.
But when the data came out, everyone was proven wrong.
Who could have predicted that this event would be this popular?!
[Reminder: Your output must contain ZERO Chinese characters. Translate or transliterate everything.]