Chapter 412: Is Chen Mo About to Lose on Monetization?
Not long after Chen Mo returned to the capital, phone calls came pouring in one after another.
Most were from various club owners or managers. These people all wanted LPL slots, and upon learning there were none left, they asked if there were still any LSPL slots available.
Chen Mo could only tell them that if they wanted to form a team now, they could submit application materials. A dedicated team would evaluate the club's status and the team's strength. As long as they met the requirements, they could obtain an LSPL slot on a first-come, first-served basis.
Many clubs hinted at whether there was a "convenient shortcut," but Chen Mo turned them all down one by one.
With no other choice, most clubs had to go through the proper procedures.
As for the LSPL slots, Chen Mo wasn't being overly strict. As long as a club met the hard requirements and the team's strength was roughly acceptable, approval would be granted.
Soon, the LSPL slots were all filled!
Many club owners who had been on the sidelines were stunned. What was going on? Even the secondary league slots were gone?
Only then did they start to feel a bit panicked, because the popularity of *League of Legends* far exceeded their expectations. But now it was too late to get in.
Some clubs tried to buy slots, but other clubs simply refused to sell! Even the few clubs that had obtained LSPL slots and were willing to sell were asking for an exorbitant price: one million!
The club owners who missed out were speechless. One million? Why not just rob a bank?
Thinking that the slots they could have gotten for free were now being resold for one million, these owners were grinding their teeth in anger, cursing those clubs as profiteers.
Most clubs didn't have the guts to go through with it. One million was no small amount; it could cover the entire club's operating expenses for a long time. And now it was just for a slot? Wasn't that price gouging?
Many club owners, in a fit of anger, decided not to buy and abandoned plans to establish a *League of Legends* division.
But they would soon learn that this would be one of their biggest regrets in the years to come, because that price really wasn't expensive.
...
After the *League of Legends* Season 1 Finals, the domestic esports scene experienced a surge of enthusiasm.
Major clubs increased their investments, scouting for high-ranking solo queue players and competing for slots.
Sponsorships came flooding in: mice, keyboards, headsets, motherboards, gaming chairs...
Player salaries also rose rapidly, and professional players became glamorous, sought-after figures in the eyes of many.
Leaving aside the impact of this influx of hot money on the overall environment, Chen Mo had at least achieved his goal.
Through the massive hype of the *League of Legends* S1 Finals, the game's influence was no longer confined to the game itself. Through diverse channels, it spread to a much larger audience.
As a dominant game from his previous life, *League of Legends* was developing very well in this world, even starting off more smoothly than before. After all, Riot Games had started as a small studio, whereas Chen Mo had already amassed a huge following domestically by the time he launched *League of Legends*. The difficulty of getting started was completely different.
Based on the S1 Finals data, *League of Legends* in this parallel world had already roughly matched the data from the S2 season of his previous life. Although its influence overseas was still relatively weak, domestically, *League of Legends* had achieved an undisputed dominant position on PC.
With that, the initial phase of *League of Legends* was finally over for Chen Mo. The momentum was established. From now on, as long as he developed it step by step, *League of Legends* would inevitably reach its peak, just as it had in his previous life.
...
...
The recruitment campaign for the Three Kingdoms games was still ongoing.
On the mobile game bestseller charts, Zen Interactive Entertainment's *Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms Heroes* had entered the top three of the official mobile game bestseller list. Under the blanket of overwhelming advertising, this Three Kingdoms game, which innovated on the card-based mobile game genre, had still attracted a large number of players.
Moreover, the game's art style was a huge selling point. Many mobile gamers said they didn't want it, but their bodies were honest, pulling cards in *Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms Heroes* with endless delight.
As for *Conquer the World*, it was hovering around tenth place on the official mobile game bestseller list.
Of course, many players in *Conquer the World* were playing through the Thunder Game platform, so the official bestseller list data didn't fully represent the game's profitability.
However, *Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms Heroes* was also simultaneously launched on the Imperial Dynasty Game Platform and the Divine Fantasy Game Platform, generating revenue from other channels as well.
In other words, judging from the official charts, *Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms Heroes* was undoubtedly outperforming *Conquer the World* in revenue.
For most mobile game designers, this was a very surprising piece of news. Chen Mo, the pioneer of pay-to-win mobile games, was actually losing on monetization?
"What's going on? *Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms Heroes* has been crushing *Conquer the World* in revenue for three days straight. Is Chen Mo's new game really going to fail?"
"Indeed, I've played both games. *Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms Heroes* feels more stable; every aspect is pushing me to spend. But in *Conquer the World*, there don't seem to be any spending events at all. I have zero desire to recharge!"
"Has Chen Mo completely overturned his own mobile game monetization model?"
"Not completely overturned, but for some reason, his style this time is totally different from before."
"Everyone, I see things differently. I think *Conquer the World* is definitely going to overtake it."
"Why?"
"I think starting soon, *Conquer the World* is going to make a push on the charts. Revenue will see a pretty explosive increase. Just wait. The state wars on most servers are basically entering their most intense phase. Once the real fighting starts, it's hard to imagine how many players will convert into paying customers."
...
Zheng Hongxi, with two huge dark circles under his eyes, came to find Chen Mo.
"Boss, I feel like I can't keep playing this game anymore..."
Chen Mo was taken aback. "What's wrong?"
Zheng Hongxi handed his phone to Chen Mo. "Boss, look at the current state of our Liang Province. Is there any chance of a comeback?"
Chen Mo took the phone and looked at the current state of the province war.
Clearly, Zheng Hongxi had successfully transformed into a paying player during this time. By conservative estimates, he had already spent seventy to eighty thousand.
Of course, given his current income, this amount was acceptable. What frustrated Zheng Hongxi was that, although his army was now very strong and could completely suppress those whales from Yi Province, the overall situation was still becoming difficult to manage.
After Yi Province broke through the pass, Liang Province and Yi Province were locked in a stalemate near Linqiang, but in the end, Linqiang was lost.
A blessing in disguise was that, thanks to the active resistance of [Dragon War], the smaller alliances didn't surrender to the stronger side. Instead, they joined [Dragon War] to fight against Yi Province.
The morale hadn't collapsed. That was the best news for Liang Province.
After taking Linqiang, Yi Province set its sights on [Xiping]. For Liang Province, this was a true crisis.
Because [Xiping] was a provincial capital. Once captured, Yi Province could assemble troops, form legions, control the entire province's territory, shorten the time for alliance members to build fortresses within the province, and prevent other alliances from moving their main cities in.
In other words, once Xiping fell, nearly one-seventh of Liang Province's territory would be handed over to the enemy.