Chapter 448: To Open or Not to Open Ranked Mode?
After the annual game awards ceremony, *Overwatch*’s popularity continued to soar.
As the first free VR game in the country, and having won the prestigious Game of the Year award, *Overwatch* was unstoppable in sweeping the entire VR platform.
Following the awards ceremony, many designers at Imperial Entertainment and Zen Interactive were busy drafting concept proposals, hoping to create a game that could surpass *Overwatch*.
“*Overwatch* is really on fire. A game that’s both critically acclaimed and commercially successful, and also recognized by the Game Committee—hasn’t that only happened with *Wolf Soul* in the last three years? Looking at *Overwatch*’s current trend, is it about to surpass *Wolf Soul*’s dominance in the FPS genre back in the day?”
“Right now, the domestic FPS market is basically a three-way standoff between *Wolf Soul*, *Blazing Assault*, and *Overwatch*.”
“But *Overwatch*’s biggest advantage is that it’s free! The other two cost over a thousand bucks to play, while this one is completely free. The barrier to entry is worlds apart!”
“That’s not entirely true. For players who can afford a gaming pod, *Wolf Soul* goes for just a few hundred during sales. Anyone who wanted it already bought it.”
“*Overwatch*’s main appeal is that it’s hugely popular in VR internet cafes.”
“True. Being able to play it directly in VR cafes is a massive advantage too!”
“The key thing is that *Overwatch* is still in its development phase. According to Chen Mo, the game will eventually have sixty heroes, and it’s bound to introduce ranked mode and tournaments later. It might even have a world championship like *League of Legends*. The future looks even brighter!”
“Good thing Chen Mo hasn’t launched ranked mode or pro matches yet. We still have a chance.”
“I’ve already submitted my design draft. I don’t know if it’ll stand out at Imperial, but I hope I get this project.”
Many designers at Imperial Entertainment and Zen Interactive were writing concept drafts, all aiming to use *Overwatch*’s creative foundation to build a game that could approach or even surpass it.
This mindset was perfectly normal. In Chen Mo’s previous life, when MOBA games took the world by storm, plenty of other MOBAs emerged besides the big one. When battle royale games blew up, countless PC and mobile games jumped on the bandwagon with their own last-man-standing modes.
And many of those achieved a fair degree of success.
It showed that in the gaming industry, copying wasn’t the problem—the key was copying well.
Many designers believed that *League of Legends* managed to overtake *Clash of Gods* because it had faster updates, better marketing, and optimizations across the board.
Now, *Overwatch* was still incomplete in many areas, especially since it hadn’t even launched a competitive mode. If they put in the effort, they could still catch up and surpass it.
Especially for Imperial Entertainment and Zen Interactive. Lin Zhaoxu and Liu Yuanfeng both saw potential in *Overwatch*’s gameplay model, and both companies had successful FPS project experience, making it easier for them to develop something similar.
After *Overwatch* won Game of the Year, the direction of the domestic gaming industry was quietly shifting.
...
On the *Overwatch* forums, players were thrilled about the award, but the calls for ranked mode were growing louder.
“*Overwatch* is so hot right now—hurry up and launch ranked mode! What is Chen Mo thinking? Didn’t *League of Legends* have ranked mode from its first version?”
“*Warcraft* seemed to have a ladder mode right when it launched.”
“Maybe Chen Mo wants everyone to get familiar with the game mechanics first before adding ranked mode, so newbies don’t ruin the experience?”
“Yeah, that makes sense! But they could still release the ranked system and add a proficiency requirement to keep out the noobs.”
“Let’s @Chen Mo on Weibo and tell him to hurry up and open *Overwatch*’s ranked mode. I want to climb straight to Grandmaster!”
“Exactly. I’m so good at this game, but I have no ranked points to show off. Open it up already!”
On Weibo and the forums, many people were @ing Chen Mo, urging him to update *Overwatch* and launch ranked mode.
After *Warcraft* and *League of Legends*, players were already very familiar with Chen Mo’s patterns.
Especially with *League of Legends*. For many players, the ultimate goal was ranked mode, and tiers became a benchmark for skill, driving players to keep climbing.
Everyone knew that *Overwatch* would eventually get ranked mode. The only reason it hadn’t yet was simple: Chen Mo was too lazy!
So, many players were pushing for it.
Not long after, Chen Mo responded on Weibo.
“Regarding ranked mode: Due to a busy schedule before the Spring Festival and a full workload, many optimizations and changes may be delayed. Currently, *Overwatch* has a hidden matchmaking rating system. High-skill players will be matched with similarly skilled players. For now, most players have a win rate hovering around 50%, so even without a ranked system, you can still improve your skills through practice. As for what your hidden rating actually is, we’ll consider displaying it in-game later. Please be patient.”
Chen Mo’s post didn’t directly address the players’ questions, but it was full of hints.
He didn’t explicitly say when ranked mode would launch, or even if it would launch at all. He only mentioned two things: first, his current workload was heavy, so many features would be delayed; second, *Overwatch* had a hidden rating system.
Players started dissecting the meaning of this Weibo post.
“Chen Mo says he’s busy? So ranked mode is coming, he just doesn’t have time to work on it now!”
“There’s a hidden rating system? Does that mean when ranked mode comes out, we’ll be matched and placed based on our hidden rating?”
“Hey, that’s possible! Chen Mo’s thinking ahead. So, it’s fine if it’s delayed a bit. For now, let’s play hard and boost our hidden rating. Then when ranked mode drops, we’ll get placed straight into Diamond or higher. How sweet would that be?”
“Makes sense. Let’s just wait!”
This Weibo post quelled most of the players’ doubts, and they happily went back to playing.
...
In reality, Chen Mo’s Weibo post was completely misleading, just meant to calm down the players demanding ranked mode. But in truth, Chen Mo hadn’t made any promises at all—he hadn’t even mentioned whether ranked mode would actually be added.
If there were no other considerations, Chen Mo could have told the players right now that ranked mode wouldn’t be added, because it would harm *Overwatch*’s longevity.
But Chen Mo couldn’t say that yet. Imperial Entertainment and Zen Interactive were both itching to copy *Overwatch*. If Chen Mo publicly stated that “*Overwatch* can’t have ranked mode,” it would definitely raise their suspicions and make them question the entire game model.
If they decided to slow down and wait and see, then over time, as *Overwatch*’s various flaws gradually surfaced, they’d catch on.
If that happened, wouldn’t all of Chen Mo’s efforts to mislead them be wasted?