Chapter 508: The Prototype Is Out
Feng Yingwan felt that something was off. Chen Mo seemed to be completely disregarding the usual playbook.
If this continued, not only would she fail to gather any intelligence, but her own identity might even be exposed.
Just then, the elevator doors opened, and a young man walked out.
Qian Kun approached Chen Mo: "Boss, about the new hero we discussed for *Overwatch*, we're a bit short on manpower right now. What do you think..."
"Oh." Chen Mo thought for a moment. "We can put *Overwatch* on hold for now. Let's focus on developing the new game first."
Qian Kun hesitated: "Also, there are players online urging us to release the ranked mode soon. What about that..."
Chen Mo said: "Let's prioritize the new game. It's a crucial part of the overall plan, with the highest priority. As for *Overwatch*, there aren't any strong competing games at the moment, so no need to worry. Even if other companies rush, it'll take at least two months for their games to go live. By then, we can roll out the ranked mode ahead of schedule without any issue."
Qian Kun nodded: "Alright, boss. We'll keep working on the new game then."
Their conversation was vague, but Feng Yingwan still managed to pick up some clues.
Chen Mo was busy with a new game and had temporarily shelved the development plans for *Overwatch*.
Indeed, this explained why Chen Mo hadn't released the ranked mode for *Overwatch* yet.
It was because he believed it would take at least two months for other companies to develop competing games similar to *Overwatch*, so he wasn't in a hurry.
Moreover, it seemed Chen Mo placed great importance on this handheld console and its accompanying game, pouring all his energy into it urgently, while *Overwatch* was being deprioritized.
"Not bad, this is useful information. Chen Mo has no idea about our actual development speed; he's estimating based on normal timelines."
Feng Yingwan was thrilled inside, but on the surface, she maintained an air of complete disinterest, as if she were just an unrelated player.
After chatting with Chen Mo a bit more, she found she couldn't extract any useful information.
It wasn't that Feng Yingwan didn't want to ask Chen Mo about *Overwatch*, but Chen Mo was very cautious. Whenever the topic of *Overwatch* came up, he would deftly change the subject.
Besides, Feng Yingwan didn't dare to ask too pointedly. If Chen Mo caught on and became suspicious, that would be bad.
After a few more exchanges, Feng Yingwan pretended to be an ordinary gaming enthusiast, went to the PC experience area to play a few rounds of *League of Legends*, and then left the experience store.
Although this reconnaissance trip hadn't yielded much, she had still gathered some useful intelligence.
She reported this information truthfully to Jin Jieguang.
There were two main pieces of intelligence. First, Chen Mo was extremely focused on developing the new handheld console and game, even pulling staff from *League of Legends* and *Overwatch* who were responsible for subsequent updates to work on the new game, slowing down the update pace for the other two titles.
Second, Chen Mo estimated that it would take other game companies about two months to create games similar to *Overwatch*. Therefore, during this period, he wasn't in a rush to update *Overwatch* or launch its ranked mode.
Jin Jieguang carefully assessed the authenticity of these two pieces of information. In the end, he concluded that they were highly credible.
Chen Mo's emphasis on the handheld console was well-known. This time, he was challenging common sense and had faced significant criticism.
Someone as prideful and eager to prove others wrong as Chen Mo would never tolerate being proven wrong himself. So it was perfectly normal for him to invest a great deal of effort into making this handheld console and its accompanying games.
On the contrary, if Chen Mo showed little interest in this handheld console, that would be the real problem.
As for *Overwatch*, it was still a pioneer in its field, in an expansion phase. While other game companies were trying to create similar games, their progress wasn't that fast.
Chen Mo's time estimate was completely accurate, but the problem was that Imperial Dynasty Interactive was different.
Imperial Dynasty Interactive already had relevant foundations, with leftover assets from the FPS game *Wolf Soul* and the MOBA game *Ancient Cataclysm*. Many things were readily available. Additionally, Lin Chaoxu had placed great importance on this project, allocating ample manpower and resources, so development was proceeding very quickly.
In other words, Chen Mo estimated that these new games would launch within two months, but in reality, *Gunfire Chronicles* could release a version with ranked mode in just five weeks.
Launching ranked mode earlier than *Overwatch*—in Jin Jieguang's eyes, this was a huge opportunity, and Chen Mo seemed completely unaware of it.
After obtaining this intelligence, Jin Jieguang felt more at ease. *Gunfire Chronicles* had entered its final development and fine-tuning stage. Whether it could wash away the shame of *Ancient Cataclysm* all depended on this!
...
In Zhou Jiangping's office.
Chen Mo sat on the sofa, and a staff member placed an elegantly packaged white box in front of him.
Zhou Jiangping said, "President Chen, open it and give it a try. See if it matches your expectations."
The first Switch was thinner, with smaller bezels. The back panel and screen looked sturdier, likely with good drop resistance.
In terms of size, it was similar to the Switch from the previous life. Chen Mo removed the left and right controllers, started up the game, and gave it a test run.
He mainly tested various operations, including jumping, throwing the hat, adjusting the camera angle, and so on. Additionally, Chen Mo specifically checked the controller's vibration and motion-sensing effects, which basically met all the game's requirements perfectly.
After all, this machine had been overseen by Zhou Jiangping and relevant technical staff from Lehui, so there were no quality issues.
Zhou Jiangping wouldn't dare to fob Chen Mo off with a substandard handheld console.
Chen Mo played for a while longer, testing some basic operations, and nodded in satisfaction.
However, he also offered a few suggestions for improvement, hoping that Zhou Jiangping could further optimize the machine in subsequent iterations.
Chen Mo asked, "By the way, President Zhou, about the follow-up proposal I mentioned last time—any technical issues?"