Chapter 629: Thunder Game's Spring Festival Event
Li Jingsi exclaimed happily, "Senior sister and the others are coming? That's great. We can finally have a full five-person squad for black?"
Chen Mo put his hand to his forehead: "That's your first reaction!"
Li Jingsi: "What else?"
Chen Mo thought for a moment: "Well, it's true we can have a five-person black squad now, no problem..."
Previously, Wen Lingwei, Jia Peng, and the others were all regulars at the experience store. But after graduating from university, they each found jobs, and as they got busy, their visits to the store decreased.
Back then, Chen Mo hadn't recruited them to Thunder Interactive, mainly because the company was still in its development phase, and the art department wasn't short on staff. Moreover, aside from Wen Lingwei's high skill level, Jia Peng and Chang Xiuya's concept art skills were only at the level of ordinary fresh graduates, which didn't meet the company's requirements.
Hiring still had to follow proper procedures. Although Chen Mo could afford to keep idle people, it would have a negative impact on the overall project team's work atmosphere, and it would also make Jia Peng and the others feel awkward.
But now things were different. The three of them had spent two or three years in the professional workplace and had improved their skills significantly. Meanwhile, Chen Mo's company had basically gotten on track, with a full art team and suitable positions for them.
For Jia Peng and the others, what did it matter where they worked? Chen Mo could definitely offer the highest salaries in the industry—that was beyond doubt.
So, after Chen Mo approached them, they quickly reached an agreement. Everyone said they would jump ship after the New Year, once they had collected their year-end bonuses and taken their annual leave.
...
Li Jingsi sat on the sofa for a while, then stood up: "Alright, I'm going back to gaming. Otherwise, if my cousin comes over and sees me sitting on the sofa, she'll say I'm slacking off."
Chen Mo: "...So if she sees you playing games, that counts as doing your job?"
Li Jingsi giggled: "After all, my current job is Chief Game Experience Officer. My main work during office hours is playing games—no problem there."
Chen Mo smiled: "This job really suits you."
Li Jingsi suddenly thought of something: "Oh, by the way, I just saw that you're about to release the New Year event? And all those Spring Festival sales plans?"
Chen Mo nodded: "Yeah, feeling the urge to buy, buy, buy?"
Li Jingsi: "...Not at all. I can play freely at the experience store."
Chen Mo: "..."
...
Qian Kun moved quickly. After finalizing the Spring Festival event, he soon posted it online.
And this time, the Spring Festival events for the various games instantly energized the players!
First, all the online games currently in operation basically had new activities tailored for the Spring Festival.
During the New Year, "Thunder Card Games" once again launched a tournament mode offering game pods as prizes. Players could also receive various random red envelopes while playing cards. Although these red envelopes were all taken from other players and the amounts weren't high, getting cash from card games was still a great gimmick.
At the same time, all physical prizes available for exchange in "Thunder Card Games" were discounted, clearly aiming to drain all the beans from the players.
The Spring Festival versions of "Onmyoji," "King of Glory," "League of Legends," and "Overwatch" were clearly going to release a bunch of outrageous themed skins, and these games even had cross-promotions with each other.
Chen Mo specially launched a "Spring Festival Theme Skin Super Bundle," which included all the new skins from the four games above, and at a crazy 50% off!
Of course, since there were many new skins and they were expensive, even at 50% off, the bundle's price still reached a staggering 3,288 yuan.
But this price didn't deter players. Instead, many wealthy players said, "This price is damn good value—buy it all!"
After all, fixed-price skins were far more reliable than lottery draws!
If you didn't buy the big bundle, that was fine too. There were plenty of other ways to get skins in the games, like "King of Glory's" points/diamond treasure hunt, "Overwatch's" loot boxes, and "League of Legends'" mystery shop...
In short, every monetization event that could be opened was opened. If it felt like a trap, no problem—Chen Mo just closed his eyes and slapped a discount on it.
Simple and brutal!
Moreover, these games also updated Spring Festival-related scenes. For example, "League of Legends," "Overwatch," and "King of Glory" all updated special Spring Festival maps, with the ground turned into snow. Suitable scenes were decorated with lanterns, window paper-cuts, and occasional fireworks.
The login screens, theme UIs, and various other interfaces in the games—anything that could be changed was switched to a Chinese style. For "League of Legends'" login screen, a golden ink-wash style with a Chinese Lux skin and two cool door gods—basically, it was all about looking so cool you'd have no friends.
"Rate of the Land" didn't have many skins to release, but it could change the scene maps and add some New Year-specific servers. During the Spring Festival, the drop rate for rare cards was increased by 1%, and players would still flood in.
Then there were various VR single-player games, like "Minecraft," "Super Mario Odyssey," "Dark Souls," and so on.
"Minecraft" had strong online features, so Chen Mo arranged some special items, like Spring Festival fireworks, traditional cheongsam character skins, and so on.
Many players were planning to put on a special fireworks show in "Minecraft" and make a video to post online during the New Year.
"Super Mario Odyssey" got a very cheap DLC—a Chinese-style New Year scene. The blocks in the air were all gift boxes, and after collecting the scene's currency, players could exchange it for Chinese-style themed outfits.
As for "Dark Souls'" Spring Festival event, it was a bit more eccentric. Besides the DLC released through normal channels, Chen Mo added two little Easter eggs.
After all, "Dark Souls'" overall atmosphere was quite somber. Making it too festive would clash with the game's inherent traits.
The bell of the Age of Fire had rung, and it was a good time to link the fire. This time, Chen Mo specifically changed the texture of the Onion Knight armor in the game, swapping it for a festive bright red. The Onion Knight helmet was replaced with a beautiful big red lantern.
Moreover, the door shield equipment in the DLC was also pasted with the character for "fortune" and door gods. When combined, it looked especially festive.
Of course, if you didn't wear this set, you wouldn't feel much New Year atmosphere. But obviously, players couldn't resist wearing it...
The Switch got a New Year special edition set: red packaging, red controllers, oozing with flair and festivity. This special edition set included "Super Mario Odyssey," "Dark Souls," and a bunch of digital games from the Thunder Game platform, all for just 2,222 yuan—a real bargain.
And the most outrageous part was that all games on the Thunder Game platform...
Were!
All!
On!
Sale!
Other designers' works were up to them. If they wanted to sell at 90% off, Chen Mo wouldn't interfere. As for Chen Mo's own games, this year's latest VR blockbusters were 20% off, and all other games were 50% off.
At first glance, the Thunder Game platform was covered in green tags: %, and a few games even had -90%. It was a spectacular sight.
Would any wealthy player take this opportunity to clear out the entire Thunder Game library?
Well, Chen Mo was really looking forward to it.