Chapter 656: Absolutely No In-App Purchases
Many players in the experience centers had also uploaded various video clips online, and some streamers were even broadcasting live directly from their game pods. Even the chubby guy Zou Zhuo, known for his "three days, two delays" schedule, started streaming, gleefully playing and cracking jokes.
Discussions about the game *PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds* were also proliferating online.
"Has anyone seen the trial gameplay video for *PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds*? This game seems unexpectedly fun!"
"I watched Old P's stream, and he even got a chicken dinner in the end! The sense of achievement was insane!"
"What does 'chicken dinner' mean?"
"You don't even know that? It means if you survive to be the last one alive at the end of the game, a line appears on screen: 'Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner,' signifying you're the final survivor!"
"Why chicken dinner and not duck dinner?"
"Oh, apparently it comes from a saying called 'winner winner, chicken dinner!' It's supposedly derived from a phrase used in European and American casinos, which fits the game's setting pretty well. But I think it's just Chen Mo's quirky sense of humor."
"Chen Mo wouldn't dare set the story background in China, right? Otherwise, it'd definitely fail the censorship review..."
"I found the videos really interesting too, but the players who actually tried it reacted even more strongly. They all said the game was incredibly fun!"
"It's kind of weird, actually. They can't even pinpoint exactly what makes it fun, they just say it feels incredibly fresh!"
"I can't wait for the game to release. Tomorrow, I'm heading to the experience center to line up!"
"Wake up, you won't get in unless you show up two hours before opening... Because these guys basically never log off once they start playing!"
To the surprise of many players, *PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds* seemed to be unexpectedly popular!
Initially, many players thought the game was just novel in its format, with nothing else particularly worth praising. But after actually playing it or watching gameplay videos, they realized that wasn't the case at all!
When you actually played it, the fun was immense!
One of the most intuitive feelings was that the game was just comfortable to play. There was something to do every single second, and every round felt completely different!
The entire map was enormous. Even if players dropped into different locations each round, they would have entirely unique gaming experiences.
Moreover, the game mode in the experience centers wasn't the official mode. Due to player limits, only 80 people could play in a match, and they had to wait for one game to end before starting the next. Players who "landed and became a box" had to just wait around.
However, since everyone was on-site, even if they became a box upon landing, they could just exit the game pod and chat with others, so the impact wasn't too severe.
Once the game officially launched, players who died in-game could immediately start a new round, further reducing the feeling of frustration.
...
On April 8th, *PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds* officially launched!
During the week from April 1st to April 8th, the buzz around *PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds* grew daily. It started with players just being curious, but then the experience centers became a constant hotspot, and new topics about the game emerged online every day!
The experience centers became gathering places for the first wave of *PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds* players. They discussed new strategies, new playstyles, and new insights from the game every day.
As for the players who couldn't snag a VR game pod, they went to the holographic projection viewing areas to spectate. Even though they couldn't play, they watched with great engagement and enjoyment.
Various gameplay videos and stream recordings were uploaded online. Many players developed a strong interest in the game after watching them, but the problem was, they couldn't play it!
Throughout that week, many players were left anxiously waiting, practically scratching their heads.
Pre-orders for *PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds* had started long ago. The official version was priced at 980 yuan, while the pre-order version was 780 yuan, a full 200 yuan cheaper.
Additionally, like *Prototype*, *PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds* also had an internet cafe version, but it was more expensive. The price for activating each VR game pod in an internet cafe was 2680 yuan, significantly higher than *Prototype*.
As for why it was more expensive...
It was obvious. Was this game on the same level as *Prototype*?
The 980 yuan unit price was set hoping more players would take the plunge. If the internet cafe version were sold cheaply, Chen Mo would be taking a loss.
So far, domestic VR internet cafes weren't particularly enthusiastic about this game. After all, it was different from *Prototype*, and many cafe owners still had doubts about whether this entirely new shooter game could become a huge hit.
Considering the pricing of traditional domestic FPS games, 980 yuan wasn't considered expensive, but it didn't have any particularly obvious competitive advantage either. After all, Chen Mo's previous game, *Overwatch*, had been released as a free-to-play title, which had a huge impact on the FPS market.
Games like *Wolf Soul* and *Blitz Assault* had basically been on constant discounts and price cuts, but since those games had in-app purchases, the impact on profitability wasn't too significant.
Chen Mo didn't plan to add any in-game paid content to *PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds*. Things like paying to open loot boxes were off the table.
Apart from the initial buy-to-play fee, the only future revenue stream would be a transaction tax.
Players could earn in-game gold by playing, use gold to open crates, and freely trade the items obtained from crates at any price. However, each transaction would incur a 10% tax paid to the official system.
If a cute little skirt sold for 2500 yuan, 250 yuan would be deducted as a transaction tax. This money was taken directly from the seller. In other words, if the seller listed it for 2500, they would actually receive 2250.
Of course, some players would try to be clever and arrange private trades. The solution to this was actually quite simple. For example, items could only be listed on a universal auction house, one-on-one trading was prohibited, buyers and sellers couldn't see each other's names, item listings had a delayed display, and the system would automatically release scarce goods periodically.
While there might be ways around the rules, if all trading loopholes were tightly sealed with strict regulations, players would have no choice but to trade according to Chen Mo's requirements.
After all, this was about profitability. How could there be any loopholes? This was a matter of a designer's professional integrity.
Many players were already impatient. Coupled with the fact that the pre-order version was so much cheaper, they naturally bought it without hesitation!
Furthermore, Chen Mo repeatedly stated that this game was a one-time purchase for permanent access. All future updates would be free, and there were absolutely no in-app purchases in the game!
The "absolutely no in-app purchases" clause made many players exclaim about how generous it was. Especially coming from Chen Mo, it was even more shocking.
Who didn't know Chen Mo by now? The guy who was "going broke selling skins"...
To be fair, the "free game, expensive skins" model was pioneered by Chen Mo with *League of Legends*. It had become so mainstream on mobile platforms that even the VR title *Overwatch* followed this model, with decent results.
Players were already completely familiar with the "free-to-play" routine. They knew that "free" often meant the pitfalls were even deeper than in paid games!
So, for Chen Mo to now declare that *PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds* would have no in-app purchases at all was simply mind-boggling to players!
Could Serent really be this generous? It just didn't make sense!