Chapter 805: Securing the Domestic Market
With the emergence of this batch of MR games, Matrix Glasses’ position in the domestic market became increasingly solid.
On the app side, Chen Mo couldn’t control that, since the companies developing these apps wouldn’t make them exclusively for Matrix Glasses; other smart glasses would also have corresponding versions.
But games were different. Chen Mo had long stated that all MR games on the Thunder Game Platform would be exclusive to Matrix Glasses.
Even if you spent a fortune on a HiSE Glasses, it wouldn’t work—you couldn’t install them.
At this point, the strength of Thunder Interactive became evident.
Although a large number of game designers in the country had sensed the MR game trend and were preparing to develop various MR games, the problem was that they were too scattered and couldn’t compare to the Thunder Game Platform.
Chen Mo’s advantage now was that he simultaneously possessed first-class hardware, first-class distribution channels, and first-class development capabilities.
No other domestic company had such comprehensive conditions.
For example, Imperial Dynasty Interactive had first-class channels and development but lacked reliable hardware. Currently, only HiSE Glasses and Matrix Glasses were the two reliable smart glasses on the market. Players first considered buying the hardware, then the games.
Of course, domestic game companies and hardware manufacturers could collaborate, but they had started late and had already lost the first-mover advantage.
So far, Matrix Glasses could be said to have taken the lead at every step. First, they developed a reliable, usable version at the fastest speed, then quickly launched a wide variety of MR apps and games, which in turn further boosted Matrix Glasses’ sales.
As Matrix Glasses’ market share continued to rise, the situation for other game companies and hardware manufacturers would only worsen.
What if other designers developed a blockbuster MR game?
Then they could make an exception, negotiate a partnership with that designer, and poach them to the Thunder Game Platform.
What about people from Imperial Dynasty Interactive or Zen Interactive? Poach them too. Thunder Interactive was no longer what it used to be; it could outspend anyone without fear.
Through this series of moves, Matrix Glasses had virtually no rivals in the domestic market. Threatening hardware manufacturers couldn’t produce glasses that ran Thunder Interactive’s games, and threatening game companies didn’t have reliable smart glasses of their own.
Even if game companies and hardware manufacturers collaborated, they were already behind Matrix Glasses. Without advantages in hardware or game development, Matrix Glasses’ first-mover advantage was already very clear and almost insurmountable.
Moreover, Zhou Jiangping followed Chen Mo’s advice without question. Could other game companies and hardware manufacturers cooperate so seamlessly without any friction?
As more and more users adopted Matrix Glasses, it would inevitably squeeze the living space of other smart glasses, possibly to the point of extinction.
If all your friends were using Matrix Glasses to play “Three Kingdoms Kill” and various other exclusive MR games, when you went to buy smart glasses, would you still consider other brands if they had no obvious advantage?
Fine, you gritted your teeth and bought another brand. But when you hung out with friends, they were all happily playing multiplayer on Matrix Glasses, and you were wearing a different brand—wouldn’t you feel lonely?
It was the same principle as chat software. In the end, only one would dominate. Once an absolute advantage was established, as long as they didn’t sabotage themselves and no new trend emerged, other competitors had no chance of catching up.
As for who would dominate… the key was a fast start and sustained momentum. Matrix Glasses had both.
…
…
Zhou Jiangping was in a great mood.
During the Spring Festival, Matrix Glasses had become a hot topic, and after the holiday, the buzz only grew.
Every batch sold out immediately, and even now, many shopping sites still showed Matrix Glasses as out of stock. How could he not be in a good mood?
It was like printing money! Who wouldn’t love a business where making the product guaranteed profit?
Even because of the HiSE camera incident, Matrix Glasses had a chance to expand into European and American markets. For Zhou Jiangping, that was a huge step forward.
When he was making phones, he had never imagined that Lehui phones could break into European and American markets and compete with major foreign manufacturers.
Even if they sold there, it was mostly through low-price, budget-friendly strategies.
Of course, Zhou Jiangping was well aware that the current situation was largely thanks to Chen Mo. Both the design of Matrix Glasses and the exclusive support from the Thunder Game Platform played decisive roles in its development.
So, Zhou Jiangping basically followed Chen Mo’s subsequent suggestions without question, especially regarding game support, doing his utmost to meet Chen Mo’s requirements.
If Chen Mo later said they needed to release a flagship version of Matrix Glasses costing 20,000 yuan to provide players with a more perfect MR gaming experience, Zhou Jiangping would definitely comply.
Having been in the phone business for so many years, Zhou Jiangping understood very well the importance of games to hardware.
Devices like VR game pods, which were specifically for entertainment, were one thing. But even devices like phones and PCs, primarily aimed at daily work and life needs, were influenced by games, often dominating many people’s hardware purchasing decisions.
For example, in Chen Mo’s previous life, the popularity of “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” triggered a wave of upgrades. Many people originally only needed a desktop to play “League of Legends”—a 3,000 to 4,000 yuan machine could run it smoothly, so there was no need to upgrade.
But after “PUBG” became popular, computers costing 3,000 to 4,000 yuan struggled to run it, forcing players to upgrade to 8th-gen i7s and 1080 Tis, and even buy high-refresh-rate gaming monitors.
Many laptop manufacturers launched high-performance gaming laptops specifically for games, boldly advertising slogans like “Enjoy PUBG Smoothly,” and even the wallpapers on promotional images were “PUBG” game posters.
The same was true in the phone market. Some phone brands partnered with popular mobile games like “Honor of Kings,” sponsored tournaments, or offered wider screens for a better gaming experience, directly using this as a selling point in their promotions.
These were all examples of how games influenced players’ hardware purchasing decisions.
Clearly, in the parallel world, smart glasses would follow the same path. If there was no significant difference in configuration and quality between smart glasses, then a pair that exclusively hosted a large number of MR games would definitely hold an absolute competitive advantage.
Zhou Jiangping knew that all he had to do now was stick close to Chen Mo. Thunder Interactive had already swept the global VR game scene, winning Game of the Year awards left and right. If anyone in the world was most likely to create excellent MR games, it was probably Chen Mo.
After all, this guy had produced wildly popular games across mobile, PC, and VR platforms, spanning three major domains. No one doubted that Chen Mo could succeed in MR.
Zhou Jiangping even vaguely felt that if Chen Mo could continue his high-level performance from other platforms into the MR game field, developing a dominant MR game that could even conquer a large number of overseas players, then Matrix Glasses, as the exclusive device for the Thunder Game Platform, might truly dominate overseas as well!