Chapter 822: Unprecedented Hype from the World Boss
Shortly after the Little Deathwing incident settled, Thunderbolt Interactive officially announced some basic settings regarding world bosses.
This move was mainly to appease the foreign players who had been voicing strong protests.
Think about it—how could it not be infuriating? Such an awesome event, such a precious world boss, and it was exclusively enjoyed by Chinese server players. Wasn’t that infuriating?
Many foreign players expressed strong protests: Why don’t we have it? Why can’t we participate in capturing Little Deathwing? This is unfair! This is discrimination! Strong protest!
In response, Thunderbolt Interactive released an announcement, which boiled down to the following points:
The first world boss, Little Deathwing, was not announced in advance because it was meant to be a surprise for everyone. Future world boss appearances will also not be announced in advance, to maintain that sense of surprise.
The world boss event is not exclusive to the Chinese server; all players worldwide can enjoy it. The specific mechanism is: world bosses will spawn by region, such as Europe, North America, South America and Australia, Korea-Japan and Southeast Asia-India, etc. The regional divisions will consider factors like player population and activity levels in that area.
When a world boss spawns, it will appear at a landmark building in a specific region and city, using a combination of MR technology and real-world special effects. Each world boss battle will employ different combat methods, providing completely distinct visual experiences.
After players successfully defeat the world boss, it will randomly escape to a city in that region, and only one player can capture it.
After seeing this announcement, foreign players were reassured.
So we get a share too!
Moreover, many foreign players have already gone wild with speculation: Will the Eiffel Tower spawn a world boss? Like Rayquaza? Will Times Square spawn a world boss? Like Mewtwo? Will Little Ragnaros spawn in Rio de Janeiro? Will Little Sindragosa spawn in Red Square?
Foreign players were happily daydreaming, especially those in big cities, eagerly anticipating the epic battles of challenging world bosses.
The capture of Little Deathwing was the first of its kind globally. Many players in the capital city rushed over upon receiving the task, and many missed out, left to beat their chests and regret it.
But if new world bosses spawn in the future, after the warm-up from this event, player participation will certainly be higher, the scale will be larger, and the resulting buzz will be even stronger.
Moreover, although the world boss activity seems simple in gameplay, it effectively extends the lifespan of "Pokémon World."
By releasing a world boss somewhere in the world every so often, it reignites player enthusiasm, creates global hot topics, and simultaneously motivates players to grind more Pokémon and spend more on items.
By controlling the quantity of rare Pokémon to maintain their value, many hardcore grinders can gain benefits from the game. Through the conversion of grinding and spending attributes, player interaction is maximized, making "Pokémon World" an evergreen MR game, even integrating "catching Pokémon" into people’s social activities and daily lives.
Once "Pokémon World" reaches this level of popularity, any games attempting to copy this gameplay will be reduced to crude imitations, posing no threat to "Pokémon World" at all.
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Eighteen days after the Little Deathwing incident, the second world boss appeared!
Mewtwo appeared in New York’s Times Square, with an equally cool entrance. A casually thrown blue orb not only shattered a display screen but also triggered a miniature explosion on a nearby building.
Of course, these were pre-arranged effects, but they still thrilled the on-site players!
Although New York players had made thorough preparations for this, with most stockpiling large amounts of revival stones and significantly boosting their Pokémon’s combat power, the Mewtwo capture battle was still fraught with danger, keeping global players on edge.
Fortunately, thanks to the players’ united spending, they successfully captured Mewtwo at the last moment, sparking worldwide celebration.
The defeated Mewtwo was captured by a female player from Los Angeles, who also refused to sell it.
After all the hype, the offers from wealthy players for Little Deathwing and Mewtwo kept rising, but it was useless—these things couldn’t be bought with money. Many people had come to realize that anyone who sold would be a fool. Over time, the value of these world boss-level Pokémon didn’t decline; instead, it kept appreciating!
At first, the highest offer for Little Deathwing was only $200,000, but two weeks later, the offers for both Little Deathwing and Mewtwo had uniformly risen to $460,000...
And the owners still weren’t selling, clearly indicating that the price would continue to rise. How high it would go was uncertain, but it definitely wouldn’t drop.
Was this price high? Not at all... Consider that in Chen Mo’s previous life, many wealthy players in domestic games would spend millions on a single sword. $460,000? That was nothing.
When a game becomes hugely popular, virtual items also gain value; they are not just simple strings of code. It’s foreseeable that as "Pokémon World" continues to boom, these permanently collectible Pokémon will only get more expensive.
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These two world boss capture battles gave "Pokémon World" a massive popularity boost worldwide.
Especially during the boss battles, live-streaming and video sites both domestically and internationally were flooded with "Pokémon World" content. This scene of empty streets served as the best advertisement, even drawing in players who had no initial interest, compelling them to join the nationwide craze of catching Pokémon.
Of course, the motivations of new players varied, such as:
Thinking it was a phenomenon-level game, so they played because everyone else was.
Hearing that catching rare Pokémon could make money, so they wanted to try their luck.
During social gatherings, many people talked about their Pokémon or even engaged in live Pokémon battles, and without a matrix glasses, they couldn’t even tell what others were doing. To meet their social needs, they started playing "Pokémon World."
Especially for many young people, they valued the experience of tech products over price. Many who bought HiSE glasses simply gave them to parents or friends, sold them second-hand, or bought matrix glasses instead, just because those glasses could play "Pokémon World."
As "Pokémon World’s" popularity continued to rise, the overseas sales and market share of matrix glasses also climbed steadily, gradually moving from a niche brand to the forefront of consumers’ attention.