Chapter 999: The Masterpiece Arrives
Hearing this news, all the players were shocked.
Chen Mo must be out of his mind, taking another loss??
They had never heard of a digital product already being sold, and then the hardware configuration being upgraded for free!
Not to mention, this hardware upgrade was incredibly generous, with the storage capacity directly expanded tenfold!
If calculated at market price, Chen Mo was indeed bleeding money—how much would a hard drive with ten times the storage capacity cost?
Many players recalled what Chen Mo had said in a previous interview: once hard drive storage technology innovates, he would release "Grand Theft Auto."
This came way too fast, didn't it? It was as if Chen Mo could predict the future, having calculated that storage technology would innovate at this exact time!
Yeah, he must have gotten inside information—that had to be it!
While many Matrix Game Pod players were overjoyed at getting a high-end hard drive for free, they were also eagerly wondering: could it be that "Grand Theft Auto," for which Chen Mo hadn't announced a specific release date, was really about to go on sale??
...
In reality, Chen Mo didn't lose that much.
The new hard drive storage technology was indeed a big improvement over the previous one, but the manufacturing cost wasn't ten times higher—it was only about twice that of the original hard drive storage technology.
Moreover, this technology wasn't completely ahead of its time, nor was it impossible to crack. As long as foreign tech companies got their hands on the new hard drives and spent a lot of effort researching them for a year or so, they could probably produce them too.
So, this technology essentially gave Chen Mo a time window. Within that window, he could do whatever he wanted, but it wouldn't completely leave other tech companies in the dust.
Besides, Chen Mo had already built a large price margin into the Matrix Game Pod's selling price, especially for the international version—the extra money paid could buy over a hundred game pod hard drives...
Regardless, this move indeed made players grateful, shouting that Serent was too kind-hearted.
More importantly, the new hard drives came pre-loaded with resources related to "Grand Theft Auto," along with some other resources from the resource library. The resources on the hard drive were heavily encrypted, and all resources in the library had intellectual property rights—other game companies would face lawsuits if they used them.
The resource volume of Chen Mo's "Grand Theft Auto" was unprecedented. Next-generation VR technology demanded higher game capacity, so pre-loading most resources directly onto the hard drive meant players could activate the game immediately after purchase, which was very convenient.
After swapping in the new hard drive, Matrix Game Pod players also discovered a very exciting piece of news: a game entrance for "Grand Theft Auto" had appeared in "Oasis"!
It was a helicopter. A new helipad had appeared behind the player's beachfront mansion, with the helicopter parked there. However, players couldn't open the helicopter's door yet, let alone operate it.
But clearly, Chen Mo wouldn't have just made a helicopter for players to look at. This helicopter was likely meant to serve as the entrance to "Grand Theft Auto," just not activated yet.
Subsequently, Chen Mo announced some good news: thanks to the storage technology advancements, "Grand Theft Auto" could now provide players with the best next-generation VR experience. Thus, the game's release date was set: June 7th!
As for the price, it was 3,680 RMB domestically and 660 USD internationally.
This price surprised many players because it was too expensive!
In fact, few of Chen Mo's single games had ever sold at this price. Normal VR game prices were usually around 1,980 RMB, and those over 3,000 were typically all-in-one enhanced editions with very rich content.
But this time, it clearly wasn't an all-in-one. "Grand Theft Auto" was a single VR game, yet its price was nearly double that of typical AAA game titles.
Of course, platforms differed, and development costs varied, but the difference shouldn't have been this extreme. Judging by the previous price of "Detroit: Become Human," "Grand Theft Auto" was definitely on the expensive side.
Although a large number of players commented "I'm out" after seeing the price, Matrix Game Pod players remained calm and even more excited for the game.
Because based on years of experience, Chen Mo never set prices randomly. His prices often offered great value for money. Since this game was expensive, it meant its development costs were far higher than other games. Additionally, for players willing to spend 300,000 RMB on a Matrix Game Pod, an extra thousand or so for a game wasn't completely unacceptable. The key was still how good the game would be and what kind of experience it could deliver to players.
...
...
On June 7th, "Grand Theft Auto" officially went on sale.
As soon as the purchase option opened on the Thunder Game Platform, a flood of players rushed in, eagerly paying to activate their game access.
Most of these players were loyal fans of Chen Mo. On one hand, they trusted his new games deeply; on the other hand, Matrix Game Pod games were scarce. By now, most players had grown tired of "Detroit: Become Human" and desperately needed a better game to continue their immersive experience.
Domestic and international streamers naturally jumped in too, starting live streams of "Grand Theft Auto" as soon as possible.
That said, next-generation VR technology wasn't very friendly to the streaming industry at the moment. The complex sensations streamers experienced in the Matrix Game Pod couldn't be conveyed to viewers in the live chat. Viewers could only get visual and auditory stimulation, which was far inferior to actually playing the game.
Fortunately, the Matrix Game Pod's movie mode somewhat compensated for this issue.
The VR experience area at Thunder Entertainment's headquarters was packed, but experienced veteran players had lined up early, so they could play right away.
Zou Zhuo had already secured a Matrix Game Pod and was ready to start streaming "Grand Theft Auto."
Buying his own Matrix Game Pod was out of the question—why spend so much? He could only mooch off the trial pods in the experience area to keep his streaming going.
He lay down in the Matrix Game Pod and woke up in the beachfront mansion.
Zou Zhuo played with his dog for a bit, wrapped up his usual banter with the audience, and then headed to the entrance of "Grand Theft Auto"—the helipad.
This time, the helicopter's door was already open. Zou Zhuo got in, and without needing to do anything, the helicopter started up automatically and flew into the sky.
The sound of the rotors was very loud, but the experience of riding a helicopter was also very novel. Zou Zhuo looked out through the helicopter's windows.
Soon, the helicopter had flown over the vast sea. About two minutes later, Zou Zhuo saw a coastline in the distance, with the faint outline of Los Santos visible.
From afar, the city's size far exceeded Zou Zhuo's imagination.