Feng Yu is overjoyed. “What’s the name of this game again?! World of Warcraft?!”
“That’s right. Didn’t you asked someone to tell us that our Warcraft should be made into a massively multiplayer role-playing online game and even gave us many background designs, missions, etc.?” Blizzard’s Director Adham asked in shock.
“Ah… that’s right. But I did not expect you all to be so fast. Have you all completed Warcraft 3?”
“Not yet. But after releasing Reign of Chaos this year, we will release The Frozen Throne next year.”
“What about World of Warcraft?”
“This type of massive 3D game is hard to develop. Luckily, people from other game companies had helped us by sharing their experiences. We estimate it will take two years to develop it, and after the testing, adjustments, etc., it should be ready to be launched in 2005.”
Feng Yu nodded. It is about the same time as his previous life, and it is around the same time when the Legend of Mir’s craze dies down. This will increase Wind and Rain Game’s reputation further.
This life is different from Feng Yu’s previous life. The Legend of Mir’s code was not leaked, and there are no private servers. Also, Legend of Mir has frequent updates with new maps, missions, skills, monsters, etc., to retain their players.
In Feng Yu’s previous life, even after the private servers appeared, the official servers still have many players. But the private servers still managed to get a portion of the players. After all, private servers are easier to level, and players can learn almost all the skills. Also, there are lesser players around and lesser competitions.
Another reason is private server is free to play. Although the game time card is not expensive, it is considered expensive for students.
Feng Yu estimates the Legend of Mir can still collect fees for the next three years and lose popularity when new games appear. He will lower the price of the game time card to retain the players for another year.
In 2006, game time cards will be abolished and switched to membership systems. Players can pay to upgrade their membership level, and there will be different rewards every day. This system follows mobile phone games’ strategy to make money, and The Legend of Mir had used it in Feng Yu’s previous life.
With the new system, the Legend of Mir should last for another few more years and slowly switch to web browser and mobile phone game. This game can bring at least ten years of profits for Wind and Rain Games.
But the Legend of Mir is a 2D game, and 2.5D games, like MU Online, had started to appear in the market. These games have more realistic characters and take away a portion of the players, especially overseas players.
After all, MU Online is based on western cultures and is more appealing to westerners. But even if the Legend of Mir only has the Chinese market, it can still make history in the gaming world.
3D online game’s profit is too important to be given away. Blizzard’s three most popular games must be further developed to make more profits. Currently, the games’ merchandise like comics, figurines, apparel, etc., are also bringing in high profits.
Games are not only selling the disk or collecting monthly subscription fees. The side merchandise is also very profitable. The US and Japanese companies are experienced in this area, and Feng Yu asked Kameda Masao to handle it. He had done well, and Legend of Mir’s side merchandise is selling well in China.
The World of Warcraft is the most popular MMORPG game in Feng Yu’s previous life, and the craze lasted for more than ten years. Even before his rebirth, many people are still playing it. After this game was released, all sorts of 3D online games appeared.
Excluding China, more than ten million players subscribed to World of Warcraft. Although the Legend of Mir has more than 30 million players at its peak, that is the number of registered accounts. The number of players online is only around 1 million on a server.
In this life, the number of players online in the Legend of Mir is much higher. This is because of its aggressive marketing, servers’ performance, earlier development of China’s PC, and internet development. But the number of players online is dropping slowly.
New servers are released frequently, and the number of registered players is slowly increasing. Most people are still playing Legend of Mir while some are playing Half-life, Diablo, and other games in internet cafes. Oh, some are there to watch movies.
This period is considered the golden period of PC games.
Gaming consoles like the Playstation, Nintendo, and Gbox still have fun games, but as more online games are released, the consoles’ market shrunk.
However, the real killer of video game consoles is mobile phone games.
As smartphones become more common, many people can play games, read novels, watch videos when they are free. They will no longer feel bored and look for things to do.
People tend to bring their phones wherever they go, and game consoles had to switch towards virtual reality and motion sensing.
But the disadvantage of these console games is you need a big space, or the player will get hurt.
You say you can sit on the bed to play the game? But you will know you are sitting on your bed, and how can you feel like you are in the game?
That’s why the video game console can only target high-end customers. Simultaneously, the gaming market is being taken over by PC games and mobile phone games.
Mobile phone games are not available in this era, and most of the market share is still video game consoles. But it is slowly encroached on by PC games.
Feng Yu wants Wind and Rain Games to come into every gamers’ mind when talking about PC game history.
“Just go ahead with the developments. If you have any financial difficulties, just inform Kameda Masao of Ralph.”
“We should have no problem with our finances as our Warcraft 3 is selling well. The profit is enough for us to develop World of Warcraft.”
“Good. Remember to treat the company’s employees well and make them feel they are a part of the company. Don’t be stingy when it comes to their bonuses. The higher executives and outstanding employees that had made significant contributions to the company should be rewarded. You don’t need to seek my permission.”
In Feng Yu’s previous life, Blizzard had gone through several rounds of their higher executives leaving and seriously affected its operations. In this life, Feng Yu does not want this to happen again.
“Thank you, Mr. Feng. Under your leadership, the company will surely reach another level. Wind and Rain Games will take over the PC game sector in the future. We will write the history of PC games together!”
Translator’s notes: My wife and I had played WOW for a few years when we were dating. I still remember the maximum level at that time is 80 or 85. I will Tank, and she will DPS… But after that, we stopped due to other commitments. What’s your favorite MMORPG?
Mu Online
