My capital is quite large.

Chapter 137 Dream Three Kingdoms and God's Catastrophe

Los Angeles, USA.

Accompanied by the passionate roars of the on-site commentators that almost pierced the eardrums, dazzling fireworks soared into the sky on the stage of the S1 World Championship!

"Congratulations to FNC! With undeniable dominance, they have won the first-ever League of Legends World Championship!!"

Amidst deafening cheers, the five young European players from FNC excitedly rushed to the center of the stage and together lifted the Summoner's Cup, symbolizing the highest honor.

Meanwhile, in the live streams on iQiyi and Bilibili in China, the comments section was already buzzing with excitement after witnessing this scene.

Although most Chinese netizens don't quite understand the specifics of this game, the visual impact of the pure e-sports competition and the frenzied atmosphere have deeply stimulated the adrenaline of young people!

Just as the awards ceremony ended and viewers in the live stream were about to close the webpage to claim their free VIP memberships...

The image on the screen suddenly changed.

The stirring background music gradually settles down, transforming into a series of epic drumbeats.

On the big screen, the red fist logo of the American Fist Fighting Company slowly faded out.

In its place is the gilded logo of Haofeng Network, which is all too familiar to Chinese netizens!

Immediately afterwards, a line of extremely imposing Chinese subtitles slowly appeared in the center of the screen:

Haofeng Networks officially enters the PC esports arena!

[League of Legends China server is about to launch its open beta in Greater China!]

This time, we're issuing a challenge to players across China from Summoner's Rift! We look forward to seeing the five-starred red flag flying high on the world stage next time!

As soon as these few lines were published, the live stream chat exploded with an unprecedented number of comments!

"Holy crap!! I was wondering why Boss Li went all the way to America to watch the game! Turns out this game really is Haofeng's favorite!"

"Haofeng Network is getting into PC-based competitive online games?!"

"Damn, that last line about the 'Five-Starred Red Flag' got my blood pumping! When is the open beta coming out? I've been fed up with those money-grabbing games from Tencent for ages, I'll definitely play them when they release!"

"Haofeng, who made his fortune in casual mobile games, is actually going to enter the PC game market? This is going to be quite a show for the domestic gaming industry!"

Riding on this live-stream extravaganza with millions of online viewers, the news of Haofeng Network's high-profile entry into PC e-sports games spread like wildfire throughout every corner of the Chinese internet within an hour.

……

Fiyta Building, Nanshan District, Shenzhen.

Inside the Penguin Empire's strategic meeting room, the atmosphere wasn't as tense as one might expect; instead, it was relaxed, as if everyone had breathed a sigh of relief.

Having just watched the live stream of Haofeng Network's high-profile declaration of war, several core executives of Tencent Games Group (IEG) wore confident smiles.

"Mr. Ma, perhaps we were being too paranoid before."

The vice president of IEG stood up, holding an urgent analysis report that had been rushed out overnight, his tone carrying a hint of professional superiority.

"We've conducted an in-depth analysis of the underlying numerical values ​​and business model of League of Legends. The conclusion is: Li Feng made a terrible move this time!"

Pony sat in the main seat, his brow slightly furrowed: "What do you mean?"

"Mr. Ma, take a look." The vice president switched the PPT to the domestic game market share chart.

"Currently, MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) games have a very small audience in China."

The top-selling games on the market are only "Qifan Three Kingdoms: Hegemony" and "Dream of the Three Kingdoms." However, their share of the overall PC game market is less than a fraction of ours.

A hint of disdain flashed in the vice president's eyes: "The core reason is that this type of game's [profit model] has a fatal flaw!"

"MOBA games emphasize fair competition, which is completely different from Tencent's core cash cows, CF and DNF!"

"In CrossFire, we sell a Fire Kirin artifact weapon, and in Dungeon Fighter Online, we sell a set of reinforcement protection scrolls. That's a genuine numerical advantage! We understand the spending psychology of Chinese players best. They spend money to be the boss in the game and one-shot everyone! How can large-scale competitive online games make a profit if they don't sell numerical advantages?"

In 2011, domestic game developers were still stuck in the traditional mindset of "pay to win"—the idea that you could win simply by spending money.

Especially the penguin game, the question "Will you become stronger without spending money?" has deeply resonated with players, who jokingly call it "Penguin Games," a game that uses (no) effort (and money) to create (funny) fun!

Pig farms are even worse. If Tencent is a big shot because it pays money, then pig farms are still nobody even if they pay money.

"Therefore, our think tank's final assessment is: Li Feng is indeed a genius in mobile casual games, but his understanding of hardcore PC games in China is severely lacking!"

The vice president confidently concluded, "His choice of MOBA, a genre with limited commercial potential, as a breakthrough point was purely due to Haofeng Network's lack of experience in developing large-scale MMORPGs and FPS shooting games. It was a compromise made out of necessity!"

Listening to the vice president's analysis, the Tencent executives present all nodded in agreement.

At this point, another supervisor in charge of data monitoring also stood up and added:

"Mr. Ma, the data also supports this conclusion. We have been monitoring Haofeng's only decent PC game, 'Three Kingdoms Kill Online'."

"Although it gets a good amount of discussion in universities, its daily active users and revenue have remained lukewarm. This kind of card-based, light social game simply cannot have a substantial impact on our hardcore online games like CF and DNF, which emphasize the feeling of combat."

The atmosphere in the meeting room eased as people listened to their confident reports.

Haofeng Network is indeed rich and has a large user base, but Li Feng chose the wrong track and is destined to suffer heavy losses in the PC game market.

However, Pony Ma, sitting in the main seat, did not show a relaxed smile like the other executives.

He listened quietly to all the analyses, which seemed logically flawless.

However, looking at the familiar "Haofeng" logo on the screen, a lingering gloom and unease remained deep in his heart.

"The sky won't fall down?"

Pony Ma coldly glanced at the executives present, his voice low and menacing.

"Over a year ago, you assessed Haofeng's Weibo in the same way. And what happened? Now we don't even have a voice in public social media!"

"Six months ago, you were just as pessimistic about iQiyi. And now? The new dramas we spent 500 million yuan to buy are being utterly defeated by their monopolized library of older dramas!"

Pony slammed his hand on the conference table, startling everyone.

"Li Feng is a really strange person!"

"He never does a losing business. The fact that he dared to spend tens of millions of dollars to fully acquire Riot Games and launch such a massive online campaign shows that there's definitely something about this game called 'League of Legends' that we haven't figured out yet!"

In the brutal competition of the internet, Pony Ma has been able to bring Tencent to where it is today not because of blind confidence, but because of his almost obsessive sense of crisis!

"Regardless of whether this kind of game can make money or not, as long as it steals our players' online time, it's digging up our very foundation!"

Pony Ma stood up and issued an unequivocal order for a double-insurance defensive strategy:

"Investment and M&A Department, take immediate action!"

"First, contact Dianhun Network, the company behind 'Dream of the Three Kingdoms'! No matter how much they ask for, we'll acquire them outright or give them a controlling stake! Since the MOBA market is about to take off, we must hold onto the current top brand in China and challenge 'League of Legends'!"

"second!"

A ruthless glint flashed in Pony's eyes. "If you're going to defend, then defend thoroughly!"

"Didn't the overseas investment department just report to Hi-Rez, the independent studio in the US, and they just released a beta test clip of a 3D action MOBA game called 'Smite'?"

"I've seen that video. They made the perspective 3D with a follow-behind element, which is much better than the traditional 2D top-down view and more in line with the shooting habits of CF players!"

"Bring me the dollars and fly to America! Buy out this studio, along with this game, Smite, in its entirety!"

"Tencent's PC game ecosystem is our foundation, and we absolutely cannot allow the slightest mishap! Use these two locks to suppress Haofeng's offensive!"

"Understood! We'll get on it right away!" The executives no longer dared to underestimate their opponents and readily accepted the order.