I am a Big Player
Chapter 255 - 253. Who is the boss of Qinghe Games? (Fourth update)_1

Chapter 255: 253. Who is the boss of Qinghe Games? (Fourth update)_1

In 2006, Luo City was still a city with a slow pace of life, sometimes even comparable to Chengdu, without much overtime work, everyone would go home or out with friends to eat, drink, and have fun after work.

The office buildings would go dark early, leaving only the neon lights of the skyscrapers and Qinghe Games.

Qinghe Games was an oddity within this office building, it was normal for them to work late into the night, and the building’s security knew that there was a company inside that was quite unique, starting work late in the morning and finishing even later at night, as if all the night owls of the country had gathered there.

Every member of Qinghe was in celebration mode, and tonight, some even intended not to return home unless they were drunk. Of course, no one would really get drunk, because tomorrow marked the start of a new milestone, Dota was going to be officially released.

Just having a celebration and speeches wasn’t fitting, so Ren He announced on the spot that everyone would receive double their salary this month, and everyone looked at each other before cheering "Long live the big boss!" at the top of their lungs.

It seemed that this double salary was what truly put the perfect full stop on today’s celebration, and the veterans had experienced such things before. They were well aware that Ren He was not a miser. This was also why everyone was willing to stay here.

Double salary for over four hundred people for a month—how much money was that? With one decision, more than two million yuan was spent.

It seemed like a lot of money, but it was crucial for the development of Qinghe, and everyone would understand the principle: as long as the big boss was happy, as long as everyone did well with Qinghe Games, anything could happen...

Early the next morning, Ren He arrived at the company early. Now everyone at Qinghe Games was full of energy, the all-media department was dealing with various game media to secure coverage on Kunlun’s breakthrough of a million users. Qinghe Games had never intended to keep a low profile, nor could it afford to do so.

From its very inception, it was destined to become a leader in the gaming world; it couldn’t keep a low profile.

Moreover, the way society was at that time, the higher the exposure, the more the income. No one would fight with money.

Reaching a million users was not just glory, it was an opportunity to conquer new territories, one that Qinghe Games certainly wouldn’t pass up.

At this time, everyone who entered Kunlun and logged in would find that something was different: the login interface background had changed!

Playing Dota would earn them Kunlun game currency and pets, along with multiple other gifts? What’s going on here!

There were many rich players in Kunlun, and even more people envied them. Many did not want to spend thousands or tens of thousands to compete with the rich players.

They had some money, earning their own wages, so spending a few dozen or a few hundred yuan on a game was acceptable.

And these people were perfect for Dota.

A set of collectible skins in Dota only cost 15 yuan, and the competitive nature was absolutely not affected by how much money was spent; it was all about the skills!

At most, it just made the heroes one played look a little better.

Many people didn’t understand. Was it worth it for a mere cosmetic item?

The rich players didn’t think like that. Some people were willing to spend up to twenty thousand yuan for a bug set for a hero.

In any case, Dota was a game suitable for both the rich and the poor. Poor players could still defeat the rich players, and if rich players played well, they could defeat the poor; it was all about skill.

After everyone had played Dota for a while, they realized that after so many poorly-made, cash-grab games had emerged in Kunlun, the appearance of such a competitive game that didn’t require money to enjoy was so refreshing and pure...

The graphics also possessed a beauty that surpassed the times, and it was genuinely free-to-play, with total equality between the poor and rich, garnering overwhelming acclaim!

Other game companies were a bit dumbfounded. Qinghe Games had played a very big game of chess indeed.

At first, when everyone was buying game cards, Qinghe Games declared itself free-to-play, capturing a huge audience and drawing them all into Kunlun.

But then, everyone realized that ’free’ was just a gimmick, and it was the rich who ruled.

Then the game companies started to follow suit, one by one beginning to create so-called free games that were actually cash-grabs, but they couldn’t compare to the founder like Kunlun, which was so frustrating.

And now, you’re really free, and we’ve become the coquettish cheap goods, while you’ve turned into the unsullied and uncontrived...

Man, that’s a huge game of chess!

Major game companies are like mute people tasting bitter herbs, unable to speak their pain, practically shown up by Qinghe Games.

But what could they do? On the release day of Dota, thanks to Kunlun’s bundled operations, the concurrent online player count for Dota shot up to over 100,000.

It seems small, but it had already surpassed many games, and compared to its previous life’s starting point, this life’s figure was untold times higher.

With Dota’s ability to spread, it was bound to rapidly expand, until all the games in the world could only look up to it.

It’s domestic now, but it will go international in the future, Ren He will host the world’s biggest esports event to make those esports youngsters’ dreams come true.

For Dota’s promotion, Ren He really spared no effort. He got in touch with Liu Erbao, asking Liu Erbao to recommend a team specializing in CG animation to produce a promo for Dota, a field Liu Erbao couldn’t handle himself, so he had to find others.

Meanwhile, he himself played internal matches with the technicians from Qinghe Games and recorded videos to showcase Dota’s competitive nature, even spending money to pin these videos to the top of gaming websites.

But it still wasn’t enough, wasn’t appealing enough. Ren He recalled the times when he used to live in an internet café, surviving on a five-yuan bowl of instant noodles each day. Perhaps in this era, there would be people just as crazy about esports as he was once.

The thought alone is enough to touch one’s heart.

Ren He held a small meeting with the planners, sharing his thoughts, to which the planners looked at each other and then said, "Boss, it really doesn’t matter how you want to play, we will support you, no need to consult with us. In Qinghe Games, you are the king."

hours later, major gaming websites across the country suddenly posted new top news: Qinghe Games established the Dota Esports Alliance, with the annual champion receiving a prize of 10 million yuan!

This was 2006 when there were no proper competitive games, no tournaments, no clubs, nothing at all.

million, the prize of two lottery tickets, just for playing games?

What concept was that in 2006?

Great rewards attract the brave, and countless young people would strive for this.

All the game companies were dumbfounded. 10 million for an advertisement?! Such audacity!

What they didn’t know, however, was that this was not just an advertisement, but also a small piece of sentimentality for Ren He. Esports are not a scourge, and should not be scorned; hence Ren He wanted to give it a noble starting point.

Actually, in his previous life, the grand prize for the Dota finals far exceeded 10 million, and Qinghe Games would be the same, with the prize money increasing year by year until youngsters from around the globe would come to compete for the highest honor and wealth in the world of Dota.

The successive big moves from Qinghe Games were unprecedented, the likes of which many operators wouldn’t even dare to dream about.

It was at this moment that game companies finally realized: Qinghe had risen, and they were no longer a target they could catch up with just by talking.

They were curious about something, Qinghe Games’ rise was too sudden, their concepts always innovative enough, their thinking always far ahead but still resonating with people’s psychology, and they had enough guts.

To this day Qinghe Games hadn’t taken a single penny from outside investors, completely self-sufficient.

They were curious, who exactly was the one who single-handedly founded Qinghe Games?!

...

Thanks to Haihunyi for becoming a Silver Alliance patron of this book, adding more for the Silver Alliance. Yes, I’m about to explode with updates from tomorrow, as I’ve promised. I’ll complete it even if it kills me.

I finally have a Silver Alliance, my dream seems yet another step closer.