Chapter 98 - PC Gaming Research

Translator: Exodus Tales  Editor: Exodus Tales

Chen Mo did some stretching before going downstairs.

There had been more customers in the experience store recently as many players in the Imperial Capital wanted to have a ‘nice meeting’ and take a few photos with Chen Mo.

After all, Chen Mo was now a ‘famous videogame designer”.

The players who were talking about sending razor blades turned out to be quite friendly in real life. They were especially happy after Chen Mo agreed to give them early access to the beta test for his next game.

Su Jinyu couldn’t help but shake her head at these people, “Is this what they refer to in history textbooks when they talk about how weak and comprisable the petite bourgeoisie were…”

After talking to a few of the new customers, Chen Mo put on his jacket in preparation of going out.

“Hmm? Are you going out, manager?” asked Su Jinyu.

Chen Mo seldom went outside and would spend most of his time in the experience store. If he wasn’t making new games, he would be thinking about making new games.

Everything that could be done online would be done online. This included shopping and food delivery.

Which was why Su Jinyu was shocked that Chen Mo would be going outside.

Chen Mo replied, “Yep, I’m going for a walk. I’ll be back before the store closes.”

Chen Mo then left the experience store and walked towards Fates Internet Cafe on the other side of the road.

Chen Mo had already experienced VR games and had a certain idea about it, the next step would be to check out how the PC market was doing.

Chen Mo had only dabbled in the mobile games up until now, and therefore didn’t have too deep of an understanding for the PC or VR side of things.

However, Chen Mo wasn’t satisfied with being known as a famous mobile game designer, he wanted to expand into PC games as well.

And of course, he needed to do some research before entering the industry, and the best way to do research was to visit an internet cafe.

It was easy to tell how popular a game was just by looking at how many people were playing said game in an internet cafe. This number would most likely be more reliable that lists or leaderboards online where it would be easier to fake numbers.

At the front desk, Zhuo Yao was sitting there eating sunflower seeds while watching drama.

Zhuo Yao noticed immediately when Chen Mo walked in, hastily throwing away the shells into the bin, “Hey, a rare customer. Come in, come in.”

Chen Mo laughed, “Aren’t you the owner of this internet cafe? Why do you have to work as the cashier too?”

“Sigh, it’s to cut costs. I do have a cashier, but I can’t have her keep watch day in day out. I’ve been contemplating on hiring another one, but that’d cost a bit. And since I didn’t have much to do, I decided to do this myself,” replied Zhuo Yao.

Chan Mo laughed, “What a way to pass time. Are there any free spots? I’ll take one.”

“Yeah, just swipe your ID here. It has never been all that busy here, I’d always have empty spots other than the nights of holidays.

Chen Mo said, “Alright, I’ll go find some place to sit.”

“Alright, if you have anything, ask for the administrator. That guy right there.”

Zhuo Yao pointed at a man wearing glasses.

Chen Mo nodded, “Alright, thanks.”

Zhuo Yao waved her hand, “No need for thanks. I’m still waiting for you to develop a game that is able to rival VR games.”

Chen Mo laughed, “Alright, I’ll be playing then.”

After swiping his ID, Chen Mo paid twenty RMB and settled at a quieter seat in the store.

As the Imperial Capital had fully banned smoke in all public places, the internet cafe was quite clean and didn’t smell of cigarettes.

1As he walked to his seat, Chen Mo took a quick sweep of what the other players were playing.

MMORPG and RTS games took the top, other genres such as strategy games, business simulation games, and action-adventure games had fewer players.

The last few genres either had a smaller audience, or were dominated by VR games, and had less good PC games of its genre as a result.

There were quite a few playing MMORPGs, and Chen Mo had already managed to identify three of the more popular games as he walked towards his seat.

Legend of the Sword, Moon Lord’s Prophecy, and Warring Three Kingdoms.

Legend of the Sword was a Wuxia game developed by Zen Entertainment. The VR version was widely considered to be one of the best VR games in China, and was Zen Entertainment’s proudest work.

It was quite common in this world to have a game both on VR and PC. As the cost of developing VR games were quite high, if it were to fail, it would be hard even for a company like Zen Entertainment to take the hit, so companies are incentivised to develop a PC version to test the waters.

It was because of the success of Legend of the Sword that Zen Entertainment decided to develop the VR version, making the Wuxia game into what their company was known for.

Moon Lord’s Prophecy used a Eastern fantasy theme, and was based on a popular web novel by the same name. This was developed by an Qiu Jiang, an S-grade video game designer from Emperor Dynasty Entertainment. Its VR version was also in the makes, and could be released before the end of the year.

Moon Lord’s Prophecy had more players and better revenue, however, it wasn’t as well received as Legend of the Sword.

Warring Three Kingdoms were different from the other games. It was an MMORPG that featured battle between nations. It had a small player base, but had high revenue as well as having loyal players. However, as the company developing this game was short on cash, they didn’t have a VR version planned.

There were a few Western fantasy RPGs outside of China, such as Heavenly Ring. As if cursed, every overseas game with a Western fantasy game that tried to expand into China didn’t end up so well. Even a huge IP like Heavenly Ring plummeted straight into the ground.

This could be caused by what the players were used to, but it also could be cultural differences. In short, this saved the big companies in China a lot of effort.

Other than MMORPGs, there was a RTS game called Legion Conquest that was incredibly popular in China.

“How could an RTS game be so popular? And even comparable to MMORPGs? Incredible.”

Chen Mo found Legion Conquest on the computer, and launched the game.