Chapter 989: UNEXPECTED ANNOUNCEMENT

"WHY is Uncle Yi Mu here?" Bai Ze asked no one in particular when he saw Uncle Yi Mu appeared on the stage. He turned to Shen Ji Yun and asked, "Did you know about this?"

Shen Ji Yun shook his head. "No."

It seemed that Luo Yan's performance was not the only surprise his uncle had for him. His uncle was wearing a neat black suit over a black shirt. Even his hair was neatly done. It's like seeing a real-life CEO instead of a game avatar. Anyone looking at him right now would not think that he just came out of the closet, rather violently, just earlier in the day.

"Does Uncle Yi Mu not usually attend the opening ceremony?" Luo Yan asked.

"No. Uncle Yi Mu only goes during the final championship to hand over the trophy," Bai Ze answered.

"Maybe he's going to announce something," Su Yuqi said with a shrug.

And Shen Yi Mu's next words proved that.

"You must be wondering why we have a new venue when it's only the seventh season," he started. "Of course, it's for a special reason. It's because this will be the last season of Arcadia Cup, as you know it."

Countless murmurs resounded inside the stadium, showing just how much this announcement disturbed the players present. But the one bringing this news did not care and just continued.

"Don't worry, it doesn't mean that Arcadia Cup will completely be gone. A bit of adjustment is needed, you see. Because by next year, the amount of players playing Arcadia would be tenfold."

The murmurs then became even louder. Probably because most of the people there already had a guess on what Shen Yi Mu was implying.

"This is because there is going to be a worldwide expansion this year. That's right. The game is finally going to be available outside of the country. Starting from other countries in Asia, then North and South America, followed by Europe, then the rest of the world. With this expansion, a few changes are needed with the Arcadia Cup.

"By next year, we will try to hold a global tournament with the representatives of the countries we find ready enough to fight on a global scale. Of course, our country being one is already a given. And on that note, I want to say that the champion of this year will be the one to represent our country in next year's global tournament which we will call 'Arcadia Masters Cup'.

"So, good luck everyone. Please, strive to do your best for this year's Cup. And oh, before I forget, welcome to Lunaris Vale!"

After just dropping a huge bomb like that, the CEO of Moonlight Media disappeared on stage as if he had just talked about the weather.

And that's how the opening of this year's Arcadia Cup ended.

After the explosive announcement made by Shen Yi Mu, Weibo, as well as the game forum, were all in an uproar. It even became a trending topic just a few minutes after. Showing just how many people were talking about it.

[Is Arcadia really expanding overseas?]

[But would it be just one big server in which everyone from different parts of the world could interact, or would different countries have their own servers?]

[I think it would be better for everyone to have separate servers, right?]

[I agree. What could we even talk about with foreigners?]

[What's wrong with interacting with foreigners? Since this is Moonlight Media we're talking about, they would have definitely made a language program so everyone could understand each other even if we talk in our own language.]

[But wouldn't we be overcrowded then if there's only one big server for everyone? I'm sure there's a lot of people who would play Arcadia once it's available to play over there. Like, isn't it a big topic in other countries?]

[Right? It's been years since a lot of people outside the country had been requesting for Arcadia to have an international release. Now, that it's coming true, there's no way people wouldn't buy it.]

[Maybe the servers would be divided by continent, so there won't be a problem of overcrowding.]

[And how could there even be overcrowding? Do you guys know how big Arcadia is? Without mentioning the floating islands, as well as other secret areas, the total land mass of Arcadia is three times as big as that of Earth. So, there wouldn't be a problem even if the remaining population of the world started playing Arcadia.]

[Wow. I just checked the Arcadia Encyclopedia, and the land mass is really thrice as big as that of Earth.]

[I've been playing Arcadia for five years now and this is the first time I found out about that.]

[So overcrowding would never be a problem.]

[Then, a single server is almost confirmed, right?]

[Makes sense. I mean, Moonlight Media had been preparing for international release for years now. Maybe they had already made beta testing without people knowing.]

[Yeah. Like if it has taken this long for an international release, they must have made this fool-proof, right?]

[Man, imagine the amount of money it would bring to Moonlight Media once it's released. Maybe the CEO would be in the top 10 richest man in the world, by then.]

[He's still a bachelor, right? Even though he's that handsome. Should I apply as a wife?]

[Anyway, it's good news, nevertheless. The more, the merrier, right?]

[But what about that Arcadia Masters Cup? Wouldn't it be disadvantageous for other countries to fight a champion team from our country? I mean, they would only have a few months of experience at most. How could they fight toe to toe against a team like Team Celestials, for example?]

[But if Arcadia is going global this year, wouldn't it be like a genuine esport tournament by then?]

[Let's not worry about that. It would happen a year from now, anyway. This announcement only made me excited about this year's Arcadia Cup. Since it would be the last one, it would definitely be spectacular, right?]

A lot of people agreed on that last comment. Saying that they couldn't wait for the surprises Moonlight Media would bring to this year's Arcadia Cup.