Rebirth Tokyo 1986

Chapter 463 This is very simple

Kalinsky was immediately impressed and made a decisive move, quickly taking Takeshita Masato's game proposal to Starry Sky Games' Los Angeles studio.

After briefly explaining the gameplay, he handed the game proposal to the studio's lead producer, Carmack.

"So, this game shouldn't be too difficult, right? Can we finish it by early next year?"

The essence of the game Counter-Strike lies in the confrontation between players.

The design difficulty is far lower than that of similar works on the market.

All you need to do is design a few maps and some guns.

That's why Kalinsky was thinking of completing the production within six months and releasing it before Christmas.

When Carmack heard Kalinsky's question, he reluctantly looked away from the game design proposal.

This game is fantastic; it speaks to his very soul.

Yes, Carmack's ideal games are those without a storyline, where everyone just picks up a gun and charges in for a fast-paced, action-packed battle.

This trend is very evident in his creations of the Doom and Quake series.

However, one person cannot match the wisdom of many. Ultimately, the 5v5 shooter game Counter-Strike was born from the Half-Life game editor, which is now commonly known as a mod among players.

"Of course, it's very simple."

Carmack's concise response demonstrated his strong confidence in the development of Counter-Strike.

He could complete such a simple game in three months, let alone more than six months.

It only took him 3 months to create Doom.

With so many people now, even if technology improves, six months is more than enough time.

"Not bad, as expected of the company's ace."

Kalinsky was delighted and then asked, "If we add a map editor feature, will it take a long time?"

"The map editor is also very simple, and if everything goes well, the company can promote and release it before Christmas."

Carmack was eager to make this seemingly interesting game right away, but for the sake of reason, he explained it again.

"If that's the case, that would be even better."

Kalinsky waved his hand, completely relieved.

Besides the game Counter-Strike, he has another mission.

He informed Carmack that the company was preparing to hold a world esports competition.

"Oh, an esports competition? When will the company hold it?"

When it comes to esports events, Carmack's eyes immediately light up.

He was very interested in this and even tried to organize a Thor's Hammer tournament.

Its influence is just a little lacking.

It's not very popular outside of North America.

In a strict sense, Carmack can be considered one of the pioneers of esports in China.

In his past life, the company he led held a Quake tournament, in which a Chinese player ultimately won the championship.

"The plan is to hold it next July or August. You can also provide a reference plan."

"No problem, but what about the venue?"

"It should be located in Los Angeles. Japan doesn't have a strong esports culture, and there are legal issues there."

Japan has an Unfair Prize Prevention Law, which stipulates that money or goods provided by businesses for promotional purposes are considered bonuses, with a maximum limit of 10 yen.

The law was well-intentioned, primarily targeting domestic gambling issues.

However, as time went on, many drawbacks also emerged.

The most typical example is that it has seriously affected e-sports events in Japan.

Why do so many esports events in Japan have so many bizarre rewards in later generations?

For example, selling oysters or plain panties is a way to circumvent this law while simultaneously grabbing attention.

If Japan is not suitable, then the only option left is the United States.

This area has a large player base and a strong passion for esports, making it ideal for hosting large-scale tournaments.

Actually, besides the United States, South Korea is also a good choice.

South Korea was the first country in the world to elevate esports to a national policy, with strong support from both the government and the public. However, the South Korean gaming market is too small, which hinders the promotion of Starry Night Games.

"Los Angeles is great, it's a really good place to be."

Carmack was very pleased, happy that the event could be held in his hometown.

He then asked, "How much funding is there? Has the chairman said?"

In the late 1990s, esports was still in its infancy.

There are very few tournaments and players. Their influence is limited to a very small circle.

As for clubs that would later serve esports players, there were none at this time, and even if there were, they were very irregular and unable to provide support in terms of funding, accommodation, etc.

Therefore, Xinghai Group needs to cover the athletes' expenses out of its own pocket.

In addition to providing athletes with round-trip airfare, accommodation, and meals, Xinghai Group also needs to rent venues and equipment, so a large expense is unavoidable.

"Don't worry, this time it's Chairman Takeshita who's pushing for it, so the funding will definitely be substantial."

"The fact that the president himself is pushing for this means the contestants are in luck."

Early esports players were mostly from humble backgrounds, so their accommodations were arranged by the tournament organizers, and they stayed wherever the organizers provided.

A decent double room in a budget hotel; a bad one might even mean sleeping on the street.

That's right, sleeping on the streets.

In 2009, the Chinese LGD club participated in an international DOTA competition, and the players slept on the streets because they had no money.

If conditions were so difficult in 2009, one can only imagine how difficult it was now in the late 1990s.

If Xinghai Group does not provide transportation and accommodation, it is estimated that athletes from most places, except for a few developed countries, will not be able to come.

Of course, not necessarily.

If any team members try to use this to their advantage, I'll probably have to borrow money to get them.

"That's for sure, they'll probably be at least three-star hotels."

Kalinsky was very confident in the athletes' accommodations; this was a project personally promoted by the chairman, and poor accommodations would not only be a disgrace to the Xinghai Group but also to Takeshita Masato.

After discussing the logistical support for the players, the two then talked about the players and the media, as well as the prize money, which is of utmost importance to everyone.

Whether now or in the future, a prize pool is essential for an esports event to attract players, generate interest, and receive media coverage.

This was a tried-and-true method in the e-sports industry until he time-traveled.

For example, the recently popular Saudi Arabia eSports World Cup attracted worldwide attention with its $7000 million prize money.

If Xinghai Group's WCG e-sports events want to become a huge success, they will naturally have to follow this path.

Of course, there are also esports events that do not follow this route.

For example, in League of Legends, the prize money for tournaments isn't very high.

But that was in 2011, the era of mobile internet.

At that time, esports had gradually gotten on the right track after years of unregulated growth.

Both players and the media have a higher acceptance of esports.

In addition, the rise of social media has given the event more exposure and publicity.

The immense popularity of League of Legends (LOL) and the emergence of officially paid esports clubs ultimately led to a situation where LOL tournaments no longer needed prize money to prove their worth. However, this was a minority situation, and given the low level of esports influence at the time, Xinghai Group naturally didn't consider it.

"The specific plan has not yet been finalized, but according to the chairman's vision, the total prize money for the event will not be less than $500 million."

The prize money for the event is no less than 5 million, and the total expenses are about 10 to 20 million.

After all, the bulk of the money spent on gaming events is always on promotion.

After all, while esports events have a certain degree of independence, their essence is still to promote games.

However, even if it's ten or twenty million, it's just a drop in the bucket for Xinghai Group. But the results of the competition were absolutely sensational.

Back in 2011, when the first DOTA2 International was held, the prize money was only about $100 million, yet it still caused a sensation around the world.

Many gamers, and even non-gamers, know that a game called DOTA2 has very high prize pools.

However, it is precisely because the prize money is so high that it has created a bittersweet effect in China.

Many Chinese DOTA players thought it was a scam and simply didn't believe the organizers would offer so much prize money.

Back then, even the most lucrative esports tournaments only offered tens of thousands of dollars at most. Most only offered a few thousand dollars.

The difference between the two sides is dozens of times, so it's no wonder that they were mistaken for scammers.

The late 1990s will surely cause an even greater sensation around the world.

If Xinghai Group were to bribe media outlets in various countries, it wouldn't be a problem to get the New York Times in the US, the Asahi Shimbun in Japan, and the People's Daily in China all under one roof.

In addition, there will definitely be TV stations that try to report on it.

After all, esports is a novel thing, and it sounds very interesting, which can attract a lot of attention.

"It's so tall, it'll probably cause a global sensation."

"Of course, that's exactly the effect the company wants."

Masato Takeshita has high ambitions for the e-sports industry, hoping to develop e-sports events that can meet viewership ratings, just like the development of the China-Japan football league.

In this way, Xinghai Sports can provide Xinghai Group with a continuous stream of profits, becoming the cornerstone of Xinghai Group's interests.

To be honest, esports did take a lot of detours in its early stages.

They could have laid a solid foundation during the early 2000s computer video era and then achieved a leap forward in the mobile internet era after 2010.

As a result, in the era of computer videos, esports was in a completely undeveloped state.

Apart from South Korea, which has achieved a certain scale, the rest of the countries are in a state of chaos.

The ultimate result was that the mobile era finally reached a certain scale.

However, at that time, we clearly missed the most favorable opportunity for the development of esports.

The reason is simple: as the gaming industry continues to expand, more and more games contain esports elements.

Players' attention is scattered among different games, reducing the scale effect.

However, the esports industry as a whole is still becoming increasingly promising.

It is estimated that in a few years, it will be entirely possible for it to rival some popular traditional sports.

Masato Takeshita is getting involved now in order to accelerate the development of the e-sports industry in his previous life.

If the esports industry had been led into the post-pandemic era before his time travel, before the mobile internet boom, the major esports games he planned to promote would definitely have a brighter future.

Early esports players didn't have to endure as much hardship, which allowed Xinghai Group to gain broader revenue and profits.

"You know, the president wants to develop esports into something comparable to traditional sports events."

"And we will play the role of controllers of the four major American sports leagues."

Kalinsky was well aware of the chairman's ambitions.

This is why, even though he didn't quite agree with the chairman's choice, he still actively helped him.

Opportunities for development are indeed few, but the investment is also small, while the rewards for success are enormous.

After discussing the chairman's vision and ambitions for the esports industry, Kalinsky suddenly said something else.

"By the way, several projects have already been finalized."

"Street Fighter 3, which was recently released by Starsea Games' main studio; StarCraft and Warcraft, which were recently acquired by the company; and Counter-Strike, which you were assigned to create."

Carmack strongly agrees with the selection of these projects.

Street Fighter is the originator of fighting games and the most popular fighting game in the world.

Warcraft and Starcraft are currently the most popular RTS games on the market.

As for Counter-Strike, which they commissioned to develop themselves, you can tell from the design plans. This game also has a strong competitive element, making it very suitable for tournaments.

However, his approval of the project does not mean he has no questions.

"Are there only games from our company?"

"No, football games and racing games will also have representatives selected."

"The company will then find the one with the best competitive effect and complete the copyright negotiations."

For our own games, everything is fine as long as the notifications are in place. But other games won't provide Xinghai Entertainment with such convenient access.

Not only will copyright negotiations be required, but there will likely be a series of restrictive conditions as well.

It doesn't matter, just exclude those with overly strict conditions.

Anyway, apart from RTS games, FPS games, and fighting games, the rest are basically just filler.

There are few followers, few participants, and the prize money will be lower.

Yes, the prize money varies for each event in the competition.

Popular games, such as StarCraft and the yet-to-be-released Counter-Strike, may offer prize money that is 10 times greater than that of less popular games.

Masato Takeshita's goal is esports, so naturally he needs to increase the promotion of popular games.

Those niche projects may disappear in a few years, and their influence is low, so there is no need to pay too much attention to them.

"I see. How many projects is the company planning to launch?"

"Ten, that's neither too many nor too few."

To be honest, Masato Takeshita initially only planned to work on five or six projects. This is because the number of esports titles available worldwide is currently very limited.

But considering that it was so little, it seemed a bit stingy, so I added a few more to make it a round number.

"Ten is indeed a good number."

For the first time, the 10 projects were indeed very good.

It wasn't too much or too little, not enough to throw Xinghai Entertainment into a panic.

After discussing the game projects, Kalinsky then talked about the division of the various competition regions and the number of participants for each project.

Thanks to the emergence of Xinghai Internet Cafe, more internet users and gamers have appeared around the world.

Therefore, Xinghai Entertainment directly set up 12 competition zones, and then selected 24 slots for each e-sports project based on the influence and future potential of each zone.

The first tier, consisting of the North American and Western European regions, has four slots for each category.

Next, in the second tier, there are two entry slots for each of the following regions: China, Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, South America, and CIS.

Finally, in the third tier, the Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan region, the Australian region, the Nordic region, and the Middle East region each have only one entry slot per category.

The division is a bit rough, but we'll do it this way for the first session and adjust it later.

If the competition is successful, the number of participants for each event can be increased to 32.

At that time, WCG will create an esports glory that far surpasses its predecessor.

(End of this chapter)