Who would still start a business seriously after being reborn?

Chapter 576 World of Warcraft
Sun Baxin's words, through the satellite signals of Universal Vision and the global media network, instantly spread to every corner of the world.

Sun Baxin's blunt and arrogant words instantly ignited the national pride of all Chinese viewers.

This confidence and arrogance were completely contrary to the characteristics of the Chinese nation, and even the bigwigs in the VIP seats fell silent after listening to the translation.

Inside the VIP room, Du Yusheng watched the exciting scene with a proud smile on his face.

He turned his head and whispered to Chen Zhi beside him, "Next, it's our turn to go on stage."

Chen Zhi looked at the jubilant crowd below the stage, then at the champion team surrounded by the media, and didn't understand the meaning of Du Yusheng's words.

At the height of this frenzy, Mike Morhaime, president and founder of Blizzard Entertainment, smiled, straightened his shirt, and slowly walked onto the stage amidst golden light and cheers.

The spotlight followed him, and the music changed from the rousing "Victory" to Blizzard's signature grand and slightly mysterious orchestral pieces.

Sun Baxin and the members of the Momo team stepped back slightly with the trophy in hand, giving the center of the stage to this godfather-like figure in the gaming world.

Mike Mohan stood in front of the microphone, looking at the still-boiling crowd below, a proud and excited smile on his face, and said, "Thank you! Thank you Singapore! Thank you to all the players and fans around the world!"

He paused, waiting for the roar of the crowd to subside slightly, before continuing, "Today, we witnessed history. We witnessed the heights that esports can reach, and the passion and unity it brings. Thank you to Team Momo, Team Moon's Shadow, Team Taishan Great Wall, and Team Phoenix, as well as all the other participating teams, for delivering an unparalleled performance to the world!"

Applause started again.

"We at Blizzard have always been committed to creating worlds that transcend virtual games." Mike changed the subject, his voice becoming enticing, and said, "The Warcraft series, with its story of Azeroth, has long surpassed the scope of strategy games. It has a vast history, countless heroes and legends, and infinite possibilities waiting to be explored."

Backstage, the director quickly switched the camera to a pre-prepared CG animation clip.

On the large screen, the Dark Portal burst open, and green fel flames shot into the sky.

The camera zooms out, revealing two vast and distinctly different regions: the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor.

A dwarf hunter walks through the snowy plains of Dun Morogh with his bear pet.

The Tauren shaman unleashed thunder on the plains of Mulgore.

Human mages studied scriptures in front of the towering church square in Stormwind.

The necromancer summons demons in the dark passageways of Undercity.

The night elf druid entered a dream in Moonglade.

The orc warriors roared their battle cries beneath Blackrock Spire.

Epic music, meticulously detailed character models down to the hair, and a breathtakingly grand world-building presentation...

This is no longer the top-down perspective of Warcraft 3, but a fully immersive first-person game world.

The entire audience, whether in person or watching on screen, held their breath, their eyes glued to the game's cutscenes, afraid of missing a single frame.

Mike Mohan's voice rang out again, shouting, "Yes, as you can see, a true Azeroth is ready, after years of meticulous crafting by our team, and in preparation for a grand enough stage to showcase it to the world... I hereby officially announce—"

He took a deep breath and shouted with all his might:
"World of Warcraft will launch its global open beta on July 18, 2005! A new era of online gaming is about to begin!"

"boom!!!"

The entire venue, no, the entire gaming world, exploded at that moment!

All the previous rumors, speculations and expectations have become reality at this moment, and it was announced publicly at the global e-sports summit with hundreds of millions of viewers!

"Oh my God! It's real!"

"World of Warcraft...it really is it!"

"I knew it, Blizzard had a big surprise in store."

Exclamations and screams in various languages ​​echoed throughout the venue, and the flashbulbs in the press area turned into a white sea as all the reporters frantically typed on their keyboards, rushing to release this bombshell news.

But that's not all!

Mike Mohan was clearly pleased with the reaction from the audience. He smiled and dropped an even bigger bombshell.

"Furthermore!" He raised his voice, silencing the commotion in the arena, and said, "To repay the long wait of players worldwide, we are also giving away 60 days of free playtime to the first batch of players globally at the same time as the open beta launch, and inviting all participating teams in this competition to become our brand ambassadors for the new game in their respective countries! And the champion team, Momo, will become our Chief Experience Officer for World of Warcraft, participating in the game's development!"

Inside the VIP room, Johnson's smile froze completely, replaced by shock and gloom.

He instantly understood that Blizzard, Enze Capital, Momo Group... they were not just hosting a competition, nor were they just promoting some kind of global vision; they were also conducting a global warm-up for World of Warcraft.

The biggest winner of this massive esports extravaganza was Blizzard Entertainment and its controlling shareholder, Enze Capital.

This level of buzz and exposure is something you couldn't achieve even with a billion dollars in advertising.

Although the announcement of World of Warcraft dominated the buzz surrounding Momo's championship win, Momo has also become a part of World of Warcraft.

Du Yusheng's smile deepened as he watched the frenzied reactions of players worldwide, both in the audience and on the screen.

He whispered to Chen Zhi, who was equally shocked beside him, "See? Enze Capital has been suppressing the news for us for half a year, even going so far as to have Blizzard postpone the public beta test. They've been waiting for this day. The world's largest billboard, the most precise user group, all covered at once."

Chen Zhi took a deep breath and finally gained a deeper understanding of Cheng Yi's terrifying strategic abilities.

This isn't a business operation at all; it's practically a precise, God-like deployment.

Before the awards ceremony had even ended, the same news pop-up appeared in the news alerts of major global financial news outlets:
Blizzard Entertainment announces release date for World of Warcraft!

[Enze Capital, as a major strategic shareholder and tournament organizer of Blizzard, has reaped huge profits!]

[A major shock in the gaming world: World of Warcraft officially launches its open beta.]

The ratings curve for Universal Vision also showed an almost vertical upward trend the moment it was announced, setting an unprecedented record.

On online media, hashtags such as #WOW#, #BurningCrusade#, and #WorldofWarcraft# dominated the charts instantly, crushing all previous trending topics about esports competitions.

This global esports extravaganza concluded with the stunning announcement of a groundbreaking online game, pushing its influence to another level.

Sun Baxin and his teammates stood on the stage, looking at the frenzied scene of World of Warcraft below, and smiled at each other. They ignited the night with their championship, while Blizzard illuminated their future path with this new world.

Chief Experience Officer for World of Warcraft, that title sounds really good.

Du Yusheng stood up, straightened his suit, and said to Chen Zhi, "The movie's over, and it was a box office hit. Let's go find a quiet place to have a good chat."

"Okay." Chen Zhi was also deeply shocked.

Both Momo Group and Blizzard are behemoth companies under Enze Capital. If Blizzard leverages Momo Group's extensive network of internet cafes across China and its newly launched Moc-os system, then the launch and promotion of World of Warcraft in China will be smooth sailing and unstoppable.

In Asia, Prince Group's marketing channels are becoming increasingly sophisticated.

In addition, there's the buzz generated by the recent announcement.

This game is ridiculously overpowered.

At this moment, Chen Zhi's biggest worry was whether the overseas version of "The Legend of the Primordial Era" would be affected.

Upon seeing Du Yusheng stand up, more than twenty well-trained private bodyguards immediately came to greet him.

They went all the way to the presidential suite of the hotel inside the convention center.

Upon seeing Du Yusheng and Chen Zhi enter the suite, half of the more than twenty bodyguards were deployed, spreading out in a well-trained manner to control key locations in the corridor, elevator entrance, and suite, ensuring absolute safety.

Du Yusheng casually sat down on the huge sofa in the living room, pointed to the seat opposite him, and said with a smile, "Sit down, relax, there are no outsiders here."

Chen Zhi sat down as instructed, maintaining his respectful demeanor.

Although he was a powerful figure in Southeast Asia, known as the "Crown Prince," the person sitting in front of him was the chairman of the Momo Group.

He watched as Du Yusheng personally picked up the decanter on the table, poured a small half-glass of amber-colored whiskey, and pushed it in front of him. He quickly stood up and took it with both hands.

"Thank you, Chairman Du."

"Don't be so nervous." Du Yusheng picked up a glass of wine, leaned back on the sofa, rubbed his temples, and showed a perfectly measured look of fatigue on his face. He said, "I'm quite satisfied with your performance in Southeast Asia recently."

Chen Zhi's heart skipped a beat; he knew they were getting to the point.

He took a sip of wine, the mellow taste making him relax a little, and said, "It's all thanks to Chairman Du and General Manager Cheng's proper command; I was just running errands."

"To be able to run errands to this level is quite impressive." Du Yusheng smiled and said casually, "You saw what happened with World of Warcraft just now. The hype has already been built up. The next step is to implement it. The Asian market, especially Southeast Asia, is huge and the rules are chaotic. We need someone who can keep things in check and get things done."

Chen Zhi's heart began to race uncontrollably, and an unbelievable thought flashed through his mind.

Du Yusheng didn't keep them in suspense and gave the answer directly, saying, "President Cheng and I have discussed it, and our idea is to entrust the exclusive operation and agency rights of 'World of Warcraft' in Southeast Asia to your Prince Group."

Chen Zhi's heart immediately began to race.

Despite having a premonition, hearing the decision with his own ears still shocked him beyond measure.

This is World of Warcraft, which has been rumored for half a year. It's a nuclear-level product that has just demonstrated its terrifying appeal to hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide.

The value of its agency rights cannot be measured in monetary terms.

Behind this lies massive revenue from prepaid cards, significant brand enhancement, and unimaginable channel control.

"Chairman Du, isn't this...isn't this too hasty? And I'm worried about the Prince Group..." Chen Zhi became somewhat concerned.

He was only responsible for the operation and promotion of the overseas version of "Honghuang Zhanji"; the game setup was handled by Momo Group.

However, World of Warcraft granted him exclusive operating rights, which required him to organize his own technical team and build local servers in various Southeast Asian countries. This is not something that can be done quickly just by having money and power.

"What? Afraid you can't handle it?" Du Yusheng interrupted him and laughed, "When I came here, President Cheng said that if you can't handle it, you should learn to handle it. Our Momo Group will provide full technical support and operational experience. In the early stages, we can even send a core team to help you build the framework. However, ground promotion, especially dealing with all sorts of local figures, you have to do all of that yourself. What we value is your ability in this area."

He emphasized the word "ability," which was quite meaningful.

Chen Zhi understood instantly.

What they valued wasn't how legitimate the Prince Group was now, but rather its extensive network and flexible methods.

This advantage is perfect for monopolizing the local online gaming market.

Overwhelmed by both surprise and pressure, Chen Zhi took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, and said, "I understand! Please rest assured, Chairman Du and President Cheng, even if the Prince Group has to sell everything it owns, it will definitely conquer the Southeast Asian market for WOW."

“It’s not about taking it down, it’s about clearing it out,” Du Yusheng corrected. “What we want is not a flourishing of diverse ideas, but absolute dominance. You have two tasks.”

He held up his first finger and said, "First, leveraging the absolute advantage of being the agent for WOW, and in conjunction with the existing channels of your Prince Group, give me all my strength to suppress all online games except for 'Honghuang Chronicles Overseas Edition,' especially those local games that might emerge or other games from Europe, America, and South Korea that might follow suit."

"In the future Southeast Asian gaming market, internet cafes and other entertainment venues will only have two desktop icons: World of Warcraft and The Legend of the Primordial Era! One will dominate the high-end 3D market, and the other will rule the mass 2D market, forming an absolute monopoly and leaving no opportunity for any third party."

"So, they're going to clean up Audition Online?" A ruthless glint flashed in Chen Zhi's eyes.

Du Yusheng laughed and said, "That's right. We can't control the personal PC market, since we can't just go to people's homes and force them to uninstall. But as long as it's an entertainment market that's open to the public, Audition Online is not allowed to exist."

Chen Zhi nodded quickly and said, "Understood! I will make other games disappear completely from the internet cafe industry in Southeast Asia."

This is very much in line with his style of doing things, and it's also his area of ​​expertise. If Cheng Yi hadn't stopped him, he would have already wiped out Audition Online from the Southeast Asian internet cafe market.

Du Yusheng nodded in satisfaction, held up a second finger, and said, "Secondly, we also plan to give you a good project. Now that e-sports games and Audition Online are popular, the demand for computer peripherals will definitely surge, especially keyboards, which are in high demand."

He paused, took an object wrapped in velvet from his secretary, and pushed it in front of Chen Zhi.

Chen Zhi opened it and found a brand new computer keyboard inside.

The design is simple and sleek, the workmanship is exquisite, the keycaps have an excellent tactile feel, and there is even a very realistic SAMSUNG logo on the back.

"What is this?" Chen Zhi asked, somewhat puzzled.

"This is a Samsung gaming keyboard with a great feel," Du Yusheng said casually. "Except for the spacebar, which isn't very good, everything else on this keyboard is fantastic. Its biggest advantage is that it's cheap. This keyboard only costs $5 on the market, and you can make $3 profit by selling one."

(End of this chapter)