Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Translated by Coldtaco
Edited by Aelryinth
In his previous life, MOBA dominated the PC and mobile market; other genres didn’t even come close. In Chen Mo’s mind, MOBA’s dominance would continue for at least five to ten years.
(Trans Note: MOBA = Multiplayer Online Battle Arena format, i.e. League of Legends, DotA, etc.)
As for what game would take the place of MOBA, and be the king for the next ten years? Nobody knew.
If someone did have the answer, he’d start making it now!
This was only true in the previous world, but what about in the parallel world, where gaming design concepts were undeveloped?
Although the parallel world had VR games, Chen Mo didn’t think that the VR games had better playability than MOBAs.
On the PC front, the genres that were being pressured the most were adventure and FPS games, followed by strategy and management games. Genres like casual and mobile games weren’t affected by VR games at all.
Chen Mo thought that MOBAs, as a genre that had never surfaced in the parallel world, had huge potential, not unlike his previous world.
That was why he hypothesized that PC games would never die off, and PC internet cafes would never go extinct.
Of course, he wouldn’t go and try and explain this concept to others, much less reveal any game concepts.
Zuo Yao studied the arrangement in the experience store and asked, “I just thought of something. Are you the only one in the experience store?”
Chen Mo was shocked, “What do you mean, just me? Aren’t there other players here?”
Zuo Yao explained, “I mean that in an internet cafe, there’s someone responsible for technical issues, and one for the cashier. Is it just you here? Are you able to manage it?”
Chen Mo said, “Oh, that’s what you meant. I’m able to manage. The checking in onto the machines is self service. The daily maintenance and cleaning are done by professionals. There really isn’t much that I need to do.”
Zuo Yao said, “But you still need to keep an eye on the first floor right? Isn’t your office on the second floor?”
Chen Mo was shocked; he really had overlooked that problem.
Now that the experience store was open for business from ten to eight, Chen Mo had to stay on the first floor. However, his office was on the second floor.
That meant that Chen Mo had to be the receptionist!
Zuo Yao said, “I think that you should hire someone to work at the front. In the end, you’re now a famous video game designer, surely you don’t have to be so personal with the players?”
Chen Mo nodded, “Yeah, you do have a point…”
Zuo Yao stood up, “Alright, I need to head back. Come visit me next time. Since we are neighbors, let’s visit one another more often.”
“No problem!” Chen Mo stood up and showed her the door.
——
After sending Zuo Yao away, Chen Mo started to brainstorm about the receptionist problem.
Plants vs Zombies was now making stable income. And Chen Mo wasn’t short on money like before either. It was entirely possible for him to pay for one other person.
However was concerned Chen Mo was other than the receptionist, was there anyone else that he needed to hire?
Many video game designers have an assistant. For example when A or S-grade designers are designing larger VR games, it’s unreasonable to complete it with one or two people, a whole team would be required.
Chen Mo was now also decently well-known. If he wanted to hire an assistant, it was likely that many designers that hadn’t entered the industry would be willing to work without pay.
However, Chen Mo was a bit hesitant.
This world wasn’t the same as his previous one. The previous world relied on strength; the more talents the company had, the better the company would grow. Popular games required coordinating research, distribution, and marketing. Creativity wasn’t the be-all and end-all for video games.
It wasn��t the same in this parallel world, where creativity was everything. Chen Mo didn’t doubt that, either. If a A-grade video game designer caught wind of the idea of a MOBA, they’d be able to create something with striking resemblance to a MOBA in a year’s time.
Chen Mo’s Thunderbolt entertainment wasn’t as big and mighty as something like Emperor Dynasty Entertainment or Zen Entertainment, so creativity was all he had, and something he could not afford to lose.
He now had a Pandora’s Box in his hand. Once the box was opened, it would drastically change the video game industry. When that happened, the other companies would surely do something in retaliation.
What if the change came early? That wouldn’t be good news for him!
Therefore, there was a certain risk to hiring an assistant. Chen Mo’s way of thinking would surely affect the assistant’s after working for him long-term. Once the assistant figured something out and started their own company, it would be the same as Chen Mo raising his own competitor.
Chen Mo was quite conflicted!
However, he decided on hiring an assistant in the end.
He would be making larger games in the future, and there was no way he could do that alone. This step would have to be taken sooner or later.
Of course, this assistant must be chosen to his requirements. He’d rather not hire one than hire the wrong one.
—
After getting something in mind, Chen Mo went to his computer and put in a long Weibo post.
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Hiring: Video game experience store receptionist, female, good-looking, good working attitude, with basic knowledge of the video game industry.
Hiring: Video game designer assistant, male or female, must have sufficient knowledge of the video game industry, professional, good working attitude.
Applicants must provide the following: 1. Resume, 2. Thoughts on Plants vs Zombies 3. Thoughts on any other mobile game on the market, 4. Thoughts on the future of the video game industry.
Please send the above details to my inbox, successful applicants are required to go through an interview.
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After proof-reading the post, he sent it out.
Chen Mo now had around a hundred thousand fans on Weibo. Most of them were fans of Plants vs Zombies, or industry professionals who liked the game. Most of them were shocked after seeing the post, and reposted it.
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This is a good opportunity, reposted.
I’d love to go, but I’m still in school, reposted.
Surely there’s something to gather from the designer of Plants vs Zombies! reposted.
I wanna join! I’ll be writing my thoughts on the games then.
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Soon after, Chen Mo received plenty of interest after his Weibo post was reposted countless times.
Of course, many of them wanted to be his assistant, and there were barely any receptionist applicants.
It was difficult to enter the industry, even in the parallel world. Many wanted to join the industry, but couldn’t make it themselves or didn’t have enough talent; this was their only choice.
As Chen Mo was now decently popular, the people who wanted to work under him were plentiful.
In the eyes of many, Chen Mo was an extremely talented video game designer whose first game had gone viral. They would surely learn a lot if they had a chance to work under him!