Rebirth: I Want to Surf

In 2002, Blizzard released Warcraft III.

There are many factors for the enduring popularity of this game, one of which is the powerful map editing function. Domestically speaking, Tianlongbabu, Zhensan, Chenghai, Guardian Jiange, etc. are all classics with countless fans.

Of course, there is also a famous name: DOTA!

DOTA, the full name of Defense of the Ancients, can be translated as guarding ancient trees, guarding relics, etc. It was originally just a map of "Warcraft 3".

During its development, several foreign netizens played a vital role, including: Wind Cane, Sheep Knife, Pen Dragon, Ice Frog, etc.

A lot of stories happened in the middle, leaving a lot of controversy. In short, Yangdao and Bilong closed the DOTA forum in the end, and joined a small broken company as a hero designer and responsible for user experience.

The company is called Riot Games.

The founders of the fist game are Brandon Ritz Baker and Mark Merrill, both of whom are fans of Blizzard.

The two are college classmates. They each found a job after graduation, but felt that life was worthless, so they decided to make an online game to build energy, so the "League of Legends" project was established.

…………

Interstate 405 in Santa Monica, under an overpass somewhere.

This used to be a mechanical workshop, but now it has become Riot Games' office. It is quite spacious inside. A row of long cubicles with computers is considered an office area. There is only a chandelier above the head, and the walls are bare.

There are more than a dozen people in total, including several hourly paid interns.

The interns sit in the last row, where the light is the darkest, and the bright places are reserved for the core technicians.

There is no "League of Legends" yet, but a game called "Charge". At first, the fist team only wanted to be a developer and hand over the game to the publisher for operation.

But after they met with some publishers, the two sides disagreed.

For example, in the United States, stand-alone games are for selling games, and online games are for selling monthly cards, while in China at this time, games are free, and money is made by selling props.

The Riot team wanted to do the same, but the publishers couldn't accept it because the US market hadn't been validated yet.

In this way, if they do not compromise, they will have to take care of R\u0026D and distribution by themselves, which will require more funds.

"I've been moving into my girlfriend's apartment for a month!"

In the boss's office separated by glass windows, Mark couldn't help complaining: "It's a small one-bedroom room without a TV. If I fart, I'm afraid the ceiling will be shaken down."

"But you saved a lot of rent."

"Yes yes, not only did I save the rent, I even saved a year's salary, and I borrowed $300,000 from my father."

"Don't nag, I also borrowed 250,000 yuan, and I haven't been paid for a year!"

Brandon choked back, his voice was a little louder, and the two of them pressed their hands together to keep quiet.

In the dim room outside, the pitifully small number of employees are still busy, and everyone is under great pressure. They don't want to add any trouble.

The family conditions of the two are relatively good. With family support and some angel investment, they have received about 1 million US dollars one after another, but it is far from enough.

In the earlier known articles, there are such routines: "Americans will be kicked out of their homes at the age of 18 to live independently", "The United States is not a society of human relationships", "Americans look at abilities and not relationships"...

Fooled a lot of people.

In fact, the so-called self-made people in the United States are similar in nature to those in China. If you check carefully, your family is full of backgrounds, and no matter how poor you are, you are still a middle class.

"Okay, at least there is good news today, a Chinese team will come over soon."

"Actually, I've always wondered why the Chinese came to us?" Mark asked.

"Who knows..."

Brandon shrugged and said, "Maybe our trip to San Francisco to attend the Game Developers Conference a while ago caused some small impact."

...

Although Yao Yuan plays games, he is not a game fan, let alone a fanatic. "League of Legends" is awesome, but for him, this awesomeness is not the game itself, but the ability to bring a lot of money.

So when he saw the office under the overpass 20 minutes later, his heart didn't fluctuate.

"Mr. Yao, meeting for the first time!"

"Welcome to come!"

Entering, meeting, saying hello... Yao Yuan obviously felt that the other team was very nervous and seemed to have no relevant experience. A few interns huddled in the dark back corner, at a loss, until the boss called for coffee.

There is nothing to visit in this house as far as the eye can see, so we go straight to the point.

Mark and Brandon began to introduce the current progress of the game and some ideas to several people. They first showed a huge design document, which contained familiar terms: Demacia, Zaun, Freljord and so on.

Three more heroic characters are shown—because there are only three.

Yao Yuan felt that it was neither fish nor fowl, and it didn't quite match his impression, so he watched a crude demo version. The scene was white, and three ugly heroes with strange shapes ran around, releasing their skills...

"We wanted to make a MOBA game that wasn't restricted by Blizzard..."

Mark and Brandon spitting out grand plans and future dreams, this is their understanding of investors, and they love to hear this.

After talking for a while, Yao Yuan asked, "What is its profit model?"

"..."

The two of them tightened their hearts and said cautiously: "We don't want to sell games, we don't want to sell monthly cards, we hope to make money by selling props in the game."

"What's the reason?"

"Free games are more attractive to players. The mode we designed is not easy to learn, and it takes more than a dozen games to discover its fun, so it requires a process of free exploration."

"Well, this model is very common in China, and the United States does not seem to be there yet."

"It's not much, but we're confident! Because it's a blah blah..."

After blowing again, Yao Yuan was noncommittal and asked, "Then what type of props do you choose to sell?"

"Well……"

Embarrassment for Mark and Brandon, it's not sure yet.

Although they were surprised by the investment intention of the Chinese team, they were very satisfied with the investors themselves. They had already checked on the Internet, both in English and Chinese, and the 99 Group made a lot of noise.

Social media and games are very influential in China. He is very experienced in buying props, and has a lot of money. He just took a huge sum of US$1 billion.

"..."

Yao Yuan pretended to think for a moment, did not give an answer, got up and said: "Thank you for your explanation, let's stop here today, we also need to study it."

"Okay, I hope to have the opportunity to cooperate."

(no more...

I don’t know what happened to League of Legends and Dota back then, I found all the information on the Internet, so I’ll explain it here)