Almighty Video Game Designer

Chen Mo replied after some thought, “Oh, this game is the same as I Am MT, a form of ‘creating happiness mindfully’ I guess. I think the success of Onmyoji comes from the players, and evidently, the players are feeling the happiness I created for them more than ever.”

The corner of Han Lu’s mouth twitched, Chen Mo was still the same as before!

But Han Lu wasn’t worried as she came prepared.

“Many players complain that the game relies too heavily on RNG and the game doesn’t treat the unlucky ones among us well, what do you think?”

Chen Mo replied, “Oh I think compared to I Am MT, Onmyoji is even more balanced.”

Han Lu was confused, what did this mean? How could you call a game that had so many paying players balanced?

Chen Mo could tell that she was confused, explaining, “You see, in I Am MT, you become stronger the more you pay. The whales have a definite advantage over free players. But in Onmyoji, the whales aren’t any stronger than the free players. It’s not like they can’t draw SSRs if they don’t pay. As long as they word hard, they can beat the whales too. Doesn’t this show that Onmyoji is more fair and balanced than I Am MT?”

Han Lu was shocked, she felt that something wasn’t quite right, yet couldn’t refute.

And maybe Chen Mo actually made sense?

Han Lu got that thought out of her mind and switched topics.

“There were rumours that you have your assistants eighteen months of pay in year end bonus after your success in Onmyoji. Is that true?”

Chen Mo replied, “No, that’s just a rumour.”

Han Lu nodded,” I thought it sounded too good to be true, I might’ve believed it if it was five or six months.”

Chen Mo replied a few moments later, “It’s quite easy to tell that it’s fake. It’s not the end of the year, it was a quarterly bonus.”

Han Lu was utterly shocked, “Huh? Eighteen months of pay as quarterly bonus?”

Chen Mo nodded, “Yes, everybody knows that us at Thunderbolt Entertainment will always follow the idea of ‘creating happiness mindfully’. I hope that every one of my staff will put their heart into making each and every game. MOney isn’t what is important, it’s our ideal and our love of video games that brings us together.

“This bonus is to ensure that they have their basic necessities. There’s quite a lot of stress living in the imperial capital, and it’s difficult working with me…

Before Chen Mo could finish, Han Lu was shocked. Eighteen months pay as quarterly bonus? To ensure basic necessities?

“Are you guys hiring? Perhaps someone who has studied in a major university?” asked Han Lu.

“We aren’t really lacking help at the moment…”

“Just cleaning is fine too!” exclaimed Han Lu.

Chen Mo laughed, “We have some plans to hire more, but I haven’t decided on when.”

Han Lu nodded,”Ahem, alright. Let’s move onto our next topic.

“Everybody knows that you’re the number one video game designer who knows how to make money. What do you think about the idea of making money? Do you have any secrets?”

“Well, I’m not making games just for money, it’s just something that happens along the way.”

Han Lu was confused, “Something that just happens?”

Chen Mo nodded, “Yeah, the reason I make games is to give players happiness, add value to society, in the name of art. I’m actually losing money a lot of the time.”

Han Lu was shocked, “You? Lose money?”

Are you kidding? Onmyoji had two hundred million RMB in revenue a month. You? Losing money?

That’s just plain lying! How are you going to explain yourself this time?

Chen Mo explained, “You don’t believe me? Take a look at Onmyoji. I give jade to the players quite often, every holiday, every update, and it’s a few hundred jade every time. That’s all money.

“Even the players are saying they are building up a small fortune. This clearly means that the players are benefiting from this.

“Think about it, if I give each player one or two hundred jade every day, at a few million daily active players, how much money am I giving out a day?

“You don’t need to be good at maths to know that it’s a humongous number!

“So the free players are so happy playing Onmyoji. They can draw SSRs without spending a single cent. Aren’t the players the ones benefiting in this instance?”

Han Lu was shocked, with a “I’ll just watch you run your mouth” look on her face.

Obviously it was hard to get Chen Mo to open up about Onmyoji, so she decided to pivot to another game instead.

“You’ve also switched to the PC market for a bit right? You’ve made two very successful games, Warcraft and Wulin Legend. They are known as the best in their genres.

“I’d like why did you choose to make it a pay to play game, instead of a free to play game like Onmyoji?”

Chen Mo gave it some thought, “If the players really want it, I could probably do that…”

Han Lu stopped Chen Mo as soon as she could, “Wait! I mean it’s quite nice like that!”

Han Lu’s heart almost jumped out of her chest. If Chen Mo really changed Warcraft to the same profit model as Onmyoji, she’d definitely be hunted down by the fans.

Chen Mo continued, “It’s not too hard from an implementation perspective, I mean, if the players really want that…”

Han Lu stopped him again, “The players aren’t asking for it, let’s end it at that!”

Chen Mo nodded, “Alright.”

Han Lu wiped sweat off her forehead, “Well, what are your thoughts on the future of the mobile card game industry? We all know that I Am MT started the whole saga, with many video game designers following suit. Do you think other designers will copy, I mean take inspiration from Onmyoji?

“I think there are designers out there who are really interested in referencing Onmyoji. But I’ll be honest, the mobile card game industry is huge, but it doesn’t have enough space for other games after accounting for Onmyoji.

Han Lu was shocked, he really did say it! He said that the entire mobile card game industry was his, and hinted that everyone should back off!

It’s like he’s declaring war on the other mobile card game designers!