Building a Gaming Empire From Scratch

Chapter 579: Chapter 550: Heavenly Thunder Triggers Earthly Fire!

The match ends, and it’s time for settlement.

All players receive additional bonuses based on their performance and battlefield points.

Experience rewards, level-ups, war bonds, and —— Chest lotteries.

According to Cloud Dream’s rules, after each match, there will be a number of chests equal to one-tenth of the player count for players to draw.

This match was a [60 vs 60], so there would be 12 chests.

The losing side can only get two chests, while the winning side gets ten.

The losing side’s chests are allocated directly to the two players with the greatest contribution. For the winning side, chests are randomly distributed, with a probability of one in six.

The good news is: these chests have no cooldown time. If you’re lucky enough, you can draw dozens of them a day.

The bad news is: these chests don’t have a guaranteed reward. You might not draw one at all, and even if you do, it’s hard to say if you’ll get the desired items…

As always, Cloud Dream does not offer this item through pay-to-win methods.

It just emphasizes the grind.

None of the anchors were lucky enough to get a chest.

Camille Victoria glanced at the chest in the corner of the combat room and understood its purpose: if you win the lottery, opening the chest would yield items.

Lance, on the other hand, was able to get a chest due to his active participation in the battle. Not only was his shooting accurate, but he also followed the squad to capture objectives multiple times, ultimately earning the title “highest-scoring player on the losing side.”

Upon opening the chest in the combat room, he found a beautifully-crafted golden pistol.

Without a doubt, this was a top-tier reward.

—— if only the gun was of normal size…

Lance looked at the small pistol lying in his palm, which wasn’t even half the size of his hand, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

When firing this thing, would you have to hold it with two fingers?

“Are they insane?!”

“Who would actually use this thing on the battlefield?!”

Lance was speechless.

“But…” He soon started contemplating whether it could be traded. “It could be a gift, as long as you don’t take it to the battlefield. It’s quite fun.”

Putting away the pistol, he entered the [Armory] again to check the new weapons he unlocked during the battle.

He also looked into how to best spend his newly acquired war bonds.

…

When the match was over, all players followed the same steps as Lance:

Inspecting their equipment, considering how to spend their war bonds, and deciding whether to unlock vehicles, weapons, planes, or horses.

And after swiftly depleting their resources, they eagerly resumed the battle!

Players from both sides felt the same, neither side was discouraged by the previous defeat and wanted to continue playing.

In fact, both sides found it exhilarating!

The victorious side, of course, enjoyed a thrilling comeback after being suppressed, winning by the slimmest of margins. It could be described as a miraculous turnaround, and the ecstasy was palpable!

Naturally, they couldn’t wait to start the next round.

The losing side had a great early game.

Even when they were suppressed later on, they didn’t think it was their fault. Instead, they blamed the game mechanics, the armored train, not their own skills.

Moreover, they eventually destroyed the armored train!

They exacted their revenge on the spot and had a great time.

If there was any difference, it was that most of these players chose to prioritize unlocking tanks when spending their war bonds.

——In case they encountered the train gun again, at least tanks would be faster than their bare bodies!

These two groups of players were a microcosm of all those participating in multiplayer games of “Battlefield”——

No one thought their skills were lacking, and even if they lost, they never blamed themselves. It was always the game mechanics, stupid teammates, unfamiliar map, difficult weapons, strong enemies, or some other reason —— but never their fault.

At this moment, they were all drooling over the locked weapons and vehicles in the armory, eagerly joining battle after battle to level up and earn money.

In the gaming industry’s terms: the game’s retention rate was astonishingly high, with player online rates steadily increasing.

*

Meanwhile, the management of [Burned Boat Club] was deep in thought.

It wasn’t because of the loss of this match; that was not a big deal.

What they were pondering was another important issue: were there too few players in the club?

Influenced by Lincoln, Cloud Dream had always enjoyed grand spectacles, whether it was the “Freedom Day” during the “Assassins’ Alliance” era or the “Speed Racing” and “Card King” events in “Speed Chase” – which involved tens of millions of players?

In such a style, the club often felt dizzy.

Since the birth of virtual reality games, they knew that the esports industry would inevitably undergo a huge transformation, and they were already prepared for a complete shift and keeping up with the pace.

But they never expected the transformation to be so outrageous!

Only during the “Assassins’ Alliance” period did they hold a professional competition in earnest. Afterwards, every competition was off the charts, and the club couldn’t find any way to get started.

Not to mention catching up with the times, they could barely see Cloud Dream’s tail lights…

When “Battlefield” was released this time, everyone originally thought that hope had finally arrived, and Cloud Dream was finally entering a territory they were familiar with.

Yet, as soon as Cloud Dream started, the minimum competition format was “30 versus 30”, and the largest “National Warfare” mode was even “100 versus 100”!

There’s no need to think twice, just by looking at the name, one could guess: the most influential and attention-grabbing game content in the end must be the “National Warfare” mode!

If Cloud Dream wants to hold a large-scale event, it is highly likely that they will directly utilize the “National Warfare” mode to launch a global competition!

But the problem is…

There are only about 20 players in the entire club, even counting all the substitutes, which isn’t enough.

Recruit more youth players?

Or first form an alliance with other clubs and see how it goes?

The manager hesitated for a long time and still couldn’t make up his mind: “Let’s just hold our horses and see how big Cloud Dream plans to make this National Warfare mode.”

“If its influence is strong enough, then we can only increase our investment.”

After saying this, he added cautiously:

“The VR industry is already rapidly declining, with NetDragon on the verge of collapse, Flying Fox factory halted production, and no new VR game development plans being announced. These are all lessons from the past.”

“The popularity of virtual reality games has expanded the player base by more than 10 times, and the esports industry is bound to enter a golden age. But the esports model by then may be completely different from the current esports, and they might be two completely different things.”

The manager looked around, gazing at everyone present, and reminded them earnestly: “This is by no means an exaggeration. Look at the anchors signed up by Cloud Dream’s live streaming platform—they didn’t try to dig up famous anchors, but instead directly invited elites and geniuses from all walks of life to join, which is a very important signal.”

“It is quite possible that Burned Boat Club won’t make it to that golden age, and all existing clubs vanish into thin air!”

“So what we need to do is seize every opportunity but not make rash decisions, making sure Burned Boat Club can safely step into that golden era!”

“Considering the efficiency of Lincoln and Cloud Dream, I believe we won’t have to wait too long for that day to come!”

…

Players were unaware of the club’s concerns.

In the hearts of the players, the birth of virtual reality games brought an endless stream of new games, and there was always something new to play almost every month or even every week. Wasn’t that good enough?

As far as the players were concerned, a golden age?

It’s already here!

The whole afternoon was spent fighting in “Battlefield,” one match after another, tirelessly.

After all, different maps, different play styles, different tactical strategies, and combat skills always offer new things for players to study.

Not to mention each match brings rewards: increased level, unlocking new weapons, new medals, and new ribbons.

Watching the medal wall, display cabinet, and armory in the combat room go from empty to increasingly rich, the satisfaction continues to accumulate. Who could stop?

This phenomenon was not exclusive to Daxian players or even East Asian players.

In fact, quite a few European players and anchors got up at dawn to wait for the game’s release despite the time difference.

Anchors started livestreaming matches as soon as the game was launched, playing non-stop until daylight, with no intention of going offline.

Moreover, as more players and audiences flooded the live broadcast room during the day, they became even more excited, grabbing a snack and continuing to stream, determined to keep going until the system kicked them offline!

However, this wasn’t the most interesting part.

The most interesting part was: in an extremely coincidental “National Warfare” mode battle in the Sinai Desert, the players from the Ottoman Republic encountered the players from the United Kingdom.

Both sides even randomly landed in their respective country’s faction.

— Although at this point, the Ottoman Republic had long since ceased to be the historical Ottoman Empire. Both its territorial area and influence had drastically declined.

But after all, their ancestors had experienced prosperity, and the players of the Ottoman Republic still cherished the past.

Just like the British players on the opposite side, they also cherished the past glory of the British Empire.

This highly dramatic, almost historical reenactment was broadcasted simultaneously by anchors from both sides, attracting a large number of players and spectators from the two countries to watch the battle.

In the game, it was a fierce clash!

—Don’t forget, there are no language barriers in the virtual world.