There are many factors that contribute to the enduring popularity of this game. One of them is the powerful map editing function. Domestically speaking, games such as Tian Long Ba Bu, Zhen San, Cheng Hai, Guardian Sword Pavilion, 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 ruins, etc. It was originally just a map of "Warcraft 3".
In its development process, several foreign netizens played a crucial role, including: Wind Staff, Sheep Knife, Pen Dragon, Ice Frog, etc.
Many stories happened in the middle, leaving a lot of controversy. In the end, Yangdao and Bilong closed the DOTA forum and joined a small company as hero designers and responsible for user experience.
This company is called Riot Games.
The founders of Riot Games are Brandon Rez Baker and Mark Merrill, both of whom are fans of Blizzard.
The two were college classmates. After graduation, they each found jobs, but they felt that their lives were worthless, so they decided to make an exciting online game, so the "League of Legends" project was launched.
…………
Interstate 405 in Santa Monica, under an overpass somewhere.
This used to be a machine shop, but now it has become a Riot Games office. It is quite spacious inside, with a row of long cubicles containing computers as the office area. There is only a chandelier above the head, and the walls are bare.
There are a dozen people in total, including several hourly paid interns.
The interns sit in the back row, where the light is darkest, and the brighter areas are reserved for core technicians.
There is no "League of Legends" yet, but a game called "Charge". At first, the Riot 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 had very different opinions.
Like here in the United States, single-player games are sold, and online games are sold with monthly passes. But in China at this time, all games are free and they make money by selling props.
The Riot team also wants to do this, but the publisher cannot accept it because the US market has not yet been verified.
In this way, if they do not compromise, they will have to take care of R&D and distribution themselves, which will require more funds.
"I've been moving into my girlfriend's apartment for a month!"
In the boss's office, which was separated by glass windows, Mark couldn't help complaining: "It's a small one-bedroom apartment. It doesn't even have a TV. If I fart, I'm afraid the ceiling will shake down."
"But you saved a lot of rent."
"Yes, yes, not only did I save rent, I also saved a year's salary, and I also borrowed $300,000 from my father."
"No need to nag about this, I also borrowed 250,000, and I haven't received a salary for a year!"
Brandon choked back, his voice a little louder, and the two of them pressed their hands in unison to remain quiet.
In the dark room outside, the few employees were still working hard. Everyone was under great pressure and they didn't want to cause any more trouble.
The two of them have relatively good family conditions. With family support and some angel investments, they have successively received about 1 million US dollars, but it is far from enough.
In earlier publicly known articles, there were such routines as: "Americans will be kicked out of their homes when they turn 18 to live independently", "America is not a humane society", "Americans value abilities rather than relationships"...
Fooled many people.
In fact, the so-called self-made people in the United States are similar in nature to those in China. If you carefully check their family background, they are still middle class no matter how good they are.
"Well, at least there is good news today. A Chinese team will be coming soon."
"Actually, I have always been curious, why did the Chinese come 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 very awesome, but for him, this awesomeness is not the game itself, but the fact that it can bring a lot of money.
So when he saw the office under the overpass 20 minutes later, his heart was not disturbed.
"Mr. Yao, first meeting!"
"Welcome!"
Entering the door, meeting and greeting... Yao Yuan obviously felt that the other team was very nervous and seemed to have no relevant experience. Several interns huddled in a dark back corner and were at a loss what to do until the boss called for coffee.
You can see this house at a glance, and there's not much to see, so let's get 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 with familiar terms: Demacia, Zaun, Freljord, etc.
Three more heroic characters are revealed - because there are only three.
Yao Yuan felt that it was nondescript and did not match his impression, so he watched a rough demo version. The scene was white, with three weird and ugly heroes running around, releasing skills...
"We want to make a MOBA game that is not restricted by Blizzard..."
Mark and Brandon expounded on grand plans and future dreams. This is their understanding of investors, and they loved hearing this.
After talking for a while, Yao Yuan asked: "What is its profit model?"
"..."
The two people felt nervous and said carefully: "We don't want to sell games or monthly passes. 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 get started. You can only discover its fun after more than ten games, so it requires a process of free exploration."
"Well, this model is very common in China, but it doesn't seem to be the case in the United States."
"It's really not much, but we are confident! Because this is a bala bala..."
After another blow, Yao Yuan was noncommittal and asked: "Then what type of props do you choose to sell?"
"Well……"
Mark and Brandon are embarrassed, this is not yet determined.
Although they were surprised by the investment intentions of the Chinese team, they were very satisfied with the investors themselves. They had already checked online, both in English and Chinese. The 99 Group had made quite a stir.
Social networking and games are very influential in China. He is very experienced in buying props and has a lot of money. He just received a huge investment of 1 billion US dollars.
"..."
Yao Yuan pretended to think for a moment without giving an answer. He stood up and said, "Thank you both for your explanation. That's it for 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 online, so I’ll explain it here.)