Soon, numerous comments appeared below the GPL Spring Season promotional video.
“Holy crap, I’m stunned. This is way too cool!”
“I think it’s not that different from the IOI World Championship promo video—just about a million times cooler!”
“The prestige level is maxed out! It doesn’t feel awkward at all, and it’s filled with an epic atmosphere, just like the opening CG of a AAA game!”
“Looking at it now, the IOI promo video isn’t bad, but it’s copying homework. At best, it’s on the same level as GOG’s Global Invitational promo. But guess what? The GOG promo has evolved again!”
“It’s finals week, and they’re still copying from midterm assignments—they’re not keeping up!”
“Huang Bao looks so cool! Those muscles match perfectly with the hero Modister!”
“This three-minute video is high-energy throughout! The details are perfect!”
“The first half uses light yellow rice paper and monochrome line sketches, like paintings on ancient scrolls, emphasizing the historical and epic feel. The second half is a high-definition game CG, highlighting realism and immersion. The two styles combined, using the ‘Descent of the Gods’ light as a transition, have both foundation and depth. Amazing!”
“The dialogue is good too. Despite having only three lines, it highlights the game’s themes of fallen gods and eternal battlegrounds. Especially the last line, ‘The agents walking in this cruel world will, with mortal bodies, uphold the glory of gods,’ which fits the CG storyline perfectly while highlighting the gameplay where players control heroes. Simply perfect!”
“Every club got screen time! The battle scenes at the beginning featured star players from the original clubs, with Huang Wang, Jiang Huan and others’ signature heroes all making appearances. In the final temple scene, each club’s captain got screen time. Top treatment!”
“By the summer season, they’ll allocate screen time based on spring season results. To get more exposure in the promo, every team needs to work hard!”
“Interestingly, those star players at the beginning seem to be from DGE Club, so is this a DGE Club promo?”
“Team-themed skins? Does every team get one? And all skin revenue goes to the clubs? That’s too awesome!”
“I just checked the details on the official website. Strictly speaking, each team gets a themed skin for their star player’s signature hero. So there are sixteen skins total, for different heroes with different styles and team logos. That’s not too many.”
“I think this is great! Compared to team uniform merchandise that you can’t use, buying skins is the most cost-effective! Plus, these skins generate ongoing revenue—the longer they’re available, the more they sell.”
“Can only say Mr. Pei is being very generous. All these club owners spent a lot of money buying GPL slots, but with these skins plus the advertising effect, those so-called sky-high prices will be earned back quickly!”
“Tenda knows how to play the game. The pre-season matches are still ongoing, yet the Spring Season promo is already out. This promo not only completely outclasses the IOI World Championship promo but also comes with team skin tie-ins, satisfying both players and clubs. Too impressive!”
“I bet those IOI teams are dying of envy seeing this treatment!”
“I’m going to spam the IOI video comments section right now, letting those players see the huge difference between the two!”
Soon, the GPL Spring Season promotional video was pushed to the top of the AiLiDao website’s hot list.
Even though the IOI promo was released two hours earlier, it didn’t matter. GOG’s popularity in China already crushed IOI, and considering this promo was superior in every way, the GPL Spring Season video quickly surpassed the IOI promo and successfully claimed the top spot!
What was more frustrating was that the IOI promo’s comment section had initially been peaceful and harmonious. Most players and even casual viewers thought the promo that Dragon Universe Group had produced was pretty good and showed effort, so they praised it.
But compared to the GPL Spring Season promo, the difference was night and day!
The sentiment in the comments section naturally did a complete 180-degree turn.
“Look, I’m not saying anything, but if IOI already can’t beat GOG in-game, can’t they at least try harder with their promos… put some effort into it!”
“To be fair, GOG isn’t just good at making games, their promos are first-class too. There’s a reason why IOI isn’t popular in China.”
“Look at GPL’s promo—maximum prestige, maximum detail, and not awkward at all! Now look at yours—not an ounce of originality!”
“This promo feels like it’s at least three seasons ahead…”
“You can analyze the key to these two games’ success or failure from their promos: GOG succeeds because it’s pure enough. Whether it’s the GOG game itself, the GPL league, or just a simple promo video, Tenda always tries to create distinctive features and style, burning money and creativity without restraint to present the perfect effect to viewers. Looking at IOI, it feels like imitating blindly, following reluctantly, as if they’re forced to copy whatever GOG does, without any original thoughts or characteristics.”
“Exactly, you can see it from the promos. IOI is still traditionally filming players, but GOG has already integrated players and game together, using a higher-dimensional presentation. It’s fair to say IOI is stuck in their ways.”
“Sigh, honestly, I think GPL’s financial backers, players, and audience are all too blessed! The financial backers may have spent money buying slots, but they’re getting top-tier treatment—each club has exclusive skins, with all profits going to them. The players don’t lack platforms to showcase themselves, with official packaging done perfectly. The audience is even happier, buying affordable skins while watching highly entertaining matches, with all aspects of the competition at first-class standards… Too good!”
“So the question is, why are IOI players persisting? Isn’t playing GOG and watching GPL better?”
Before long, the comments section under the IOI promo was filled with discussions comparing the two videos.
Many viewers weren’t deliberately trying to put one down while praising the other—they just couldn’t help it!
These two promos were released back-to-back, both for the same type of game, both esports-themed promos, yet the final results were worlds apart. It was hard not to have opinions.
GOG players felt extremely proud, while IOI players had absolutely no ground to argue, only envy.
GPL’s Spring Season promo was genuinely good and visibly crushed IOI’s promo—what was there to argue about?
Instead of arguing, they directed their complaints at the official company, encouraging them to spend more on promos next time!
Thus, most players from both sides oddly united in pointing their criticism at Dragon Universe Group.
No matter how you put it, Dragon Universe Group just wasn’t up to par!
Pei Qian looked at the comments below both promos and felt inexplicably exhausted.
Sigh, he had hoped Dragon Universe Group could make a comeback with this documentary, but they were completely unreliable!
Come on, Boss Zhao, do something!
…
Meanwhile, at Dragon Universe Group headquarters.
Zhao Xuming angrily slammed his desk. “Tenda is getting too arrogant!”
“Outrageous! Ridiculous!”
“Don’t they understand the principle of leaving some room for future relations?”
“This Mr. Pei, it wasn’t enough that he openly disrupted the qualifiers and stole attention recently, now he’s even calculating against me with a promotional video?”
“I’m furious!”
Zhao Xuming raged while his assistant stood silently to the side, not daring to say a word.
Zhao Xuming had been quite satisfied with the promo and was even somewhat smug after seeing netizens’ positive reactions when it was first released.
But unexpectedly, just two hours later, public opinion had undergone an earth-shattering change!
As soon as GPL’s Spring Season promo was released, it immediately ground IOI’s World Championship promo into the dust, truly a heartbreaking sight.
The problem was that IOI players were now dissatisfied, too. Seeing others feasting while they ate scraps, they turned around and blamed the Dragon Universe Group.
Dragon Universe Group had spent a lot of money hiring a professional filming team and setting up venues, yet gained nothing good from it. How could Zhao not be angry?
Actually, IOI’s promo was definitely first-class quality, but viewers’ tastes had been spoiled by Tenda, so the comparison made them look inferior.
What angered Zhao Xuming most was the timing of these two promos.
The GPL Spring Season promo was made to game CG standards, which couldn’t possibly be produced in just 2 hours. It was most likely prepared over a month ago, when the GPL teams were roughly confirmed.
The preparation time was long, and the cost would not be small.
In other words, this promo was probably completed recently, yet Mr. Pei deliberately held it back, waiting for IOI to release their promo before releasing GPL’s.
Who would believe this wasn’t deliberate?
Mr. Pei had calculated that no matter what kind of World Championship promo IOI released, it would only end up being crushed by GPL’s Spring Season promo, so he deliberately held it back, waiting for the right moment.
It was like playing poker—as long as you don’t play your small joker, I’ll keep my big joker waiting; once you play your small joker, my next card will be the big joker to trump yours!
Combined with Mr. Pei’s previous disruption at the qualifiers when he showed up alone to cause trouble, Zhao Xuming’s hatred for Mr. Pei and Tenda Group grew even more intense.
Now, Zhao Xuming could somewhat understand what those who previously opposed Mr. Pei felt.
It was like playing cards with Mr. Pei—no matter what card you played, Mr. Pei always had a bigger card to trump yours, which was extremely frustrating!
But angry as he was, Zhao Xuming had no solution.
The promo was already completed, and there wasn’t much time left before the competition. They couldn’t possibly remake it, could they?
Not to mention how much money it would cost and whether it would disrupt player training, making such an impressive CG would take at least a month—how could they possibly have time? Even if they did, wouldn’t that just confirm they were “learning to walk like Handan” or “imitating blindly”?
So, Zhao Xuming could only swallow this bitter pill silently.
He spent a lot of money making the IOI World Championship promo, only for it to become a foil for the GPL promo, giving away free publicity while gaining nothing good in return. This was infuriating!
Seeing Zhao Xuming gradually calming down, the assistant quietly asked, “Boss Zhao, are we still proceeding with the plan to take the teams to Los Angeles for early training?”
Zhao Xuming nodded, “Yes, still according to the original pla—wait, kick FV Club out!”
According to Zhao Xuming’s original plan, all three teams would go to Los Angeles together to arrange some practice matches with European and American teams and adapt to the competition environment early.
Although FV Club was Mr. Pei’s planted spy, they were still the number one seed from China with the strongest skill level. Not bringing them would look bad.
But at this critical moment, the promo incident happened.
Zhao Xuming immediately flared up in anger, extending his hatred to everything associated.
He couldn’t take action against Tenda Group and Mr. Pei, but within his authority, disciplining Mr. Pei’s club was no problem.
The assistant hesitated, “Boss Zhao, is this appropriate… FV Club is still the strongest team in the country…”
Zhao Xuming laughed coldly, “Tenda Group is already riding all over our faces, and we should still be nice to them?”
“Besides, FV may be the number one seed, but didn’t they only win because of their good bladders? Both BO5 series went the full distance, and compared to the other two teams, their skill level is just about even.”
“When we take the other two teams abroad to play practice matches with European and American clubs and adapt to the version early, FV will have no practice matches. By the time the World Championship starts, the skill gap will quickly widen!”
“When our clubs perform well in the World Championship while FV Club, as the number one seed, gets eliminated in the first round, won’t that be satisfying?”
“Don’t people always like to praise Mr. Pei for his training abilities? Saying he can take any random team and make them the number one seed? Let’s see what the public says when the number one seed gets eliminated in the first round!”
The assistant was hesitant, feeling this move was inappropriate. Out of three domestic teams, taking two but specifically not taking FV Club didn’t sound good, and the intention was too obvious.
But seeing Zhao Xuming’s expression, it was clear he was angry. After all, being constantly dominated by Tenda for so long would wear down even the best temper.
The assistant thought about it and figured there was no point in touching this sore spot, especially since Zhao Xuming had a point. FV Club had barely won a BO10 to secure the first seed, and their true strength was only roughly equal to the other two clubs, not that important.
As long as the other two clubs performed better than FV, they wouldn’t fear public pressure.
With that in mind, the assistant nodded, “Alright, Boss Zhao, I’ll handle it right away.”
“By the way, Boss Zhao, do we need to keep this a secret from FV Club?”
Zhao Xuming waved his hand, “No need for secrecy! This kind of thing can’t be hidden anyway, and there’s no need to hide it. We’re just giving them a good lesson!”