December 16, Friday.
Magic City, Longyu Group.
Zhao Xuming was busy in his office reviewing the recent work of IOI’s Operations Cooperation Department.
Although IOI’s domestic qualification tournament had concluded, Zhao Xuming’s work was far from complete.
Longyu Group still needed to coordinate with the Dayak Group and Finger Company to continue promoting the IOI World Championship and build momentum for the upcoming event.
Logically speaking, since the World Championship was a global event, promotional videos for teams and players from all regions should be produced uniformly by Finger Company to ensure consistency in promotional materials and thematic connections.
However, after discussing with Christian, Zhao Xuming decided that Longyu Group would first produce a promotional video for the domestic teams.
The purpose was clear: to further increase the popularity of the IOI World Championship domestically.
Due to IOI’s global operational status, the national server was effectively in a disadvantaged position, so Finger Company placed more emphasis on domestic promotion.
Having Longyu Group produce a promotional video first could generate discussion domestically, increase interest, and demonstrate Finger Company’s regard for domestic players. From any perspective, it was a beneficial endeavor.
Organizing the World Finals was Finger Company’s responsibility, while leveraging the World Finals to increase IOI’s popularity in China through various methods was Longyu Group’s task.
“Knock, knock, knock.” There was a knocking sound from outside the office, and an assistant pushed the door open to enter.
“Mr. Zhao, the finished promotional video has been sent over. If you have time, could you review it?”
Zhao Xuming nodded, took the portable hard drive from his assistant, and began playing the IOI World Championship “National Server Special Promotional Video” on his computer.
The entire video wasn’t long, less than three minutes.
The screen first displayed the logos of Finger Company and Longyu Group, then a cool, energetic BGM began playing as the main content of the promotional video started.
This promotional video featured the three teams that had qualified for the World Championship as the protagonists, with almost all team members having screen time.
After all, there were only 15 people in total, and cutting any more footage would leave very little content.
The filming location was in Magic City, with roughly 30% indoor scenes and 70% outdoor scenes.
The indoor scenes were filmed in a small venue set up with an IOI theme. The players, either standing or sitting, each struck different poses and interacted with the IOI-themed elements in the venue.
The outdoor scenes were filmed at some famous landmarks in Magic City, maximizing the display of the city’s geographical and cultural characteristics.
The players’ movements varied, and between scene transitions were voiceovers personally recorded by the team members.
“Some ask me, what’s the meaning of gaming?”
“I say, the meaning of gaming lies in perseverance.”
“The meaning of gaming lies in giving your all to pursue victory.”
“The meaning of gaming lies in breaking through doubts and creating impossible miracles.”
“The world’s summit, here we come!”
In the final scene, fifteen players from the three teams advanced side by side, climbing up the steps of a high platform in the indoor venue, with a supreme throne at the very top.
Zhao Xuming watched the promotional video several times and nodded slightly: “Hmm, not bad.”
“To complete it in such a short time, and with such high quality, is quite impressive.”
The assistant smiled and said, “Of course. This time we spent heavily to hire the country’s top filming team. You get what you pay for, and the results are guaranteed.”
The timeframe for this promotional video was tight, with a heavy workload.
From the completion of the qualifiers to the filming and editing of the promotional video, there was only one week. Fortunately, the filming team was strong enough to work overtime on location shooting, filming, and post-production editing, just barely completing it on schedule.
There was no alternative, after all, promotional videos need to be completed early to build anticipation. If the promotional video was released after the World Championship had already begun, it would be too late.
However, since the promotional video was short, many players only had two or three seconds of screen time, so two or three hours of filming was sufficient, resulting in a decent effect.
Zhao Xuming sighed: “We should thank Tenda Group. Their promotional video for the GOG Global Invitational gave us a lot of inspiration.”
The assistant nodded: “That’s the advantage of hosting competitions later—we can learn from predecessors’ experiences. Plus, we used the same filming team that Tenda Group used for their World Championship, so the quality is not inferior. It certainly won’t embarrass us!”
Zhao Xuming asked: “Hasn’t Tenda contacted this team to film a new promotional video? The GPL preseason is almost over, and the spring season is about to begin. Logically, their promotional video should be coming out soon.”
The assistant shook his head: “I also discreetly asked the head of the filming team, and he said they haven’t received any information yet.”
“There might be two possibilities: first, Tenda’s spring season promotional video hasn’t started filming yet, and they’re not in a hurry since there’s still some time before the spring season begins; second, Tenda has hired another filming team. However, it’s unlikely that any other filming team would be better than the one we’ve hired.”
Zhao Xuming nodded, feeling more reassured: “That’s good.”
Since beginning to organize the promotional work for the IOI World Championship, Zhao Xuming had unconsciously benchmarked all his work against Tenda.
This included hiring the same filming team that had worked on Tenda’s GOG Global Invitational for the IOI World Championship “Domestic Special” promotional video, using similar filming techniques, and even surpassing them in terms of costumes, makeup, and indoor set design.
Zhao Xuming felt that his team had one major advantage: location.
This filming was done in Magic City, which had far more landmark buildings and scenic spots than Jingzhou. Once filmed, the video would have a strong Chinese local flavor, resonating more with players.
Moreover, since the GOG Global Invitational promotional video was well-made, Zhao Xuming could draw inspiration from it.
Including the indoor setup, player interactions with game elements, transition styles, and more, there was much to learn from. Just by following their example, they could ensure that the promotional video’s quality was not inferior to the GOG Global Invitational promotional video.
Zhao Xuming knew clearly that there was only one standard for filming a promotional video: to outdo Tenda.
As long as they could beat Tenda, they would have a satisfactory response for both Finger Company and IOI players.
This time, spending heavily on indoor settings and hiring a filming team had finally paid off.
Zhao Xuming was pleased with himself and watched the promotional video another two times.
“Pity that the lines are a bit awkward,” Zhao Xuming said.
The assistant nodded: “Yes, a bit, but that can’t be helped.”
“The filming team doesn’t know enough about IOI. To ensure the promotional video’s theme doesn’t go off track, we had to write the lines ourselves. The players aren’t professional voice actors, so it’s difficult to find suitable tones and intonations. We could only choose the best from what we had, so there’s bound to be some awkwardness.”
“But keeping the players’ original voices has its pros and cons. The current effect is acceptable.”
Zhao Xuming continued: “Why does FV Club have so much screen time? And why do they look so handsome? The other two clubs seem much inferior in comparison.”
He was instinctively displeased.
Now the whole world knew that FV Club was invested in by Mr. Pei and was in direct competition with GOG—they were practically spies.
FV Club had won the qualifiers, securing the number one seed for the World Championship, which was already embarrassing enough. But in the promotional video, they still had the absolute C position, with the other two teams becoming mere supporting roles. This instinctively made Zhao Xuming unhappy.
The assistant was also helpless: “Mr. Zhao, there’s nothing we can do about it.”
“FV Club’s players have good looks and a good aura. Compared to the internet addicts from other teams, they look like models. They just look more handsome on camera than the other two teams. The filming team, to ensure the best filming effect, naturally gave them more screen time.”
“Besides, FV is our region’s number one seed. If they weren’t in the C position, people would say we’re petty and suppressing the FV Club. This would be difficult to explain.”
Zhao Xuming nodded helplessly: “Fine.”
If there was anyone to blame, it would be the other two teams for not being competent enough. If they had fought harder and secured the number one seed position, wouldn’t they be in the center?
Zhao Xuming watched the promotional video two more times, finding the FV Club players increasingly irritating.
But he had no better option and could only reluctantly say: “Alright, then pick an appropriate time and release this promotional video.”
“After releasing it, buy some popularity across all platforms. Don’t make us look too bad; at least it shouldn’t be less popular than the GOG Global Invitational promotional video at that time.”
The assistant nodded: “You don’t need to worry about that. I’ll take care of everything!”
Just as he was about to leave, Zhao Xuming called him back.
“Wait. What about the preparations for the World Championship? What’s the current situation?” Zhao Xuming asked.
The assistant replied: “According to the previous arrangement, the global server has already been updated to the new version, and all those foreign clubs are already training with the new version.”
“As for our national server, it might be a week later than abroad, updating around next Monday. However, currently, the club players are playing ranked games and training matches on the global server, so the impact isn’t very significant.”
Zhao Xuming was thoughtful.
Finger Company using the new version for the World Championship was confirmed news, and all major clubs already knew about it.
Christian wanted to showcase the new version of IOI to global players through the World Championship and enhance the viewing experience of the IOI World Championship, which was understandable. But he also had to update the version in advance to let players become familiar with it and allow teams to train in the new version environment.
The teams were definitely somewhat dissatisfied, after all, the new version had significant changes. Adapting to these changes in such a short time really tested the teams’ learning abilities, adjustment capabilities, and the players’ hero practicing abilities.
But considering that all teams had to practice and learn, everyone was starting from scratch, so it wasn’t particularly unfair. Most teams just complained verbally but didn’t protest too intensely.
After thinking for a moment, Zhao Xuming asked: “Then are foreign teams training better than domestic teams?”
The assistant nodded: “Of course, Mr. Zhao.”
“Foreign teams all play on the global server, with no delay, and can communicate with teammates. The ranked environment is better than the national server. Moreover, those established esports clubs in Europe and America all have connections with each other and can frequently arrange training matches. With many teams practicing together, improvement naturally comes faster.”
“We only have three teams domestically, and the other two clubs don’t get along well with FV Club. Practicing among themselves makes it difficult to achieve good results.”
Zhao Xuming nodded and, after a moment’s thought, said: “Let’s do this: contact Finger Company and arrange for the players to go to Los Angeles early!”
The assistant was stunned: “Go early?”
Zhao Xuming: “Yes, go early. On one hand, they can adapt to the living environment there in advance, avoiding getting sick due to the change in environment. On the other hand, they can train in a low-latency global server environment and arrange training matches with established clubs from Europe and America, which can improve their performance further.”
“Although they probably won’t be able to beat Europe and America and won’t get the championship, sharpening your weapon right before battle still helps. If they lose too badly, we’ll lose face.”
“As for the expenses, it’s just a matter of paying more for food and accommodation. We’ll reimburse these costs for the clubs. Tell them to practice well, play well, and not embarrass our Longyu Group!”
The assistant quickly nodded: “Yes, Mr. Zhao, that’s a good idea! I’ll communicate with Finger Company right away and book the flights and accommodation in advance!”