sbdcsierra Chapter 319 Everything is Ready
Chapter 319 Everything is Ready
Lu Ran was stunned for a moment upon hearing Zhou Mingzhe's words.
He's been so busy recording and writing songs these past few days that he almost forgot about this.
No, it wasn't that he forgot; he was focused on Shen Yuege's album. Although the League of Legends project was progressing, he wasn't keeping a close eye on the specific release date every day.
"Is everything settled?" he asked.
"Everything's all set," Zhou Mingzhe said. "The tech department has prepared the final version, the servers are deployed, and we've done three rounds of stress testing, with all the data meeting the standards. The operations department's pre-launch plan has also been executed; all the necessary materials have been distributed, and all the streamers we need to contact have been reached. We'll officially launch tomorrow at 10 a.m.
Hearing Zhou Mingzhe's report, Lu Ran breathed a sigh of relief.
After waiting for so long, this day has finally come.
"Okay," he said. "I'll be at the company tomorrow morning. Let's keep an eye on the launch and make sure nothing goes wrong."
"Understood," Zhou Mingzhe said. "By the way, your leg isn't fully healed yet, so don't overexert yourself. I'll oversee the launch; you don't necessarily need to come to the company."
"It's okay, I can walk much better now. I'll feel at ease sitting there watching when I go to the company tomorrow."
Zhou Mingzhe knew he couldn't persuade him, so he didn't say anything more, just told him to get some rest and hung up the phone.
Shen Yuege listened to the whole thing from the side, and only asked after Lu Ran put down his phone, "Is League of Legends launching tomorrow?"
"Okay." Lu Ran nodded. "Tomorrow morning at ten o'clock."
"Then let's not go to the studio to record 'Bare Face' tomorrow," Shen Yuege said understandingly. She also knew that Lu Ran cared a lot about this game.
Lu Ran initially wanted to say it wouldn't have any impact, but then felt that it would be more reassuring for him to keep an eye on things himself on the first day.
Lu Ran agreed apologetically, "Okay, then I won't go for now. There's no rush to record the song; let's finish overseeing the game's launch first. We'll continue recording once the data stabilizes after the launch."
Shen Yuege nodded without saying anything more.
She stood up, walked to Lu Ran's side, and gently patted his shoulder.
"Then I'll go to the company with you tomorrow."
"You don't need to go, just stay home and rest. I'll keep an eye on things at the company, just wait for my message."
"No way." Shen Yuege's tone left no room for negotiation. "Your leg isn't fully healed yet, and I'm worried about you going to the company alone. Besides, I also want to see how this game performs after it's launched. You've put so much effort into it lately, and I want to know if it can actually become a hit."
Lu Ran looked at her and couldn't help but smile: "Okay, let's go together tomorrow."
"Okay." Shen Yuege turned and walked towards the study door. "I'll go cook. You can rest for a while. Go to bed early tonight; you'll definitely be busy all day tomorrow."
"understood."
Shen Yuege walked out of the study, her footsteps gradually fading into the distance.
The sound of a tap being turned on came from the kitchen, followed by the clanging of pots and pans.
Lu Ran sat in front of the computer, staring blankly at the sample interface of "Bare Face" on the screen for a while.
League of Legends will be released tomorrow.
This game, which accompanied countless people through their youth in the past, is finally going to meet players in this world.
He turned off the computer, stood up with the armrest supporting him, and limped out of the study.
My right leg still can't exert much force, but it's much better than last week.
The doctor said that after another week or two of rest, the cast can be removed, and then I can try walking.
He walked to the kitchen door and saw Shen Yuege chopping vegetables.
Her movements were very skilled, with the knife rising and falling in a steady rhythm.
A pot of soup was simmering on the stove, steaming gently.
Hearing the noise, Shen Yuege said without looking up, "Go sit on the sofa. I'll call you when the food is ready."
Lu Ran didn't go to the sofa, but leaned against the kitchen door frame, quietly watching her busy figure.
"What's wrong?" Shen Yuege finished chopping vegetables, turned around, and was somewhat surprised to see him still at the door.
"Nothing much," Lu Ran smiled. "I just wanted to see you."
Shen Yuege glared at him: "Stop with the act. Go sit down and don't get in the way."
Lu Ran smiled, turned around, and limped to the sofa to sit down.
He picked up his phone, opened TUTU, and glanced at topics related to "League of Legends".
The pre-launch campaign has garnered over 5 billion views and more than 20 million discussions.
In the comments section, players' expectations have been raised to the highest level.
See you in Summoner's Rift tomorrow at 10 AM!
"I've already taken leave, and I'll be online all day tomorrow."
"My boss wouldn't let me play, so I quit; my wife wouldn't let me play, so we divorced; my mother wouldn't let me play, so we've cut ties. Don't let her down."
"Lu Ran said this game is the most fun game he's ever made, and I believe him."
"Judging from the gameplay videos, this game has a strong sense of control and high competitiveness. My expectations are extremely high."
"I've been waiting a week, it's finally going live!"
Lu Ran flipped through the entries one by one, a slight smile playing on his lips.
Expectations are incredibly high; now it remains to be seen whether the game itself can live up to those expectations.
He believed it was possible.
Because this is League of Legends.
...
The next morning, when Lu Ran was woken up by the alarm clock, it was still not fully light.
He reached for his phone and glanced at the time: seven in the morning.
There are three hours left until League of Legends goes live.
He didn't stay in bed; he sat up immediately.
The cast on his right leg was still heavy, but he didn't feel it was in his way at all today.
After washing up, he slowly walked to the dining room, supporting himself against the wall.
Shen Yuege was already in the kitchen, with porridge cooking in a pot on the stove and chopped vegetables laid out on the cutting board.
"Why are you up so early today?" Shen Yuege came out of the kitchen carrying two bowls of porridge and was somewhat surprised to see that he had already sat down at the dining table.
"I can't sleep." Lu Ran took the bowl of porridge. "My mind keeps going back to the game's release."
Shen Yuege sat down opposite him and glanced at him: "Nervous?"
"It's not that I'm nervous." Lu Ran took a sip of porridge, thought for a moment, and said, "It's just that I'm a little worried. I've been preparing for this game for so long, and after the gameplay video was leaked, everyone's expectations were raised a lot. I'm thinking, what if it doesn't perform well after it goes live? What if players don't find it fun? What if there are technical problems—it's impossible not to think about these things."
Shen Yuege didn't speak, but listened quietly.
"Moreover," Lu Ran paused, "this game holds a very special place in my heart. Not because of how much money it can make, not because of how many users it can bring to TUTU, but because... it's a good game. A truly fun game that stands the test of time. If it doesn't perform well in this world, I'll feel it's a real shame."
Shen Yuege put down her chopsticks and looked at him seriously: "Do you think it will be bad?"
Lu Ran thought for a moment and shook his head: "Rationally, I don't think so. During the internal testing, the people in the tech department were even more addicted to it than I was. Not to mention Tan Yu, he kept pestering Lao Wang for a test account, and wouldn't leave the tech department if he wasn't given one. And you've seen the reactions in the comments section of those leaked gameplay videos; they're all full of anticipation. From all this, the quality of the game itself is fine."
"Then what are you worried about?"
"I'm worried..." Lu Ran hesitated for a moment, "I'm worried about it not being well-received. The design philosophy of this game is quite different from other games on the market. It requires players to spend time understanding, learning, and practicing. It's not the kind of casual game that you can just click and enjoy, or figure out in five minutes. I'm wondering if the players in this world can accept a game that requires time and effort."
After listening, Shen Yuege was silent for a few seconds, then said, "Wasn't your previous game, 'Seven Heroes of the Jianghu,' also a game that required time investment? Players still had a lot of fun playing it."
"Seven Heroes of the Jianghu is different," Lu Ran said. "Seven Heroes of the Jianghu is a role-playing game where players level up, do quests, and run dungeons. The investment is linear, and players can see themselves getting stronger little by little. League of Legends is different. Every game starts from zero, and the equipment and level from the previous game do not carry over to the next game. This kind of mode is something that players in this world have never experienced before."
Shen Yuege thought for a moment and said, "Then you don't need to worry at all. It's precisely because they haven't experienced it before that it's new and exciting. Players don't dislike new things; they're just afraid that new things won't be fun. As long as it's fun, they'll be willing to learn."
Lu Ran looked at her and smiled: "You're right. I was just overthinking things."
"You're just too concerned about this game." Shen Yuege stood up and cleared away the dishes. "You're so concerned that you're almost anxious about losing it. Relax. Which of your previous products failed? None, right? This one won't either."
Lu Ran leaned back in his chair and let out a long breath.
Shen Yuege is right.
He really cares too much about this game.
It's not because of money, it's not because of users, it's because this game carries too many memories and emotions from past lives.
He desperately wanted it to shine in the world, which is why he felt this unnecessary anxiety as it was about to launch.
After breakfast, Shen Yuege drove Lu Ran to his company.
As the car entered the park, Lu Ran saw through the car window that the parking lot in front of the company was almost full.
It's only a little past eight o'clock now, and there's still an hour before the normal start of work.
"So many people came today." Shen Yuege parked the car and took out a folding wheelchair from the trunk.
"They probably all know the game is launching today, so they came early to prepare." Lu Ran moved from the passenger seat to the wheelchair, his movements already quite practiced.
Shen Yuege pushed him into the building. The young woman at the front desk saw them and quickly stood up to greet them: "Good morning, President Lu. Good morning, President Shen. President Zhou and the others are already in the main conference room."
"Understood." Lu Ran nodded and had Shen Yuege push him to the conference room.
The meeting room door was open, and it was already full of people.
Zhou Mingzhe sat on the left side of the long table, with a laptop and several printed data reports spread out in front of him.
Old Wang sat opposite him, holding a cup of coffee. He had heavy dark circles under his eyes, but he looked to be in good spirits.
Xiao Yang and Lao Zhao were also there, each with a computer and a laptop in front of them, making final preparations.
Everyone stood up when they saw Lu Ran enter.
"Sit down, sit down." Lu Ran waved his hand, gesturing for Shen Yuege to push him to the front of the long table. "Is everything ready?"
Zhou Mingzhe was the first to speak: "On the technical side, the servers have all been deployed, and three rounds of stress testing have been conducted, with all data meeting the standards. After going live, we will monitor the server load in real time, and immediately expand capacity if any problems arise."
Old Wang continued, "On the client side, the installation package has been uploaded to TUTU's download server. We've started pre-downloading, and users have been downloading the package since yesterday. As of 8:00 AM this morning, the pre-download volume has exceeded 20 million."
Lu Ran raised an eyebrow: "Twenty million?"
"Yes." Old Wang pushed up his glasses. "And this number is growing rapidly. By the time it officially launches at 10 o'clock, the pre-download count is estimated to exceed 25 million."
This number was much higher than Lu Ran had expected.
He originally estimated that the number of pre-downloads would be good if it reached 10 million, but the actual number was more than 10 million higher than his estimate.
This shows that players' expectations were higher than he thought.
"What about the operations department?" Lu Ran asked Xiao Yang.
Xiao Yang opened his notebook: "The pre-launch plan has been fully executed. The featured section on the TUTU homepage has been changed to a countdown to the release of League of Legends since 7:00 AM, and the GG splash screen has also been launched simultaneously. Push notifications will be sent out promptly at 9:59 AM, covering all TUTU users."
"In addition," she continued, "the game streamers we've contacted will all be streaming League of Legends on their respective channels today. Some of them started hyping it up last night, changing their stream titles to 'See you in Summoner's Rift tomorrow at 10 PM.' Viewers' expectations are very high."
Lu Ran nodded, then looked at Old Zhao: "What about the media?"
Old Zhao put down his phone: "We've contacted over twenty gaming media outlets, and they'll all be publishing news and reviews of League of Legends' launch today. We've also talked to a few esports clubs; they said they'll wait and see how the game performs after launch, and if it's competitive enough, they might consider forming a team."
"Okay." Lu Ran looked around. "Then it's settled. Go live at 10:00 AM. Everyone, get to your positions. The tech department will monitor the servers, the operations department will monitor the data and user feedback, and the marketing department will monitor the media and public opinion. Report any problems immediately."
Everyone nodded at the same time.
After the meeting, everyone returned to their workstations.
Lu Ran had Shen Yuege push him into the office, where he sat down behind the desk and turned on the computer.
The screen displays TUTU's backend data panel.
Daily active users have exceeded 98 million, just 2 million short of 100 million.
This number reassured him somewhat.
With so many users, even if only a small portion of them download League of Legends, it still represents a significant amount of traffic.
He opened the official website of League of Legends, and the countdown on the page showed: one hour and twenty-three minutes until launch.
Everything is ready now, except for the final push.
Let's see how well this favorable wind blows.
...