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On August 5th, nearly three billion players worldwide finally welcomed the most exciting moment: the update of Infinite Realms. This new version, named "Free Starfield," completely opened up the vast interstellar map of Infinite Realms.
In addition to introducing the Mechanical Lifeform race and related classes, increasing the class level cap to one hundred, adding new main storyline content, and expanding the main universe's interstellar map by two to three times, the new update also launched an unprecedented special zone called the Free Starfield.
All players globally who reach level 100 can enter this zone. Players from any server can appear together in this starfield, establish their own planetary territories, and control their own power bases.
This meant that players from different servers could meet here across regions, and top global players could compete on the same stage.
This was definitely a major revolution!
Countless players worldwide were thrilled, and various observers quickly logged on, eagerly awaiting the spectacle to unfold.
Everyone understood that the Free Starfield's design was definitely a new strategy for Infinite Realms to generate massive revenue. Imagine—those top-tier whales who used to dominate their own servers had almost reached an invincible, lonely state, making it increasingly difficult to stimulate their spending.
Aside from various newly launched innovative content and items that might trigger a spending wave, that amount of money was truly insignificant for Infinite Realms.
But creating a Free Starfield with planetary territory dispute mechanics, and bringing top players together, would absolutely create a bloodbath. Fighting inevitably incurs costs, costs mean microtransactions, and microtransactions mean revenue.
Moreover, based on normal analysis, battles in the Free Starfield would definitely not be limited to player-versus-player combat. Interstellar fleet battle groups had already appeared in previous territorial disputes, so it was conceivable that interstellar fleet formations would also be needed in the Free Starfield.
The cost of a major war would undoubtedly be astronomical—just thinking about it made one's blood boil.
Furthermore, after cross-server play, would conflicts between whales from different countries be rare?
Sometimes, not only for their own pride but also for national and ethnic pride, those top-tier whales would certainly not lose face in-game and would spend lavishly without hesitation.
This was like watching a competition—watching teams from your own country play against each other was never as stimulating and exciting as watching your country play against a foreign nation.
And the friction between these top players, representing different countries, nations, and regions, would definitely not be minor. Clashes would probably occur every few days.
If they later organized some kind of "competition" in the Free Starfield, similar to a "Nations' Glory" tournament, it would absolutely be a world-shaking war where titans would clash.
Of course, this was a game for the wealthy. Most ordinary players could probably only watch the excitement from the sidelines, cheering on the whales from their own countries and waving flags in support.
"That's interesting!" Alex couldn't help but nod as he reviewed the detailed introduction of the new version. Infinite Realms certainly had ambitious plans this time. The competition between cross-server players would definitely be very exciting and engaging.
As an Infinite Realms player himself, he was also quite interested in the Free Starfield. Of course, he also recognized the greater business opportunities under this new version—interstellar-themed war content would surely usher in its golden era.
And game items derived from interstellar warfare, such as various fighter jets, warships, and interstellar mechs, would inevitably become mainstream products.
"Then it's time for the Mobile Suit Gundam series content to go online!" Alex thought to himself.
Just then, there was a knock on the office door, and Nathan walked in: "Mr. Morrison, the number of new class players has already exceeded 100 million, and the growth rate is extremely rapid!"
If there was one entity that felt most involved in this Infinite Realms update, it was undoubtedly Stormwind Entertainment. Although the main storyline had no direct connection to their content, this brand-new class system, and the content and items revolving around this class, were almost all created with their participation.
And all the data related to this class directly impacted their company's revenue.
"Excellent!" Alex was very pleasantly surprised. The new version had been updated for less than an hour, and new class user count had reached 100 million. This was indeed a very satisfying achievement.
Of course, with the current global influence and player base of Transformers, Alex wasn't at all worried about the final user data performance. The new class would inevitably become another popular class on Infinite Realms.
"Oh, by the way, Nathan, when was the original planned launch date for the Guardians of the Galaxy trailer?" Alex suddenly asked.
"Starting next Monday, the promotion will be fully rolled out!" Nathan said. "Infinite Realms just underwent a version update. In the next few days, all players' focus will inevitably be on the new version's content, and the media will also report extensively on this update.
This actually isn't an ideal time to promote new content, so we plan to adjust the promotional plan appropriately next week based on the situation!"
"That's right!" Alex smiled with satisfaction. He actually shared Nathan's thinking—they should avoid the immediate spotlight for the next few days. And by leveraging the popularity of the new class introduced in the new version, they could also accumulate buzz and anticipation.
Then they would choose an optimal time to launch another IP from the Marvel Universe system—Guardians of the Galaxy.
After Nathan left, Alex also logged into Infinite Realms and created a new character as a Mechanical Lifeform. The starting character was a robot, but its overall appearance still had hints of a Transformer, especially the transformation between normal and combat modes, and the effect when the arm-mounted weapon shifted forms was very cool and impactful.
The entire character also had a bit of an Iron Man armor feel to it.
After creating the character, Alex began playing through the quests issued by the system. The new version also added many new quests that weren't class-specific, but it also designed a very interesting progression quest system around the new Transformer character.
This system was also designed with Stormwind Entertainment's participation, so Alex could easily complete all the quests without following the system's guidance step-by-step.
"Congratulations, you have obtained an LV6 quality Intelligence Module. Would you like to use it?"
After completing a series of tutorial quests and leveling up to level 5, Alex obtained a decent-quality Intelligence Module.
This Intelligence Module required usage level 3 or above, but its quality level was very high. Currently, the highest quality level for Intelligence Modules was LV7.
Alex knew very well that this was Infinite Realms' first benefit package for new players, and also a lure.
Sure enough, after he immediately chose to use it, his own Intelligence Module upgraded, and values such as anti-interference ability, reaction speed, and passive dodge all increased significantly. He also gained an unlockable transformation ability.
However, this transformation ability required matching with a specific Weapon Module to be used. It could combine both arms into a very cool energy cannon, directly doubling attack power.
At the same time, the system directly popped up a prompt asking whether to purchase the related Weapon Module. The price wasn't very high—only a few dollars.
For many players, when they gained this cool transformation ability, and then saw they only needed to spend a few dollars to immediately unlock this new transformation capability and gain higher combat power, it was indeed very tempting. Many people would probably be unable to resist making their first microtransaction this way, and then they'd become completely hooked.
And players who already spent money regularly would not hesitate, choosing to purchase directly. This was a very effective monetization strategy for Infinite Realms.
Of course, this was excellent news for Alex, because players spending money meant he was earning money. Who would turn down profits...?