Time flowed in an atmosphere of extreme excitement mixed with anxious anticipation.
Under Qin Feng's strategic direction of "free-to-play," Riot Games, like a finely tuned clockwork mechanism, began its final and most frantic sprint before the open beta.
The technical team, led by Li Ming, Wang Qi, and Sun Ce, conducted unprecedented stress tests and optimizations on the server clusters.
They simulated extreme scenarios of tens of thousands of players online simultaneously and large-scale teamfights, repeatedly refining the system's stability and synchronization logic.
The critical bugs exposed during the Alpha test were marked, fixed, and verified one by one.
Office corners were piled high with cots and empty energy drink cans; everyone had bloodshot eyes, but within them burned the fire of facing the ultimate challenge.
Under Chen Ran's coordination, the art team not only completed the final drafts for the first twenty heroes and numerous skin concept designs but also worked overtime to produce the open beta promotional video and website materials.
Every inch of Summoners Rift and every jungle monster model was meticulously polished, striving to capture players' attention from the very first moment.
The marketing department, following Qin Feng's instructions, invested all of its remaining early-stage marketing budget into precise channels.
They launched highly impactful promotional videos on major gaming forums, video websites, and university BBS platforms, emphasizing core selling points such as "5v5 fair competition," "permanently free," and "a brand-new team battle experience."
At the same time, they prepared generous open beta activities: permanent heroes for continuous logins, rare skins for leveling up, rewards for inviting friends, and so on.
Everything was ready.
Open beta day, eight in the morning.
The company's largest conference room was temporarily converted into a "command center."
On the huge display wall, real-time backend data flickered: server status, registered users, peak concurrent users (PCU), new downloads...
Dozens of technical personnel sat in front of monitoring computers, poised for action.
Qin Feng, Xiao Zhang, and all core team members gathered here, the air thick with a nearly palpable tension.
Even the aroma of coffee couldn't dispel the anxiety etched on everyone's brows.
Xiao Zhang continuously refreshed the financial system, checking the consumption of promotional funds.
Li Ming stared intently at the server resource monitoring interface, his fingers unconsciously tapping the table.
Chen Ran repeatedly checked the official website and player feedback from various channels.
At exactly eight o'clock, the servers officially opened.
Data began to trickle in like a fine stream.
Registered users: 100... 500... 1000... Concurrent users: 50... 200... 500...
The numbers climbed slowly and steadily, but were far from "exploding," and could even be described as somewhat... unremarkable.
Time passed minute by minute.
An hour later, registered users had just surpassed five thousand, and concurrent users barely maintained around one thousand.
Three hours later, the data growth curve remained flat; registered users barely exceeded ten thousand, and concurrent users hovered around two thousand.
The atmosphere in the conference room grew increasingly oppressive.
From the technical team, there were occasional reports of minor, irrelevant local server fluctuations, which only highlighted the overall "quietness."
The anticipated scene of players surging in like a tide and servers under immense pressure did not materialize.
"Mr. Qin," Xiao Zhang finally couldn't help but speak, his voice a little dry, "Our promotional funds are being rapidly consumed, but user growth... seems to be below expectations.
Click-through rates on various channels are not low, but the conversion rate..."
He paused, not finishing his sentence, but the meaning was clear: players saw the advertisements, but far fewer people were willing to try the game than imagined.
Li Ming also turned his head, his brows tightly furrowed: "Server load is still under 10%, very stable.
But isn't it... a bit too stable?"
His tone carried a hint of self-mockery and disappointment.
They had prepared for a massive influx for so long, only for it to feel like a heavy punch landing on cotton.
Chen Ran looked at the sparse posts on the official website forum, mostly asking, "What kind of game is this?" "Looks a bit complicated?" "I'll download it and try it out first," lacking the kind of buzz that sparks discussion.
A silent panic began to spread through the conference room.
Were they wrong?
Could players in this world truly not accept a completely new game genre like MOBA?
Could the "free" gimmick also fail to attract them?
Months of effort and huge investments would ultimately only lead to such a lukewarm start?
Several young employees who had just graduated and joined the company already showed clear signs of frustration and unease, and whispers began to emerge:
"Is our promotion not effective enough?"
"Or is the game too difficult? Is there a problem with the Newbie Guide (newbie guide)?"
"I said we should charge for it; won't people think free things are worthless?"
Questioning glances, intentionally or unintentionally, drifted towards Qin Feng, who stood in front of the large screen, always Taciturn.
Qin Feng stood with his back to everyone, quietly observing the gently rising data curve, his face devoid of any expression, neither disappointment nor anxiety.
His calmness formed a stark contrast to the pervasive restlessness in the conference room.
Xiao Zhang took a deep breath, walked over to Qin Feng, and whispered, "Mr. Qin, the data... is not ideal.
Do we need to urgently adjust our strategy? For example, increase advertising Deployment (placement), or contact channel partners to secure better recommendation slots?
Or even... reconsider the possibility of a paid model?"
This was the most commercially logical crisis response plan he could think of.
At this moment, Qin Feng finally moved.
He slowly turned around, his gaze calmly sweeping over faces filled with anxiety and questions.
He didn't answer Xiao Zhang's question; instead, he asked a seemingly unrelated one:
"Do you know what it takes for a brand new, disruptive form of entertainment to capture users' minds?"
Everyone was stunned, not understanding.
Qin Feng answered his own question, his voice steady and powerful: "What it needs is not just exposure, not just marketing gimmicks.
What it needs is—time."
He walked to the front of the conference room, placed his hands on the table, leaned slightly forward, and his eyes revealed a wisdom that understood underlying principles.
"When players first see League of Legends, their minds have no reference points.
They don't understand what 'last hitting' is, what 'Ganking' is, what 'teamfights' are.
They need time to download, to install, to stumble through the newbie tutorial, to die a few, even dozens, of times clumsily in Summoners Rift."
"Then, perhaps in one instance, they accidentally hit a distant enemy with Ashe's Ultimate Ability, assisting a teammate in securing a kill; or they control Garen, spinning his greatsword to get their first double kill in a crowd; or, they experience a thrilling comeback with a few friends..."
Qin Feng's tone carried a magical quality for describing scenes, making those present feel as if they were witnessing the moments ordinary players might experience.
"Only at that moment will that unprecedented sense of accomplishment, the joy of cooperation, and the fun of strategic interplay strike them like an electric current.
This experience cannot be directly conveyed by any slogan or advertisement; they must feel it for themselves!"
He straightened up, pointing to the "unremarkable" data curve on the large screen.
"These numbers now do not represent failure, but rather seeds that have just been sown.
They need time to take root and sprout.
Our promotion merely scattered the seeds.
And next, what we need to do is ensure the soil is fertile—that is, guarantee absolute server stability and a fair game environment; then, it's about patiently waiting."
He looked at the still somewhat bewildered team, and a meaningful smile, filled with powerful confidence, suddenly appeared at the corner of his mouth as he uttered the words that would become a classic in the future:
"Don't rush."
"Let the bullets fly for a while."
These short seven words, as if imbued with a peculiar magic, instantly soothed most of the restlessness in the conference room.
Looking at Qin Feng's composed expression, as if everything was under his control, the doubts and panic in everyone's hearts unconsciously dissipated by more than half.
Yes, from the very beginning, every decision Mr. Qin made, whether it was the choice of game genre, the establishment of the free-to-play model, or the stringent technical requirements, which one wasn't seemingly risky but actually contained profound meaning?
Since they had followed him this far, why couldn't they have a little more trust and patience?
Xiao Zhang opened his mouth, but ultimately swallowed his subsequent suggestions, choosing to silently return to his original position.
Li Ming and Wang Qi exchanged glances, then refocused their attention on server monitoring, ensuring that these "flying bullets" would not crash midway due to technical issues.
Chen Ran also took a deep breath and began to arrange for personnel to more actively collect the scattered player feedback on the forum, diligently recording and analyzing it, whether good or bad.
Time continued to pass.
At two in the afternoon, the data curve seemed to show a barely perceptible upward trend, with registered users surpassing thirty thousand.
At five in the afternoon, the growth rate significantly accelerated, and the number of posts on the forum began to increase, although most were still exploratory and inquiry-based.
At eight in the evening, prime time arrived.
The flood of data finally began its first truly significant "surge"!
Registered users surpassed eighty thousand!
Concurrent users sharply surged, breaking the ten thousand mark! And they were still rising rapidly!
The forum began to become active:
"Holy crap! This game is kinda interesting!
I didn't understand it at first, died like a dog, but now I finally know how to use abilities!"
"Anyone wanna play together? I played as the guy with the greatsword (Garen), who feels super strong!"
"That Ashe Ultimate Ability flies across the entire map? I just randomly hit someone, I'm dying of laughter!"
"Five-man premade? YY channel XXXX, need support!"
Although still accompanied by many questions like "This game is so hard," "What is this item?" and "How do I play?", a brand new, positive atmosphere of exploration and sharing gradually began to replace the initial coldness and confusion.
"Mr. Qin! Server load has reached 35%! Network traffic is surging!" Li Ming's voice carried a hint of tension, but more excitement.
"Hold steady.
According to the predetermined plan, be ready to activate backup server nodes at any time," Qin Feng calmly issued the command.
As the clock struck midnight, and the first day of open beta was about to end, the final data on the large screen was fixed:
Total Registered Users: 128,907
Peak Concurrent Users: 18,542
This data, compared to top MMORPGs that often boast millions of registrations on their first day, was still not stunning.
But everyone could see how that curve, in its later stages, was rising with an increasingly steep and vigorous ascent!
In the conference room, the exhausted team members looked at this final data, and their faces finally broke into smiles of relief and hope.
They knew the most dangerous moment had passed.
The seeds had broken through the soil, revealing tender yet vibrant green shoots.
Qin Feng stood in front of the screen, looking at the number representing over a hundred thousand players who had initially accepted this new world, and gently let out a breath.
He turned around, facing his team, his voice clear and strong:
"Look, the bullets..."
"...have already started to accelerate."