Not until the black cloth covered his eyes, shrouding his vision in a hazy blur, did his nervousness finally begin to subside.
...
After a long night, Mavi and Jennifer took a shower and went to bed together. They slept soundly, only waking up at noon the next day, still immersed in sweet dreams.
After wrapping up their romantic two-night stay in Washington, Mavi made a quick stop at Blizzard Entertainment. His goal was to push for the development of a new game. A gaming company must constantly innovate to stay relevant and maintain its industry-leading position.
With the global success of Counter-Strike, Blizzard's valuation skyrocketed. It had surged from the $12 million Mavi originally paid to a staggering $236 million—nearly a 20-fold increase!
Many competitors were green with envy, and none more so than Vivendi, the French company that had sold Blizzard to him. They were now deeply regretting their decision.
"Chairman Mavi, welcome!"
As soon as Mavi's convoy pulled up in front of Blizzard's headquarters, Blizzard's President, Mike Morhaime, personally led a group of executives downstairs to greet him.
"Mm. I'm here for two things: the development of a new game and the company's IPO on Nasdaq," Mavi said straightforwardly as he stepped out of the car.
Compared to Google and V-Ke, Blizzard's growth had been explosive, skipping several levels in rapid succession. Once his second and third games were released and the company went public, it would become a massive money-making machine, capable of generating tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars in no time.
"A new game and an IPO?" Mike Morhaime's face lit up with excitement upon hearing Mavi's words.
Blizzard had indeed been working on new games, but development was slow—whether it was the Diablo series or the Warcraft franchise. Nothing matched the efficiency and refinement of Counter-Strike under Mavi's leadership.
"Yes, I want to develop a large-scale MMORPG based on the Warcraft universe. The game will be called World of Warcraft."
As he spoke, Mavi signaled his bodyguard to retrieve a thick stack of documents from the car.
These documents contained his dictations, transcribed by a typist, detailing the core concepts, elements, and specifics of Warcraft III and World of Warcraft.
Since he had recorded ideas sporadically whenever inspiration struck, the notes were somewhat disorganized. Rather than sorting them out himself, he decided to hand everything over to Blizzard and let them figure it out.
"World of Warcraft?"
Mike Morhaime hesitantly accepted the documents from the bodyguard. Right there on the street, he began flipping through the pages, too engrossed to care about his surroundings.
To Mavi, this was merely a collection of memories. But to Blizzard, these documents were akin to a martial artist discovering a legendary manual—an absolute treasure trove of knowledge!
Morhaime was so captivated that he couldn't even blink.
"Chairman Mavi, these documents… this is…" Mike was at a loss for words.
Mavi didn't feel particularly smug about it. After all, he was simply borrowing ideas from another time—nothing to be overly proud of.
"Get both games developed as soon as possible. Warcraft III takes priority, followed closely by World of Warcraft," Mavi instructed, giving Morhaime a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
(End of Chapter)