Chapter 88: Thunder Poker

Natalie Hughes nodded, "Alright, what do you think of this Thunder Poker game?"

Mason said, "This Thunder Poker seems to be a completely original gameplay. Playing for just ten minutes isn't enough to judge its potential, but based on my initial impression, I'm cautiously optimistic."

"It has elements similar to Bluff and Stud Poker, but neither of these games is particularly popular; their influence in the domestic market is far below that of Landlord."

"Bluff relies too heavily on luck; everyone is basically in the dark, making it purely a game of chance without any intellectual challenge."

"Stud Poker, on the other hand, reveals too much information with one face-up card and one face-down card, severely weakening the strategic aspect, preventing it from becoming very popular."

"The design intention of this Thunder Poker seems to combine the strengths of both games. Players can judge the strength of their opponents' hands through the community cards while hiding some critical information, making the competition fiercer."

"However, whether this innovation and attempt will succeed is still uncertain. Additionally, since this is an entirely new type of poker, all players will have to start learning from scratch. Even if it does become popular, it will take a long time."

"In the meantime, we can develop a similar type of poker."

Natalie asked, "Is there any legal risk if we also make this type of poker?"

Mason nodded, "There's no legal risk. New poker rules are considered 'rules and methods of intellectual activities' and cannot be patented. This means anyone can develop it."

Natalie said, "So, based on your judgment, this game won't pose a significant threat to Generation Poker in the short term and won't be able to lure our Generation Gaming Platform players away."

Mason thought for a moment and said, "That's correct."

Natalie said, "What if this game is promoted on the Generation Gaming Platform homepage for a month?"

Mason: "What?!"

Natalie said, "You know about the bet between Levi Rodriguez and Alex Parker, right? This game will be promoted on our Generation Gaming Platform homepage for a month."

Mason frowned, "Natalie, isn't this giving the other side an opportunity to take our users?"

Natalie said, "That's why I'm asking you how significant the impact will be."

Mason was troubled and thought for a while before saying, "There will be some impact, but it shouldn't be disastrous. This poker game was made by Alex Parker? Why isn't he promoting I Am MT and instead promoting this poker game?"

Natalie said, "As long as it's not disastrous. You don't need to worry about anything else."

Mason nodded, "Understood. However, Natalie, this guy has a lot of tricks up his sleeve, so we should keep an eye on him to prevent any unexpected moves."

Natalie said, "Got it. You will follow up on this matter. The promotion slot itself isn't a big deal; the key is to ensure he doesn't lure too many players away from our Generation Gaming Platform."

Mason nodded, "Understood."

Mason left Natalie's office.

Natalie fell into deep thought.

"Opting for users over money? This guy has big ambitions."

Initially, Natalie also thought Alex would use this promotion slot to push I Am MT. After all, I Am MT had strong earning potential. With the support of the Generation Gaming Platform, its monthly revenue could double, potentially nearing fifty million.

If that happened, Alex's monthly net income could increase by more than ten million.

But Alex chose to forgo more than ten million a month in net income to promote a poker game?

This kind of boldness isn't common.

Alex's intention was clear, and Natalie couldn't miss it.

Poker games don't make big money; their profitability is far less than I Am MT. But poker games are characterized by low user acquisition costs. Coupled with the newly launched Thunder Gaming Platform, it's obvious he wants to grab users.

However, this is an open strategy. Even if Natalie figured it out, it wouldn't matter. Generation Entertainment couldn't resort to underhanded tactics or break promises just because Alex posed a potential threat, especially with so many spectators watching.

Do poker games make money?

In this parallel world, they indeed don't. But in Alex's previous life, poker games were the most profitable, bar none.

The reason was that the developers in the parallel world hadn't thought of the convoluted ways to make money that were prevalent in Alex's world.

Alex didn't plan to use those methods to make money.

Why don't poker games make money? Because players lack the motivation to keep recharging. Beginners who keep losing realize that recharging won't help them win, and it's akin to throwing money away. In other games, recharging can improve your power, but in poker games, if your skills are poor, you're just a charitable gambler.

Those with good skills don't want to recharge either because they can earn beans with their skills. Once these players accumulate a significant amount of beans, like ten million or one billion, which can't be cashed out, they gradually lose interest in the game.

So, in these poker games, money flows in but doesn't flow out, resulting in a net loss, severely suppressing most players' desire to recharge.

It became an industry consensus that poker games don't make money.

In poker games, in-game currency like Happy Beans cannot be exchanged for real money. The law explicitly forbids any poker game that allows the exchange of in-game currency for real money, deeming it illegal gambling.

If convicted, not only would the game be taken down, but the developers could also face imprisonment.

In Alex's previous life, poker games made huge profits quietly because most developers used legal loopholes to avoid legal risks.

For example, they established currency dealers overseas to handle the exchange of in-game currency for real money, while developers profited through a "rake."

In the game, players could trade in-game currency through "friend tables," while the actual cash transactions occurred via the currency dealers' platform.

Many highly profitable poker game companies used this model. Some local poker games achieved annual profits in the millions with just tens of thousands of users.

Texas Hold'em was particularly notorious in this regard. Almost all Hold'em clubs used this model, generating staggering profits.

However, Alex decided to keep this secret forever, hoping this model would never appear in this world's gaming industry.