Seeing Blizzard employees working so efficiently, Mavi couldn't help but clench his fist on the other end of the call. "Very good! How's the Battle.net platform testing going?"
"Chairman Mavi, the Battle.net platform system has also been fully tested. We're just waiting for your decision!" Mike Morhaime responded confidently.
In this timeline, Blizzard had not yet established the Battle.net platform. Fortunately, Mavi noticed in time and had a team develop it. When Mike said he was waiting for Mavi's decision, he meant whether to move up the game's beta test schedule.
"Alright, let's schedule the Counter-Strike beta test for next week!" Mavi declared firmly over the phone. This was a make-or-break moment, and this launch was critical for him.
"Understood, Chairman Mavi!" Mike Morhaime replied with equal seriousness. Whether Blizzard could make a comeback in this timeline depended entirely on how much buzz the Counter-Strike beta test could generate.
---
A week later—Wednesday, August 18, 8:00 PM—Mavi's Counter-Strike would officially launch on the Battle.net platform.
As 8:00 PM approached, players who had purchased CD keys had already stationed themselves in front of their computers, eager to be among the first to experience this long-awaited game.
Right at 8:00 PM, ten pre-prepared servers went live on Battle.net as scheduled.
Almost immediately, the first two servers were overwhelmed by players! Many rushed to log in, create their IDs, choose their factions, and customize their characters.
This version of Counter-Strike was different from the one in the previous timeline. Mavi had incorporated elements from World of Warcraft, dividing players into "Police" and "Terrorist" factions. This setup gave battles a stronger sense of mission and honor, further enhancing players' engagement and spending motivation.
Each beta CD key came with a "Beta Gift Pack," containing random items such as weapons, ammunition, and body armor.
Once players claimed their items, the most exciting part of the game began—the battle between the "Police" and the "Terrorists"!
This warzone-style combat, featuring ambushes, misfires, multi-kills, and executions, kept players' adrenaline pumping. Every moment of gameplay could trigger intense emotions and reactions.
"HEADSHOT!"
"DOUBLE KILL!"
"MULTI KILL!"
With these combo-kill sound effects and immersive gunfights, almost every player who experienced the Counter-Strike beta was instantly hooked—and completely addicted!
As a result, all other games released around the same time were utterly overshadowed by Blizzard's latest masterpiece. Many gamers spent entire days on Battle.net—either waiting in queue to enter the game or already locked in intense battles, even neglecting bathroom breaks.
Across the U.S., nearly every internet café had at least one computer running Counter-Strike. And this was just the limited beta test—the public release hadn't even begun yet! When that day arrived, Counter-Strike would likely dominate entire gaming cafés.
---
"Chairman Mavi, after three days of beta testing, the servers are performing well, and player feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. We've been tracking any bugs that appear, so we can fix them in the next update. Also, due to the game's huge popularity, many players who didn't get a CD key are leaving messages on our homepage asking when the public beta will open..."
Over the phone, Mike Morhaime gave Mavi a full report on the game's performance. In summary—those who managed to grab a CD key were completely addicted, while those who didn't were desperate to get in, some even tempted to smash their keyboards in frustration.
"We'll set the public beta for two months from now. As for the Counter-Strike public beta accounts, we can start selling them in the next couple of days—limited to five million copies. Keep the price the same: $28 per account," Mavi instructed. He was committed to the scarcity marketing strategy to maximize demand.
"Five million copies? Understood, Chairman Mavi! I'll make the arrangements right away!" Mike Morhaime responded with enthusiasm. Five million public beta accounts meant a total revenue of $140 million! Adding the 500,000 closed beta CD keys already sold, that brought total earnings to $154 million!
Such an astonishing cash flow was mind-blowing, especially considering that Blizzard had only spent $3.5 million to develop Counter-Strike (which even included the cost of C4 explosives for tank destruction sequences).
---
Two days later, the announcement of the Counter-Strike public beta sale spread like wildfire. Players who had missed out on the closed beta were overjoyed, eagerly awaiting the moment they could finally buy an account.
On August 25, at 4:00 PM, Blizzard's official website updated with an announcement: Counter-Strike public beta accounts—five million available—were now on sale. A pre-order link was included.
The moment players saw the announcement, they rushed to the website and frantically clicked on the purchase link as if they were fighting for Black Friday deals.
Many who managed to secure an account flooded the message board with excitement:
"Haha! Finally got one! Watching my friends play these past few days was torture!"
"Went to an internet café and saw tons of people playing. The graphics and action look insane. I can't wait for the public beta!"
In just three days, 750,000 public beta accounts were sold, generating $21 million in revenue for Blizzard.
Two days later, Blizzard's president, Mike Morhaime, excitedly called Mavi.
"Chairman Mavi! I have amazing news! As of noon today, Counter-Strike public beta accounts have sold 1.3 million copies! At this rate, we expect all five million accounts to sell out within a month!"
Mike Morhaime was thrilled—clearly overwhelmed by such a massive success.
Ever since Mavi had acquired Blizzard from Vivendi and led the company back to prominence, Morhaime's admiration for him had only deepened.
"Good, well done," Mavi replied calmly. One month was a reasonable timeframe—just in time for the Central Naval Equipment Design Bureau's funding request to be submitted to Naval Headquarters.
"Oh, and Chairman Mavi! We've also received inquiries from several countries in Europe and Asia. They want to negotiate the rights to distribute Counter-Strike in their regions..."
(End of Chapter)