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After market validation and organic word-of-mouth spread, the Avengers game became massively popular among Infinite Realms players. Though initial controversy had been intense, it hadn't dampened attention—if anything, it helped.
The online skepticism and criticism had lowered expectations, which meant players experienced genuine surprise and delight when the actual game exceeded those lowered bars. Of course, this only worked because the game itself was legitimately excellent.
And Tony Stark—with his superhuman intelligence, good looks, enormous wealth, unapologetic arrogance, sharp humor, and distinct personality—successfully captured a massive fanbase. After all, who wouldn't want to be like Tony? Truly free to be willful and unrestrained, yet brilliant enough to outsmart everyone, with a silver tongue that could argue down anyone including the government itself?
Especially that moment when he stood before countless media personnel and, instead of following the pre-written script, declared boldly: "I am Iron Man." That single line elevated his character to an incredibly dazzling, charismatic realm.
As one player put it: "This guy literally doesn't know what humility is, but I LOVE it!"
Tony Stark's character design perfectly aligned with modern young people's preferences. Naturally, he became beloved by players worldwide.
When Iron Man and Super Soldier released sequentially, they sparked a global superhero craze. Both films achieved tremendous success, with Iron Man arguably being the biggest dark horse of its release period.
Globally, the two films collectively grossed $2.5 billion at the box office. The cultural phenomenon they generated directly propelled another massive surge in popularity for the Avengers game.
Beyond that, Stormwind's team produced extensive supplementary material about the Marvel Universe—comprehensive worldbuilding information, character backstories, timeline documentation. Combined with continuous official marketing activities and cross-industry collaborations, the Avengers IP completely permeated players' consciousness in this world.
Of course, if there was one piece of content Infinite Realms players anticipated most that summer, it was definitely ET Games' level 70 official dungeon: Mech Dominion.
As a brand-new flagship release from ET's signature MechWarrior IP, Mech Dominion generated massive hype before launch. After going live, it dominated various rankings through initial popularity and ET's aggressive promotional push.
But unfortunately, Mech Dominion's market performance and critical reception were disappointing. The new mechs introduced lacked innovation. The storyline felt recycled, offering nothing fresh.
The game adopted a premium model—$20 per person for unlimited daily access. Not cheap.
After hitting 50 million player entries on day one, sales declined sharply on day two, finally stabilizing around 10 million daily entries. This data fell drastically short of projections—completely second-tier performance.
The newly launched mech skins and equipment also sold far below expectations. Later engagement data was sluggish and weak. Even massive marketing expenditures from ET couldn't move the needle significantly.
In contrast, sales of the Mark III, Mark IV, Mark V, and War Machine skins from Avengers were several times higher.
Ironically, Mech Dominion and Avengers originally had no overlap—completely different genres and positioning. But Iron Man's armor in Avengers had genuinely captured player imagination, brought a refreshing aesthetic experience.
One represented a distinct, innovative mech style. The other represented traditional mainstream mech design. The two became inexplicably linked in player discussions.
Even before Mech Dominion launched, debates about the two design philosophies never stopped.
But as Iron Man's popularity grew, the argument's direction shifted 180 degrees from initial skepticism. Now it was particularly evident: though many people still preferred ET's traditional style, player aesthetics were clearly changing.
This was what ET feared most—and a reality they had to acknowledge.
Less than a month after Mech Dominion launched, ET released a major update. Minor storyline adjustments, but significant modifications to the two primary mech designs.
They added vibrant color schemes. Enhanced technological aesthetics. Even the overall silhouettes and lines became more inclined toward Iron Man's style.
Though ET's move was a commercial decision adapting to market demand, it implicitly expressed their recognition of Iron Man's design philosophy.
The internet exploded.
"ET ACTUALLY IMITATED IRON MAN'S ARMOR??"
"Holy shit, ET is the industry leader in mech equipment and they're straight-up copying a competitor's style!"
"ET, what happened to your 'principles'? Where will your loyal fans who were trash-talking Iron Man put their faces now?"
"It looks worse after the changes tbh. Neither one thing nor the other. Is this even ET anymore?"
"This is what you call professional conduct—acknowledging competitors' strengths and humbly learning from them. Adapting to market demand!"
"Describing plagiarism as 'professional conduct' is quite the spin lmao"
"But real talk, after this change ET's new mech sales actually increased significantly"
ET's pivot caused major industry discussion. Various doubts, mockery, and criticisms emerged, but market feedback showed genuine improvement.
Stormwind naturally benefited too. Because of this incident, Avengers' influence rose organically. Fewer people criticized Iron Man's armor as ugly. More and more were willing to pay for it.
Getting back to business: Stormwind Studios had been incredibly busy recently.
Development of the level 70 Avengers dungeon had entered its final stage. The Avengers comic project had officially launched.
Worth mentioning: Alex had directly acquired a comic studio to produce Avengers comics. But this studio's role extended far beyond that single IP. In Alex's long-term strategic layout, many other comic properties needed this team—like the anime Gundam, which held extraordinary significance in the mech genre.
Additionally, Alex had been aggressively recruiting programmers, preparing to develop Stormwind's own proprietary VR game engine.
This was a crucial step in Alex's next "five-year plan."
He understood clearly: although Infinite Realms currently held a monopolistic position with relatively fair platform rules, allowing him to profit enormously as a content provider—
He couldn't be a supplier forever, relying on Infinite Realms to survive.
With so many film and gaming IPs from his previous life, if he didn't create his own globally popular game platform, he'd be wasting his second chance at life completely.
Plus, you always needed contingency plans. What if Infinite Realms pulled some anticompetitive maneuver one day? He'd be entirely at their mercy.
But honestly, the main reason Alex decided to develop his own engine was simpler and more personal:
He desperately wanted to bring MOBA gameplay—League of Legends and DOTA from his previous life—into this world.
According to Alex's vision, he wanted to transform the popular characters he'd created in Infinite Realms into playable champions. Combine them with League of Legends gameplay mechanics. Create this world's definitive MOBA experience.
His own League of Legends. Built from the characters players already loved.
Tony Stark as a ranged mage. Hulk as a tank bruiser. Captain America as a support tank. Thor as a melee carry.
Dom Toretto from Fast & Furious reimagined as a high-mobility jungler.
The possibilities were endless.
And Alex knew from his previous life: once a great MOBA clicked with audiences, it became a cultural juggernaut that dominated gaming for decades.
Time to build that empire.
PLZ THROW POWERSTONES.