Magic Chess: Go Go Producer Gao Chong discusses player expectations, esports ecosystem, future and more

MOONTON Games has introduced several fun game modes in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, one of which is Magic Chess, first introduced back in 2020. This game mode quickly became very popular among MLBB fans, with many players solely playing it. Due to its massive popularity, MLBB finally decided to launch it as a separate game called Magic Chess: Go Go, which is currently open for pre-registration with soft launch live in select regions. We at GamingonPhone had the opportunity to interview Gao Chong, the Producer of Magic Chess: Go Go at MOONTON Games. In our discussion, he shared insights on the game esports ecosystem, future cross-play feature with MLBB, player expectations, an exclusive official event system just for MCGG, and various other topics.

Please note that this interview has been edited for clarity.

Magic Chess: Go Go’s aims to stand out in the auto-battler genre

We began the interview by discussing about the auto-battle genre and the origin of the auto-chess sub-genre, which originated from a MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) game, with Magic Chess Go Go being no exception. While talking, Mr. Chong stated, “MCGG uses the same IP as our star game, MLBB“. He highlighted that “the widespread popularity of MLBB is one of the key propositions offered by MCGG,” and believes that it will certainly resonate with the players.

Mr. Chong explained their plan for the game, saying “More than that, one of our key priorities is making MCGG easy-to-learn, but difficult-to-master.” He elaborated that while most players won’t have an issue picking up the basic mechanics of MCGG, the game also offers a high skill ceiling that even competitive players will appreciate. “This opens up opportunities in esports, which is something we’re certainly working on!” he added.

The approach to developing content is based on fan’s opinion and preferences

I was curious about the overlap between the player bases of MLBB and MCGG, so I asked him if he and the team had gained any unique user insights during the game’s development. He explained how both games are designed to complement each other. He then shared his findings stating, “Based on user research and analysis, we’ve found that MLBB is more suitable for intense team play, while MCGG caters more to solo and casual time.”

He then explained their approach to developing the game, and how they communicate with players across various regions, actively listening to the community’s feedback. “We believe in the importance of engaging with our community in all that we do. It is only by truly understanding the needs of gamers that we can make good games,” he continued.

The team stays actively engaged with players, sharing new ideas and continuously developing various products based on the community’s opinions and preferences. He concludes by revealing an upcoming feature, saying, “One of these will be coming to MCGG in the near future. MCGG will soon support cross-play with MLBB, where MLBB players will be able to choose to play with MCGG players, regardless of which application they are playing on!”

The strong enthusiasm and passion of players for MCGG and their expectations

Mr. Chong recalled the launch of the Magic Chess mode in the game over four years ago, sharing how it became incredibly popular among MLBB fans, with many players making it their main game mode. He continued, “In recent years, we’ve received continuous feedback from players hoping that we can make a new game like MCGG.“

MCGG recently reached 9 million pre-registrations, which says much about the strong enthusiasm and passion everyone has for the game. When I asked what this early enthusiasm reveals about player expectations, he responded, “This is heartening as we have put significant effort into making the app enjoyable for our community, such as through in-depth discussions with our players and KOLs.”

He went on to explain how the team made adjustments to Magic Chess based on the many valuable suggestions they received. “Our hope is that MCGG will cater to both fans of Magic Chess and to enjoyers of the auto chess genre,” he added.

MCGG team aims to provide new gameplay content consistently

Continuing with the interview, Mr. Chong discussed how the auto-chess genre relies heavily on content updates for each version and how MCGG provides significant updates to Magic Chess as a standalone application. He further added, “We have expanded the gameplay team to ensure that there is sufficient and interesting gameplay content constantly delivered to players.”

He revealed that the MCGG team plans to transform the various heroes in MLBB into commanders within MCGG, complete with beautiful and cool skins. He also discussed Synergies, saying, “We will also continue to update the Synergies, and many rare skins in MLBB will become new Synergies in MCGG.”

When talking about new collaborations, he shared that MCGG will also feature collaborations with other IPs, similar to the ongoing collaborations in MLBB with popular anime. “MCGG will have its own exclusive official event system too. We can’t wait for our players to experience our plans!” he revealed.

The team’s plan for MCGG in the esports ecosystem

Lastly, we discussed his vision for how MCGG would fit into the esports ecosystem and he explained how the competitive structure of MCGG differs from MLBB. Mr. Chong simplified it by saying that “the most obvious difference is that MCGG is not a team competitive game; it is more suitable for one person to play and compete in esports events.“

Furthermore, he shared with us an interesting observation from watching various auto chess competitions, that “many top players often do not come from large organisations. Many champions are hidden around us; they could be our classmates, work colleagues, or person sitting beside you on the train!”

Mr. Chong expressed his excitement about how this will create a very interesting and accessible ecosystem for everyone to participate in, with or without an organization backing them. He concluded the interview with great enthusiasm by saying, “With MCGG, everyone can be a world champion! We will start building up the competitive ecosystem after the official launch of MCGG – look forward to that!

As someone who has invested a lot of time and energy in the Magic Chess Mode in MLBB, and even reached around 2000 Mythic points, I am very happy and excited about Magic Chess: Go Go and eager to try out the game. I have even dedicated a season or two just playing Magic Chess, grinding, and staying updated with different synergies and metas. I hope they did a great job and I can’t wait to see what they have in store for us.

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