April 11th, Monday.
Shangyang Games.
Lin Wan was in her office, worrying about her recent work assignment.
She discovered that the tasks assigned by Mr. Pei were becoming increasingly challenging.
Previously, she had to develop a rare networked horror game while simultaneously overseeing the development of a mobile phone. Now, she was responsible for operating the Chinese server of IOI, a successful international game project.
Directly competing with Tenda Games’ GOG in the domestic market!
Logically, developing a new game while managing a mobile phone project should be far more difficult than simply acting as an agent for an existing game.
Because being a game agent didn’t require doing the development work, one only needed to think about operation and promotion strategies, which seemed easier.
But Lin Wan’s pressure now was even greater than before.
Because she felt this was an extremely difficult task!
Much more challenging than previous assignments!
Upon receiving this task, she immediately called Ye Zhizhou and Wang Xiaobin for a meeting to discuss plans for this assignment.
Some routine plans were quickly established, such as setting up the Chinese server’s official website, Chinese translation and voice acting, renting cloud servers, outsourcing customer service teams, and planning server launch and operational promotion activities.
These were all basic tasks that Ye Zhizhou and Wang Xiaobin could complete even without Lin Wan’s supervision.
But the problem was, how could they possibly compete with GOG with just these basic measures?
Lin Wan recalled that when Mr. Pei assigned the task, he seemed to have high expectations for IOI’s Chinese server.
But Lin Wan herself didn’t believe at all that IOI had any chance against GOG in the Chinese market.
Because GOG’s game quality was no worse than IOI’s, and most crucially, GOG had already captured the market through PC-mobile cross-platform play and attracted a large player base with cash rewards distributed at the end of each of the four seasonal competitions each year.
Currently, whether they were original players of “Divine Awakening” and IOI, or players who had never encountered similar games before, all had a natural affinity for GOG.
Starting so far behind, how could they possibly turn the situation around?
And what made Lin Wan feel most helpless was that she had been the one who advised Li Yada to launch the mobile version first…
Of course, this approach was originally proposed by Mr. Pei, but Lin Wan had interpreted his intentions.
Lin Wan was now beginning to understand what other companies felt when competing with Tenda.
There was simply no opening to attack!
Tenda Games was full of hidden talents, and they could also receive guidance from Mr. Pei, making them an absolutely thorny opponent.
As she was fretting, there came a knock at the office door.
Lin Wan looked up and saw it was Ye Zhizhou.
“How are the preparations for the Chinese server launch going?” Lin Wan asked casually.
Ye Zhizhou was holding a document and sat down across from her desk: “Everything is proceeding smoothly. Our department has experience operating ‘Hot-Blooded Battle Song,’ and although operating IOI is much more challenging, we’re not completely overwhelmed.”
Lin Wan sighed with some despondency: “I wonder what Mr. Pei is thinking this time.”
“I don’t want to compete with Tenda’s game department at all.”
“But judging from Mr. Pei’s attitude, he seems to be encouraging us to burn money on marketing and promotion, to have IOI’s Chinese version seize GOG’s market share.”
“Fighting against ourselves feels strange to me, especially since I’m so familiar with the people in Tenda’s game department, which makes it even more awkward.”
“Besides, I truly don’t think we have much chance of winning.”
Clearly, for Lin Wan, these two games were not equal in her heart.
GOG was Tenda’s self-developed game, which even included a hero modeled after Mr. Pei; while IOI, though good, didn’t feel as intimate.
Moreover, Tenda only had operational rights for IOI but couldn’t interfere with its development, which also made Lin Wan uncomfortable.
Ye Zhizhou was silent for a moment before saying, “I think Mr. Pei might be implementing a ‘breeding venomous insects’ strategy.”
“GOG’s development has been too smooth, which might easily lead to complacency and being overtaken by latecomers. And for similar game types, most players will only play one at a time—winner takes all.”
Lin Wan thought for a moment: “I’ve considered that too, but… what’s the evidence?”
Ye Zhizhou said, “The evidence is in the timing.”
“The first investment made by Dreamweaver Venture Capital after its establishment was two million yuan into Finger Company, securing the Chinese server agency rights for IOI; immediately afterward, Mr. Pei had Tenda’s game department begin developing GOG. Could this just be a coincidence?”
“Mr. Pei had already foreseen the enormous potential of this game type in the future.”
“For most games, choosing either agency or self-development would be sufficient, but Mr. Pei attaches extreme importance to this game model, which is why he’s pursuing both simultaneously—agency on one hand and self-development on the other.”
Lin Wan nodded, finding this reasoning convincing.
All along, Mr. Pei had given the impression of being shrewd and calculating.
When making games, after one type of game succeeded, he never made a second game of the same type.
But GOG and IOI were the same type of game, yet he was developing both simultaneously. Whether he was hedging his bets or wanting the two projects to motivate each other, it showed how much Mr. Pei valued this game category.
Lin Wan pondered: “So, our primary goal now is to complete Mr. Pei’s task and seriously try to steal GOG’s users, right?”
Ye Zhizhou nodded: “I agree. Although we can’t be 100% certain of Mr. Pei’s thoughts, the fact that he wants us to compete for GOG’s users should be beyond doubt.”
“But…” Lin Wan frowned slightly. “Maybe it’s because I have a strong subjective bias when looking at GOG, but I don’t see where IOI has any advantages over GOG.”
Ye Zhizhou handed the document to Lin Wan: “I think this might be one of our trump cards.”
Lin Wan took it and quickly browsed through, discovering it was a development plan for new IOI heroes.
This year, IOI planned to update with 24 new heroes, averaging two new heroes each month.
“So fast?!” Lin Wan was stunned.
She was generally aware of the complex process required to create a new hero: hero concept, appearance design, artwork, modeling, animations, special effects, numerical balance…
These tasks were extremely intricate.
This update speed was worthy of being called workaholic-level.
As the saying goes, “In martial arts, speed conquers all,” and the same applies to games. Even if a game company’s product isn’t perfect, as long as it continuously updates, improves, and provides new content, it can maintain sufficient player stickiness.
Conversely, even if a company makes an excellent game but updates it too slowly, unable to promptly satisfy players’ desires for new content, the game’s popularity will quickly decline.
Finger Company’s IOI was already a well-crafted game, and if paired with this ultra-fast update speed…
It would be very competitive!
Lin Wan thought for a moment: “GOG… probably can’t maintain this update speed. Releasing one new hero every month or so would be quite good already.”
Ye Zhizhou nodded: “Yes, we all know Tenda Games’ situation.”
Currently, Tenda’s game department was split into two groups: Hu Xianbin led one group responsible for developing “Struggle,” while Min Jingchao and Zhang Nan led another group handling GOG’s version updates, new hero designs, and skin designs.
Obviously, with fewer people compared to the Finger Company, there would naturally be a significant gap in the speed of developing new heroes.
If IOI’s hero update speed was much faster than GOG’s, it meant IOI could provide players with more game content—a huge advantage that could overcome the initial popularity gap.
After lengthy consideration, Lin Wan said, “Good, then we’ll focus on this point.”
“Since Mr. Pei wants our two projects to motivate each other and progress together, there’s no reason to be sentimental anymore. Let each rely on their abilities!”
…
Meanwhile, Pei Qian was in his office, reviewing Slackin’ Delivery’s data.
The person in charge of Slackin’ Delivery, Rui Yuchen, stood nearby with an extremely anxious expression.
Since its inception, Slackin’ Delivery had been an auxiliary business of Slackin’ Internet Café. The person in charge of Slackin’ Internet Café had changed from Ma Yang to Zhang Yuan, and then from Zhang Yuan to Xiao Peng, but all had been Rui Yuchen’s direct superiors.
Slackin’ Delivery was initially managed by Lin Canrong, but because of Lin Canrong’s outstanding performance in generating losses for Slackin’ Delivery, Pei Qian had reassigned him to manage Mingyun Private Kitchen.
So Rui Yuchen had filled the position and continued to manage Slackin’ Delivery until now.
Pei Qian had never met Rui Yuchen before, because Slackin’ Delivery’s business was subordinate to Slackin’ Internet Café, and any requirements could be directly communicated to the person in charge of Slackin’ Internet Café.
The reason Pei Qian had called Rui Yuchen in today was, of course…
To promote him.
However, Rui Yuchen was unclear about Mr. Pei’s true intentions and was worried that Mr. Pei had called him in to criticize him, so he was very nervous and anxious.
So far, Slackin’ Delivery was still consistently losing money without turning a profit, while other related businesses—Slackin’ Internet Café, ROF Assembly, Mingyun Private Kitchen—had all turned losses into profits and even opened branches in Lin City.
The only business comparable to the continuously loss-making Slackin’ Delivery was Headwind Logistics.
But the person in charge of Headwind Logistics was Mr. Pei’s hardcore supporter! Lü Mingliang had previously rendered outstanding service to Mr. Pei in the game department—how could he be compared?
Rui Yuchen felt that if Mr. Pei wanted to make an example of a loss-making department, Slackin’ Delivery seemed to be the most logical choice.
Thinking of this, he became even more nervous.
Pei Qian finished reviewing Slackin’ Delivery’s various metrics and was very satisfied.
For a business, losing money temporarily wasn’t difficult. What was difficult was losing money consistently, regardless of how other businesses turned losses into profits, or whether the person in charge changed.
Lin Canrong had made Mingyun Private Kitchen successful, which was enough to prove his ability.
But even Lin Canrong couldn’t make Slackin’ Delivery profitable.
This was sufficient proof that Slackin’ Delivery was a good department that could withstand the test of time!
With this in mind, Pei Qian lightly tapped the desk: “In your opinion… what is the main reason why Slackin’ Delivery still hasn’t become profitable?”
Rui Yuchen’s heart sank as he thought, “This is bad!”
Mr. Pei was indeed going to call him to account!
Rui Yuchen had an answer in mind. He believed that Slackin’ Delivery couldn’t be profitable mainly because of issues with its operational model.
But he couldn’t say that!
The operational model was established by Mr. Pei himself. To say there was a problem with this model would be directly slapping Mr. Pei in the face, wouldn’t it?
Rui Yuchen pretended to think hard before finally shaking his head: “I don’t know.”
Although this answer made him seem incompetent, it was still much better than directly challenging Mr. Pei’s decisions…
Pei Qian was taken aback, somewhat surprised by this young man’s straightforwardness.
But he quickly smiled, as he was very satisfied with this answer!
He looked like someone with potential.
Since that was the case, he could be entrusted with more responsibilities!