October 28, Friday.

DGE Club meeting room.

The managers of various clubs had gathered together, chatting while drinking tea.

These clubs had been in Jingzhou for some time now, and after the GOG Global Invitational, the days of the various clubs could be described as leisurely with a hint of boredom.

Although the clubs continued to hold practice matches as usual, without formal competitions, the effectiveness of these practice matches was definitely greatly reduced.

However, the players’ muscles were steadily growing.

GOG’s version updates weren’t very frequent, so the teams didn’t need to rush to adapt to new versions. Everyone was eagerly waiting for GOG officials to announce their next phase of plans.

Various clubs had been speculating that GOG officials were likely to introduce a league mode.

This wasn’t hard to guess. Although the esports industry was still lacking in many aspects, there were many rules from popular sports events that could be referenced—they could simply copy them directly.

Moreover, establishing a domestic league would be easy. The venues from the World Invitational could be directly used for the league, and all the clubs were already gathered in Jingzhou. Once the schedule was arranged, they could start immediately.

From any perspective, this all seemed like something Mr. Pei had prepared in advance. No other regions had such advantageous conditions.

And this time, Zhang Yuan had invited everyone over, most likely for matters regarding the league.

This was also why the various club managers subtly seemed to follow Zhang Yuan’s lead, because everyone knew that Manager Zhang wasn’t just the manager of the DGE Club; he was also someone who could speak directly with Mr. Pei. If they were to organize a GOG league in the future, Manager Zhang would be one of those in charge.

So, after Zhang Yuan notified the various clubs today, the managers immediately came over.

Upon arrival, they were surprised to find that Mr. Pei was also present, sitting quietly to the side, not saying a word.

This further confirmed for everyone that the matter to be discussed today was extraordinary.

Zhang Yuan distributed the new regulations he was holding to each club, then got straight to the point, clarifying all the requirements proposed by Mr. Pei.

“Next, we will begin planning GOG’s domestic league, known as GPL. Everyone present has contributed to the development of the GOG professional circle, was an important participant in the first Global Invitational, and owns some of the strongest teams in the country now. Therefore, you all have priority qualification to join the GPL.”

“However…”

“To join, you will also need to accept some oversight and terms from the officials.”

Tenda is already planning to establish an Esports Division to coordinate the healthy development of the GOG game and the entire esports circle. There are several requirements that we hope everyone can cooperate with.”

The club managers all looked at the new regulations distributed by Zhang Yuan.

Manager Su of H4 Club looked at the page, frowning slightly, his expression growing increasingly grim as he read.

The content written here was rather general, without being refined into very detailed clauses, but each point seemed somewhat hostile:

Tenda is establishing an Esports Division to uniformly manage the systems of the GOG League and World Competition.

The Esports Division will provide unified standard contracts for clubs and players, only stipulating basic contents such as time, liquidated damages, transfer fees, and remuneration, strictly prohibiting the existence of “yin-yang contracts” and various other additional clauses.

During transfer periods, clubs and players can freely contact each other, but cannot sign contracts privately. The Esports Division must organize clubs to perform secret auctions for players, and both parties must abide by their promises.

In case of disputes, parties must first seek mediation from Tenda officials, that is, the Esports Division.

If the above terms are not complied with, the Tenda Esports Division can revoke the GPL league admission qualification at any time. Clubs with revoked qualifications can transfer their GOG division to a third party, or transfer it to Tenda, and then the Esports Division will find a suitable third party to take over.

Manager Su instinctively looked at the others, and they all saw surprise in each other’s eyes.

From these clubs’ perspective, this demand was a bit excessive!

Previously, although they followed Manager Zhang’s lead, the premise was that Manager Zhang wouldn’t harm their interests!

Since the emergence of the esports industry in China until now, the relationship between the vast majority of game manufacturers and clubs has been one of non-interference.

Most game manufacturers neither had the ability nor the interest to implement this kind of management and requirements for clubs. Many game manufacturers had to rely on the various clubs to support their competitions, so they adopted a blind-eye attitude toward these clubs’ private behaviors.

And various clubs, to protect their interests, all had more or less some unorthodox operations.

This was a historical legacy issue. The current esports clubs were established by a group of rich people for fun, with more than half backed by one or two second-generation rich kids. Management in all aspects was very irregular, but of course, in their view, there was no need for it to be too regular.

After all, it was just for fun, so why put in so much effort?

Many clubs, fearing that other clubs would poach their people and disband the entire team, would sign some harsh clauses similar to “indentured servitude” with new players.

In other words, whether they had been previously hurt by players or by other clubs, they had become wary, and to avoid being at a disadvantage, they transferred this risk to more new players.

Clubs felt that this was protecting their legitimate rights and interests.

And now, Mr. Pei’s requirement clearly “infringed upon their legitimate rights and interests,” because the set of rules they had previously established would be completely invalidated.

Manager Su pursed his lips, but after thinking about it, he remained silent.

He knew that more than half of the clubs present would have objections to these terms, so there was no need for him to be the first to speak up.

The meeting room fell into a brief silence.

Manager Li of the SUG Club was the first to lose patience. After clearing his throat, he said, “Manager Zhang, some of the clauses here don’t seem very appropriate, do they?”

“Tenda establishing an Esports Division to uniformly manage esports competitions is certainly a good thing, and we all support it wholeheartedly.”

“But… is a standardized contract really necessary? When each club negotiates with players, the conditions offered are all different. How can a standardized contract cover all possible situations?”

“I think regarding transfers, letting clubs and players contact and sign contracts themselves is enough. Frankly speaking, this is just a legal issue. For officials to focus energy on this aspect seems a bit wasteful.”

“Moreover, the esports industry is maintained by all clubs together. We should seek common ground while preserving our differences. Tenda has its rules, and we clubs also have our ways of doing things. Wouldn’t mutual respect be better?”

“All of those present have supported Tenda before. Isn’t it a bit lacking in human sentiment to just kick us out like this?”

“So, I think whether these regulations can be reconsidered, deliberated further—what do you all think?”

After Manager Li finished speaking, he looked at the other club managers.

“Yes, Manager Li makes sense!”

“That’s right, Manager Zhang, this is making a mountain out of a molehill, unnecessary. Besides, signing standardized contracts will bring many other problems, which would be more troublesome to resolve later. Moreover, there’s no precedent for this in the domestic esports circle, is there?”

“Manager Zhang, everyone has been particularly supportive of Mr. Pei, which is why we bought players and moved our divisions to Jingzhou. To kick us out just because we don’t accept these terms, who would dare to cooperate with Tenda in the future?”

“Indeed, we were among the earliest clubs to support GOG esports competitions. Even if we don’t have achievements, we’ve put in the effort…”

“Clubs aren’t having an easy time now either. Most clubs are purely burning money, we’re also a vulnerable group. If there are no additional clauses, the players’ rights are guaranteed, but what about our rights?”

Quite a few club managers expressed thoughts similar to Manager Li’s.

It was impossible for them to silently accept the supervision of Tenda’s Esports Division.

These esports club managers were all old hands, very clear about the ins and outs.

The key was that even if they accepted, their club owners probably wouldn’t.

They didn’t dare to speak plainly, but they could play the sentiment card, creating some pressure through both soft and hard approaches without breaking the facade.

Generally speaking, game manufacturers would give some face and not let things become antagonistic.

Manager Su didn’t speak, secretly looking at Mr. Pei, who was sitting to the side without saying a word.

He couldn’t guess what Mr. Pei’s attitude would be.

If it were someone else, they might smile now, reassuring the various club managers that this matter could be discussed slowly and considered over time.

But if it were Mr. Pei, it wouldn’t be impossible for him to turn livid and scold all these managers. Mr. Pei had the confidence to do so.

After all, in the regulations Zhang Yuan distributed, it was clearly written that if they disagreed, they could transfer both their GPL admission qualification and their entire GOG division to a third party.

This indicated that Mr. Pei had a strong determination to promote this matter.

But things weren’t so absolute. Having a contingency plan for the worst-case scenario didn’t mean it had to be used. No matter how resolute Mr. Pei’s attitude was, he would have to provide some buffer, right?

Manager Su looked toward Mr. Pei and noticed that the corners of Mr. Pei’s mouth were slightly upturned, seeming to show some… joy?

Could that be?

Was this a reassuring smile or a cold smirk?

Manager Su suddenly felt that something was amiss, and things weren’t developing as he had expected. The words at the tip of his tongue were quickly swallowed.

Zhang Yuan sighed silently. These old foxes, indeed, wouldn’t comply so easily.

They didn’t dare to pound the table and take a hard stance, but they could play the emotion card and pretend to be pitiful.

There’s a saying, “One doesn’t strike a smiling face.” If these club managers dared to turn hostile, it would be easier to handle. The fear was that they would keep pretending to be vulnerable. If Tenda handled it too harshly, it would generate some negative public opinion, giving other clubs the impression that “Tenda is unreasonable,” which would be harder to manage.

Zhang Yuan instinctively looked at Mr. Pei sitting to the side.

At this critical moment, it all depended on how Mr. Pei would handle it.