Zhao Xuming suddenly understood.
So that was it! There was another trap hidden here!
He had subconsciously overlooked this point earlier, thinking it was merely providing some subsidies to operators—how much effect could that have?
But now, hearing Eric’s analysis, the problem was significant! This was clearly the trump card buried at the deepest level!
Moreover, this strategy was based on the different operational methods of GOG and IOI in various regions worldwide, making it truly difficult for Finger Company to come up with a good solution.
Eric continued, “That’s not all.”
“The summer promotion doesn’t end until the 10th of next month, giving us a full two weeks.”
“If we grit our teeth and follow suit now, offering an even lower discount than Mr. Pei, what happens if Mr. Pei lowers the discount again a week later? Do we continue to follow?”
“Don’t forget the incident when Mr. Pei secretly changed the probability rates—he’s absolutely capable of doing such things!”
Zhao Xuming nodded in realization again.
That’s right!
During the previous May 15th Game Festival, Mr. Pei had secretly altered the probability rates, and not by lowering them, but by raising them—doubling them outright!
The result was that it caught Longyu Group completely off guard, making it difficult for them to conclude their prepared lucky draw activities.
Analyzing it this way, Mr. Pei’s seemingly ordinary summer promotion plan now looked more like bait, making Finger Company and Longyu Group believe that Tenda Group’s summer promotion was just this. After they grudgingly matched it, Mr. Pei would then come out with an even more powerful summer promotion plan!
At that point, Finger Company and Longyu Group would be in a dilemma—if they continued to follow painfully, where would it end? If they didn’t follow, why had they followed in the first place?
Zhao Xuming asked again, “Then… what if we do like before and follow all the way?”
Eric shook his head. “If this had been earlier, I would definitely have followed all the way.”
“But now, the situation is different.”
“The failure of the previous May 15th Game Festival has allowed the voices opposing me within Finger Company to regain the upper hand. Even within Dayak Group, some voices have emerged…”
Zhao Xuming immediately understood.
Clearly, these were the aftereffects of the May 15th Game Festival activity failure!
When Eric first took over IOI’s domestic service, he was full of vigor. He had suppressed a group of people within Finger Company led by Christian, gained the full support of Finger Company’s senior management and even Dayak Group’s senior management, and received a large amount of resources.
But this support came with conditions: Eric had to prove to these higher-ups that he really could burn through Tenda’s funding chain and let IOI claim the final victory.
However, in the half year or so since Eric took over, he had organized many activities and burned a lot of money, but had completely failed to achieve the effect he had boasted about at the time.
During the May 15th Game Festival, they had burned so much money and Tenda was on the verge of selling buildings, only for them to instantly recover.
While Eric felt deeply frustrated, voices opposing him naturally emerged within Finger Company and Dayak Group.
Moreover, Eric had already failed once before with IOI’s domestic service, so many people’s tolerance for him had decreased.
If they continued burning money like this, Tenda might not collapse, but Finger Company’s income would not be able to sustain it.
Dayak Group indeed had money, but Dayak Group was meant to make money, not to burn it for fun. Who would want to continue burning money just to fill a hole with no prospect of return?
Therefore, the resources and funds that Eric could actually mobilize now were much less than before, and naturally, he had much less confidence in competing with Tenda in burning money.
If they burned halfway and couldn’t continue, wouldn’t that mean they had spent money and lost face?
If such a situation really occurred, it would be better not to follow from the beginning and just carry out the summer promotion activity they had originally prepared.
Eric calmed himself down and said, “Additionally, some people within Finger Company have openly accused me, saying my strategy was completely wrong. They claim that I failed to finish off Tenda in the previous activities and instead angered them, which is why Tenda has launched such an intense counterattack.”
Zhao Xuming immediately spoke up for Eric: “Such a claim is shameless!”
“People who have never dealt with Tenda would never know how terrifying this company is! It’s not a question of how much money they have—they simply don’t treat money as money. Their entire thinking pattern is completely different from that of normal companies!”
“Finishing off Tenda—how could that be easy?”
“It’s only because you’re in charge that we’ve been able to reach the current situation. If it were someone else, they would have been utterly confused by Mr. Pei’s hundred different tactics long ago!”
Hearing Zhao Xuming’s praise, Eric’s mood improved somewhat.
Although the people at Finger Company and Dayak Group were all idiots, at least there was someone who understood him.
Zhao Xuming asked, “Then… what should we do about this summer promotion?”
Eric shook his head. “The result of my communication with Dayak Group’s senior management is this: if they give me enough resources, we’ll continue burning money with Mr. Pei; if they’re reluctant, then we won’t respond at all and just implement the 40% off plan we had before.”
“They should still be in an overtime meeting, and they’ll give me an answer before 8 PM tonight.”
Although Finger Company’s summer promotion would officially begin tomorrow and the specific policies hadn’t been announced yet, there was still plenty of time because the functionality was already in place—they just needed to change a few data points.
Despite saying this, everyone in the conference room understood that they would likely be working overtime until very late tonight.
Zhao Xuming nodded. “The timing should be fine. Whether we follow Mr. Pei in burning money or not this time, the impact shouldn’t be too great.”
Eric shook his head slightly. “What I’m worried about is not winning or losing this activity, but… the change in Dayak Group’s internal views.”
“When Dayak Group initially acquired Finger Company, they valued the potential of the IOI game, hoping to expand rapidly, monopolize the market, and then reap huge profits.”
“With Tenda Group’s intervention and the emergence of GOG, the situation has changed.”
“Dayak Group’s expansion into the global market and suppression of GOG is still aimed at monopolizing the market and then reaping huge profits.”
“But… it’s been a year and a half since IOI was born. In this prolonged money-burning war, Tenda Group has not only refused to back down but has gradually gained the upper hand.”
“For Dayak Group, Finger Company was acquired at an extremely high premium. When they were provoked by Mr. Pei, they even used a privatization offer. Dayak Group’s senior management is very eager to recoup this money and gain more returns.”
“But now, although IOI has revenue, frequent discount promotions have made the game’s profit thin. The domestic service has even been losing huge amounts of money for years and requires massive subsidies from Dayak Group, which completely falls short of initial expectations.”
“And Tenda Group’s counterattack has made Dayak Group’s senior management increasingly aware that it’s simply impossible to defeat GOG and form a monopoly in the short term.”
“So I’m worried that…”
Eric didn’t elaborate further, but Zhao Xuming already understood.
Obviously, someone in Dayak Group wanted to perform their traditional art again.
Dayak Group often acquired game studios and, after acquisition, would make numerous interventions and influences on the original company, aiming to quickly generate large profits and extract value from these companies in a short time.
Dayak Group had been relatively friendly to Finger Company, without excessive interference.
But this was only because IOI was in a period of rapid development, and Dayak Group believed that Finger Company’s promotion strategy aligned with their own. They also felt that giving Finger Company greater autonomy would help obtain more benefits, so they hadn’t interfered excessively.
But what if Finger Company’s strategy no longer aligned with Dayak Group’s senior management’s ideas?
Finger Company treated IOI as its own child, but in Dayak Group’s eyes, it was just like games from other studios—merely a tool for making money.
Zhao Xuming couldn’t help but fall silent.
Such things couldn’t be thought about too deeply.
Eric sighed. “Anyway, let’s wait for the response from the company’s senior management.”
…
…
June 26th, Tuesday.
Pei Qian rolled over and sat up in bed, glanced at his phone, and saw that he had again slept until almost ten o’clock.
He had wanted to sleep a bit longer, but he got up immediately.
Because today had good things in store!
It was already Tuesday, so Finger Company’s specific summer promotion activities should be out, right?
What kind of preferential plan would it be?
Would all skins be 80% off?
Or would there be some tit-for-tat, ingenious activity plan?
He couldn’t wait.
Pei Qian checked his phone while washing up and brushing his teeth.
“Huh? 40% off?!”
“Did I read that wrong?”
“Or is there some other special activity?”
“…There isn’t.”
Pei Qian was confused.
He even doubted whether Finger Company had seen Tenda’s summer promotion plan at all.
Tenda had already offered 50-70% off, yet Finger Company came out with a 40% off deal?
Could they not even do basic arithmetic or compare sizes within single digits?
Pei Qian was speechless. This feeling was like waiting eagerly to play a new game upon its release, only to go online and find not a new game but a delay announcement.
How annoying!
Pei Qian didn’t think too much about it, after all, whether Finger Company followed suit or not was definitely the result of many senior executives’ joint deliberation. Not following this time didn’t mean they wouldn’t follow next time.
He would find another opportunity to provoke Finger Company again—it would definitely still be effective!