September 24th, Monday.
Dragon Universe Group Headquarters.
Eric sipped his coffee while browsing online discussions about “Eternal Cycle of Rebirth.”
Though it was just a DLC, the buzz it generated online was so significant that even Eric found it hard to ignore, and he had learned a bit about it.
Apart from the new GOG hero “Prison Keeper” that tied in with it, this matter wasn’t directly related to IOI, but Eric instinctively felt some panic and fear.
Because the more such things happened, the more they demonstrated Mr. Pei’s formidable capabilities!
Finger Corporation and Dragon Universe Group had so many people racking their brains for strategies to defeat GOG with IOI, yet Mr. Pei effortlessly neutralized all their attacks and still had the energy to do other things while launching counterattacks—such as designing a critically acclaimed DLC.
The more effortlessly Mr. Pei operated, the more Eric felt his strength was unfathomable, too powerful to defeat.
Of course, from another perspective, perhaps it was precisely Mr. Pei’s achievements in other games that gave GOG such powerful support.
Initially in the international market, GOG was completely suppressed by IOI because its heroes had characteristics that were too Chinese-styled.
But soon, Mr. Pei reversed the downward trend by acquiring Hurricane Comics and launching a series of new characters that appealed to foreign players’ aesthetics.
At this stage, both GOG and IOI had enormous user bases, and merely buying a few IPs could no longer have a decisive impact.
In this situation, original IPs became crucial!
Tenda Group leveraged the success of its other games to continuously introduce new heroes through crossovers with GOG.
Whether it was the new hero “Lark” launched through the crossover with “Mission and Choice,” or the new hero “Prison Keeper” launched through the crossover with “Eternal Cycle of Rebirth,” they all followed this pattern.
These crossovers not only drove traffic from GOG to new games but also drove traffic from new games to GOG, or rather, consolidated GOG’s player base.
This was something IOI found difficult to achieve.
Although there were many game developers around the world making AAA titles, they all carefully protected their flagship IPs and wouldn’t sell them off.
Even if Finger Corporation wanted to buy, they could only acquire some marginalized copyrights. How could they do what GOG did, with Tenda launching a new game and crossover hero each time?
Moreover, due to Mr. Pei’s careful design of different gameplay mechanics, these new heroes all had very unique mechanisms.
For example, the skills of the new hero “Prison Keeper” aligned with the innovative combat mechanism of “Eternal Cycle of Rebirth,” enriching the gameplay while generating enormous discussion.
Furthermore, Mr. Pei’s plan wasn’t just about a new hero or a new game; the related promotional campaigns and cross-industry collaborations were all part of the plan.
This level of coherence couldn’t be achieved simply by buying IPs.
This was the influence a business genius and brilliant designer had on the battlefield…
All these factors, though not causing any extreme and well-known damage to IOI, made Eric vaguely sense that the situation was gradually, uncontrollably deteriorating.
Eric was deeply worried, but he felt powerless.
At this moment, there was a knock on the door—it was Zhao Xuming.
Eric picked up a document from his desk and handed it over: “Regarding the cooperation proposal that Mr. Pei previously suggested, headquarters has given their response. These are the conditions they’ve set.”
Zhao Xuming took it and read it carefully.
Then, his face showed considerable surprise.
“These… what harsh conditions!”
Although Zhao Xuming was on IOI’s side, he still felt that the conditions given by the Dyarch Group’s executives were extremely harsh.
It could definitely be called an unequal treaty!
In this document, the Dyarch Group’s executives had made very detailed regulations for this cooperation plan.
Scope of Cooperation: All servers worldwide.
Cooperation Method: GOG and IOI would add a new section in their respective game clients where players could register an account for the other game after logging in and link the two accounts.
GOG needs to comply with the following terms:
– Prominently feature and promote this section on the client and official website homepage, with IOI’s conspicuous logo;
– GOG needs to provide generous in-game rewards to players who register and enter IOI, including but not limited to rare skins, avatar frames, limited emotes, etc.;
– These rewards are not to be given all at once but must continue for a long enough period, at least two weeks. Additionally, some rewards must only be available after making small purchases in IOI.
As for the terms IOI needed to follow, they were written quite vaguely.
There was no mention of promoting GOG on their client or official website homepage, nor was there any specification about what rewards would be given to players going from IOI to GOG.
Obviously, the rewards wouldn’t be very good, or might even be negligible.
In simpler terms, these conditions meant: We’re both arranging for our players to go play at each other’s games, but GOG must use excellent rewards to tempt players to come to IOI, with time restrictions—they can’t just register and leave, they must actually play for a while; whereas IOI will just do the bare minimum, and if no players go to play GOG, that’s not our fault.
After reading this document, Zhao Xuming shook his head repeatedly.
“Mr. Pei isn’t stupid, how could he possibly accept such conditions?”
“Even a three-year-old could see that there’s absolutely no sincerity for cooperation here.”
Eric nodded: “There never was any sincerity, what did you expect?”
“The headquarters is very wary of Tenda. Mr. Pei proactively proposing such cooperation is, as your proverb goes, ‘a weasel paying New Year’s respects to a chicken’—it definitely can’t be anything good.”
“But if we directly refuse, it would make us look too timid, not even daring to set conditions.”
“So, we might as well propose conditions that the other party absolutely cannot accept, to discourage him.”
Zhao Xuming nodded: “Yes, that makes sense.”
“And in the unlikely event that Mr. Pei actually agrees, we shouldn’t lose out.”
It was like someone having a very precious family heirloom, and when asked how much it costs, simply saying it’s not for sale would seem a bit foolish. The best approach would be to quote an astronomical price that the other party definitely couldn’t afford.
For instance, if something was actually worth ten million, they’d quote two hundred million.
If the other party backed off, they could say, “It’s not that I won’t sell, it’s that you can’t afford the price—blame your lack of sincerity.” And if the other party actually wanted to buy, they could take advantage of this excessive demand to get an extremely high premium.
Eric was taken aback: “You think Mr. Pei would agree?”
Zhao Xuming shook his head: “I don’t know, but who can say for sure about these things? Nobody knows how Mr. Pei’s mind works.”
Eric was silent for a moment, then nodded: “You’re right.”
“Although I’ve been sidelined now, simply becoming a messenger, this might not be a bad thing. At least I don’t have to rack my brains to engage in a battle of wits with Mr. Pei anymore.”
“I’ll send the document to Mr. Pei right away. Whether he accepts it or not is his business.”
Eric first sent an email to Mr. Pei, waited a while, and then made a phone call.
“Hello? Mr. Pei, regarding the cooperation proposal you mentioned last time, headquarters has given their response. The specific requirements have been sent to your email.”
“Hehe, there are quite a few terms. If you find them unsuitable, there’s nothing to be done. After all, I don’t have the final say in this matter—it’s all decided by the headquarters.”
Eric took the initiative to block any possibility of negotiation.
However, after two seconds, Eric’s smile froze on his face.
“What? Completely agree?!”
Eric looked at Zhao Xuming, who returned his gaze with an equally bewildered expression.
They had indeed considered the possibility that Mr. Pei might agree, but that was mostly based on the premise of some negotiation.
Unexpectedly, Mr. Pei agreed without a second word!
The time was so brief that it made one wonder if he had carefully read the specific terms in the proposal.
Over the phone, Mr. Pei’s voice seemed to carry a sense of ease: “Yes, completely agree.”
“When can we start at the earliest? Once the time is set, I’ll have them make arrangements.”
Mr. Pei agreeing so readily made Eric feel a bit uneasy.
Something didn’t feel right!
He hurriedly emphasized: “Mr. Pei, are you sure you’ve carefully read the terms? I suggest you take two minutes to read them carefully, to avoid any unpleasantness in our future cooperation.”