Lin Wan and Cai Jiadong looked at each other, momentarily falling silent.
Hadn’t they just been saying they should bother Mr. Pei less and complete tasks independently?
Cai Jiadong noticed Lin Wan’s hesitation and advised: “Director Lin, you have to take things one step at a time. Haste makes waste.”
“Your desire for Chi Xing Studio to become independent quickly is certainly a good idea. But we still need to consider our actual capabilities right now.”
“If we act on our own and lead the company astray, losing money, it would be better to ask Mr. Pei’s advice from the beginning. After all, half of our company’s investment comes from Tenda, so we have a responsibility to Tenda.”
Lin Wan nodded; that made sense.
They could bother Mr. Pei less when designing games, but when it came to foreseeing an industry’s future, they had to consult him!
At this crucial crossroads determining the company’s fate, besides Mr. Pei, no one else had the confidence to make such a decision.
Asking Cai Jiadong to answer this question was indeed too difficult for him.
Although Lin Wan had gathered some information through Old Song, using that information to make decisions was no easy task.
After careful consideration, since this was such an important matter, they really could only consult Mr. Pei.
Even if Mr. Pei couldn’t provide specific direction, asking would still be beneficial.
Lin Wan sighed softly: “Alright then, I’ll call Mr. Pei.”
A few minutes later, Lin Wan hung up: “Mr. Pei said he’ll come over personally.”
Cai Jiadong was delighted: “That’s perfect! It’s best to discuss these things face-to-face!”
“I’ll organize our current situation right away to report to Mr. Pei when he arrives!”
…
A few minutes earlier.
Pei Qian had just finished breakfast at a nearby bun shop.
Why not go to Slackin’ Internet Café?
Because there were too many people there!
Previously, Slackin’ Internet Café had relatively stable customer flow, mostly regulars, so Pei Qian could easily go there for meals.
But now, with the VR experience zone booming, people lined up at Slackin’ Internet Café early every morning. Those who couldn’t get spots waited in the coffee area, making it difficult for Pei Qian to find a place to sit if he arrived late.
Not being able to visit the internet café he owned was truly depressing!
Pei Qian infinitely missed when Slackin’ Internet Café first opened. Those were good times—he had the entire café to himself, could order whatever he wanted, play any game, and had all the service staff attending to him alone. How wonderful.
Unfortunately, those good days were gone forever.
“These gaming media outlets are just jumping on the bandwagon for no reason!”
“Qiao Laoshi is just talking nonsense, saying whatever comes to mind. That guy feels uncomfortable if he doesn’t praise Tenda for one day.”
“At least he gets attention by praising Tenda, but what do you all get out of it?!”
Seeing various gaming media and even news outlets lavishly praising Doubt VR glasses, calling them “symbolic of the VR era’s arrival” and “establishing VR gaming standards,” Pei Qian felt extremely frustrated.
Everything was chaotic, completely chaotic!
Several months ago, Pei Qian had impulsively directed Chi Xing Studio to develop VR mainly because he thought the VR industry wasn’t mature, still in its infancy, an extremely niche market.
Such a huge investment would likely only earn reputation, not money, right?
However, things had developed completely differently from what Pei Qian had expected!
How did it suddenly become “establishing standards for VR games” and “initiating the VR gaming era”?
It was just an ordinary casual game!
Qiao Laoshi’s exaggeration was expected—Pei Qian wasn’t surprised, as he could always find unique points to praise in any Tenda game.
The key issue was that other gaming media and players were actually convinced by Qiao Laoshi!
Now, the idea that Doubt VR and “Animal Island” had initiated the VR gaming era had become a consensus in the domestic gaming circle and even other circles.
Not only were many companies eagerly planning to develop VR games for Doubt VR, entering this blue ocean for opportunities, but many other internet companies were also considering how to get a piece of the pie.
Develop a cheaper VR headset riding on Doubt VR’s popularity? Create a VR panoramic video app?
Or perhaps introduce some foreign VR content?
Since the VR era had arrived, creating a huge trend, everyone naturally wanted a share of it.
That’s how the internet era worked—everyone wanted to find the right trend and be the pig that gets lifted up, without considering that after the trend passes, 90% of those pigs would crash to their deaths.
Of the remaining 10%, most would be stranded, barely surviving.
Those who could grow into unicorn giants riding a trend were one in ten thousand.
“These people are really overthinking things.”
“VR is absolutely a dead end!”
Pei Qian couldn’t help but mourn for their fate.
He remembered clearly that the VR industry had indeed experienced a period of popularity but quickly faded into silence.
Of course, “silence” wasn’t quite accurate—it was still developing slowly, and new VR companies were still emerging, but compared to the initial enthusiasm, it had quickly cooled down.
The main reason was that equipment development couldn’t keep up with market demands.
Many people liked to compare VR with mobile phones, but thinking carefully revealed huge differences between these two devices.
Phones were daily necessities; VR wasn’t. Phone technology developed rapidly with frequent updates, while VR technology progressed slowly, unable to reach ideal resolution and refresh rates even after several years.
Pei Qian was absolutely certain that Doubt VR had indeed initiated an era—but it was a false VR era.
The trend had emerged but would quickly disappear.
Those companies that were deceived and rushed in would likely burn through their investments and suffer huge losses within a year or two.
How enviable!
Unlike other companies, Chi Xing Studio had already taken the first bite in the VR era, and that bite was extremely profitable.
Even if the entire VR industry cooled down later, Doubt VR and Chi Xing Studio would still be remembered as “pioneers of the VR era.”
This “pioneer” status didn’t mean Chi Xing Studio was the first company to make VR glasses.
It was like games—those that truly established operation standards for a game genre were usually not the first games but rather comprehensive masterpieces.
Doubt VR was now the comprehensive masterpiece of the VR industry.
Although VR glasses and VR games existed in the past, none had unified all these standards to create a well-known device and game with mature product form and widespread influence.
Chi Xing Studio’s logo would likely be associated with virtual reality for a long time.
In other words, it would be very difficult to lose money.
For Pei Qian, this was such a sad story.
He had single-handedly initiated the era of huge losses in the VR industry, yet he couldn’t benefit from this era of huge losses himself.
Just thinking about it made his sorrow overflow like a river.
At that moment, Pei Qian’s phone rang—it was Lin Wan calling.
Seeing the caller ID, Pei Qian didn’t really want to answer.
Undoubtedly, she was calling with good news!
Although very reluctant, after some internal struggle, Pei Qian answered.
“Mr. Pei, sorry to disturb you. I have some small confusion about Chi Xing Studio’s future development…”
After hearing Lin Wan’s concerns, Pei Qian remained silent for a moment.
“Doubt VR just confirmed its success, and you’re already thinking about the next project?”
“Isn’t that too hasty?”
“Give yourself and the company a break—it wouldn’t be too late to start working again after playing for two months!”
“Balance work and rest!”
Pei Qian didn’t want to deal with Chi Xing Studio’s matters at all right now.
Come on, I haven’t even settled accounts yet!
Making me think about issues for the next cycle now—do you think my brain cells aren’t dying fast enough?
Lin Wan said: “Mr. Pei, aren’t you accustomed to immediately thinking about the next steps after a project succeeds?”
“I think this forward-looking work habit is very worth learning.”
“I’m also following your example, holding myself to higher standards.”
Pei Qian could only laugh internally.
Forward-looking?
You must be misunderstanding something!
I’m simply forced to quickly think of other ways to put out fires when an industry fails or makes money, otherwise I can’t complete the important task of losing money within the settlement period!
You don’t have a deadline to lose money within a settlement period—what’s your rush?!
But he couldn’t say these things directly.
After a moment of silence, Pei Qian said: “Alright, I’ll come over.”
Ignoring the matter completely was an option, but the key problem was that, if left alone, who knew what Lin Wan might do.
Times had changed—Chi Xing Studio was now famous.
Whatever they did would attract substantial player attention.
Whether Lin Wan made a new VR game or a conventional game, as long as she didn’t have a mental lapse and worked solidly to leverage their advantages, the chances of success would be high.
At worst, it might not be extremely popular, but it would likely still make money.
Therefore, Pei Qian felt this matter couldn’t be taken lightly—he had to go see for himself.
…
Half an hour later, Pei Qian arrived at Chi Xing Studio and sat down in the meeting room with Lin Wan and Cai Jiadong.
“About Chi Xing Studio’s future development… why don’t you briefly share your thoughts first.”
Pei Qian felt he should first gauge their opinions.
Lin Wan looked at Cai Jiadong: “You go first.”
Cai Jiadong nodded: “Mr. Pei, my original thought was to continue developing VR games.”
“As Qiao Laoshi said, Doubt VR glasses have already succeeded, and ‘Animal Island’ has established standards for VR games.”
“Moving forward, we have many potential paths for developing VR games.”
“For instance, we could make a AAA-level shooting game, or cooperate with other manufacturers to develop VR versions of successful racing games.”
“The success rate would be high, the risk low, and we could maximize the current VR popularity while further linking Chi Xing Studio’s image with the VR industry.”