Ye Zhizhou excitedly said, “I was wondering if players could absorb so many simulators, but Mr. Pei, you had it all figured out from the beginning—targeting both players and driving schools simultaneously!”
“‘Safe Driving’ as a unique game has completely bridged racing games and driving simulation games, and through the simulator package, it’s connected software and hardware, greatly expanding the community of driving simulation game players who use steering wheels.”
“But clearly this alone isn’t enough. The key is that it has created linkages with other industries in the real world!”
“Hengyuan Driving School has already ordered one thousand simulators from us. Driving schools across the country have somehow gotten the news and are either ordering online or contacting us directly, submitting large orders.”
“Even for small driving schools, compared to the cost of purchasing vehicles and maintaining them and training grounds, a simulator isn’t much expense. It can effectively improve the impression left on students, making the driving school appear trendy and professional, so simulators are selling very well!”
“Although Hengyuan Driving School is currently the largest chain driving school in the country, they can’t absorb all our production capacity. After all, driving schools in China are based in various cities and are quite scattered.”
“So, Outu Technology discussed with Mr. Li and He Desheng and decided to prioritize supply to Hengyuan Driving School, offering some small benefits in the name of official cooperation, while not prohibiting other driving schools from purchasing safe driving simulators.”
“Additionally, Starbird Virtual Sports Experience Stores have also absorbed a large number of safe driving simulators. Outu Technology supplies them directly, allowing players who don’t have money or space at home to experience the simulators at Starbird Sports in a way similar to internet cafés!”
“There’s not much point in fixating on the player market alone. Only by breaking through boundaries can we achieve true success!”
Ye Zhizhou was excited because he saw that the future sales channels for safe driving simulators were wide open!
He knew all this in detail because Shangyang Games would continue updating content for “Safe Driving,” including different driving test rules for various provinces and cities, as well as adjustments for driving school mode, all of which needed to be refined in subsequent game content.
Hengyuan Driving School was the first driving school to purchase safe driving simulators on a large scale, thanks to Mr. Li’s networking.
But no matter how hard Xu Hu tried to keep it secret, this would inevitably get out. After learning this news, other driving schools would naturally consider whether to purchase safe driving simulators as well.
In fact, Hengyuan wasn’t the only driving school that placed simulators in their training grounds. Other driving schools faced the same “too many students, too few cars” problem as Hengyuan and would naturally make the same decision.
And those driving schools without simulators were getting restless.
Previously, the simulators deployed by other driving schools were just for show, so schools without simulators could explain to students that they weren’t very useful.
But Tenda’s simulator was different—it was genuinely useful!
Moreover, this high-quality simulator had generated widespread attention and popularity online. If schools now told their students “simulators aren’t very useful,” it would seem like sour grapes.
This was rapidly becoming a trend. If they couldn’t keep up, wouldn’t they be telling students that their driving school was outdated?
Currently, there were indeed many students, with more applicants than schools could handle, but competition between driving schools was intensifying. All were racking their brains to find advantages over other schools.
While some driving schools were making a fortune, others were being neglected.
And “we have safe driving simulators” was a big selling point and advantage.
At the very least, they couldn’t let it become a disadvantage, right?
So those schools that hadn’t previously bought simulators were also getting interested, feeling they couldn’t fall behind.
Even if space was limited and they could only buy three to five units for appearances’ sake, they still needed them!
Not to mention large chain driving schools like Hengyuan. Besides training grounds, they also had enrollment centers, which needed impressive displays the most. Setting up a safe driving simulator was the best way to make an impression!
So this undercurrent was quietly growing, rapidly sweeping across driving schools nationwide.
Schools in third-tier cities or small county towns might be less informed and slower to adopt, but they would eventually recognize this issue too.
What an enormous market!
According to relevant departmental statistics, domestic driver training institutions had already exceeded 11,000 last year and were likely to exceed 16,000 in the next five years. And that only counted officially registered ones—there were countless small affiliated driving schools.
Even so, the driver training industry still struggled to fully meet the current huge market demand, with many schools experiencing serious queuing issues.
A driving simulator costing several thousand or over ten thousand yuan might be expensive for ordinary people, and space could be problematic, but what problem was that for driving schools?
How did this expense compare to the cost of purchasing, fueling, and maintaining training vehicles?
How did the simulator’s space requirements compare to the space needed for training grounds?
Even if each driving school only bought two or three units for show, it would still be an immeasurable huge market.
Pei Qian listened in shock.
Could this work?
There was actually an option for driving schools to purchase? And in large quantities?
What a miscalculation!
Pei Qian had learned to drive in his memories, but that world was quite different from this one, and it was at a small driving school with no need for simulators. As for this world, he had drivers taking him everywhere, so why would he learn to drive himself?
This led to him completely overlooking this possibility!
But at this point, what’s done was done, and there was no way to change it!
Pei Qian’s face turned slightly green as he watched forklift after forklift busily moving safe driving simulators on and off the shelves.
These forklifts weren’t moving goods—they were moving stacks and stacks of cash!
So the question was, why had he come all the way to the warehouse?
Pei Qian had originally wanted to check the warehouse’s condition. If the inventory had already filled the warehouse, he could naturally ask Ye Zhizhou to rent more warehouses and continue stockpiling.
But this inspection revealed a major problem!
The warehouse wasn’t full. The goods were rapidly moving in and out, even showing signs of demand exceeding supply, requiring the contract manufacturers to further increase production capacity!
What a waste—coming all this way for nothing.
Ye Zhizhou continued, “Mr. Pei, besides the driving school situation, there’s another matter from the game side I need to consult you about.”
“Currently, several domestic manufacturers are actively requesting to license their vehicle data to us without any licensing fees. Some manufacturers who previously refused to grant licenses seem to have softened their stance, and they’re no longer so rigid about the ‘vehicle collision performance’ item. Perhaps we can secure them with a little extra money.”
“This fits perfectly with our plan to introduce more vehicle licenses, which is a major trend for all racing and driving simulation games. So, what do you think…”
Pei Qian was stunned: “Huh? They’re actively licensing to us?”
Ye Zhizhou nodded: “That’s right, this is clearly due to the influence of the previous Passat incident.”
“Actually, the IIAS has all these collision data, but their influence is ultimately limited. Besides car enthusiasts and aficionados, ordinary people won’t visit the IIAS website to check collision data for no reason.”
“The manufacturers approaching us basically all performed well in IIAS crash tests and are confident in their vehicles’ collision data, which is why they’re coming to us.”
“The two domestic electric vehicle brands we’ve partnered with have already benefited. When the game first launched, there were only a few selectable models, and among them, cars with excellent collision results formed a stark contrast with models like the Passat.”
“After testing, everyone praised the domestic car models with excellent crash test results, objectively generating buzz and increasing sales for them.”
“Moreover, as safe driving simulators continue to spread across driving schools and the game’s player base expands, this advertising effect is clearly becoming more and more significant.”
“Furthermore, unlike reality, where many people can’t afford cars costing hundreds of thousands, in the game, players can eventually afford any car if they save up enough. So cars in all price ranges actually have a chance for players to test drive and experience them, which is an excellent opportunity for brand exposure.”
“Of course, some automakers aren’t interested, perhaps because they truly lack confidence in their collision results, or maybe they don’t think much of our game.”
“But there are indeed many automakers, especially domestic new energy vehicle companies, with strong cooperation intentions.”
“After all, ‘Safe Driving’ has certain unique characteristics compared to other racing games. To some extent, it can somewhat simulate the driving feel and safety, essentially providing players with free test drives. After test driving, some players might become interested in certain brands, thereby influencing real-world sales.”
What Ye Zhizhou meant by “unique characteristics” referred to how the differences in driving feel and safety among various vehicles in “Safe Driving” were completely unlike other games.
In other games, although players would experience significant differences when driving different vehicles, the differences wouldn’t be so pronounced.
For example, top sports cars could all reach speeds above 280 km/h, with perhaps some differences in handling and turning, or individual vehicles exceeding 300 km/h.
But this would hardly affect reality, since no one could drive that fast in real life.