Would making a horror game significantly increase the probability of losing money?

Pei Qian certainly knew that there were some very successful and profitable horror games in the world, but overall, such games were the minority.

Only a small fraction of horror games could stand out and be remembered by players, while most horror games or horror movies faded into obscurity or became material for criticism shows.

The reasons for this were the same as haunted houses.

On one hand, horror themes naturally deterred large numbers of timid players or viewers;

On the other hand, if horror themes weren’t executed well, they easily became comedic.

Take horror movies as an example.

To make something truly frightening, one must first ensure extremely high realism, with significant investments in scenes, props, costumes, makeup, and more.

With these investments as a foundation, sophisticated filming techniques and storyboarding were needed to keep the audience constantly guessing about what would happen next, maintaining their mental tension and ensuring their immersion wasn’t broken.

If non-professionals attempted horror themes, they easily ended up with results like the haunted houses in Jingzhou, failing on both fronts:

Timid visitors wouldn’t dare enter, while brave visitors would find it boring.

The same applied to horror games, with truly competent horror game developers being few and far between.

The reason Pei Qian wanted Shangyang Games to create a horror title was precisely because he recognized that Lin Wan and the Shangyang Games team had no experience developing horror games.

If they produced a truly terrible horror game, it would naturally end up on Qiao Laoshi’s “Terrible Games Roast” show, which would be perfect!

Of course, he still needed to encourage everyone properly, at least to coax Lin Wan and Ye Zhizhou into accepting this likely-to-fail task.

Pei Qian set his teacup aside and said seriously, “In the domestic game market, the horror game field is currently a complete blank!”

“The domestic single-player game industry is very weak, and horror games are a niche within that niche!”

“At the same time, horror games demand extremely high skills from their creators.”

“If you want to prove yourselves, take on the most difficult genre! If you can conquer horror games, making other games in the future will certainly be no challenge at all!”

“How could Tenda people back away from difficulty?”

Lin Wan blinked, falling into deep thought.

Obviously, after hearing Pei Qian’s speech, her attitude had begun to waver.

Pei Qian secretly congratulated himself. Sure enough, he knew this approach would be effective!

If it had been someone else, Pei Qian’s speech might have backfired, causing them to retreat from the difficulty.

But Lin Wan was different; she was a girl who enjoyed challenges.

Moreover, the mobile version of “Hot-Blooded Battle Hymn” had just achieved such great success that the entire project team was in a blindly optimistic atmosphere—or as the saying goes, they were quite inflated with pride.

Under these circumstances, who wouldn’t want to create an AAA blockbuster with built-in talking points to prove themselves?

Pei Qian believed this temptation would be impossible for Shangyang Games employees to resist.

After considering for a moment, Lin Wan said: “Mr. Pei, I still need to discuss this topic with Ye Zhizhou and Wang Xiaobin.”

Pei Qian nodded with a smile: “Of course.”

He could already see that Lin Wan’s heart had begun to waver.

Since none of them had decided what to make yet, Pei Qian’s direction would become their guiding light!

Lin Wan stood up, intending to call Ye Zhizhou and Wang Xiaobin over to discuss how to specifically approach the new game.

Pei Qian raised his hand to stop her.

“Wait, there’s one more thing.”

Lin Wan nodded: “Please go ahead, Mr. Pei.”

Pei Qian spoke with a serious expression: “Besides the new game, there’s another important task I want to entrust to you.”

“Tenda is going to establish a brand new mobile phone brand.”

“And this mobile phone brand… I hope to put you in full charge of it.”

Lin Wan was stunned for a moment, and quickly shook her head: “No, Mr. Pei, I really can’t be responsible for that.”

“Although I’ve bought many expensive phones, I know nothing about phones and don’t have much interest in them. Moreover, I still have to be responsible for Shangyang Games. I can’t be in two places at once and definitely won’t be able to manage it all.”

Pei Qian wasn’t agitated by this outright rejection; Lin Wan’s reaction was within his expectations.

“Don’t rush to refuse.”

“Mobile phones are a very important business layout for Tenda, even more important than Shangyang Games.”

“After all, Shangyang Games’ ceiling is merely becoming a well-known domestic game company, but the ceiling for the mobile phone business could potentially be a tech giant worth hundreds of billions!”

“In the future, the influence of mobile phones on people’s lives will inevitably become increasingly close. They are mobile terminals and also windows for everyone to communicate with the network.”

“Just like Shenhua Group, which can easily promote a game with just their mobile phone market presence. You’ve seen this enormous power, haven’t you?”

“If we can succeed in the mobile phone business, Tenda will become like a tiger with wings!”

Pei Qian was painting a grand picture.

Lin Wan hesitated: “Um… Mr. Pei, I understand everything you’re saying. But I still feel that managing both gaming and mobile phone businesses simultaneously would be too much for me…”

Pei Qian shook his head: “You’re underestimating yourself.”

“This is a necessary stage for anyone who wants to grow from an ordinary leader into an excellent leader.”

“Besides, you won’t be handling the mobile phone business alone. I’ll find a way to assign you an assistant. You can delegate all the specific business operations to them, while you only need to make the final decisions, isn’t that fine?”

“Tenda’s business is so complex now, and I’ve barely managed anything, yet everything’s developing quite well, isn’t it?”

“Just be hands-off like me.”

Lin Wan took this as a joke and laughed cooperatively: “Mr. Pei, how could I compare to you?”

Pei Qian quickly raised his hand: “No need for undue modesty, you’re all certainly better than me.”

“In any case, this is a necessary path to becoming an excellent manager.”

“Moreover, looking across the entire Tenda Group, who else but you would be suitable for the mobile phone business?”

Pei Qian’s expression was 120% sincere.

Lin Wan was startled, suddenly feeling that Mr. Pei made a lot of sense.

Mr. Pei had always had grand plans, and deciding to enter the mobile phone field wasn’t particularly surprising.

With Tenda’s current funds, supporting a mobile phone department wouldn’t be completely unsustainable.

After all, from Mr. Pei’s intentions, this mobile phone department was meant to develop gradually, without trying to achieve too much at once.

To be fair, Lin Wan truly was the most suitable person in the Tenda Group to take over this mobile phone department.

Although Lin Wan didn’t understand the inner workings of the mobile phone industry, neither did anyone else!

Mr. Pei could certainly spend heavily to poach talent from other companies, but such poached executives were quite unreliable, with questionable loyalty.

Even if an executive was loyal enough, it would be difficult to guarantee they could properly embrace the Tenda spirit.

Among all of Tenda’s veteran employees, Lin Wan was indeed the one most connected to the mobile phone business, since Shenhua Group had started with mobile phones and telecommunications.

As the saying goes, even if you haven’t eaten pork, you’ve seen pigs walk. Even if Lin Wan knew little about the mobile phone industry, through osmosis, she was still more suitable for this job than other Tenda veterans.

Lin Wan hesitated: “Alright, Mr. Pei, I’ll think carefully about this matter. However, during this time, please continue to look for other more suitable candidates, preferably someone more qualified than me.”

Pei Qian nodded: “Of course.”

Lin Wan’s attitude had clearly softened; her agreement was just a matter of time.

Pei Qian figured that he could later find someone from outside who knew a bit about the mobile phone business to assist her. Such a combination would likely run the mobile phone business into the ground!

But who specifically should he find to assist Lin Wan…

This required careful consideration.

If he accidentally found someone particularly capable who elevated Lin Wan, that would be a disaster.

“So, Mr. Pei, shall I call Ye Zhizhou and Wang Xiaobin over for you to briefly explain the general direction for the horror game?” Lin Wan asked.

Pei Qian quickly shook his head: “No.”

“Initially, you should consider it yourselves. I don’t want to limit your thinking.”

“After you have a general idea, I’ll offer a few opinions.”

Pei Qian had become very distrustful of his own design ideas.

What if he suddenly came up with an idea that inexplicably became popular? What then?

But he couldn’t completely disregard the situation either.

Pei Qian considered letting Ye Zhizhou and Wang Xiaobin come up with an idea first, then he would “guide” them in the opposite direction, maximizing the chances that this game wouldn’t make money.

“Alright, you all get back to work. I’ll come by again in a few days.”

Pei Qian stood up and left.