At this moment, Pei Qian was at the Ming Mansion banquet, having dinner with all the club owners of the GPL league.
All the owners who originally had league spots, including the H4 Club, were in attendance. Everyone was raising their glasses in a toast, creating quite a lively atmosphere.
After the previous bidding ended, Lin Chang, Li Shi, and others had already gone to the Nameless Restaurant for a meal, but Pei Qian hadn’t attended that one. He’d made excuses to decline, and Zhang Yuan had gone to receive them instead.
Mainly because he was afraid of being hurt twice.
As for today’s dinner, it really couldn’t be avoided.
Pei Qian considered that he should at least meet these club owners and get to know each other. At the same time, he needed to clearly explain the GPL rules to everyone.
Besides, four days had passed since the bidding, so the likelihood of having his wounds reopened was quite low. The main topic would focus on the GPL rules, making this a good time to meet.
This restaurant was jointly opened by Li Shi and Xue Zhebin. Although the cuisine wasn’t quite as good as the Nameless Restaurant, the venue was larger. Since it was among their people, they could book the entire place and feel more at ease.
Now, the GPL rules had been announced. The various owners chatted while eating, discussing the GPL rules in passing, creating a harmonious scene.
Li Shi looked at the GPL rules issued by Mr. Pei and discussed the terms with Xue Zhebin, who was sitting beside him.
“See, I told you so.”
“When others collect money, they’re filling their own pockets. But when Mr. Pei collects money, it’s definitely for a more long-term goal.”
“Look, Mr. Pei took the money we paid for league spots and divided it into three parts: building youth training bases for clubs, supporting the development of GDL and internet café tournaments, and maintaining the normal operation of the GPL league.”
“If it were an ordinary organizer, they would allocate only a portion of the money for GPL league operations and pocket all the rest.”
“Of course, organizers earning money by selling spots with their abilities is fair enough, but objectively speaking, this approach is too short-sighted!”
“In contrast, Mr. Pei took the clubs’ money and invested all of it back into the league, supporting the entire foundational structure of the league.”
“Those talented players can first compete in the ladder, then start from the internet café tournaments, then move on to the GDL or join various clubs’ youth training teams… each step can be taken very solidly.”
“And the standard contracts also ensure they won’t be exploited, and talent won’t be wasted.”
“Once such a system is established, it can continuously supply fresh blood to the GPL league. It’s perfect!”
Xue Zhebin nodded repeatedly as he listened. “Indeed.”
“But, Mr. Li, if the money is spent on all these things, what about league promotion? What about the clubs’ capital investment? Won’t those two areas be somewhat lacking?”
“Although the league system is important in the long run, we shouldn’t ignore the most urgent issues at hand!”
Li Shi smiled slightly: “This is the difference in thinking between ordinary people and Mr. Pei.”
“First-level thinking: Sell spots to make money and line your own pockets.”
“Second-level thinking: See that Mr. Pei is using this money to seek long-term benefits.”
“Third-level thinking: See both long-term and immediate benefits.”
“But Mr. Pei is at an even higher level, because he clearly understands that long-term benefits must be achieved with money, while immediate benefits can be achieved without spending money!”
“So, Mr. Pei isn’t ignoring the most urgent issues, but rather has prepared another set of solutions.”
Xue Zhebin looked confused: “Really? But how can problems be solved without money?”
The GPL league needed promotion, and the clubs needed infrastructure construction—all of these required money.
Li Shi explained: “What Mr. Pei possesses isn’t just money, but also other resources, such as reputation, trust, and attention!”
“The long-term benefits of the GPL league can’t be guaranteed with these things. For example, to support GDL and youth training, attention is useless. No one would spend money on these things, so Mr. Pei has to fund them himself.”
“But the immediate benefits of the GPL league can be converted using reputation, trust, and attention!”
“The so-called immediate benefits are nothing more than the initial heat and attention of the GPL league, as well as club construction.”
“Now look at the people sitting here. What kind of combination are they?”
“We have established domestic clubs, the meritorious veterans from the first GOG Global Finals, nationally renowned large enterprises like Shenhua Real Estate and Jinding Group, as well as ordinary participants like us who, though not particularly outstanding in terms of money and fame, fully support and cooperate with Mr. Pei.”
“There’s no need for promotion at all. Just publishing this list of names would be worth more than tens of millions in advertising expenses!”
“In other words, the GPL league has already become popular before it even starts. What difference does a bit more or less promotional funding make?”
“Moreover, the controversy between Mr. Pei and those three clubs has continued for more than half a month, which not only kept raising the heat of the GPL league but also sent a very clear signal to the outside world.”
“The audience trusts Mr. Pei, but capital might not necessarily trust him. Many people believe Mr. Pei can make good games, but don’t trust him to run a good league.”
“Through this incident, Mr. Pei has proven with extremely iron-handed measures that he has absolute control over the GPL!”
“He kicked out three clubs without hesitation, and all the remaining clubs unconditionally cooperated. At the same time, Mr. Pei isn’t implementing a promotion and relegation system but is instead investing large sums of money in the grassroots training system, which is sending a clear signal: GPL is meant to be a long-term project!”
“With multiple signals combined, sponsors won’t worry about their money being wasted and will naturally fund the clubs and the GPL league.”
“This is where Mr. Pei’s brilliance lies: On the surface, he’s spending money for long-term benefits, but in reality, he’s spreading a message, and this message attracts even more money, solving short-term problems as well.”
“Novices make choices, masters choose everything!”
“Don’t believe me? Wait and see. Before long, various sponsors will come knocking on our doors.”
Li Shi had already had some alcohol and was slightly tipsy. His face was slightly flushed, and he was extremely satisfied with his analysis.
“I see!” Xue Zhebin suddenly realized, working hard to digest the information.
Meanwhile, Pei Qian was quietly eating his food.
Everyone was talking, either engaging in grand discussions or whispering with heads lowered, and all these sounds made Pei Qian feel rather uneasy.
Suddenly, the phone in his pocket vibrated. It was Qiu Hong calling.
Pei Qian knew it must be something important, and he also wanted to get some fresh air, so he immediately stood up and went outside to take the call.
…
Arriving at a relatively quiet corner outside, Pei Qian answered the phone.
On the phone, Qiu Hong briefly explained the situation with Wu Zhicheng.
“Mr. Pei, that’s roughly the situation.”
“I consider that the most critical issue right now isn’t money. Although independent game developers are short on money, they’re equally short on other things.”
“Especially various supporting facilities, which require large investments and show results slowly, making it a difficult problem to solve.”
“So, for cases like Wu Zhicheng’s, I’m a bit unsure about exactly what to do.”
“I’ve decided to invest in him, but I haven’t figured out the specific approach.”
“If I just give him money, the project can still be completed, but it still feels like something is missing.”
“Mr. Pei, regarding this point, I have a somewhat immature idea about basic supporting facilities.”
Hearing this, Pei Qian’s eyes immediately lit up.
Basic supporting facilities requiring large investments with slow results?
That’s great!
For independent game developers, as long as they have money, they can create games. Whether the working environment is good or bad isn’t very important.
Many independent game developers have created good works even in messy work environments.
Since it doesn’t matter much, why not arrange a better environment for them?
This should be a typical high-investment, low-return scenario, right?
Isn’t this exactly what he likes most?
Pei Qian immediately said, “Just tell me directly, how much money does this immature idea of yours need?”
Hearing how straightforward Mr. Pei was, Qiu Hong hesitated a bit: “Uh… Mr. Pei, my idea is as follows.”
“Open incubation bases similar to ‘co-working spaces’ in major cities like the capital, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. Of course, we could open one in Jingzhou as well.”
“For such startup incubators, we would uniformly recruit administrative, financial, and other staff. The job of these people would be to serve each independent game developer well, helping them solve a series of problems outside of game development.”
“At the same time, they could also provide some guidance for their work, such as simple instructions on how to make development plans, contact artists, prepare financial statements, and so on.”
“Game developers could also get to know each other and exchange ideas.”
“For such an incubation base, daily utilities, employee salaries, rent, and so on would total at least 200,000 to 300,000 yuan per month. The specific expenses depend on factors such as the number of workstations, location, and so on.”
Pei Qian frowned: “200,000 to 300,000? This doesn’t conform to the Tenda spirit at all!”
“Have you only calculated the rent for workstations, basic company expenses for employees, and utilities?”
“You haven’t included office computers, have you? Employee benefits, have you? Independent game developers work so hard, giving them some basic income to maintain their daily lives isn’t too much, is it?”
“An incubation base is a good thing. Let’s do it!”
“The Poverty Aid Project will continue as usual, and those companies will be supported as they should be. As for the incubation base, I’ll allocate extra funds for you. Spend generously!”
Pei Qian was very happy. Qiu Hong was indeed outstanding, coming up with a new way to spend money so quickly!
…
After hanging up the phone, Qiu Hong couldn’t help but sigh with emotion.
Mr. Pei was truly an entrepreneur who genuinely loved the game industry and could make real-time, decisive actions!
A problem that had been troubling him so much was easily resolved by Mr. Pei, who quickly made a decision.
He looked at Wu Zhicheng: “The Poverty Aid Project will invest in your game!”
“Besides that, we will also provide you with office space and some necessary assistance. We hope to work together to make this game a success.”
Wu Zhicheng’s mouth opened slightly, feeling that this scene seemed somewhat unreal.
After a few seconds of stunned silence, he finally said: “Thank you, Mr. Qiu! Thank you so much!”
Qiu Hong smiled somewhat emotionally: “No, we should all thank Mr. Pei.”