In the afternoon, Qiao Liang took a taxi to Fei Huang Studio and met with Huang Sibo.
“Qiao Laoshi, a pleasure to meet you!”
They warmly shook hands and exchanged pleasantries.
Strictly speaking, Huang Sibo, as the lead designer, had only designed one game, “Sea Fortress.” Qiao Liang had never made a video about “Sea Fortress,” so the two didn’t have much previous interaction.
But since both were quite familiar with Tenda, they felt a sense of mutual appreciation upon meeting.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries in the meeting room, they quickly got to the point.
Qiao Liang went straight to the issue: “To be honest, I recently released a video analyzing ‘Mission and Choice,’ and it unexpectedly caused a lot of controversy.”
“In my video, I said this game was made using an ‘industrialized model,’ which is very different from previous games, but many viewers disagree.”
“What do you think?”
Qiao Liang was quite nervous asking this question.
He was afraid Huang Sibo would directly say, “That’s not the case at all,” which would be impossible to salvage.
After working so hard to study game design theory and carefully researching “Mission and Choice,” it would be too embarrassing if his fierce analysis turned out to be completely wrong.
Huang Sibo took a sip of tea: “I watched the video, and I do agree with some of its content.”
“However…”
“The ‘milestone’ description is too much. Although this game did start with the idea of washing away the shame of domestic games, whether it can become a milestone will only be determined many years later.”
“As for the ‘industrialized model,’ I can’t give you a very precise answer. Because for this concept, there isn’t a consensus in the gaming industry yet—it’s a concept that can be interpreted in many reasonable ways.”
Hearing this, Qiao Liang was slightly disappointed.
Clearly, Huang Sibo had the same personality as Mr. Pei—very modest and unwilling to blindly take credit.
Although modesty is a virtue, it likely meant Qiao Liang would return empty-handed today.
“However…”
Huang Sibo changed direction: “Although I can’t directly answer your question, I can tell you a few small stories about what happened during the project planning and development of this game and film. I believe they will give you some inspiration.”
Qiao Liang’s eyes lit up: “Please do!”
Huang Sibo gathered his thoughts and said: “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the turnover of people in charge at Tenda’s gaming department is very frequent.”
“I was the designer for ‘Sea Fortress,’ but by the time of ‘Game Producer,’ the lead designer had changed to Lü Mingliang. After that came Li Yada, Hu Xianbin, Min Jingchao, and others. It’s extremely rare for a designer to be in charge of two consecutive games at Tenda’s gaming department.”
“Now, I’m in charge of Fei Huang Studio, Lü Mingliang is in charge of Headwind Logistics, and even Chen Kangtuo and others who were previously in the gaming department have been assigned to Jingji Hostel… Every designer who has made a name for themselves can now stand on their own with their own business.”
“Do you know what this means?”
Qiao Liang shook his head, completely confused.
Huang Sibo continued: “Each time we develop a new game, Mr. Pei assigns tasks in different ways.”
“Sometimes, he only gives a very broad outline, such as providing several seemingly unrelated or even bizarre requirements, letting the lead designer use their own divergent thinking for the design. Other times, he meticulously details various design elements, having the designer carefully execute them.”
“Why is that? Do you know?”
Qiao Liang shook his head again, even more confused.
Huang Sibo went on: “This time, when developing ‘Mission and Choice,’ the challenge Mr. Pei presented was unprecedented in difficulty. So, I gathered Director Zhu Xiaocai along with Lü Mingliang, Li Yada, Hu Xianbin, Min Jingchao, Bao Xu, Lin Wan, Ye Zhizhou, Wang Xiaobin, and other key members who had come out of Tenda’s gaming department. Everyone pooled their wisdom, and we finally determined the design details for ‘Mission and Choice.'”
“Connecting all these points, what do you think?”
Qiao Liang frowned, his brain working rapidly.
He vaguely felt that something extremely crucial was hidden in all this, yet it seemed blurry and hard to grasp.
Suddenly, his eyes brightened.
“I understand now!”
“This is actually Mr. Pei’s way of cultivating talent for Tenda Group!”
“Tenda’s gaming department is the department that best develops people, so with each new game project, Mr. Pei promotes a promising newcomer to be the lead designer.”
“And after the project succeeds, Mr. Pei moves the now well-trained employees to other departments where they can take charge, and continues to cultivate new talent!”
“That’s why personnel turnover in Tenda’s gaming department is so frequent, and why they say ‘everyone who comes out of the gaming department can stand on their own’!”
“As for Mr. Pei’s different ways of assigning tasks, this is because he tailors his teaching methods to each individual.”
“Some people excel at design, so Mr. Pei guides them through seemingly unrelated requirements, maximizing their talents. For those with less rich imagination but strong execution abilities, Mr. Pei provides very detailed rules, letting them observe and learn while they execute carefully.”
“And the subsequent arrangements also prove that Mr. Pei is actually a mentor who teaches according to individual aptitudes.”
“For example, Brother Huang, you are a designer with many ideas and strong comprehensive abilities, so Mr. Pei assigned you to lead Fei Huang Studio, overseeing Tenda Group’s entire entertainment industry;”
“Lü Mingliang is a designer with strong execution skills, so Mr. Pei had him manage Headwind Logistics;”
“As for Li Yada and Bao Xu, their abilities aren’t particularly outstanding, but they are experienced and steadfast, so they were kept in Tenda’s gaming department as veteran employees, serving as stabilizing forces…”
“In this way, all promising employees throughout Tenda Group are rapidly growing. With them in control of various departments, they ensure Mr. Pei’s control over each department while also developing faster and better!”
“Most crucially, when these people are fully trained and come together again, they unleash extraordinary potential!”
“Take ‘Mission and Choice’ for example—without the prior accumulation of experience at Fei Huang Studio, without the success of ‘Better Tomorrow,’ it would have been impossible to achieve success in both film and gaming fields!”
“I was a bit puzzled before, thinking ‘Mission and Choice’ doesn’t seem much like Mr. Pei’s style of game. Because games personally designed by Mr. Pei, such as ‘Game Producer,’ ‘Look Back to Shore,’ ‘Struggle,’ etc., all have a strong personal character, with imagination that breaks through the ceiling.”
“While ‘Mission and Choice’ lacks that wild imagination, it has a more steady and balanced feel.”
“It turns out this game is the result of all of you pooling your wisdom under Mr. Pei’s guidance!”
“In other words… my description of ‘Mission and Choice’ as using an ‘industrialized model’ isn’t particularly rigorous.”
“Strictly speaking, Tenda’s ‘industrialized model’ didn’t form naturally, but rather through Mr. Pei’s deliberate cultivation and guidance of key employees, leveraging their strengths, allowing Tenda Group to enter this ‘industrialized model’ ahead of time!”
“It seems my praise was in the right direction, just not quite on point!”
Huang Sibo took a sip of tea and smiled without speaking.
He believed the same thing.
Anyone who had been in charge of Tenda’s gaming department would understand how hugely Mr. Pei’s guidance contributed to a game’s success!
Without Mr. Pei, Huang Sibo, Lü Mingliang, and others might still be working as low-level game planners at some obscure gaming company. How could they have achieved their current success?
Often, a person’s ability is one thing, but more important is the platform they have access to.
It’s like when people ask online why most of the famous generals, strategists, and founding ministers of the Han Dynasty were from the same hometown as Liu Bang. Why did such a small city produce so many talents simultaneously?
The reality is that these people progressed and grew together during their conquest, and with this platform and resources, their talents could be fully expressed.
Tenda Group was the same.
Were all the department heads extraordinarily intelligent and top-tier in their industries? Not necessarily.
Without the platform of Tenda Group and Mr. Pei’s guidance, they couldn’t have achieved their current success.
So, although most of the content in “Mission and Choice” was finalized in meetings by Huang Sibo and others, the greatest contributor behind the scenes was clearly Mr. Pei.
Because Mr. Pei provided this platform, established Tenda Group’s fundamental tone, cultivated these people, and set an excellent example for them—that’s why a game like “Mission and Choice” came into existence!
But he couldn’t say this explicitly because Mr. Pei had told him to be objective and truthful.
The things he was thinking had elements of speculation. While they were mostly true, he couldn’t state them directly.
So, Huang Sibo objectively recounted these episodes that occurred during the making of “Mission and Choice.” Those who understood would understand; those who didn’t couldn’t be given further explanation.
With Qiao Laoshi’s level of comprehension, there shouldn’t be any problem.
Qiao Liang didn’t disappoint him. He understood immediately, instantly grasping his intention!
Qiao Liang said excitedly: “I understand now! Thank you very much! Now I can assert that Tenda Group isn’t just trying the ‘industrialized model’ first, but it’s also deliberately guided by Mr. Pei, and it has achieved excellent results!”
“I’m going to confront those people right away! With such detailed examples, they will definitely be left speechless!”