Under the bright lights of the tea room, Chen Ran could see a wolf-like glint in Hao Rui's eyes.

There have been too few good projects in recent years, and the rise of science and technology-driven biotechnology has drawn most people's attention to the field of hard technology.

It is difficult for traditional mobile game companies to make new breakthroughs in the gaming industry, and it is almost impossible for new startups to replicate the success of companies like Lilith Games and miHoYo.

The golden age of mobile internet is over, and it's becoming increasingly difficult to create a blockbuster product by simply gathering a few people.

On the new VR terminals, small startups simply have no basis for survival.

The development cost of brain-computer interface (BCI) VR games may be similar to that of traditional games, but talent is currently concentrated in large companies, making it too costly to poach talent from them.

You need at least a 50% salary increase to attract someone to leave a big company and start a business with you.

In this day and age, empty promises don't work anymore; you have to give me something tangible before I'll work with you.

Therefore, startups that develop brain-computer interface VR games do not exist.

Hao Rui, as the head of investment in Tencent's gaming sector, has found it extremely difficult to find good projects in recent years.

Last year was even more extreme, with investments made in only two overseas game companies throughout the entire year, one in Southeast Asia and the other in Poland.

The Red Fox Studio, which emerged out of nowhere, is like a hidden gem.

It's amazing that there are startups developing VR games, and doing it so well.

Internally, "Wings of the Law" was rated S, indicating that it is a game with immense potential.

After learning about Chen Ran's background, Tencent immediately reviewed the game proposals they had worked on during their internal competition.

If "The Wings of Law Breaker" plagiarized aspects of their work at Tencent, then Tencent can do whatever it wants with it.

This is equivalent to you taking the work you did at your previous company and using it after you leave.

For Nanshan Invincible, this is tantamount to suicide.

Unfortunately, Chen Ran is a long-time employee of Tencent and knows Tencent's ways all too well.

Apart from the fact that the background of "Breaking the Law" is also the late Ming Dynasty, it has nothing in common with the previous projects.

As a result, Hao Rui didn't have a good way to control the other party.

Given Chen Ran's level, he's almost there yet, not quite ready to sign a non-compete agreement.

It's in a state of neither rising nor falling.

"Tencent's rich experience in the game industry for more than 20 years can be the best stepping stone for your success."

Seeing that Hao Rui seemed to believe him, Chen Ran said directly:

"Levi, let's be frank, I've been working in the gaming industry at Tencent for over five years."

"I am quite familiar with Tencent's style."

"In the field of game development, Tencent has nothing to do with console games. You should know what the so-called incentive plan is like in practice."

"The biggest benefit of our cooperation with Tencent is the computing power of Tencent Cloud."

"But look at our lighting and shadow effects, do they look like we lack computing power?"

Hao Rui remained silent for a short while. He knew Chen Ran knew Tencent too well and needed to change his approach:

"You know Tencent's global distribution channels. Currently, there is only one brain-computer interface VR platform, Futureverse."

"And Tencent has a lot of say in this platform."

"If Red Fox cooperates with us, we will provide you with the best promotional methods."

Chen Ran only asked one question: "Can you guarantee that we can obtain the game license without affecting the game's main theme?"

These words instantly broke Hao Rui's composure: "No."

Even Tencent is powerless when it comes to game licenses; they have to change their licenses according to what the authorities say.

Games like "Breaking the Law" are almost impossible to get a publishing license.

"You can use the Steam channel for 'Wings of the Void'. We have a partnership with Steam and can help you get the best featured spot on Steam for VR devices."

"At the same time, Tencent will help you attract traffic through top streamers on major VR live streaming platforms."

This was very appealing to Chen Ran.

In the gaming industry, streamers have a very strong appeal.

What do we need to give up?

Hao Rui: "500 million US dollars, 70% of the shares, Tencent wants absolute control."

Is this price expensive? No, it's not expensive.

The game science behind "Black Myth: Wukong" is valued at approximately 1 billion to 1.5 billion US dollars.

They previously only had one game, Red Tide.

The lighting effects in "Breaking the Law" are much stronger than those in "Black Myth".

Both companies' core development teams come from Tencent.

They also became popular through actual gameplay demonstrations.

Tencent's valuation also referenced the valuation given to Game Science.

For Chen Ran, it was already a great deal. He received RMB 150 million in Series A funding from Merlin, and then transferred it to Tencent for Series B funding, which increased to RMB 500 million, giving him a 70% stake.

The valuation has increased thirtyfold.

However, Chen Ran knew what Tencent valued most: their engine for creating lighting and shadow effects, which was far superior to Tencent's self-developed VR game engine.

This is truly valuable.

Currently, no game company on the market has a sufficiently mature game engine in the VR field.

But the problem is that the game engine wasn't his; Merlin gave it to him.

He has neither the authority nor the ability to sell this.

Chen Ran also wanted to see how the underlying code of the game engine Merlin had given him was written.

He has no right to sell not only the engine, but also Red Fox Studios, which is Merlin's company.

Chen Ran was merely a figurehead in name only.

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