Chapter 276 Hunting! peak!

The current equity structure of Huanmeng Vision is very complicated, but to summarize, Lin Xiao’s shares in this company are about 35%, but his voting rights exceed 70%.

The remaining shares belong to Masayoshi Son, Sony Columbia, Xia Xi, and Li Meijing.

This investment is undoubtedly the most careless one made by Masayoshi Son, and the investment amount is very small, but no one expected it to soar to this level now.

And the most important thing is... almost all of Lin Xiao’s shares were pledged to Masayoshi Son.

In other words, if Lin Xiao fails to repay more than 900 million US dollars on time, Masayoshi Son will be able to obtain more than half of the equity of Fantasy Vision.

Before, he didn't need to care too much about this wealth. But now the value of this part of the equity is already a very astonishing figure.

Moreover, when Lin Xiao pledged this part of the shares, it was only worth about 200 million US dollars. Now it is unknown how many times it has increased.

It is said that money can move people's hearts.

Many capital tycoons lobbied Masayoshi Son, hoping to take advantage of the opportunity to legally and reasonably seize all of Lin Xiao’s shares in Huanmeng Vision.

The solution is very simple, which is to cooperate with Sony Columbia and delay the box office share that should be given to Lin Xiao.

For the movie "The Hunger Games", Lin Xiao Group was the largest producer, accounting for about 80%, while Sony Columbia only accounted for 20%.

Of course, Sony will still be able to make the biggest profits because it is the distributor in most markets around the world.

According to the current global box office trend of this movie, Lin Xiao can probably get a box office share of around 200 million US dollars.

Of course, there is also the share of DVD and videotape copyrights, which is also a huge amount.

Generally speaking, the settlement period for movie box office revenue varies in length.

Therefore, as long as Masayoshi Son can really deal with Sony and directly delay the profit-sharing cycle to next year, then once the deadline arrives, Lin Xiao will definitely not be able to repay the huge loan of US$900 million.

By that time, Masayoshi Son will be able to take shares of YouTube, Facebook, and Fantasy Vision with justification.

When the contract was signed, these shares were pledged for approximately US$900 million.

And now, the value of these shares has increased many times.

With such huge benefits, probably anyone would be tempted.

So, I don’t know how many capital giants went to lobby Masayoshi Son and Sony.

There are Hollywood tycoons and Wall Street tycoons.

There are even many high-level brokers.

Among them are Microsoft and Google.

Because Facebook in the United States is too popular, YouTube overseas is too popular, and even Dream Vision is too popular.

It is enough to attract the attention of the giants.

The bargaining chips these giants have with Masayoshi Son and Sony are very, very tempting.

Basically, they are willing to join forces with Morgan, Citigroup, and Merrill Lynch, and lobby Sony to create a loan default for Lin Xiao, and help Masayoshi Son obtain more than 30% of the shares of each of the three unicorn companies.

Because according to the contract, if Lin Xiao cannot repay the principal and interest of the US$900 million, Masayoshi Son will help pay the money.

The bargaining chip offered by these bigwigs is that Masayoshi Son does not need to pay a penny, and they will pay more than 900 million US dollars.

Once Masayoshi Son obtains shares in Facebook in the United States, YouTube overseas, and Huanmeng Vision, he can give one-third of the shares to them.

In other words, Masayoshi Son can get more than 20% of the shares of the three unicorn companies for free without paying a penny.

The only thing he needed to do was to stab Lin Xiao in the back.

Sony Columbia has also received countless lobbying requests.

The purpose is to let them delay the share payment to Lin Xiao and cause him to default on his loan.

All I can say is that the three companies developed too fast, causing a lot of jealousy.

And as a Chinese, how can you control such huge interests? It is of course extremely tempting to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to swallow all these benefits in one gulp.

Masayoshi Son met with Lin Xiao in secret.

"You'd better go and negotiate with Sony about the revenue sharing period. I don't know how many capital tycoons and giants have tempted me or even threatened me."

"For the sake of our friendship, I won't betray you."

“But when the benefits are big enough for me to take them, but I don’t take them, many people will be dissatisfied with me and will escalate their threats against me.”

"So, you must fix this flaw you exposed quickly, otherwise it will be like an obvious wound on a lion's body, which will not only attract countless flies, but also other lions, cheetahs, and even hyenas."

"Next, I will face more and more pressure, because I am also an outsider to the American giants."

Lin Xiao: "I see. Can you tell me who wants to hunt me this time?"

Masayoshi Son: "Morgan, Citigroup, Microsoft, Google, etc..."

This is capital. One minute they are doing business with you with a smile, but the next minute they may want to bite you to death.

………………………………………………

Next, Lin Xiao met Amy Pascal.

"The Hunger Games have been so popular and have caused so much jealousy."

“It’s so famous.”

"Now, not only are there many big sharks coming to me, but even many people inside Sony want to seize this weakness of yours and bite off a large piece of meat from you in this hunt. At least they want to get the copyright for the entire Hunger Games in advance."

"And what we have to do is very simple, which is to delay the share of "The Hunger Games" and then delay the share of "Kung Fu Panda"."

"You should know that this is very normal in Hollywood. Many big directors and big stars have experienced this."

Not only that, some Hollywood giants, in order to avoid sharing the profits with stars and directors, simply turned a hugely profitable movie into a loss-making one.

Even if the global box office reaches 10 billion US dollars, in the final analysis, it will still be a loss.

Of course, as the largest producer, Lin Xiao does not get a share of the profits, but directly a share of the box office. He gets what he deserves.

However, it is really possible to delay it for a year or two.

"Lin, don't worry. As long as I'm here, I will give you a share of the box office in time." Amy: "But the global box office share of this movie, you will get at most about 200 million."

"There is still a long way to go to cover your huge debt of $900 million."

"You have to find a way to get this money quickly."

"Of course, there is another way to increase your income in the short term." Amy Pascal: "Don't wait for the share of the DVDs and videotapes. That period is too long. If you just let us buy these things out, the price will definitely be very high."

"I've calculated that if we buy out the rights to the videotapes and DVDs of The Hunger Games 1, as well as the rights to the TV broadcast, etc., all at once, according to my authority, I can give you a maximum of more than 100 million US dollars."

"That adds up to more than $300 million, and the highest could be around $350 million."

"You're still nearly $600 million short."

"Lin, we have to be quick. Otherwise, if the interests involved are too great, it will be too dangerous." Amy Pascal said, "If the interests are great enough, they can even have someone replace me."

"Hurry up and have your team negotiate with Sony and sign the contract immediately."

"I'll settle the bill for you in the shortest possible time."

In Amy's view, being very opposed to other voices within the group is tantamount to killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. She and Lin Xiao have been working together for many years and know how to maximize benefits.

What's more, her strategic ties with Lin Xiao are now extremely deep.

……………………

Next, both sides moved very quickly.

One day of negotiation, two days of signing.

Within the next few days, the buyout fees for the copyrights of DVDs and videotapes were directly deposited into Lin Xiao's account.

But the box office share is not that fast.

However, AMC quickly signed a contract and bought the second season of "Breaking Bad" for US$65 million.

CBS, on the other hand, hesitated for a while as to whether to pay the copyright fee for "Squidward Gamble" as scheduled.

But Leslie, the Mexican tycoon, weighed the issue for a long time.

What does it have to do with me if those giants hunt down Lin Xiao, a Chinese? Although this hunting feast was very tempting, I couldn’t get any meat.

The contract had already been signed. If I didn't pay the fee, the possibility of cooperation with Dream Vision would be ruined.

In addition, I have to bear the cost of breach of contract, and all I get is probably the goodwill of those big sharks? But my reputation will be ruined.

There is absolutely no need.

Besides, they didn't even come to see me, so why should I add drama to myself? So, CBS finally readily paid Lin Xiao the $29 million.

………………………………

Lin Xiao went to Ergou Studio in the United States with a few newspapers in his hand.

It seemed as if the entire public opinion suddenly began to gain momentum, making a big fuss about Lin Xiao’s debt crisis!

In the newspaper, exactly how much money Lin Xiao owed was listed, accurate to the single digit.

Moreover, the repayment period is also written out very clearly.

And the tone of the whole article is that there is still half a year left before the repayment deadline, and this young Chinese man is destined to not be able to raise enough money.

At the end of the article, the major banks in the United States are advised to be cautious in lending.

This is typical hunting behavior.

First expose your wound completely, then tear it open violently and show it bloody to everyone.

This is also a warning to many people that we are conducting a hunting operation, so you should not meddle in other people's business and should not obstruct it.

This scene was seen many times many years later.

The downfall of many giants and wealthy people all started with the collapse of US dollar bonds.

First report it to the media, then expose it widely and open the wound.

The best outcome of this hunt for Lin Xiao is of course that Lin Xiao defaults, and they obtain the best assets at the lowest cost.

The medium-to-high-end ending is that Lin Xiao starts to actively sell off high-quality assets at a low price in order to repay his debts.

So this world, despite its beauty and glory, is also very dangerous.

Although it is glorious to stand at the top, it is also easy to become the target of public criticism.

You may be in great glory a few days ago, but in dire straits the next. A new richest man must be feeling deeply about this.

Lin Xiao put down the newspapers.

The three IPs, The Hunger Games, Breaking Bad, and Squidward, have already brought him a lot of cash.

The revenue will be around 430 million US dollars.

Next, a large amount of income will depend on the game "Fallout 3".

From start to finish, it took three and a half years and cost $37 million to complete.

Compared to the historical Fallout 3, the development time alone was even longer, the number of developers was three times higher, and the development cost was several times higher.

This is based on the fact that the domestic team accounts for two-thirds of the team members and the salary costs are much lower.

Therefore, the development level of "Fallout 3" in this world is really much higher than the historical version.

In this regard, Lightning Games really has a bit of Rockstar feel.

Lin Xiao came to Ergou Studio again.

Although the game has been completed, the entire studio has entered its busiest stage because it is about to be released.

Sawyer, the head of Ergou Studio, kept receiving calls.

There were phone calls ringing around him almost all the time, and he was also constantly calling other people.

The game will be released worldwide on September 1st.

The current Internet environment has improved a lot and games have been digitized, but a large amount of sales still rely on physical CDs.

Moreover, this game is about 10G in size, which is more than 50% more than in history.

Before a game is released, there will be a large-scale promotion, so the game will be sent to relevant review media a long time in advance.

There is also a large area of ​​distribution.

Lin Xiao did not disturb Sawyer, but went to the best computer in the studio and opened "Fallout 3".

The majestic and sad theme song sounded.

The save file is loaded, and the protagonist has left the shelter and entered the outside world.

This picture... is so good.

Compared to last November, the entire game has been improved a lot.

Lin Xiao directly opened Crysis 1 on another computer. Although this game would not be released until three months later, Lin Xiao had already found a way to get it.

A very detailed comparison was made.

Lin Xiao felt that the graphics of "Fallout 3" were in no way inferior to those of "Crysis".

However, because the latter is on an island, the vegetation density will be very high and there are more elements, so the pressure on the graphics card will be much greater.

There is no doubt that the graphics of "Fallout 3" are top-notch in the current world of gaming.

Even ceiling level.

Before a game is released, the most important thing is public relations, that is, the ratings from relevant authoritative media.

Not to mention now, even many years later, the ratings of authoritative media will be very important.

suddenly……

Sawyer's voice suddenly rose.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck..."

"Corey, you are humiliating the entire gaming industry."

"Check your conscience and ask God, are you telling the truth?"

“Don’t let the interests blind you, and don’t let the authority of IGN be tarnished.”

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

Then, Sawyer hung up the phone in great anger, took a deep breath, and came to Lin Xiao.

"Sorry, Boss!"

"Our Fallout 3 has been ostracized and suppressed. IGN may give us a low score and a bad review."

"The point is that they are lying. Not long ago, their game editor called me and expressed his excitement. He praised our game highly and even called me in the middle of the night to say that we had developed a great game."

"Although they didn't give a score at the time, someone told me that they would give our game an unprecedented high score and said they would give it a review as the best RPG game in 20 years."

“And now their tone has changed.”

Capital is omnipresent. Even seemingly authoritative media are ultimately controlled by capital.

IGN is considered the most authoritative and important rating in the gaming industry.

Sawyer said hoarsely, "Boss, Microsoft's Halo 3 will be released on the same day as ours."

"Could it be them? Microsoft is such a big company, such a giant, why would it pick on such a small company like us?"

Lin Xiao: "What about Europe and Japan?"

Currently, there are three most important markets for stand-alone games in the world: North America, Europe, and Japan.

Sawyer: “I don’t know. I will go to the PR immediately. If it is just a competition between two games, then the European media and the Japanese media should not be affected much.”

But what if it is to hunt down Lin Xiao’s best assets?

To make him default on his debt? That would be worth the huge cost.

………………………………

Lin Xiaofei went to Washington, but he still did not visit Microsoft, but went to Steam.

After more than two years of development, the number of Steam users has grown by leaps and bounds, and currently there are about 20 million users worldwide.

Historically, they didn't reach this number of users until next year, because no one was optimistic about Steam and no one invested in it in the early days.

In this world, Lin Xiao invested tens of millions of dollars more than two years ago, making it develop much faster than in history.

It's a pity that it is not brilliant enough, otherwise this platform alone would allow Lin Xiao to call the shots, as he is one of the largest shareholders.

More than a decade later, the market value of this platform alone was tens of billions of dollars.

The two founders came forward and hugged Lin Xiao enthusiastically.

"Lin, Fallout 3 is so great, so excellent!"

“This is the best RPG game in 20 years.”

Lin Xiao: "Gabe, Mike, our Fallout 3 may face a siege. IGN and other gaming media may give us a low score because we changed our style and said we subverted the tone of Fallout 2."

Gabe Newell said slowly: "Actually, we heard about it too."

"Some people in the community are already stirring up some sentiments that radiation originally belonged to the United States, but now it has become China's."

"And they're still claiming that this is a terrible loss of America's civilizational assets."

"Even more ridiculous is the claim that this is some kind of communist conspiracy."

"Of course, this is America after all, and we don't care too much about these sentiments. After all, the Soviet Union has collapsed for more than a decade, and these arguments are simply terribly naive."

Lin Xiao: "At this time, I need your support."

Gabe Newell: "Don't worry, our Steam platform will definitely promote this game in the most prominent place."

Lin Xiao: “Not only that, if we are really treated unfairly in media ratings, I hope to start a movement.”

"Record a video and post it on YouTube, giving your ratings for Fallout 3."

Gabe Newell said, "I see. You want to unite and call on the people at the top of the gaming pyramid to fight against the ratings of IGN and other media. Use a more authoritative group to attack these media."

Lin Xiao: "Yes, is it okay?"

Gabe Newell: "Of course no problem, you are a game angel."

Mike Harrington: "Not only do we do this ourselves, we also call on our friends, other game developers to do this."

"Lin, you have such a great reputation in the gaming community, you can definitely create a storm."

"This is a big move, this is an exciting move, let's get moving right away."

……………………………………

Lin Xiao flew back to California and headed to San Mateo.

Amy Pascal personally accompanied him to visit Sony Computer Entertainment (also translated as Computer Entertainment), which was the predecessor of Sony Interactive Entertainment and was in charge of games.

Sony Entertainment gave Lin Xiao extremely high treatment.

Outside the company, a long red carpet was laid out, and Kazuo Hirai, the newly appointed CEO of the electronics entertainment company, was at the door with many people to greet guests.

For a long time, the global gaming platform has been a bit like the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft.

Most of the time, Sony is the strongest. Sony's PS3 was launched in November last year, ushering in the 1080P high-definition era.

The XBOX360 released two years ago is considered the most successful game console in Microsoft's history, even surpassing the PS3 in many configuration specifications.

The next step was to visit the company again and have a brief interaction with the employees of Sony Electronics Entertainment, followed by a meeting.

Lin Xiao's visit to Sony Computer Entertainment had only one core purpose, which was to obtain Sony's full support, put pressure on the global gaming media, and do more to promote "Fallout 3".

In fact, it is a bit difficult, because Lin Xiao's "Fallout 3" only uses PS3 as the first launch platform, not an exclusive platform.

Sony Entertainment treats exclusive games and first-released games at completely different levels of treatment.

But Lin Xiao is different after all. He is now almost one of Sony’s most important strategic allies in the world.

Besides, Kazuo Hirai also came from Sony Music. He was not an engineer but came from a pure entertainment industry background, so his relationship with Sony Columbia Pictures is closer.

"Lin, your Fallout 3 is simply magic."

"It seems to be born for our PS3. Since our console was launched last year, few games can push its limits, or few games can feed it."

"But your Fallout 3 and our PS3 are a perfect match."

“This game, whether in terms of graphics or gameplay, is simply an immortal masterpiece.”

Although Kazuo Hirai does not understand technology, he still gave "Fallout 3" unparalleled praise and used the most flattering words. Although to some extent, what he said was true, it was mostly commercial flattery.

Of course, Lin Xiao also praised Sony Electronics Entertainment and PS3 highly.

"We have a common enemy." Finally, Lin Xiao said bluntly.

Hirai Kazuo was stunned, then nodded vigorously and said, "Yes, we have a common enemy."

"Sony is of course a global company, but our parent company is in East Asia, and Lightning Games' parent company is also in East Asia."

“I think we should be treated fairly in the United States.”

"Whether it's Fallout 3 or Lightning, they shouldn't be bullied."

"Lin, we at Sony Electronics Entertainment will definitely give you the highest level of treatment for Fallout 3, which is no less than the treatment for exclusive games!"

"In addition, we would like to thank you for making targeted optimization and adaptation for PS3 in advance, making this game extremely smooth on the PS3 platform."

………………………………

A few days later!

The world's most important IGN rating is out.

Halo 3, 9.5 points! Fallout 3, 8.3 points! The former is similar to the historical score, while the latter is 1.3 points lower than the historical score.

Historically, Fallout 3 has a rating of 9.6.

And the most important thing is the evaluation inside.

Compared to Fallout 2, after the Chinese bought the copyright of Fallout, they made almost subversive changes to the entire game.

The sales of Fallout 2 are not very high, but there is a group of very loyal fans who are very protective of the Fallout worldview.

In his review, he specifically pointed out that the Chinese bought the copyright of Fallout, which was a disruptive change.

This is to stimulate the die-hard fans of the Fallout IP and tell them that the game has changed beyond all recognition.

As we all know, the original fans and die-hard fans are often resistant to change.

"In addition, the protagonist of the game is half Chinese. Of course, this is not bad news. I can fully understand the mentality of the current owner of this IP in making this decision."

"But there are a lot of plots about China in the game, which seems very abrupt, even though the world view of Fallout is that the US and China will suffer a nuclear war, leading to the end of the world. But the game's plot is set on the East Coast of the United States, in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. Isn't it unreasonable to add so many Chinese plots to it?"

"Again, I fully understand the motivation of the IP owner. But is it an expression of some kind of nationalist sentiment that they are so eager to add so many Chinese elements?"

"We deeply feel that a game should not contain so many political elements. The game should be purer."

"So we are very sorry about Fallout 3."

This article also quotes some screenshots of the video, which show a prominent five-pointed star, oppressive Chinese weapons, and military faces.

All I can say is that the interception was very professional, and they just wanted to create a feeling of cultural invasion.

Soon after, Gamespot's editorial score came out.

Microsoft's Halo 3, 9.4 points.

Fallout 3, 8.3 points.

This media did not emphasize the Chinese elements in the game, but emphasized that it made subversive changes to Fallout 2, making the entire game seem to have lost the flavor of Fallout.

…………………………………………

August 18th! Lightning Games held a global launch conference for Fallout 3 in the United States! This surprised many people. Since when does a game have a press conference?

We are not surprised that movies have premieres.

Games are basically only demoed and released at exhibitions such as E3.

As a result, you held a press conference for a single game? Of course, Lin Xiao will not be present at this press conference. The main speaker is Sawyer, the head of Ergou Studio.

At present, YouTube is still unable to carry out large-scale global live broadcast functions, and if you want to enable the LIVE function in the United States, there are still some procedures to go through and relevant licenses need to be obtained.

Therefore, we can only record and broadcast it.

The guests who attended this press conference were truly magnificent.

Gaming giants such as Valve, Ubisoft, Epic, Capcom, Konami, etc. were all present.

More than 60% of the world's renowned game producers were present.

Not only that, Kazuo Hirai, CEO of Sony Electronics Entertainment, was also present, sitting in the most prominent seat.

Then, many reporters smelled something.

This is not an ordinary game launch conference, this is a powerful capital battle.

The battle of giants.

It's not just a war between Halo 3 and Fallout 3.

It's not just Lightning and Xbox games wars, either.

It's still the battle between Sony and Microsoft.

Lin Xiao invested a lot of money for this press conference.

Since it is difficult to change the ratings of the most authoritative media in the United States, we might as well take public relations to the extreme in an alternative way.

Maximize the exposure of "Fallout 3", escalate the conflict, and attract the attention of global players.

Two weeks before the release, maximize the game's exposure and strive to create a new sales myth.

……………………

Note: This is so difficult to write, I must adjust the update time back tomorrow! Benefactors, do you still have the guaranteed monthly tickets in your hands? Can you give it to me? (End of this chapter)