Chapter 247 The last moment! Full counterattack!
Solon Columbia even held a small celebration party.
Previously, the bet signed by Lin Xiao and Columbia was that the global box office would exceed 70 million US dollars, and the boast was 100 million US dollars.
Unexpectedly, it would eventually exceed 250 million US dollars.
This came as a huge surprise to the whole of Colombia.
The cooperation with Lightning Group is also regarded as Amy Pascal's stroke of genius.
With the success of "The Last Days", Columbia will earn tens of millions of profits.
Excluding China, Japan and South Korea, the box office in other countries combined exceeds 100 million US dollars. As the distributor, Sony Classics can get more than 30 million US dollars from the box office share alone.
Not to mention that Columbia is also the producer, accounting for nearly one-third of the production share.
In the Chinese market, most of a movie's revenue comes from box office revenue, but in the European and American markets, box office revenue only accounts for about half of a movie's profits. Another big part comes from videotapes and DVDs, which is tens of millions of dollars.
Of course, this part of the income must also be shared with the Lightning Group.
But Sony made a lot of money from this business.
Even some movies that gross $400 million or $500 million worldwide may not bring in such high profits.
Therefore, when Jiayuan.com rang the bell at Nasdaq, Columbia's global president and Sony Classical founder Tom Bernard were also present.
Later, when Lin Xiao led the team to visit Sony Pictures, the other party even rolled out the red carpet.
And a very high-level party was held for him.
Many Hollywood stars were also invited to attend.
There are not only stars, but also directors, producers and so on.
"I convinced the board to agree to a joint venture for an animation studio."
Lin Xiao said: "How about calling it Eastern Fantasy Dream?"
Amy pointed at Lin Xiao with her drunken eyes, telling him with her eyes that he was taking his advantage again.
"Okay, you're the boss." Then she shrugged.
In Hollywood, if you win, everything you say is right.
Because the war of values between China and the United States has not yet begun.
"There will be a masquerade ball in a while. Do you want to attend?" Amy asked. "There will be many famous female stars and supermodels there. You will definitely not be disappointed."
Lin Xiao: "Is it what I imagined?"
Amy: "Yeah, just like you imagined."
Lin Xiao: “Are you participating?”
Amy Pascal: "You're teasing me, Lin!"
"I'm already over 40, are you sure? You should know that I'm not likely to reject a little boy like you."
The appearance of this female president is indeed quite good. Even though she is already in her forties, she still has charm.
Of course, Lin Xiao was not really that hungry, but it was another way of rejecting.
The power scene in Hollywood is extremely chaotic, almost as chaotic as the Korean entertainment industry.
This kind of invitation is also a form of domestication to some extent, but Lin Xiao does not accept this kind of domestication.
Of course, Amy also heard Lin Xiao's euphemistic refusal and shrugged her shoulders: "That's a pity, otherwise you would definitely be amazed."
"By the way, I heard that you encountered a serious crisis in the base camp of the Internet industry?"
Lin Xiao: "Why is it spread like this?"
Amy: "Don't forget, Masayoshi Son is also one of our partners. Although his industry is very large and he can't afford the investment in Dream Vision, we still maintain a certain friendship."
"Lin, have you ever thought about focusing on the film and television industry?"
"You are a genius in this area. I think if you focus on this industry, you will achieve greater success and a super giant will be born."
Lin Xiao: "I am a greedy person, and I am not satisfied with achievements in a certain field."
Amy: "Does that include a mature woman like me?"
"Lin, your clarity may cause discomfort to people in your circle."
"But I respect your wishes."
…………………………
The next day, Sony Columbia held a press conference.
They will set up an animation studio in a joint venture with Lightning Group.
The animation studio's first work, Kung Fu Panda, had an investment of more than $130 million.
This news also caused a huge sensation in Hollywood.
There are two levels. Why did Sony Columbia choose to cooperate with a Chinese company? Secondly, Sony Columbia is also going to enter the animated film industry?
This is a double adventure.
Although Disney's "Mulan" was also successful before this, it was also produced by Disney alone.
Sony Columbia is already weak in animated films, and now you are going to cooperate with an even weaker Chinese company? A coalition of the weak? And it’s a 3D animated movie?
Sony Columbia has never done this, and the entire Chinese film industry has never done this.
The previous investment of several million dollars in "The Last Days" was just for fun, but now they are investing 130 million US dollars? MGM and Chinese director John Woo collaborated on "Windtalkers" and invested $115 million, but it ended up being a box office failure, which indirectly led to MGM's bankruptcy. Have you forgotten?
But Sony Columbia will never do a business that loses money. They invested 130 million US dollars in "Kung Fu Panda", and their maximum investment will not exceed 50 million US dollars. The rest will either be paid by Lin Xiao or he will have to attract other investors.
The profits they earned from cooperating with Lin Xiao have far exceeded 50 million US dollars.
………………………………
The next day, Lin Xiao met with Masayoshi Son.
"Lin, several months have passed." Son said, "You have been very successful in the film and television industry, but your Internet foundation is not satisfactory."
"I have already contacted people at Android. Their situation is really bad, and there may be no hope of improvement in the next few years."
At the moment, it seems that Android companies really have no hope.
Motorola and Nokia are still as prosperous as ever.
Nokia has its own Symbian system, while Motorola is working with Microsoft.
And there is no sign of Apple's world-changing iPhone yet.
So Android really doesn't see any future at this time.
Masayoshi Son: "We have contacted them and their offer is around 70 to 80 million US dollars. And this time the investment in Kung Fu Panda is 130 million US dollars. Will you pay most of the investment yourself?"
Lin Xiao: “That’s right.”
Son said: "The production cycle of this film is at least more than two years, and you are not DreamWorks or Pixar. You need to build a team from scratch and poach core members from your competitors, so this $130 million investment is likely to be overspent."
Lin Xiao: “That’s right.”
Masayoshi Son: “You are truly a patriot.”
He spoke the truth in one sentence.
If the purpose was simply to make money, they could have produced several high-return works like "The Last Days", instead of going through the trouble of making extremely expensive 3D animated films.
The investment of over 100 million US dollars in the production of "Kung Fu Panda" was entirely for the purpose of enhancing the capabilities of China's film industry.
Because half of this animation studio is in China.
In other words, while producing "Kung Fu Panda", we also need to build up a team and an industry.
"But this will make your already tight funding even tighter," said Masayoshi Son. "You raised nearly $100 million when Jiayuan went public. Although you can use complicated means to get this money, you can't get all of it. You have to keep a portion to develop Jiayuan, and you can't sell off your holdings to cash out."
"At this time, you still want to acquire Android, but you won't see any return in a few years, and you have to invest tens of millions of dollars every year to support it."
"Lin, aren't you looking too far ahead?"
Lin Xiao: "Mr. Sun, you are very dissatisfied with the development of Facebook in the United States, right?"
Masayoshi Son: "It's not just Facebook in the United States. I think your energy is too dispersed. I know the entertainment industry is important to you, but don't you regard it as a cash cow? Its position is just a provider, and now you have invested so much time and energy, but ignored your basic plate, the Internet industry."
“Although the entertainment industry can bring you huge profits every year, its ceiling is very low.”
"The Internet industry has no upper limit. In the future, its profit scale may be dozens of times that of the entertainment industry."
"While The Last Journey was a global success, your competitors were making rapid progress in the Internet industry."
Then, Masayoshi Son looked at Lin Xiao and said, "Lin, Yang Zhiyuan invited me to go to China and visit Renren Group. What do you think?"
Lin Xiao said: "I think it's a good idea to go."
Masayoshi Son: “Really?”
Lin Xiao: "It comes from the bottom of my heart. Often, you can't see the problem just by looking at the data and reports. You have to go deeper."
This is also the reason why Lin Xiao is unwilling to accept investment from Facebook in China.
Because investors only focus on the data, the financial statements, and later on the financial reports.
Even someone as professional as Masayoshi Son can be confused by the superficial prosperity.
Masayoshi Son: “Lin, I am still your ally. But once Yang Zhiyuan and I really go to China to visit Renren Group, once they really show excellent results, everything will be irreversible.”
…………………………
Next, Lin Xiao went to Ergou Studio, which produced "Fallout 3", and then visited strategic ally Epic.
Next, I visited Facebook in the United States.
The entire Facebook branch in the United States has dozens of people.
When Lin Xiao went there as the big boss, the whole atmosphere was still not warm. The attitudes of several leaders are still good, but the employees under them are indeed free and undisciplined.
It can even be described as unruly.
Feng Xian said awkwardly: "I'm sorry, Mr. Lin!"
He really wanted to explain that American employees are like this, very free and easy, and very self-centered.
But this is complete bullshit.
This is because Facebook in the United States was established hastily and did not have a very strong core team. The team brought by Feng Xian was not strong enough, and for the so-called localization, they recruited a lot of white people.
Because the poaching was too generous and the treatment was too good, these white employees looked down on them.
They also think that they are the most advanced in the Internet industry and often look down on the orders given by the group.
Moreover, within the small branch, there is a division into the local faction and the Chinese faction, which are actually in opposition to each other.
Compared to the atmosphere of Ergou Studio? It's completely different.
Lin Xiao did not get angry at that time, but instead smiled.
"The company burned through nearly 20 million US dollars in less than a year." Lin Xiao asked, "Is there any corruption involved?"
Feng Xian trembled and said, "Boss, although I am not capable enough, I can withstand any test in terms of finances. I regard the company as my home, and I will never take advantage of it."
well! Feng Xian is a loyal person, but he lacks personal ability.
I couldn't hear the hidden meaning behind Lin Xiao's words at all.
After hearing Lin Xiao's words, his first instinctive reaction was to distance himself from it.
"I mean, it'd be best if there is corruption, do you understand?" Lin Xiao said slowly: "Next, you have to check whether there is corruption here. If there is, find a way to get the evidence."
Next, Feng Xian will definitely be replaced.
It would be best if Wu Lingxi could take charge of Facebook in the United States.
But no matter who comes, they need to have relevant evidence of corruption. Then he used thundering means to send several people in, which completely shocked the entire company.
Completely reshape the tone of your entire company.
"Do you understand?" Lin Xiao asked.
Feng Xian: “I understand.”
"I will fully implement your ideas and strive to lay a good foundation for my successor."
At this time, you understand.
…………………………
Then, Lin Xiao went back to China directly.
When Yang Zhiyuan of Yahoo Group heard the news, his face turned completely cold.
You, Lin Xiao, are really arrogant.
In fact, Yang Zhiyuan had been waiting, waiting for Lin Xiao to come and visit him.
As a result, he returned home directly? What do you mean? I was about to invest in Renren Group, and was going to get Masayoshi Son to invest in Renren Group together, and you didn't even try to hold back?
Why don't you come to me to beg for mercy?
Mr. Cai from Alibaba has visited me several times.
Wu Lingxi and Liao Feng from Renren Group have also visited countless times.
They all see me as a key player, even a savior.
Only you, Lin Xiao, have already come to the United States, but you didn’t visit me?
I am willing to give you a chance, but if you don't seize it, don't blame me.
Then, Yang Zhiyuan called Masayoshi Son.
"Has Lin always been so unruly?"
Son: “He’s very opinionated.”
Masayoshi Son also discovered this point. Lin Xiao was very willing to make concessions and didn't even care about his partners making huge profits.
Sony Columbia's investment in the "The Last Days" project alone was obviously not much, but the profit it earned was actually more than that of Lightning Group.
However, throughout the entire cooperation, Lin Xiao always took the initiative.
He would rather not cooperate than lose control.
Yang Zhiyuan: "How have you thought about that matter? Do you want to visit Renren Group with me?"
Masayoshi Son: “Sure!”
…………………………………………
domestic!
As soon as Yang Zhiyuan and Masayoshi Son confirmed their trip, Renren Group immediately launched an extensive publicity campaign.
Liao Feng even shouted the slogan of decisive moment within the company!
Last month!
99% successful!
In this last month, strive for the last 1%!
Beat Facebook completely.
The entire Renren.com viewed the upcoming visit of Yang Zhiyuan and Son Masayoshi as a huge signal of victory.
When the second Everyone's Night is held, it will be the moment to declare victory completely.
The whole company was in excitement.
Only Wu Lingxi was a little worried.
Because she always keeps an eye on Renren's core data.
The Super Girl strategy, plus the celebrity entry strategy, plus the influx of traffic from Renren Video.
This has caused the number of visitors to Renren to reach an unprecedented peak.
However, Supergirl has been over for several months.
The novelty of celebrities’ arrival has gradually faded.
The most important thing is...
The recognition of celebrities is still not enough.
They still believe that they are being paid to do a job, and do not regard Renren as a huge publicity platform.
Instead, I treat it as a task, so I don't take it seriously at all.
This still has to be blamed on Renren itself, as it belittled itself from the very beginning of the cooperation.
Therefore, during this period, Renren's PV visits and IP visits have stagnated.
And looking at the curve, it may face a decline next.
Every time this happened, Wu Lingxi would feel very painful. Without building up a deep semi-acquaintance gene, everything she did would be half the result with twice the effort.
Every time we have to use big moves to stimulate, the traffic of Renren will increase.
And now... there is really no ultimate move.
On the contrary, Lin Xiao’s Facebook, due to its strong semi-acquaintance gene, has very strong endogenous power, and its traffic and number of users have been growing steadily.
Even Lin Xiao was reluctant to use his ultimate move to stimulate him, for fear of breaking this virtuous cycle.
"Spend money, spend a lot of money, to increase traffic..."
"Don't be afraid of the price, but make sure it's done well and beautifully." Wu Lingxi ordered.
Trusted assistant: "Why? Ours has only temporarily stopped rising, but it should still be far higher than Facebook's. There's no need to waste this money."
Wu Lingxi: “Do it now!”
idiot!
The whole company was immersed in a carnival atmosphere, immersed in the atmosphere of impending victory.
Is this a question of stopping the rise?
This is a problem that may face a decline.
During this year, she spent a lot of money and used many tricks to maintain this prosperous situation.
The more critical the moment, the more we should not take it lightly.
"Baby, why don't you meet me in America? I really want to see you in a foreign country. I even had the urge to run to see you and kiss you madly several times!"
Wu Lingxi received another text message.
"Get lost!" Wu Lingxi replied.
This is the content she responded to the most.
But...it's basically her reply that ends the conversation every time.
"Baby, I'm sorry, I can't let your nude photos get dirty."
Wu Lingxi: "Get out, get out, get out!"
……………………
"Boss, three pieces of news!"
"The first news is that the number of YY Voice downloads has exceeded 6 million, with a peak of over 500,000 online users."
Lin Xiao was stunned. So fast? The large-scale application of YY has not yet arrived, and World of Warcraft has not yet been launched.
I can only say that the word-of-mouth effect of Facebook apps is really strong.
Moreover, the number of applications is very conservative.
In more than two years, I only launched three apps, but each one was a ace.
"The second news is that according to the public IP and PV data of Renren, Facebook may soon surpass them in these two data points."
“Although they claim to have nearly 60 million registered users, we only have 26 million!”
"But their strong incentives seem to be getting less and less effective, especially with the large-scale entry of celebrities, which feels like their last big move. Their traffic growth curve is getting flatter and flatter."
“And we’ve been seeing very steady growth.”
This is what it means: no matter how strong he is, the breeze will blow across the hills.
At that time, when the Super Girl strategy and the strategy of a large number of celebrities entering the network caused the traffic of Renren to soar, Lin Xiao did almost nothing and continued to develop at his original pace.
Just wait for the opponent to run out of energy and finish playing the big cards.
But what was unexpected was that the global popularity of "The Last Days" triggered a huge sense of pride and actually gave a huge boost to Facebook's traffic.
With the popularity of Doomsday Movement during this period, Facebook's originally steadily rising curve suddenly became steeper.
Just like that, silently and without any trace, we are about to surpass ourselves again.
"The third piece of news is that our "Zhu Xian" can be closed for testing."
Depend on! I finally heard you say this.
Last autumn, Lin Xiao asked Zhang Chun if Zhu Xian could be launched in closed beta within the year?
As a result, Zhang Chun hesitated and stammered, so Lin Xiao did not force him any further.
Now, it can finally be closed for testing? I have been doing this for a full 25 months.
"Also, the second closed beta test of Perfect World is about to end. Should we release those deadly cheats?"
"If we don't release it now, it will be too late. The server will be shut down soon."
Lin Xiao closed his eyes, fell into thought, and then shook his head.
If we launch an attack at this time, the results will not be particularly great.
You must launch a fatal blow at the most critical moment to maximize the results!
………………………………
January 18th! Renren Group announced that the second closed beta test of "Perfect World" has been successfully completed!
Once again a huge success.
Although the game has some bugs, and the content in the middle and late stages is not as amazing as in the previous ones. But the overall quality of the game is very good, so players still choose to understand, so the overall reputation is still very high.
After all...many people regard it as the first college student in the village.
Then, Liao Feng assembled the production team of "Perfect World".
"On January 28, we will start a large-scale closed beta test. Are there any problems?"
When he asked this question, his eyes were fixed fiercely on the person in charge, Li Qing.
Originally, the second closed beta was going to be directly converted into a large-scale internal beta without deleting any data, but Li Qing found Wu Lingxi and forced the plan to be postponed.
Li Qing said hoarsely: "There is a problem."
Liao Feng angrily said, "During the first closed beta test, you told me that it would be available in February next year. Now February is almost here, and we have already gone through two successful closed beta tests, and you are still telling me there are problems?"
"What's the problem that couldn't be found in two closed beta tests?"
"It's been a few months, and you still haven't solved it?"
Li Qing was also furious. Wasn’t it your doing? I said the game is not finished yet, the most crucial part is the final part, the previous two closed beta tests did not reach that part.
You could have made a final sprint in the last few months, but you ended up bringing in foreign aid.
In the past few months, the foreign aid team and the original team have been fighting openly and secretly, holding each other back and finding fault with each other.
Instead of speeding up, the progress was slowed down due to the fierce internal fighting.
Li Qing's team gradually lost control.
And those foreign aid teams, taking chicken feathers as flags, report their so-called work results and progress to the top management every day.
Liao Feng was overjoyed and felt that this foreign aid team was particularly capable.
Many of this foreign aid team are from Taiwan. In Liao Feng's mind, the gaming industry there is much more developed than in China and is definitely more professional.
Li Qing found Wu Lingxi again.
"Mr. Wu, can the large-scale open beta test of Perfect World be postponed for a month? It would be best if it starts in March?"
It was Wu Lingxi who suppressed him last time, and this time he placed his hopes on Wu Lingxi again.
Wu Lingxi said slowly: "Yang Zhiyuan from Yahoo Group and Masayoshi Son from Softbank Group will be visiting Renren Group soon."
“We have to show them that Perfect World is a huge success.”
“We have to show them that there are more than 200,000, 250,000, 300,000 people online!”
"This is the most critical moment for Renren Group."
“This is the will of the entire group and all investors.”
Li Qing, the person in charge of Perfect World, said hoarsely, "I understand."
Then he turned and left.
“Ding ding ding…”
Wu Lingxi's personal cell phone rang again. She waited until Li Qing disappeared completely before picking it up.
"Baby, I've used that nude photo too many times, give me a new one."
Wu Lingxi: "Get out, get out, get out!"
"Go to hell, you bastard!"
……………………
Then, a huge announcement appeared on the homepage of Renren.com.
Even a pop-up window! On January 28th, "Perfect World" will conduct a comprehensive, non-delete internal test!
Suddenly, countless players cheered.
Warmly encouraging.
Finally this day has come.
This period is not only a grand occasion for "Doomsday Journey", but also a festival for "Perfect World".
After two closed beta tests, it has accumulated a lot of word of mouth and huge expectations.
No matter in which game forum, its popularity is always the highest, directly suppressing the publicity of "Lineage 2" and "Legend".
But even in the second closed beta, it was only open to 50,000 people.
Therefore, countless players post in the Renren gaming community every day, frantically urging the implementation of an unlimited number of internal tests without deleting the files.
In order to achieve unprecedented success, Renren is still spending money on publicity.
Some people even suggested placing advertisements directly on YY Voice.
Even if YY Voice belongs to Lightning Group.
At least in every Internet cafe, the poster of Perfect World occupies the most prominent position.
Moreover, we have already started recruiting a large number of field sales personnel.
We cooperate with countless Internet cafes on a large scale and pay them directly according to the amount of installed capacity.
Liao Feng was full of confidence in winning this final battle.
To accomplish one goal at a time.
………………
After Lin Xiao saw this announcement, he soon received a text message.
“Those vicious bugs still exist.”
"In the past few months, the game has been improving slowly and the two teams have been caught in internal strife."
This was still sent by Senior Sister Ding Yuanzhi, whose gender is difficult to distinguish. She is currently one of the top 20 core members of the "Perfect World" game team.
"After this, I want to go home, can I?"
Lin Xiao was speechless.
Senior sister, please don’t make it like Infernal Affairs, okay? There won’t be another three years after three years.
"Of course." Lin Xiao sent a message using this special anonymous mobile phone.
At this time, he really understood what CDPR was going through.
Even though we know that "Cyberpunk 2077" is incomplete and even contains many bugs, it still has to be released.
The result was one of the biggest gaming accidents ever, which almost killed CDPR.
Fortunately, they survived and continued to update and improve the game. After the release of the DLC "Shadows of the Past", this game was almost pushed to the status of a semi-masterpiece.
Now the situation faced by Renren Group is even worse, as Masayoshi Son and Jason Yang are about to arrive.
Their time is more pressing.
Generally, it will take at least several months after the closed beta test to conduct a large-scale, non-deleted internal beta test. Otherwise, what is the point of the closed beta test? During this time, the game will be improved and modified.
As a result, Renren Group conducted large-scale internal testing ten days after the second closed beta test.
These ten days are enough time to do some work.
………………
Less than two hours after Renren announced that Perfect World would soon be launched in internal testing, Facebook took action.
It launched a new game.
Happy Farm! That's the stealing game.
This game has been in the works for more than a year, but Lin Xiao has been holding back and has only released it now.
Because a large number of other FLASH games are needed to cultivate user habits.
That way, it can really explode.
And now, after a year, it has been trained enough.
Today, Facebook's traffic has once again quietly surpassed Renren.
Then Happy Farm is a super accelerator.
Probably only Lin Xiao himself knows the amount of traffic it can bring.
"Just with this little game, can Facebook complete its counterattack against Renren in terms of traffic?" Xia Xi bent over and manipulated the mouse to play this little game.
"Yes." Lin Xiao: "Sister, please don't point your butt at my face, okay?"
Xia Xi ignored him and even twisted her butt mischievously.
"Lin Xiao, every time you counterattack, it's so secretive and despicable."
"The movements are so small, so thin, and so sharp!"
Lin Xiao was helpless: "Speak properly and don't make random comparisons."
……………………
Renren is almost always keeping an eye on Facebook's actions.
Not only Liao Feng and Wu Lingxi, but even the entire Renren Group’s senior management and shareholders believed that Facebook would definitely make a big move in this final month that would decide the outcome of a life-and-death battle.
They can't just sit there and wait for death.
Ended up waiting for several hours.
Just waiting for a FLASH game.
Happy Farm! What the hell?
And then, Facebook really made a big move.
Facebook officially announced that from today onwards, the YouTube video website will be officially independent and will no longer belong to Facebook or be a sub-channel of Facebook.
Suddenly, the people from Renren Group were completely confused.
Depend on! What do you mean? Now is the critical stage of the traffic war.
Your Facebook traffic is already inferior to ours, and now you have separated a huge traffic portal, YouTube, into a separate entity. Do you think your traffic is too high? How is this a counterattack? You feel like you're cutting off your own arm.
But it’s not over yet.
At eight o'clock in the evening, Facebook issued another announcement.
On February 15th, "Zhu Xian" will conduct its first closed beta test! The top executives of Renren Group looked at each other in surprise.
Lin Xiao, is this your full-scale counterattack? ! ……………………
Note: I finally finished writing and I’m going to eat! If you have a guaranteed monthly ticket, please take action! Thank you so much!
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
