Chapter 13: Learn from the best
After calculating the budget, Lu Ming glanced around the office.
The company now has only five people and an office area of over 100 square meters.
Moreover, the company's equipment has been updated a lot last time, and the overall look is clean and tidy.
But compared with those big manufacturers, it is definitely not comparable!
"With this condition, people in big companies must be furious."
Lu Ming was amused and began to imagine the new employee's reaction after joining the company.
As for where to recruit people
Lu Ming squinted his eyes and looked at the wallpaper on the computer screen.
The people who are closest to idols will definitely be influenced and learn more!
Lu Ming slammed the table and paced around the room twice. He had already determined his target.
"Tengshen Game Company!"
"Yes, if you want to learn, you have to learn from the best. Go and gain some experience, and then bring back some experts. Kill two birds with one stone!"
Thinking of this, Lu Ming turned on his computer, browsed to Tencent's official website, and found the email address for cooperation.
My fingers quickly typed an email.
Title: Request for a visit and study tour to Whale Leap Game Company
content:
Hello, I'm Lu Ming, the head of Jingyue Games. Your company's achievements in game development in recent years are truly impressive, especially with the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" game, which is far beyond the reach of smaller companies like us.
For the purpose of exchange and learning, I hope to lead a team to visit your company, learn about your advanced experience, and explore the possibility of cooperation. Our company will pay for all meals and accommodations. I look forward to your reply!
After editing the email content, Lu Ming checked it again.
Be neither humble nor overbearing, and be sincere! No problem!
Lu Ming clicked send with satisfaction.
After sending the email, Lu Ming leaned back in his chair and imagined the reactions of Teng Shen's team when they saw the email.
The corners of my mouth unconsciously rise.
"Visiting and learning, hey, learning is secondary, the real thing is to recruit talents! This is much faster than hiring a headhunter!"
…
At the same time, in Pengcheng, the glass building of Tengshen Studio’s headquarters sparkled in the sun.
On the 18th floor, in the administrative department, administrative assistant Gong Ruling opened her work email as usual. When she saw Lu Ming's email, she was stunned.
She rubbed her eyes to make sure she had seen it correctly, then quickly ran to her supervisor's office, still clutching the printed email in her hand.
"Manager Zhang, take a look at this!"
Gong Ruling handed the email over, her tone full of confusion.
"I've never heard of Whale Leap Games. They said they want to come and learn from us and explore cooperation. What's going on?"
Manager Zhang took the email, glanced at it, and frowned:
"I don't remember Jingyue. It's probably a small company."
Manager Zhang turned on his computer and did a quick search. He saw the news about the "Runaway Simulator" and sneered.
"Oh, this is the one. It's a small hit with 600,000 downloads, but its turnover is only over 2 million. It's far behind us. They come here to learn from us. Is that a joke? Can we just teach our tricks casually?"
"But it's pretty good, a little gem!"
"I don't know why it's so popular among companies to learn from each other recently. But who will teach what can really be learned?"
Gong Ruling stood by and whispered, "Then why did you reject this email directly?"
Manager Zhang squinted his eyes at the words "self-responsible" in the email, his mind turning:
"Don't be impatient. A small company like Jingyue must have some ulterior motives for coming to our place. Visiting and learning, huh? I think they want to steal our skills."
"But they said they'll cover the costs themselves, so we don't have to pay anything. Mr. Ma also said before that we should pay attention to potential stocks in the industry. These are all delivered to our doorstep, so we'll just take a look."
"Besides, they're going through the normal invitation process. Rejecting them outright would seem ungenerous of us."
Thinking of this, Manager Zhang immediately waved his hand.
"Reply to the email and tell them you're welcome to visit. The date is next Wednesday. Ask them to prepare."
After Gong Ruling left, Manager Zhang went to the tea room and got a cup of American coffee freshly brewed from the coffee machine.
Walked straight to the independent office of Li Yun, the head of the Human Resources Department,
Putting the coffee cup on the corner of the table, he said with a bit of anxiety.
"Sister Yun, what are you busy with? I have something to tell you. We need to get a grip on the matter of the "Legend of the Heroes" studio."
Li Yun was staring at the computer screen, fingers tapping away on the keyboard. Upon hearing this, she looked up at Manager Zhang, frowning.
"I'm working on the 'Legend of Qixia' project team. They urged us again yesterday, saying we have to finalize the optimization list this month. If the budget is delayed any further, our department will be blamed."
She paused, pointing to the densely packed data tables on the screen.
"Look, we have over 30 people, with monthly expenses of over 900,000 yuan, but our turnover is less than 3 million yuan. We're losing so much money that we're almost broke."
Manager Zhang pulled a chair and sat down, saying slowly:
"Isn't it true? 'Legend of the Heroes' was so awesome initially. When it first launched five years ago, the screen was filled with immortal cultivation masterpieces. Players were obsessed with it, and its monthly revenue exceeded 100 million, nearly overwhelming the servers."
"But now, the players are almost gone. Now, only a few old accounts are left on the server to grind daily tasks, and the income is not even enough to cover the maintenance costs. The higher-ups are very dissatisfied and have said that they will optimize some people a long time ago. Anyway, any savings are saved."
Li Yun sighed and clicked the mouse.
"Yeah, that's how games are. There aren't that many games that can stay popular for over a decade!"
"Take this 'Legend of Qixia'. Since last year, player activity has been dropping like a sieve, with less than 100,000 monthly active users now. The studio was still clinging on, saying they were going to create new content to turn things around. Fortunately, management just said it wasn't going to happen and canceled it. Otherwise, who knows how much longer it would have continued to lose money."
"Yeah, so it says we have to submit the list this month! It's urgent!"
As Li Yun was talking, she pulled out an optimization list.
"It's okay. We've already talked to them before, so I guess this matter can't be hidden."
"In fact, my preliminary estimate is that they will lay off half of the project staff. A few will be laid off in April. We will see if the remaining staff want to leave or accept salary cuts and transfers. We will optimize another batch in May."
"For the remaining few, those who can transfer to the Classic of Mountains and Seas project will do so, and those who cannot will leave."
…
On the 23rd floor, in the studio of "The Legend of Heroes", the atmosphere was dead.
This place used to be brightly lit and bustling with people, but now it is as deserted as an abandoned warehouse.
Multiple workstations are squeezed into a hundred-square-meter space in the stairwell. Most of the computer screens are black, and only a few are running, making a low humming sound.
The air was filled with the smell of instant noodles and coffee.
Developer Zhao Qiliang leaned back in his chair, holding the mouse, staring blankly at the background data of "The Legend of Heroes" on the screen.
The data was so terrible that he didn't even want to look at it.
Zhao Qiliang sighed.
"What a sin! Waiting for the verdict is so painful! When will the optimized list be finalized?"
Next door, Li Feng, who is also a developer, did not raise his head, his fingers tapping the code on the keyboard, his tone full of frustration.
"Who knows? The higher-ups won't even allow new content right now. They're just fixing bugs every day. Players are all gone. Who's going to spend money on it? I estimate it's only this month. Everyone should get ready as soon as possible!"
Gu Xiangqiu, who was in charge of art, sat at the other end. A batch of unfinished drafts lay on the table, and the pressure-sensitive pen in his hand had long stopped working.
"I had it so hard. I didn't catch up when the game was popular, and I joined the company when the project failed!"
"Alas, big companies are so cruel. They kill people when they're done! People who can't create value are either transferred or laid off. I'm even planning to go back home. The pressure here in Shenzhen is too great!"
After Gu Xiangqiu finished speaking, the office was filled with low pressure. The employees were either browsing their phones or
Or they stare at the screen in a daze, occasionally someone complains in a low voice, but no one dares to shout.
They all knew that the studio's former glory was long gone.
Today's "Legend of the Heroes" is like a dying patient, without even a chance of rescue.
…
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