Chapter 261 A big company crowdfunds to make a sequel (Happy New Year to everyone)
Chen Ba didn’t know that "Past Events in the Mountain Village" was maliciously reported.
However, he had heard a little about the astonishingly high prices fetched by the online store transactions in Tianning Pavilion.
There is no way! This matter has become a hot topic.
As soon as he turned on his phone, the news pushed to the notification bar had headlines such as "A man in Pengcheng spent 2 million yuan on games and called it an investment". It was hard for him not to know.
But even though he knew it, he really didn't have time to care about it at the moment.
After all, although the artificial intelligence summit he attended had ended, there was still an entrepreneur forum and a reception dinner prepared by the organizer waiting for him.
This is a good opportunity to visit the pier!
When Chen Ba was very young, he heard others say that the most important thing for a gang is to have many brothers and friends! If you have no brothers and no friends, it's okay as long as you have a lot of money, you have to have one of them.
Unfortunately, although Chen Ba made money, he really didn't have many good brothers and friends.
You have to expand your network of contacts! Although Tianba Studio's main business is game production and distribution, it is difficult to interact with other people...
But how does that sentence go?
It is true that Tianba Studio mainly makes games, but if you really think that Tianba Studio makes money from games, then you are too naive!
"Mr. Chen, I have long heard of your name!"
"Hello, hello!"
After shaking hands with the CEO of a 4A advertising and marketing planning company, Chen Ba said with a smile on his face: "Boss Qin? I remember you. You came to our company to discuss business before!"
"Yes, yes, it's me!"
The middle-aged man whom he called Mr. Qin laughed and said, "Mr. Chen, I am very interested in your game "Don't Leave After School"! There are many games that make money through advertising, but you are the first one to share the advertising fees with users like you..."
Mr. Qin opened an advertising company.
The business mainly focuses on TV advertising, but in recent years the focus has gradually shifted to Internet advertising and short video advertising.
After all, customers have this demand, so they have to do their best to meet it!
When he shifted his business focus and started dealing with Tianba Studio, he first came into contact with the GAL League advertising and sponsorship of "Star Emperor".
Later, after gradually learning about the "unique" game "Don't Leave After School", we began to deepen cooperation with Tianba Studio and even became a regular partner.
This is also the main reason why he praised the game "Don't Leave After School" and even flattered Chen Ba in various ways.
Chen Ba knew this very well.
Few people were optimistic about the advertising operation model of "Don't Leave After School" at the beginning. Companies that wanted to place advertisements in the game generally came to the game on their own without going through advertising companies.
This is normal. Advertising companies look down on this and think this model is completely ridiculous. They will probably stop it after two days.
However, the game did not stop, but became more and more popular. With the rapid increase in the number of online players, the player activity was comparable to those of well-known portals and social platforms, and advertising companies came to contact it.
Mr. Qin was the first to try something new.
Relying on the powerful marketing ability of the game "Don't Leave After School", his advertising company made a lot of money.
But the good times are coming to an end!
Chen Ba has decided that starting from June this year, the allocation of advertising space and advertising investment for "Don't Leave After School: Marble Storm" will be handled by a professional operation and planning team.
In other words, Chen Ba no longer wanted to negotiate business with advertisers through a "middleman" like Mr. Qin.
He wants to bypass intermediaries and achieve face-to-face communication and collaboration between advertisers and advertising platforms.
"Don't Leave After School: Marble Storm" will support advertisers to "recharge" a certain amount of advertising fees themselves, and the fees will be deducted based on data such as the number of ad clicks and completion rate.
To put it bluntly! In the past, the advertising resources and investment channels of "Don't Leave After School" had to be transferred through intermediaries or middlemen.
No need for that in the future.
In the future, it will be the same model as charging your bank account and phone bills. If you want to place advertisements, just recharge the money. As for how to place advertisements and how much traffic and views will be pushed to you, Tianba Studio has the final say.
What should advertising companies do? It’s very simple!
They still have business, but they don't make as much money as before. Advertising companies like Mr. Qin will be responsible for shooting and advertising in the future, and Chen Ba will introduce clients to them.
“Isn’t this bad?”
President Qin had an ugly expression on his face, as if he had not expected Brother Ba to be so cruel. Not only did he not focus on making his game, he also wanted to snatch his job as an advertiser.
"What's wrong?"
Chen Ba reached out and patted Mr. Qin on the shoulder, and said expectantly: "Isn't it good that I introduce clients to you? Other advertising platforms may not introduce clients to you!"
Yes, referring clients is a good thing.
But you have the guts to not take a commission! For clients who come to you for free, I will definitely thank you for eight lifetimes, but for clients who take a commission...
President Qin sighed, but did not object to Chen Ba's proposal, because he knew that doing so would only make less money, and if he did not agree, he would probably not make a penny.
After saying goodbye to Mr. Qin, who had a depressed expression, Chen Ba turned around and put his arm around the head of NVIDIA's China region.
This time we are talking about the agency business.
In fact, there is nothing to talk about with Nvidia. After all, they mainly sell chips and non-consumer-grade graphics cards.
If Chen Ba wants to discuss agency cooperation, he mainly talks with consumer terminal OEM companies such as Darenshuo, Xicanhong and Shuoshuixing.
This business is quite interesting.
Little-known fact! Xianyu Digital has been the sales champion of digital accessories in major e-commerce platforms during the 618 and Double Eleven shopping festivals for three consecutive years!
It is no exaggeration to say that the saying "Look for Brother Ba when buying graphics cards" has become a social consensus in the past few years.
It’s hard to say about other circles, but at least in the DIY computer accessories circle, the recognition of Xianyu Digital is not much worse than that of JD.com’s self-operated products.
Ordinary players may hesitate between JD.com and Xianyu Digital, but real hardcore PC players will simply choose Xianyu Digital without thinking.
The reason is simple! JD.com only has good service, but in terms of product quality and after-sales guarantee, who knows who is better.
In particular, everyone was speechless when the official after-sales maintenance department of a graphics card manufacturer revealed that products with the note "Xianyu Digital" would be given priority for repair, and repair orders sold or received on other platforms would be postponed.
What the hell is this!
Graphics cards of the same brand have similar prices, but are purchased through different channels. Does that mean I have to queue behind others when applying for after-sales repair services?
Is Xianyu Digital really superior? In fact, taking graphics cards as an example, in terms of product quality alone, the products from major official e-commerce channels are actually similar. There is no such thing as the specifications of Xianyu Digital's graphics cards being higher.
It’s just that, due to some unspeakable special background of Xianyu Digital, the graphics cards purchased here can be confirmed not to be mining cards or refurbished cards, so there are many buyers and the sales volume is high.
Because of its high sales volume, it is considered one of the most important Internet e-commerce sales channels for graphics card manufacturers, so Xianyu Digital has a certain say in after-sales service.
certainly!
No matter how much say they have, the after-sales maintenance department will not give priority to orders from "Xianyu Digital".
The reason why a certain manufacturer would rather give an extension to individual users who send in for repairs, and give priority to providing repair and after-sales services to Xianyu Digital customers, is actually just one sentence...
Some people really protect their own children!
If you buy a graphics card from JD.com and something goes wrong, JD.com, who is worth hundreds of billions, will never stand up for you. Even such a thing will not reach his ears.
But if you buy something from Xianyu Digital and there is a problem with the product and the manufacturer refuses to deal with it, the customer service can really report the matter to Chen Ba.
When Chen Ba received such a message, he would usually call the general manager, executive vice president or other senior executives of the other company.
This is a relative!
The people with connections have called the highest level of the company. Do you think the after-sales maintenance department will not treat "Xianyu Digital" as their father? You are kidding!
They treat us like our ancestors, not just our fathers. When individual users send our products for repair or warranty, they are always refused. When third-party channels send our products for repair or warranty, they are always refused.
But Xianyu Digital offers insurance...
Dad, ancestor, don't worry, I will solve it for you immediately, don't call! Your boss is busy at work, don't let him care about such trivial matters, it's not worth it! Even the famous Ju Baojia couldn't stand the call from Brother Ba himself, and his attitude was extremely good.
There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!
That makes sense!
After all, they are all big businessmen, people of status, and their net worth is measured in "billions".
With your status and position, you called me to negotiate a solution just to complain about the warranty of a graphics card? Brother, you are not ashamed, but I am!
But then again…
The reason why these PC hardware manufacturers favor Xianyu Digital and even obey Brother Ba in everything is also closely related to the GAL League.
“When will the second generation be released?”
This was the question asked by the head of AMD Greater China when Chen Ba attended the dinner.
The "second generation" he mentioned does not refer to the second generation product of a certain hardware, but the second generation sequel of "Star Emperor".
Everyone knows.
The GAL League experienced a rare decline in attention last year, and the reason for this was the decrease in the number of players of "Star Emperor".
This is undoubtedly a fatal blow to the league environment.
So, the CEO of the GAL League operating company coordinated the major participating teams and the capital behind them, and everyone sat down and held a meeting.
The content of the meeting was simple.
We are all decent people. For the future of the GAL League, let's each contribute a little money and raise funds to make a sequel to "Star Emperor".
This proposal was unanimously approved!
nonsense……
Making a game, even a super-standard game of 3A standard size, is just a drop in the bucket for these big companies.
Let's all pool some money and work together to resolve this issue to prevent the popularity of the GAL League from continuing to decline.
A strange scene appeared.
More than a dozen participating teams in the GAL League and the capital behind them took out money and insisted on handing it to Chen Ba, asking him to hurry up and produce the second generation of "Star Emperor".
But Chen Ba was reluctant to accept the money that was delivered to his door.
His idea is simple.
What do these people mean by giving him money? They look down on him and Tianba Studio, and think that Tianba Studio can't afford the money, right? Who are they looking down on? If they really want to make "Star Emperor 2", Tianba Studio can bear all the development costs by itself, so why would they need these people to help raise funds?
Moreover, this money was raised through crowdfunding. If they really used this money to develop Star Emperor 2, how would the copyright of the game be determined? "It will definitely belong to you!"
The head of AMD China said sincerely: "We paid because we don't want to see such a great game like Star Emperor without a sequel. The ownership and copyright of the game will definitely belong to Tianba Studio."
Who wants your crappy copyright?
Please! We make graphics cards, CPUs, and hardware, which are all high-tech. Who needs your income from games? Don't be suspicious! If they tell us directly that this money is donated to Tianba Studio as a charity without expecting anything in return, Brother Ba will not doubt it. Will you accept this money? "I'm afraid..."
Upon hearing that the money was given to him for charity without expecting anything in return, Chen Ba immediately revealed a shy expression like a young girl.
Hi, hi, hi, what are you doing?
He didn't do anything and was just lying at home sleeping, but there were kind-hearted people who felt sorry for him and raised money for him to make games. How embarrassing is that?
Chen Ba didn't want to accept it at first.
He is a self-respecting and independent game producer with his own backbone. How could he accept such a pie in the sky, the so-called "unearned money"? But there is no way, it's too much...
The investors of these dozen GAL League teams raised about $417 million in development funds for "Star Emperor 2".
Oh my god!
When Chen Ba heard this number, he threw all his backbone, moral integrity, self-respect and self-love out of the window, and his eyeballs turned into $$.
The dog owner is really rich!
Faced with such a large sum of money, which was enough to produce a top 3A game, Chen Ba's knees felt weak, and he even felt that being kept was a very happy thing.
"It's settled then!"
"As long as the funds you promised arrive, the Star Emperor 2 project will start immediately. It's a deal, double happiness, the boss is generous!"
Any hesitation for even a second would be disrespectful to the $400 million.
Chen Ba's bottom line was quite flexible, and he readily agreed to this matter immediately.
However, he was also cautious and decided to start work only after the money was received, to avoid being lied to. If he did the work but didn't get paid, wouldn't that be bad luck?
"Don't worry, we will transfer the money to you right away. We just hope you can start the development and production of "Star Emperor 2" as soon as possible!"
Four hundred million US dollars sounds like a lot, and it is indeed a lot. After all, if converted, it is more than 2 billion RMB.
But the money was not borne by a single company, but was raised by more than a dozen large companies, including technology giants such as Microsoft, Sony, Nvidia, and AMD.
What a waste! Brother Ba actually suspected that they were just making empty promises and couldn't come up with the money. This was simply an insult to them.
What kind of joke is this? Among the dozen or so fundraising companies, even the slightly weaker ones are willing to spend tens of millions of dollars as if it were a joke.
The only problem is...
After they pay out this money, how are they going to explain to investors and the board of directors where the money went and what it is used for?
(End of this chapter)