Chapter 78 Double Top
Facebook headquarters in Silicon Valley, USA.
Sean Ryan, the newly appointed head of the game department, stood outside the office of Dan Ross, vice president of partnerships and platform marketing. After hesitating for a few seconds, he took a deep breath and knocked on the office door.
"Come in!" Dan Ross's voice came from inside.
Sean Ryan took another deep breath, opened the door and walked in.
"Good morning, Mr. Ross!" Sean Ryan tried his best to make the smile on his face look more relaxed and natural.
"Good morning, Sheen." Dan Ross raised his head, glanced at the department manager he had just hired, smiled and stopped the work in his hands, "I hope you have good news for me today."
Sean Ryan smiled bitterly in his heart. He himself was not sure whether this was good news or not.
But he still walked over to Dan Ross's desk and sat down.
"Mr. Ross, my colleagues in the department have been tracking a game software these days."
"Oh, really?" Dan Ross was a little surprised. Is there anything to report?
Sean Ryan took another deep breath and decided to speak it all out in one breath.
"This software is called Cut the Rope. It is a new game launched by a startup company from Southampton, UK. It has been on our platform for half a month and is winning more and more recognition and support from platform users. Its ranking in the rankings is also climbing steadily."
"Cut the rope?" It sounded familiar to Dan Ross. After thinking about it, he remembered that it seemed to have been reported in the newspaper before, but he just took a quick look at it. He heard that it was related to a European football team. Who knows?
"Are you paying attention to it because they violated the rules when competing for the ranking? If so, just deal with it seriously."
Dan Ross feels that there is no need to say more about maintaining fairness and justice in platform competition.
"No, Mr. Ross, they didn't violate any rules." Sean Ryan shook his head.
Dan Ross laughed when he heard this. "So, you all think this game has great potential and want to further promote and explore it to make up for the loss of traffic due to the tension with the game developer in recent times?"
If so, that would certainly be good news.
"No, Mr. Ross. I personally think that not only should it not be promoted, but it should be removed from the shelves."
Upon hearing this, Dan Ross immediately raised his head, his eyes revealing dissatisfaction. He stared at the new head of the gaming department in front of him, and his tone was somewhat unfriendly, "I don't quite understand, Sean, what exactly do you want to report to me?"
Sean Ryan thought for a moment and exhaled, "Mr. Ross, the company that developed this game called Cut the Rope is the same startup that developed the WeChat app. We have been tracking this game for several days and found that players have linked their social circle of friends on our platform through this game."
Dan Ross said nothing, just listened.
"We have every reason to suspect that WeChat is using this game to direct users of our platform to their social platform. We have no way to deal with this but to remove the game from the shelves." Sean Ryan feels that this matter is very serious.
Of course, this is just the beginning, but if it is not stopped, who knows what will happen in the future?
Dan Ross listened to Sean Ryan leisurely and did not express his opinion for a long time.
There was a deathly silence in the office, which lasted for nearly ten seconds.
"Xien, do you remember when you first joined the company, I told you what your mission was?"
Sean Ryan was a little in awe of his boss and nodded, "Remember, develop and maintain relationships with internal and external partners and major industry operators in the gaming industry."
"Well, games occupy an important position on our platform. We have tried to integrate game developers and make them more firmly around us, so we changed the game development rules of the platform, but what was the result?"
The result was that the largest game developer announced its switch to Google, and at least half of Internet users were using this developer's farm game, which directly led to heavy losses for Facebook.
After learning from their mistakes, they changed their overbearing approach and began to learn to listen to the voices of game developers.
"I know you're talking about WeChat. How many users does it have now?"
“Just over 20 million.”
"What about us?" Dan Ross asked again.
"More than 500 million."
Dan Ross nodded. "Then tell me, who is our biggest competitor now?"
"Google, without a doubt." Sean Ryan knew this very well.
"Very good, you haven't forgotten!" Dan Ross nodded again, "Then you should be very clear that the most important thing for your game department now is to quickly make up for the impact of several major game manufacturers switching to Google, rather than further exacerbating the tension between us and the game developers. Do you understand what I mean?"
"I understand." Sean Ryan was somewhat helpless.
Dan Ross felt enlightened when he said this. "I hope you can understand that you have a heavy task on your shoulders. The company attaches great importance to social games and has listed them as an important part of its business. You should find ways to attract more outstanding game developers to join and keep them at Facebook."
Sean Ryan understood what Dan Ross meant and knew what he should do.
That is, don't create trouble for cutting the rope, and even promote it appropriately.
Perhaps, in Dan Ross's eyes, Facebook and WeChat are not a zero-sum choice for Internet users.
If you choose WeChat, do you have to abandon Facebook?
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Also in Silicon Valley, Apple’s headquarters.
Eddy Cue, head of Apple's App Store, is looking at the report in front of him carefully.
The content of this report revolves around a mobile game that has just been launched but has already attracted considerable attention.
"I have played this game myself and it gives me a very good feeling. The graphics are gorgeous and smooth, the whole design is also very pleasing, the player retention rate is very high, and more importantly, they use the method of free plus paid props, which is undoubtedly very pleasing."
Sitting opposite Eddy Cue was one of his employees, who also submitted the report.
"Currently, this game has topped the free charts in several countries including Australia, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, New Zealand, Canada and Finland, and has entered the top 20 in the United States, which has attracted a lot of media attention."
"I have talked to their employees. They are currently only planning to release it on Facebook and iOS. They have no intention of entering the Android market. In addition, they are working hard to develop a new game that will introduce 3D gyroscope technology."
Eddie Ku immediately raised his head when he heard it. "Are you sure?"
"Well, they showed me a video, and I can only say that it's very good, but they still need to improve some details such as the graphics, gameplay, and paid props. The initial estimate is that it will not be launched until the end of the year at the earliest."
The 3D gyroscope is the main feature of the iPhone 4, but there are very few games on the market that support this technology.
A very important principle of the Apple App Store is to select some applications that can demonstrate the unique experience of IOS and promote them, so as to retain Apple users to the greatest extent possible.
"You can contact them again and do your best to arrange for their new game to be released exclusively on our iOS platform, and at the same time, arrange strong recommendations for their game."
There aren’t many games that support 3D gyroscopes, and even fewer quality ones, so we have to work hard to win them over.
"How big?"
“Including the homepage of the app stores of the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, Germany and other countries and regions with the largest download volume!”
Eddy Cue showed his sincere sincerity, because this recommendation has the best position and the most outstanding effect in the Apple App Store, which is what countless app developers dream of.
"By the way, be sincere and show our sincerity." Eddy Ku solemnly reminded his men before they left.
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"Exclusive release?"
At the tourist pier in Southampton, England, the WeChat office overlooks the River Itchen.
The glass curtain wall design on all sides ensures ideal lighting for the entire office building and a very clear view.
When Yang Huan heard what Zhu Liangcheng conveyed about the cooperation intention from Apple headquarters in the United States, he was also excited.
Although the download volume of the Cut the Rope game is not small at present, there is still considerable potential to be tapped, but this requires the recommendation and cooperation of the Apple App Store.
Even good wine needs no bush, and Apple’s recommendation can bring about a huge transformation for a game.
"Yes, Master Huan, I can see that they are very sincere, especially towards our new games."
The new game that Yang Huan personally provided creative ideas for is Temple Run. However, unlike the Temple Run he played in his previous life, this time it is still free with in-app purchases, and the graphics will be more exquisite and smoother.
At the same time, Yang Huan also asked the development team to create a competition mode between players.
As the saying goes, there is endless fun in competing with each other. The competition between players can stimulate the players' strongest desire to consume.
"Since they are so sincere and the conditions they offer are not bad, let's agree to them!" Yang Huan thought for a moment and said.
"I understand!" Zhu Liangcheng immediately laughed and was about to reply.
"Wait!" Yang Huan suddenly thought of a question and stopped him, "Just say that our commitment is only for half a year. After half a year, we will release it on other platforms such as Android and Facebook."
"receive."
The Android platform is also a very large market. It would be a pity to give up such a large market just to get Apple's recommendation.
As for Facebook, what Yang Huan values are the users and social networks on this platform.
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As Yang Huan finalized the terms of exchange with the Apple App Store, several members of the Cut the Rope development team began to prepare for the upcoming promotion in full swing.
They have specially prepared an updated version for this one-week recommendation, adding two game level boxes and some special paid props, which will also be offered at limited-time discounts.
The gaming team also prepared advertisements and promotional slogans specifically for the recommendation, and also actively promoted the game on major gaming websites and forums, and even made a special promotional animation for the game and posted it on YOUTUBE.
In October, after a series of promotions and publicity, the Apple App Store placed the game Cut the Rope on the homepage of the App Store in the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, Germany, France and other countries and regions with the highest downloads.
This move surprised countless media and Apple users overnight. They were all puzzled and wondered what was so special about this game that was worth recommending?
Curiosity, coupled with a series of previous publicity and promotion, as well as good reputation on the Internet, made Cut the Rope the most talked-about topic among mobile game players around the world overnight.
In this case, free undoubtedly achieves amazing results.
Since it is free, curious mobile phone users don’t mind downloading it to their phones to try it out. At worst, they can delete it if they don’t like it.
This immediately made the game Cut the Rope top the free list in several countries and regions with the largest downloads in the Apple App Store, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, France, and Germany, in just less than a week.
The fame of Cut the Rope exploded all of a sudden, winning the praise and recognition of countless players, and the good reputation once again promoted its promotion. Its reputation completely overshadowed the most popular games in the first half of 2010, Plants vs. Zombies and Angry Birds, becoming one of the most popular mobile games of the year.
The cute green cartoon dragon has also replaced the Angry Birds and become the favorite cartoon character of countless players.
The popularity of the game has once again led to a surge in the number of WeChat users.
At the same time, throughout September and early October, Southampton also won victory after victory in the English League One. With six consecutive wins in September, Southampton rushed to the top of the English League One standings in one breath.
The team and the game both topped the list, and Yang Huan was in a very good mood.
Football Giants