Agreeing to Create Bad Games, What the Hell Is ‘Titanfall’? Chapter 99
"Golden Wind..."
Before Director Zhao could finish his sentence, everyone in the conference room spoke in unison.
Their consensus was unanimous.
Because this company's achievements in FPS games were—
Unparalleled!
One title, Left to Survive, pioneered the "Second-Generation FPS Model," earning widespread acclaim and becoming a template for countless imitators.
Then came PUBG, which ignited the shooting game market, leading sales across Asia and introducing the innovative "Battle Royale" FPS gameplay.
In just one year!
Two titles!
Such a company might not be the last of its kind, but it certainly was the first!
Therefore, all senior executives at Yiyou immediately thought of Golden Wind.
But the problem was—
"Do they have the capacity to meet the production costs of a flagship title?"
Director Sun remarked:
"Typically, the cost of a flagship title can easily reach 700 to 800 million, sometimes even exceeding a billion. But Golden Wind..."
"Even considering the revenue from this round of PUBG,"
"Expecting them to produce a game with a total investment of 800 to 900 million, or even over a billion, before the release of Yiyou x2 is an impossible task for them..."
The issue of scale.
It seemed that since Golden Wind's inception, this problem had always plagued them.
Now, even more so.
"What if we invest?"
As everyone frowned, Director Qian suggested:
"We provide the funding to supplement Golden Wind's development costs, and then both parties share the profits proportionally."
Although Director Qian's proposal sounded reasonable.
It was evident he hadn't considered how much Yiyou would need to invest.
After all, as the head of the development department, despite his surname being Qian (which means 'money'), he often played the role of asking for funds and had little concept of investment amounts.
"Not advisable,"
Deputy Director Zhao immediately shook his head, indicating disapproval:
"If we truly want Golden Wind to develop one of the three flagship titles, the project must start by the end of next month at the latest,"
"By then, even in the best-case scenario, PUBG's total revenue won't exceed 200 million,"
"Meaning we would need to inject 600 to 800 million into them to support their game development,"
"The risk is too high."
As an investor, contributing nearly 80% of the total project cost!
Isn't that absurd!
This isn't investment; it's gambling.
Hundreds of millions in funds.
Such a large sum isn't trivial, even for Yiyou.
Moreover!
Utilizing such massive funds requires board approval.
And Yan Sheng knew those people well.
As a company specializing in haptic cabins and gaming platforms, the board would never agree to such a risky move—temporarily acting as a game development investor and injecting hundreds of millions into a small-scale emerging enterprise.
If they acted unilaterally, bypassing the board to reallocate funds, and things went south, everyone present, including Yan Sheng, would face severe consequences, possibly even legal action.
So, the trust of a few executives in Golden Wind wasn't enough.
Without the board's approval, no one could proceed.
"Hmm—"
At this point, everyone furrowed their brows in deep thought, momentarily at a loss.
Seeing everyone looking at him, Yan Sheng sighed, "Let's keep Golden Wind as a backup for now. For FPS games, let's first approach Zhenting Studio."
Zhenting Studio was also a well-known large domestic game company, focusing on FPS games.
In terms of scale, it was on par with Guangyao, one of the five major studios under Xunteng.
The two were rivals, often competing and each having their wins and losses.
Since Guangyao was a direct subsidiary of Xunteng, Zhenting naturally leaned more towards Yiyou. The two had a good relationship and had collaborated multiple times before.
Ultimately, considering the scale issue, Yan Sheng placed Golden Wind on the backup list.
Even though he was eager to collaborate with Golden Wind and assign the final FPS flagship title slot to them, with Director Gu personally leading the project.
But alas, even the most capable housewife can't cook without rice.
He couldn't possibly have Golden Wind release a game costing less than 200 million as their flagship title, could he?
That would be a laughingstock.
With that thought, Yan Sheng picked up the phone, preparing to call the head of Zhenting Studio to test the waters and see if they were interested in collaborating.
However!
Before he could find Zhenting Studio's contact in his phone!
Ding-dong!
Suddenly, his phone chimed!
A push notification from Daily Game News appeared at the top of the screen—
"Breaking! Xunteng announces collaboration with Zhenting Studio!"
What? Huh?
Yan Sheng froze, reading the news three times!
Then, he picked up his phone, flipping it back and forth to check.
He suspected he was being monitored!
I just mentioned collaborating with Zhenting, and the next second you're telling me Zhenting has 'defected'?
I feel like some mysterious force is manipulating me!
Yan Sheng felt a bit numb, opened the push notification, and saw:
...Reportedly, this collaboration is primarily to prepare for the upcoming release of the "Polar Bear 3" haptic cabin in the first half of next year.
At that time, Zhenting Studio will join forces with Xunteng's two top-tier shooting game studios—Guangyao and Tianlang—to launch three FPS flagship titles.
Simultaneously, Polar Bear 3 will become the only haptic cabin to date to be supported by three games of the same genre.
This move clearly shows Xunteng's determination to dominate the FPS market...
Hiss—!!!
Putting down his phone, Yan Sheng couldn't help but take a deep breath, his brows knitting into a tight knot.
He knew that in the first half of next year.
Xunteng Technology's new generation haptic cabin, "Polar Bear 3," would be released simultaneously with Yiyou's "Yiyou x2."
Of course, rather than saying it's a simultaneous release, it's more accurate to say Xunteng Technology is 'sniping' them.
The reason is simple—
By the end of the second quarter this year, Yiyou x1's domestic market share increased from 17% to 20%, a year-on-year increase of 3 percentage points.
Conversely, Polar Bear 2's market share dropped from 28% to 25%, a decrease of 3 percentage points.
The gap between the two narrowed from 11% to 5%.
Xunteng couldn't sit still because if this trend continued, their leading position in the domestic haptic cabin market could be overtaken.
Xunteng's counterattack was within Yan Sheng's expectations.
But he didn't anticipate!
This time, Xunteng's offensive would be so aggressive!
They approached three major domestic shooting game studios in succession, launching three FPS games as flagship titles to promote their new generation haptic cabin!
It's evident!
Xunteng is determined to claim a significant share of the increasingly popular shooting game market!
Even at great cost!
They proactively reached out to Zhenting, with whom they previously had a strained relationship, and spent heavily to bring them under their wing, effectively monopolizing the resources of top domestic shooting game developers!
[This time, you Yiyou won't get a bite of the shooting game pie!]
Xunteng's message was clear.
After a full half-minute!
Yan Sheng couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh, forwarding the news to the senior executives' WeChat group:
"Forget it, I won't bother calling Zhenting. Let's look for another path..."
Upon hearing this, the senior executives all picked up their phones.
After checking, they were all dumbfounded!
What the f***?
Director Yan's words are prophetic?
He just mentioned collaborating with Zhenting, and Zhenting defected?
Of course!
Saying 'defected' might not be entirely accurate.
There are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests.
Zhenting, as an independent game studio, neither signed an exclusive cooperation agreement with Yiyou nor was a deep partner of Yiyou. Choosing the higher bidder and earlier proposer, Xunteng, was understandable.
But with this development...
"What do we do now?"
Deputy Director Zhao scratched his head:
"This is screwing us over, isn't it?"
"There aren't many established top-tier domestic shooting game companies, mainly because Xunteng has always dominated the market,"
"Two of the top three FPS companies are under Xunteng,"
"And now, all three are under their control,"
"This... this is f***ed up..."
Deputy Director Zhao looked conflicted.
Not angry, just purely feeling that this situation was absurd.
Three FPS flagship titles?!
Is this something a normal person would do?!
Who chooses three games of the same genre as flagship titles for their haptic cabin?!
This... are they raising Gu?
Hearing Deputy Director Zhao's confusion, Director Li, in charge of market operations, shook his head: "It's not about raising Gu. Xunteng aims to fully occupy the FPS market and wants to crush us completely..."
Upon hearing this, Yan Sheng raised an eyebrow and gestured: "Go on?"
Director Li nodded:
"First of all, Xunteng isn't stupid, which I believe everyone recognizes,"
"Historically, no haptic cabin has ever chosen all its flagship titles from the same game genre upon release,"
"Xunteng surely knows this, so I speculate—"
"Their strategy this time is 'divide and conquer, then unite to attack.'"
Director Li was astute, or rather, cunning.
After all, being in charge of market operations, he was sharp and quick to react.
He immediately realized that Xunteng's move was ambitious!
"Tianlang, Guangyao, Zhenting,"
Director Li counted on his fingers:
"These three developers may all be FPS companies, but in reality, each has a different focus,"
"Tianlang specializes in traditional competitive battles, originating from first-generation FPS, and was the core development team of Fireline Transit in its early stages,"
"Guangyao focuses on haptic cabin blockbusters, currently concentrating on second-generation FPS, and is very adept at capturing market trends,"
"As for Zhenting, they've always focused on the single-player game market, with a good reputation for storytelling and visuals."
After hearing Director Li's analysis, everyone couldn't help but take a deep breath.
Director Li's point was clear—
Tianlang focuses on traditional battles to stabilize the foundation.
Guangyao launches second-generation FPS with battle royale to divide and conquer.
Zhenting produces single-player games to encircle and suppress.
Three axes, each targeting Yiyou's vital points, aiming to take over the shooting game market in one
"I can't accept this. I absolutely can't!!!"
Two days later, in the Golden Wind CEO's office.
Shen Miaomiao clutched the gilded wooden certificate in her hands, her jaw clenched, eyes wide with fury, nearly snapping the award in two.
On her desk lay a fax from the Asian Gaming Association, detailing PUBG's first-week sales figures.
Other games didn't receive such treatment.
Because as of last night, PUBG had broken the Asian Gaming Association's all-time single-week sales record, making history!
First-week sales: 566,894 copies! Total revenue: ¥55,555,612!
After deducting a 10% commission, they had recouped their investment within a week, even making an extra ¥50!
The certificate in Shen Miaomiao's hands was the record-breaking award sent by the Asian Gaming Association through Huayu Electric.
"D*mn it..." Shen Miaomiao was on the verge of losing it.
Making money wasn't the issue; the problem was that her ¥10 million had been swallowed by this b*stard game!
Ten million!
That was the super guaranteed card she had exchanged for!
A precious, one-of-a-kind, 100x rebate card, only obtainable through unlocking achievements!
Just one! Once missed, it would never come again!
She had spent half a year working tirelessly, creating "Left 4 Dead," turning a ¥100,000 loss into ¥10 million.
She hadn't even had time to enjoy it before it was absorbed into the company's funds, hoping to create a cycle of endless profit.
But after half a year, the egg had indeed hatched into a chicken, but d*mn it, the chicken had run away!
Shen Miaomiao was devastated.
She even felt a phantom pain...
With a deep sigh, Shen Miaomiao collapsed onto her desk, a single tear of sorrow sliding down her cheek.
She felt utterly wronged.
Especially upon hearing the employees outside sharing the news, congratulating each other, and repeatedly praising, "Director Gu is truly a genius!"
The sense of injustice reached its peak.
Was there no justice?
Was there no law?
Wasn't this just bullying the honest?
I!
Endure for a moment, and the storm will pass; take a step back, and the more I think about it, the angrier I get!
With a sudden movement, Shen Miaomiao sprang from her seat, raising the award certificate high, ready to smash it against her knee!
But at that moment...
Knock knock knock—click.
Chu Qingzhou knocked on the door and peeked in, "President Shen, you... what are you doing?"
Only to see Shen Miaomiao, holding the award certificate aloft, gazing upward, resembling an old monkey presenting Simba.
"I..."
Shen Miaomiao opened her mouth:
"Ah—Zikenya—Mama Mia Chihuahua—"