In the Internet age, who still makes traditional games? - Chapter 174: #174 - Invitation to Blazing Contest (asking for monthly ticket)

It wasn't just Fei Zhiyuan who could see the future trends.

Almost at the same time that Fei Zhiyuan asked Gong Feng to speed up, many company bosses were holding emergency meetings, making similar demands.

They all foresaw the enormous uncertainty in the industry's future.

Only companies that had met with Xu Meng and already agreed to cooperate with Zhumeng felt some anticipation amidst the tension.

— —

Huanlong Games, General Manager's Office.

"Then you must have guessed that they would reach the top in just one week, right?" Boss Cao Ye retorted.

"Uh… not that I didn't."

Chen Yujia shook her head, "To be simultaneously cursed and trending on social media both at home and abroad, fully capitalizing on the negative attention, and perfectly converting it into positive traffic…"

"Who could have predicted such a coincidence?"

Cao Ye looked at the players and radical feminists who were once again battling it out under Zhumeng's announcement, lost in thought: "It might not necessarily be a coincidence…"

After being reminded by him, Chen Yujia also reacted: "Now that you mention it, it seems so. It's not surprising that 《Project Frost》 would be criticized by DEI and feminists."

"But…" He shook his head, "I still have the same idea as before: being criticized isn't surprising, but the timing, intensity, and impact are difficult to control. I don't think Xu Meng would use such methods."

"He has enough game play and hardware technology to steadily reach the top. There's no need to stir up a hornet's nest."

"He even canceled his WeLight account a while ago."

Cao Ye shook his head, "Whatever, I'm not too concerned about this. Let's think about serious matters first. We need to adjust our development plan."

Chen Yujia raised her eyebrows in surprise, but quickly reacted:

"Yes, Zhumeng is too fast."

"When we discussed cooperation before, I thought the [Zhumeng Game Platform] would take one or two years to develop."

"Who would have thought they could create a framework in just a few days?"

"They probably started working on it a long time ago," Cao Ye shook his head.

"The most important thing is the number of users."

"Two days with million new users. If they can maintain this momentum and keep up with production capacity, they can have 8 million users by the end of the year."

"Moreover, they are highly engaged users with a strong willingness and ability to spend."

"Regardless of whether this platform can develop into a behemoth like New Force Game Station and Softecs Game Box in the future, we must eat the first few bites of this cake."

"Understood," Chen Yujia nodded, "I'll go find Zhumeng now. I have to get more people over here no matter what. The scale of the porting team will also be doubled, and we'll strive to complete it as soon as possible."

Cao Ye nodded in satisfaction, "Good, thank you for your hard work."

— —

Lingzhou Studio.

Li Yunchuan was also in a meeting with his partners, discussing the same thing.

However, his focus was slightly different from Huanlong Games—

"Double-ended revenue reaches the top! My god, wouldn't that be 1 billion a day?"

"Is doing erotic stuff so profitable?"

Li Yunchuan's eyes widened, almost drooling with envy.

They were a small studio, with only 23 people in total.

Going to Cologne was already an all-or-nothing gamble.

But they never expected that this trip would allow them to connect with Zhumeng thanks to their strong execution, ability to persevere, and ability to wait in line.

After some communication, Xu Meng directly invested a sum of money, taking 40% of the studio's shares.

Leaving 30% for each of the two founders.

As long as the two of them don't break up, then the combined 60% of the shares means they don't have to worry about losing control of the studio.

— —Of course, Xu Meng never even thought about taking their studio.

Doing this was purely to avoid being seen as a "great philanthropist."

Most of the time, "great philanthropist" is equivalent to "sucker."

After coming to this world, he had seen many cases of colleagues harming each other, and in this situation, he was even less willing to establish a "great philanthropist" image.

Lest a bunch of people come to him later to freeload.

After receiving the investment, Lingzhou Studio naturally received Zhumeng's technical support and distribution assistance.

Distribution isn't just about finding a channel to put it on the shelves, it covers promotion and marketing, team coordination, market analysis, channel maintenance, localization, and other work. It is a profession with a rather high barrier to entry.

However, Chen Junyi's old job was distribution, with him around, Zhumeng would be able to build its own distribution system in no time.

At this moment, Li Yunchuan had no worries about funding and distribution, so he had other crooked ideas:

"Since doing erotic stuff is so profitable, can we also…"

"No, boss!" Partner Zhou Ning looked at him in horror, "We're making a horror game! A horror game! How can a horror game do erotic stuff?"

"So what?" Li Yunchuan didn't care.

"Who said horror games can't do erotic stuff?"

"A seductive ghost lady, what's wrong with that?!"

"There are still two months, changing the model is completely doable."

"We are also considered a studio under Zhumeng, we have to keep pace with the big brother!"

"…" Zhou Ning blinked, "Seems, makes sense?"

He was persuaded.

… …

The large and small developers who had confirmed cooperation with Zhumeng, seeing that the "virtual game platform" described by Xu Meng had taken shape so quickly, all began to accelerate the development process.

Eager to eat this hot and fresh cake.

Those who hadn't reached a cooperation agreement before contacted Zhumeng anxiously, wanting to talk to Xu Meng about cooperation.

But unfortunately—

At this time, they could no longer find Xu Meng.

The same cooperation can now only be discussed with Zhang Baiquan.

The Xu Meng they were eager to meet was not even in the company at this time.

… …

In a huge factory building of over 800 square meters in the suburbs of Ningzhou, Xu Meng shook hands with a burly man with a broad back and a thick waist.

"Hello, hello." The burly man was very enthusiastic.

"Hello, hello!" Xu Meng was very polite.

— —Anyone facing a peerless macho man who is meters tall, has a broad back and a thick waist, and weighs over 250 pounds would become polite at first sight.

Not to mention, this peerless tough guy was wearing camouflage, a tactical belt around his waist, and an automatic rifle slung across his chest.

"Welcome to visit our club, I am Qin Chao, the person in charge of the Ningzhou Military Simulation Club."

"It's an honor."

Xu Meng was easy to talk to.

"Boss Xu is here because of the war simulator, right?"

Qin Chao's personality was as direct as his appearance, like a sharp knife.

"Ah, that's half the reason."

Xu Meng nodded.

He had already seen dozens of omnidirectional treadmills and five tank simulators placed at the end of the factory building.

"Half?"

Qin Chao raised his eyebrows and asked with great interest, "What about the other half?"

"I want to invite you to participate in a competition."

"Competition? What kind of competition?"

"Since you bought the omnidirectional treadmill and tank simulator, you should know something about 'Kings of War,' right?"

"I know a little, and I've even played in your experience hall."

Qin Chao nodded, "It's pretty good, but the haptic suit is too tight."

Xu Meng looked at his figure, took a deep breath, and then sighed helplessly.

"With your figure, it's really not easy to handle…"

"How about this, if you participate in this competition, I'll tailor-make a set for you, what do you think?"

"You haven't said what kind of competition it is yet?"

Qin Chao's mind was clear, and he was not led astray by Xu Meng.

So Xu Meng smiled and explained to him:

"The main event of 'Kings of War' will be a simulated battlefield confrontation between 50 people versus 50 people."

"I plan to invite 50 popular game streamers and 50 retired soldiers to play a few rounds in a virtual battlefield that is as realistic as possible."

"…"

Qin Chao didn't comment on his idea, but instead fell silent.

"Is there any meaning to this?"

He couldn't figure it out, so he asked Xu Meng.

"Huh? Meaning?"

Xu Meng was also a little surprised, "I didn't consider that."

"But don't you think it's fun?"

"A group of players who are experienced in [shooting games], and a group of retired soldiers who have real [shooting confrontation] experience, competing in a shooting game that is very similar to a real battlefield."

"Two extremely different groups, colliding in the wonderful middle ground of 'Kings of War,' to determine the winner!"

"How interesting!"

Qin Chao was a little tempted.

"This exhibition match will attract at least tens of millions of viewers, and if you play well, your club will definitely be a hit!"

Xu Meng continued to incite.

"Of course, in order to play well, you also need to train and cooperate with your team for a month in advance."

"How about it, want to give it a try?"

Qin Chao was moved: "One last question, since there are 50 people, who will be the commander?"

He had always been the organizer and commander in military simulation activities, and he deeply understood the importance of the commander in such a multi-person confrontation.

"We have an active-duty officer as a military advisor, who will be responsible for the pre-match training and commander selection of the retired soldiers."

The person Xu Meng was talking about was Xie Buyun.

"I have no problem!"

Qin Chao didn't even ask if there was any compensation, and immediately chose to join.

Even his back straightened a little when he said this.

"Then, welcome to join!"

Xu Meng shook hands with him again.

Then he began to talk about the details: "The team hasn't been fully assembled yet, so you'll have to wait a few more days."

"As for daily physical training, I don't think you need to worry about your condition."

"But it's best to get used to fighting with the equipment on in advance, to avoid dizziness or dropping the equipment. I'll prepare a set of equipment for you."

"If you know any reliable veterans with good combat effectiveness, you can also introduce them."

"The compensation is guaranteed to be sufficient!"

…

The two talked about the details while walking towards the tank simulator not far away.

— —

While Xu Meng was handing out "verbal invitations" on the spot, two other people also received "electronic invitations."

Valiant Sniper was organizing his fans to play [Close Encounters], and it was a hard-won 10V10 match, with both sides fighting passionately.

The popularity of the live broadcast room was also very high.

Just as they wiped out their opponents, Valiant Sniper received an email.

According to the system prompt, he returned to the lakeside cabin and opened the envelope on the table.

"Click."

A card with a dark red flame burning on a black background fell out of the envelope—

[King of War] Blazing Confrontation Invitation

…

Then there was Fang Shuo, the former professional player with top-notch skills whose popularity once surpassed that of active professional players—Brickstar.

He wasn't playing games at this time, but was passionately ranting and spraying people in the live broadcast room.

Normally speaking, it's not very appropriate for a public figure like him to participate in such a large-scale online argument between players and extreme feminists.

It's too easy to become a target to be attacked.

But Fang Shuo didn't care at all, spraying you guys was non-negotiable.

Then today, while spraying, he received an in-site message from Mengjin.

The end of the letter was also a card with a black background and dark red flames—

[King of War] Blazing Confrontation Invitation—

Mengjin [King of War] zone, there is a new banner, which reads [Blazing Confrontation] in five big characters.

Under the banner, the left and right are divided into two areas, red and blue.

In the red area, there is only one name:

[Qin Chao]

In the blue area, there are two names:

[Valiant Sniper]

[brickstar]