Chapter 748: Xingwang Technology
When Ning Xuehua heard that the person had left, she glared at Lu Yiming and said, "Then why are you still standing here? Why don't you go take the cat for a walk?"
Lu Yiming: “…”
Well, since his mother had given the order, Lu Yiming dared not disobey and had to take Fat Tiger for a walk downstairs.
The community is not big and is quite old. There are a few big trees in the community, but the age is too obvious and it cannot be compared with the new communities today.
However, when Lu Yiming asked Ning Xuehua and the others to go to Bi Hai Long Ting, they refused to go. They said that the people around them had been old neighbors for decades and were familiar with each other. It would be very troublesome to re-establish neighborhood relationships if they moved to a new place.
In fact, they also gave Lu Yiming and Shi Qingxue a separate space. After all, both of them had graduated from college and could talk about marriage.
Fat Tiger was having fun in the community, and Lu Yiming followed behind him and exercised for a while.
After returning home panting, Lu Yiming helped Fat Tiger untie the rope and went to take a shower.
After taking a shower and just about to eat, Lu Yiming suddenly received a call from Li Quanwang.
"Hey, Wangzai, where are you? Come over and have dinner."
Li Quanwang said unhappily: "I'm still in the United States. I just finished talking to Blizzard."
After Tongxin Internet Cafe was sold, Li Quanwang wanted to do a profitable business, so Lu Yiming and he jointly established Xingwang Technology Co., Ltd., and the first action was to negotiate cooperation with Activision Blizzard.
Lu Yiming also attaches great importance to this company. After all, he has personally experienced how huge the game market of Xiaguo is in the future and how profitable it is to make games. Moreover, games can not only make money, but also influence technology and economy, and even policies, which is very magical. Now is the era of pioneering online games, and Lu Yiming certainly chose to occupy the first place without hesitation.
"How did the talk go?"
Hearing Lu Yiming's question, Li Quanwang got angry just thinking about the scene at that time, and immediately complained: "Don't mention it. These foreigners just looked down on me, and the conditions they negotiated were extremely harsh. The person they sent to negotiate asked me to prepare an independent telecommunications room, and the server in the room can only run "World of Warcraft". I asked someone to help calculate it. Just to prepare these basic conditions according to what they said, the funds needed are tens of millions of dollars. If this game doesn't become popular in China, I will be dead on the spot."
Speaking of this, Li Quanwang's tone was helpless. If Lu Yiming hadn't strongly recommended him to be the agent of the game "World of Warcraft", and he himself also liked playing "Warcraft", he would have walked away long ago. Which rich man can stand this kind of humiliation?
To put it bluntly, Activision Blizzard's proposal is to transfer the risk to our game company. As long as Li Quanwang agrees to this condition, Activision Blizzard will not lose anything even if the game fails miserably.
However, Lu Yiming knew how popular this game would be in the end. Although Activision Blizzard's attitude was arrogant, who could resist money?
He persuaded Li Quanwang, "This cooperation is fine. I am still very optimistic about World of Warcraft. But their attitude is so arrogant. Even if we want to cooperate, we can't suffer any loss. So, you ask to increase our game company's revenue share by five percentage points more than before. Then sign a fifty-year agency contract. If they want to change Xiaguo's agency within fifty years, let them pay a huge price."
Li Quanwang was shocked by Lu Yiming's words, especially the last fifty-year agency term, which was simply outrageous.
"The life cycle of an online game is ten years, which is enough to be recorded in the history of games. What's the point of signing a fifty-year contract?"
Lu Yiming thought about the fact that this game has been making money in China for more than 20 years, and he couldn't help but sigh. He said to Li Quanwang, "Then again, the game cycle is only ten years, so if you sign for fifty years, you won't lose anything, right? Blizzard thinks the same, so if you say you want to sign for fifty years, they will just think it's funny, and they won't object."
Fifty years from now, it's unclear whether Blizzard will still be around.
Compared with this inexplicable requirement, Li Quanwang felt that the extra 5% of profit was more realistic.
"Okay, then I'll talk to them this way. Can you really agree to their request?"
Li Quanwang was still a little hesitant. After all, the initial investment of tens of millions of US dollars was too difficult for him, a poor guy who didn't even dare to order meat five years ago, to make the decision.
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "I think it's possible. If we can get the agency of this game, we can make a lot of money. Believe me, my hunch has never been wrong. By the way, after the cooperation, the game must be launched through the Wegame client, and can only be logged in using a QQ number, and transactions must be made through the Alipay system."
"Okay, I'll listen to you."
Li Quanwang trusts Lu Yiming unconditionally. Since Lu Yiming says this cooperation is possible, he will not have any hesitation.
Just as Lu Yiming was about to hang up, Li Quanwang continued, "Actually, I was about to sign a contract with Blizzard, but someone messed with me at the critical moment, causing these foreigners to keep raising the price."
Lu Yiming asked curiously: "Who is it?"
Lu Yiming thought about the list of agents for World of Warcraft in his previous life and asked, "Is it Zhu Jun from the Ninth City?"
In the original timeline, in July 2002, The9 obtained the exclusive agency rights for "Miracle MU" in mainland China, thereby becoming the only company in the industry that could compete with Shanda, the agent of "Legend".
In the 2003 Forbes Xiaguo Rich List, 37-year-old Zhu Jun, chairman of The 9, ranked 66th with a net worth of US$150 million, becoming the second person in the Xiaguo gaming industry to be included in the billionaire list after Shanda Chairman Chen Tianjiao.
In April 2004, The9 acquired the exclusive agency rights for World of Warcraft, developed by Blizzard, in Xia Country for US$13 million, and once again became the focus of players' attention.
In the same month, The9 acquired 20% of Target Software's shares for US$4 million and obtained the priority right to relinquish the Xiaguo operating rights of online games developed by Target Software in the next two years. The online games currently being developed by Target Software include "Tianjiao II" and "Ao Shi Online".
On December 15, 2004, The9 was officially listed on NASDAQ, becoming the ninth and final Chinese company to be listed on NASDAQ in 2004.
However, starting in May 2009, The9 took Blizzard to court for four reasons: property damage compensation, commercial defamation, infringement of computer software copyright, and computer software copyright license agreement disputes. World of Warcraft was also shut down. Not long after, The9 issued a notice announcing the termination of its cooperation with Activision Blizzard.
At that time, the suspension of World of Warcraft even made it to CCTV news.
This is also the reason why Lu Yiming thought of the Ninth City first when he heard Li Quanwang say that there was competition.
However, the answer given by Li Quanwang was beyond Lu Yiming's expectations.
"Who is Zhu Jun? I don't know him. The one causing trouble is not the Ninth City, but Brother Xiao Ma."
"Ma Teng?"
Lu Yiming thought about it in his mind and immediately understood.
In the previous world, The 9 rose to prominence by acting as the agent for "MU", which gave it the capital to acquire the agency rights for "World of Warcraft".
In today's world, Pony Ma, who was originally engaged in social networking, was cut off by Lu Yiming and was forced to become a game agent. He happened to cut off "Miracle MU" by chance. As a result, The 9 is now in a miserable state and has no qualifications to compete at all.
But Ma Teng, who obtained the agency rights of "Miracle MU", was not much better off. "Miracle MU" has now been ruined by Lu Yiming using plug-ins.
Logically speaking, Xiao Ma Ge’s situation should not be much better than that of The Ninth City since he was intercepted by Lu Yiming twice in a row. But who can blame him for having such an awesome dad?
Therefore, Ma Teng, who came from an ordinary family, made another move this time, wanting to obtain the agency rights for "World of Warcraft".
I have to say that Xiao Ma Ge is a man with good vision. Everyone complains that Xiao Ma Ge can only plagiarize and not create original works, but in fact, the threshold for plagiarism is also very high - at least you have to know which ones will be popular before you can plagiarize, otherwise the original works will all fail, so what's the point of plagiarizing?
Although he had intercepted Xiao Ma Ge several times, Lu Yiming did not dare to underestimate this guy who cheated. What would happen if Xiao Ma Ge really became the agent of "World of Warcraft"?
So, we must intercept!
"I didn't expect that fate would bring us together again. Since I was able to intercept him once or twice, I can certainly intercept him a third time."
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "You go talk to them again. No matter how much Xiao Ma Ge offers, you must add two million US dollars more than Xiao Ma Ge. You must win the agency of World of Warcraft no matter what."
Li Quanwang was frightened and exclaimed, "It's just an online game, is it that serious? The agency fee has already risen to 8 million US dollars. If we add another 2 million US dollars, wouldn't it be 10 million US dollars?"
You have to know that this is just the agency fee, and it does not include the revenue sharing after the game operation, as well as the initial investment costs such as servers.
Li Quanwang felt his heart rising to his throat.
A few hundred million may be just a drop in the bucket for Lu Yiming, but this money is all Li Quanwang's wealth, so he has to be cautious. With such a large investment, if the project fails, it will be a huge loss.
Lu Yiming said to Li Quanwang: "Life is a rare opportunity. Do you want to be content with your current life of being content with a small fortune?"
Li Quanwang smiled bitterly: "I have assets worth hundreds of millions, how can I be considered wealthy? Please don't treat money as money! But you are right, there are only a few chances in life to take risks. I believe you, I will take this gamble! Anyway, I am a poor man, the worst that can happen is that I will be poor again."
If Li Quanwang stopped now, his wealth would allow his parents, himself, his wife, and even his children and grandchildren to live a good life. But Lu Yiming, his best friend, was too dazzling. After all, Li Quanwang was also a passionate young man. It was impossible to say that he had no thoughts in his mind. Therefore, after being led by Lu Yiming, he was still not satisfied and wanted to go further.
At the critical moment, Li Quanwang had no fear of gamble.
When he first opened the Internet cafe, he even risked going to jail to get 1% of the shares. Now that he is rich, has he become a coward?
Impossible!
Beautiful country.
After several days of negotiation, Ma Teng and Zhang Zhidong came to Activision Blizzard's Xiaguo branch with their latest agency plan and walked into the office of General Manager Bob Ives.
"Thank you, Mr.
Bob Ives looked up and immediately said enthusiastically, "Mr. Ma, Mr. Zhang, you are here. Please take a seat."
Ma Teng took out his own plan and said impatiently: "Mr. Xie, we came here today to continue discussing the agency of World of Warcraft. This is our latest plan. Take a look..."
Before Ma Teng finished speaking, Bob Ives said, "Mr. Ma, Mr. Li of Xingwang Technology has raised the agency fee to 14 million US dollars. If you can't come up with a higher offer, there is no need for us to continue the discussion."
"Fourteen million?"
Ma Teng's eyes widened, and he found the price unbelievable.
This price is really too outrageous. He thinks that either Li Quanwang is crazy, or Li Quanwang is crazy!
You know, when Tamron Games was the agent for South Korea's "Miracle MU", the agency fee was only 2 million US dollars, and that was the price after several South Korean game companies scrambled for it.
Now, two Xia country game companies are competing for the agency rights. It’s only been a few days, and the agency fee is already 14 million US dollars?
It's not that Ma Teng can't come up with the money, but if he really wants to spend it, it would be like gambling with his life.
But he is a billionaire now after all, why would he risk his life with others?
Bob Ives said calmly, "Our Blizzard products are high-quality. World of Warcraft is worth the price. Mr. Ma, you are too insincere. On the contrary, Mr. Li always raises the price from two million dollars. It is obvious that he understands us at Blizzard."
I know nothing about you!
Ma Teng wanted so much that he wanted to step forward and give this guy two big slaps.
Ma Teng looked at Zhang Zhidong and asked, "Li Quanwang has added another two million. Should we follow suit?"
Zhang Zhidong: “…”
He didn't dare to speak. Ma Teng came from an ordinary family, but he was not!
What if he accepts it, even if he succeeds in being the agent later, but fails to make money, what if Ma Teng holds him responsible?
After thinking for a moment, Zhang Zhidong said, "How about we take another look? This Li Quanwang always quotes two million more than us. He is just arguing."
Ma Teng thought the same in his heart. It was as if Li Quanwang had taken the wrong medicine. No matter how much money they offered, Li Quanwang would add two million.
Who knows if this guy will continue to add more?
After hesitating for a long time, Ma Teng sighed helplessly and said to Bob Ives: "I'm sorry, Mr. Bob, this price is really beyond our affordability."
Bob Ives also expressed regret .
Why don't you keep adding more?
If you add another two million, and Li Quanwang adds another two million... wouldn't that be wonderful?
When leaving, Zhang Zhidong asked Ma Teng: "Are you really giving up just like that?"
Ma Teng certainly didn't want to give up, but at this point he could only say helplessly: "Maybe World of Warcraft is great, but everything has a price, and we at Tenglong Games can't afford to lose."
Zhang Zhidong complained: "Is Li Quanwang crazy? In terms of assets, he is not as good as you. He is willing to sell everything he has to deal with us."
Ma Teng gritted his teeth and said, "Who told him to have someone behind him? And he dared to bid so high, I guess it must be Lu Yiming's suggestion. I have to say, in terms of vision, Lu Yiming is really amazing."
Zhang Zhidong was also very upset: "Last time, the source code of "Miracle MU" was leaked. I suspected that he was responsible. Now the whole game is half dead, and the popularity and profits have dropped significantly. In another six months, I'm afraid no one will play it anymore."
Ma Teng said angrily: "What's the point of doubting? Do you have any evidence? Of course I know it must be him, but you can't produce any evidence. Words are not enough."
The two men looked at each other in silence. Even though they were full of resentment, business competition was like this, and they would use any possible means.
They have used the same method against other game companies before. It can only be said that big fish eat small fish, small fish eat shrimps. If you can't withstand the wind and waves, you will only be defeated.
After successfully obtaining the agency rights for "World of Warcraft" , Li Quanwang returned victoriously, and Lu Yiming personally went to the airport to pick him up.
After walking down the gangway, Li Quanwang came to Lu Yiming and said jokingly, "Fuck, am I so proud that I let the richest man pick me up at the airport?"
Lu Yiming laughed and scolded: "Don't give me that shit, tell me in detail, how is the matter going?"
Li Quanwang said proudly: "What else can I do? I'm back now, so of course I'll negotiate everything according to your requirements."
Lu Yiming was very happy when he remembered that he could finally play World of Warcraft happily in the future. He put his arm around Li Quanwang's shoulders and said, "The next step is to develop WEGAME and connect it with World of Warcraft. Let's go and have a celebration party."
On the way to the hotel, Li Quanwang asked about the battle between Taobao and eBay, and said, "I saw newspapers in the United States talking about this matter. How did you and Jack Ma win? It's incredible. The news in the United States is saying that it must be your conspiracy."
Lu Yiming said disdainfully: "What kind of conspiracy is this? I won fairly, right?"
Li Quanwang was abroad at the time and was busy with negotiations every day. Naturally, he didn't know the inside story, so he was very curious about this matter.
"Tell him what's going on. eBay is a company with a market value of 30 billion US dollars. How could it be defeated by you and Jack Ma?"
"At that time, eBay had been promoting this matter in the United States, saying that they would be able to take over the entire Xia country in less than two months. I still can't get over their arrogant attitude when I think about it now."
At this time, the United States is at the peak of its prosperity. Looking around, it feels invincible but lonely. It is not surprising to have such an attitude.
Seeing Li Quanwang's indignation, Lu Yiming smiled and said, "Don't be so angry. These foreigners came from afar and spent a lot of money on promotion to let more ordinary people in Xia know about e-commerce and online shopping, but in the end they failed and left a blank market that had just been deeply developed to our local e-commerce companies. What should such people be called?"
Li Quanwang was stunned and even more confused - isn't eBay Taobao's mortal enemy?
But it was obvious that Lu Yiming never regarded Yibei as an enemy. Instead, he smiled a little proudly: "As for me, I would like to call them international friends, the modern Bethune."
