Volume 2: Storm Rising 2015 Chapter 201 Let’s Listen
The famous Blue Hole Studio is located in an office building in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.
Perhaps because of its tiny size, the Koreans had an extremely strong obsession with "dongs". There were more than 15,000 holes in Seoul alone.
In fact, this "dong" is a nickname for the street division in Goryeo, and above this there are "myeon", "eup" and "do".
It is reported that this kind of division of Goryeo originated from the Tang Dynasty in my country. During the prosperous Tang Dynasty, the precedent of setting up provincial governors was imitated from the Han Dynasty. Later, it was introduced to the peninsula and has been used to this day.
Even the name of Seoul is the same. After all, the fact that it was a vassal state in history is difficult to get rid of. In modern times, in order to get rid of this influence, the Koreans also changed the name of Seoul and made it widely known.
However, let’s just refer to it as Seoul here.
In the Bluehole studio, President Jin Changyu was in his office, browsing the reviews of his own game on the game forum.
Currently, Bluehole Studios has two games. One is "TERA: War of the Oracles", which reached its peak as soon as it debuted, and the other is "Devil's Contract", a pay-to-win mobile game developed for the game market.
However, before entering the game market, it still has to test the waters locally. The result is shoddy workmanship, and the players' evaluation can be imagined.
The one that was criticized was a bloody mess, and the carefully crafted pay-to-win system was ridiculed as a typical example of being crazy about making money. The operation of this game in Korea has now begun to lose money.
Fortunately, no matter how bad the games in Korea are, there are still a lot of people rushing to be the agents for the game market. As early as last year, it was represented by a well-known Chinese download engine and is still in internal testing.
As long as the game market of Zhonghuajia is well operated, there will be no problem in recovering the cost, and maybe even making a fortune. There is no way around it, because the game market next door is so not picky.
Although I look down on them, it is still very satisfying to make money from them! Thinking of this, President Jin took a sip of coffee leisurely, feeling particularly comfortable.
"President, there is an investment company from the Flower Growers outside that wants to see you. It's called Dongsheng Investment." President Jin's secretary knocked on the door and walked in, reporting with a bow.
"Dongsheng Investment? I haven't heard of it. Could it be that the Flower-Growing Company is here to discuss game agency?" A hint of joy appeared on Jin Changyu's face.
I just said that the Flower Gardeners are not picky, and now they have come to me, right? Currently, the two games in my hands have been represented by Flower Gardeners, but the agency rights are limited in time.
If there are competitors, it is not impossible to negotiate. The highest bidder wins is the most basic business principle. If you don't make money, you are an asshole.
As for those who come to him to give money, even if they are from the flower-growing family, Jin Changyu is very welcome. After all, aren't the people from the flower-growing family stupid and rich?
Thinking of this, Jin Changyu couldn't help but reveal a mercenary smile.
"Guests are welcome. Please ask them to sit in the conference room for a while. I'll be there soon." He was already thinking about what price to offer.
When Jin Changyu arrived at the conference room, he saw a man and a woman already sitting in the room. Jin Changyu's eyes involuntarily moved around the woman, and he was amazed in his heart.
"Hello, I am Jin Changyu, the president of Bluehole Studio." No matter how many things you have on your mind, you still have to be polite on the surface.
"Hello, President Jin, I'm Lu Sifang from Dongsheng Investment, and this is the Korean translator I brought with me." Lu Sifang introduced himself in fluent English, and then signaled Li Jiana to the side to act as the translator.
Jin Changyu waved his hand and said in standard Korean English: "It's okay, Mr. Lu. Communicating in English is also my strong point."
As the head of R&D in his former company and an expert in game development, it is not surprising that Jin Changyu is proficient in English.
Perhaps it was precisely because there was no language barrier that he was able to hook up with Brandon Green. A fierce spark collided between the two middle-aged men, and they eventually hit it off and created "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds".
Lu Sifang was a little surprised by this, but he brought Li Jiana with him just to be on the safe side. After all, time is a precious cost in business negotiations.
"The reason we came to bother President Jin this time is because we at Dongsheng Investment are very optimistic about the development prospects of Bluehole Studios, especially your outstanding ability in self-developed games, so we want to seek an opportunity to invest in your company..."
Lu Sifang continued to speak in fluent English, finally revealing the appearance of an investment elite.
However, Jin Changyu was very pleased with the compliment at first, but the more he listened, the more he felt something was wrong. What did it mean? Instead of asking for the game agency rights, he actually wanted to invest in our company?
I didn't expect that I treated them as fools, but they turned out to be very smart. If I want to talk about investment, the nature of the matter will be completely different. After all, the current valuation of Bluehole Studio is not a small amount.
The fact that he was able to invest nearly 300 million RMB in the development of the game "TERA" is enough to prove that he has certain confidence and strength in terms of capital.
At the same time, when Bluehole Studios was at its peak, it dared to ask Tenda for an agency fee of up to 40 million US dollars in an attempt to directly recover its costs.
At that time, the conservative valuation of Bluehole Studios in the VC stage was at least US$500 million, which was already considered a powerful game manufacturer.
Even though it is now a phoenix in water and worse than a chicken, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse, especially when its core R&D team and main businesses are still intact, it still has the ability to generate revenue.
At the very least, it is not on the verge of bankruptcy and needs to look for funds to take over, not to mention that the other party is a flower-growing company.
As a country deeply influenced by American imperialism, America is naturally at the top of Goryeo's contempt chain, even in terms of investment.
Investment from the West means that the Western capital market values it, which plays an extremely important role in increasing a company's market value and expanding its influence.
In comparison, it makes little sense to introduce investment from Zhihuajia, not to mention an unknown investment company? I've never heard of Dongsheng Investment.
Do we still expect him to bring any new development to Bluehole Studios?
Therefore, Jin Changyu waved his hand with little interest, "Investment, our company's cash flow is very sufficient at present, and we have no plans to raise funds in the short term. I'm very sorry..."
Lu Sifang was not surprised by Jin Changyu's aloof look . After all, he had made sufficient mental preparations before coming.
Therefore, Lu Sifang said calmly: "President Jin, there is no need to rush to reject it. Why don't you listen to our offer first?"
Lu Sifang showed a confident expression, because he had a secret plan . If used properly, he might be able to take down Jin Changyu in one fell swoop.
"Oh? Then I'd like to hear what valuation your company gives to our Bluehole Studio?" Jin Changyu also showed an expression that showed he was willing to hear more details.
