Volume 3: Taking Roots 2016 Chapter 693: Playing Both Sides
Listening to Ding Sanshi's calm conclusion, although he didn't know what his basis was, Zhou Dongsheng couldn't help but secretly admire in his heart: It turns out that the old ones are still the best.
Although in Zhou Dongsheng's memory, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and Overwatch, two phenomenal games with different paths but the same goal, have both set off a phenomenal gaming craze around the world.
After all, a lean camel is bigger than a horse. Blizzard is the palace in the hearts of many gamers, and Overwatch is a masterpiece bathed in its afterglow, so it is naturally loved by many players.
It’s just that Blizzard was both its success and its failure. In the end, this game only experienced a brief peak period before it suffered a Waterloo and continued to go downhill.
Even Blizzard was ultimately unable to avoid the fate of being replaced by the newcomer, and was replaced by PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, which followed closely behind. It gradually showed signs of decline and its situation was hopeless.
In the end, due to the influence of many problems exposed, it even ended abruptly and became the white moonlight in the minds of many players.
Even though Blizzard later patched up the problem and released a sequel, it obviously still failed to gain market recognition and player support.
To the extent that the popularity of the entire game is not even as high as the game characters on a certain overseas learning materials website.
It's like a brave man who failed to save the world and ended up in a brothel selling his butt for a living. His ending is really sad.
In comparison, although PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds did not end much better, the success of e-sports events and mobile games has undoubtedly greatly extended the life of the game itself and has a solid player audience.
Compared with the former's fate, eating chicken is undoubtedly a more comfortable life.
As two phenomenal games that once had the power to threaten the dominance of League of Legends, the old saying finally came true.
Everyone has glorious moments, but don’t take one moment as if it lasts forever (funny).
However, Ding Sanshi's conclusion is indeed to the point. In terms of gameplay, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has not only set off a chicken-eating craze around the world.
At the same time, it also made the "Battle Royale" game type leap from a niche category to a mainstream hot spot in the gaming industry.
Not only has it received praise from many players, but many game companies have also followed suit and launched many outstanding battle royale masterpieces.
With the help of many up-and-coming players, the chicken-eating craze has been passed on continuously, injecting endless vitality into this game type.
Zhou Dongsheng was naturally well aware of this, but Ding Sanshi was able to draw this conclusion, obviously purely based on his understanding and experience of the industry.
This judgment was worthy of the sharp evaluation. At the same time, Zhou Dongsheng's heart couldn't help but move slightly.
Compared to the huge cake of the entire battle royale game type, although the masterpiece PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has a bloody mouth, it cannot swallow the entire market in one bite.
Whether in the PC game or mobile game market, the gold mine of Battle Royale still has vast room for mining, and the huge profits contained therein are also a market with a scale of no less than 10 billion.
And the unit has to be US dollars!
Although he only took one scoop out of the three thousand weak waters, Zhou Dongsheng took the biggest scoop. The former Zhou Dongsheng was already satisfied with this.
It's just that times have changed, people always change, and the pleasure of grabbing wealth is addictive.
When faced with the growth of wealth, I believe that most people would like to be like Han Xin, selecting his soldiers, the more the better.
Although Zhou Dongsheng's paper wealth is as high as hundreds of billions, paper wealth and available cash flow are naturally completely different concepts.
Among them, the reason why Zhou Dongsheng was able to be so adept at investment was undoubtedly that the blood supply from the cash cow PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds played a key role.
As a player in the past, I naturally had a certain idea about the game's ability to make money. However, as a leek being harvested, it is naturally difficult for me to experience the joy of cutting grass with a sickle.
Now, after tasting the sweetness, Zhou Dongsheng increasingly feels that there is no more appropriate adjective than "cash cow".
It is simply like a money printing machine. No wonder Tencent and QQ Group can each rely on their own gaming departments to form a huge Internet empire.
Now, with the crazy financing of the two shared bicycle projects and the rapid development of other major projects, even with PUBG as a cash cow as a backing.
Zhou Dongsheng's funds are somewhat stretched. In order to keep his share of the project, Zhou Dongsheng naturally cannot fall behind in the financing process.
After all, the shared bike trend has just begun to pick up, and everything is still in a stable and positive situation. It is far from the right time to cash out and exit.
Although this scarce chip came easily, Zhou Dongsheng did not want to let it go easily. He wanted to take advantage of this opportunity and reap more benefits.
Therefore, after ruling out this option, the natural thing is to find ways to increase revenue and reduce expenditure.
Ding Sanshi's conclusion undoubtedly provided Zhou Dongsheng with a good direction, based on the previous cooperation with PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds.
I believe that it won’t be difficult to continue the cooperation.
Zhou Dongsheng, who was quick-witted, couldn't help but follow Ding Sanshi's lead and said, "Since Brother Ding is so optimistic about the battle royale gameplay, why don't you consider letting Zhuchang Games continue to shine in this type of game?"
"After all, in my opinion, a single flower does not make a spring. Just the game PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds alone, the battle royale game market is far from saturated, whether it is the PC game market or the mobile game market..."
Ding Sanshi said with a half-smile: "How do you know that Zhuchang Games didn't make any effort in this regard?"
"In fact, long after PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds became popular around the world, there was an increasing call within Zhuchang Games to continue developing the potential of the battle royale game, and we had already started to make attempts."
"Compared to the time and investment required to make a PC game, trying to make a mobile game of PUBG is undoubtedly a simpler and more efficient way."
"At present, Zhuchang Games has reached a consensus internally to start making a chicken-eating mobile game to practice, and to pave the way for the subsequent development of the official mobile version of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds..."
Ding Sanshi said slowly.
Zhou Dongsheng couldn't help but wonder about this. He didn't know whether this mobile game was Terminator or the more outstanding Knives Out in all aspects?
As a representative work of Zhuchang's chicken-eating mobile games, Knives Out is, to some extent, an enlightenment work for more players to eat chicken.
After all, the obvious audience base of mobile games and the range of players they cover are destined to be incomparable to those of PC games.
In particular, mobile games can easily absorb groups that were previously unable to be attracted by PC games. Whether it is upward compatibility or downward compatibility, mobile games can do it effortlessly.
Even PC game players are inevitably moving towards mobile games under the general trend.
Especially in terms of money-making ability, the convenient payment of mobile games and the consumption of 648 yuan per shot are enough to make people astonished.
Even though there is a risk of refunds for underage consumption, it cannot stop the gradual dominance of mobile games.
Whether it is Tencent Games or QQ Games, they have already tacitly shifted the battlefield to the mobile game market.
Even with the emergence of a phenomenal PC game like PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, it has not been able to shake the strategic directions of the two major manufacturers.
"Mobile games certainly have their advantages, but it is difficult to present the ultimate game on such a small screen. The former is like fast food, just to fill the stomach, but the latter is a serious meal."
Zhou Dongsheng sighed casually, but he knew very well in his heart that the trend was irreversible.
However, this does not prevent him from continuing to want to get a share of the PC game market. Perhaps it is the time when the strategic focus of major companies is shifting to the mobile game market...
This created a gap in the defense of the PC gaming market, making it easier to take advantage of the situation.
"Mobile games are indeed more profitable, but it's a pity. I have a few ideas for PC-based PUBG games. I'd like to continue cooperating with Zhuchang Games to develop PC-based PUBG games..."
Zhou Dongsheng pretended to be regretful. Although Zhou Dongsheng was a serious actor who had guest-starred in movies and had a phenomenal work like "Zhou Dongsheng's Boring Life" on the short video platform...
However, this level of acting skills is obviously not good enough in front of an old fox like Ding Sanshi.
Ding Sanshi couldn't help but scolded with a smile: "You are the only one who is good at talking. Tell me something. You have a lot of ideas. Maybe you have some interesting ideas..."
Then he looked interested.
Zhou Dongsheng chuckled and chose not to show off in front of the big boss. Although it was a bit of an exaggeration to say that he had eaten more salt than he had eaten rice, his vision as a person who had been in a high position for a long time was there, which made people look up to him.
However, no matter how high one's vision is, it is impossible to transcend the limitations of the times. In this respect alone, Ding Sanshi is one of the small group of people standing on the top of the mountain.
Then Zhou Dongsheng is the only one who can stand on the clouds and ride on the clouds.
"Through the analysis of the Battle Royale game mechanism, it is not difficult to see the inclusiveness of this game mechanism. Just like FPS and MOBA, although there are many changes, there is still a lot to be done in terms of content filling..."
"For example, the Chinese martial arts style games that Zhuchang Games is best at, with swordplay and shadowy rivers and lakes, are highly compatible with the core of the battle royale game."
"If the background is set in the Jianghu, and the weapons are replaced with the eighteen martial arts, wouldn't it be a Chinese martial arts chicken-eating game?"
"Even in the context of martial arts, we can also innovate and add skill mechanisms to make the confrontation and competitiveness of players more interesting. This idea can also be roughly borrowed from Overwatch..."
Zhou Dongsheng talked freely, although it was not known when the project "Naraka: Bladepoint" was incubated within Zhuchang Games.
But obviously, under Zhou Dongsheng's butterfly wings in this life, Zhuchang Games has already participated in the development of the game "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds".
Having tasted considerable success, Zhou Dongsheng has reason to believe that the release schedule of "Naraka: Bladepoint" will inevitably be greatly advanced.
Since he has already stepped on the accelerator to accelerate, Zhou Dongsheng doesn't mind stepping on it further and accelerating further. In addition to wanting to get a share of the profits, he can also take the credit for the achievement, killing two birds with one stone.
"Speaking of this, I can't help but think of a very classic action martial arts game when I was a child. Now that I think about it, the gameplay is somewhat similar."
"I believe Brother Ding is familiar with this game, it's Meteor Butterfly Sword!"
Zhou Dongsheng said with relish that after the game "Naraka: Bladepoint" became popular, many people compared it with this nostalgic work from the early years.
Many people were immediately surprised to find that the gameplay and mechanism of this game, which was popular in the early years, are still not outdated today.
It only needs to be optimized on this basis and combined with current popular elements, and it will turn out to be an authentic Chinese martial arts-style battle royale game.
It has to be said that domestic games are not without their own strengths in the development of gameplay and game mechanics, but due to the limitations of the times, they have not been given the opportunity to come to the fore.
This is the same as Chenghai 3C, which once led the trend of moba games. Both its gameplay and mechanism have been well received, and it has been favored and recognized by many players.
Its status was once on par with that of the Dota map. Both of them are secondary creations of the gameplay based on the game Warcraft.
Its highlight was that it was included in the WCG e-sports event and became one of the official e-sports competition events. It can be regarded as one of the glories of early Chinese e-sports.
Unfortunately, when the trend of the times came, Chenghai 3C missed the opportunity to turn it into a real game due to coincidence.
According to rumors, the map maker's hard drive was damaged, and along with it, the map source file and other information were lost, resulting in the map being unable to be updated.
Despite the players' love for the game and some patches being made on this basis, and even a team launching the Chenghai 2.0 version, they were unable to turn the tide and rewrite the ending of the story.
However, Dota, which once stood at the same starting line, has soared to become an important representative in e-sports events.
Perhaps this is what is called "historical accident, but also inevitability".
After Zhou Dongsheng's eloquent explanation, Ding Sanshi just followed his ideas and thought about it carefully , and immediately realized the feasibility of this plan.
In particular, Chinese martial arts game masterpieces have always been one of the development directions that Zhuchang Games has been deeply engaged in, and it has sufficient foundation and accumulation in this regard.
At the same time, this type of game undoubtedly has a natural sense of immersion for Chinese players, but if you want to export it to overseas markets... I'm afraid there will be a cultural barrier.
However, this style with Chinese characteristics also has a group of overseas players who are interested in Chinese culture.
From the perspective of the game itself, this direction is worth a try. Ding Sanshi couldn't help but have this idea in his mind.
Then he couldn't help but take a deep look at Zhou Dongsheng, and looked at him with admiration again.
"It's a good idea. How do you plan to arrange it?"
Zhou Dongsheng couldn't help but smile brightly when he heard this. "No matter how good the idea is, it must be realized with solid technology, otherwise it will just be a castle in the air."
"I'm not an expert in gaming , but the operation of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds alone is enough to keep Brandon Green busy."
"So I have no one to use either. It's all up to Brother Ding. I'll do whatever you say!"
Upon hearing this, Ding Sanshi couldn't help but laugh and scold, "You are really a sly guy. Okay, then it's settled."
Although he didn't say it explicitly, Zhou Dongsheng believed that a big shot like Ding Sanshi would not take advantage of the situation and then turn against him, right?
At the same time, Zhou Dongsheng couldn't help but think about it.
Let’s go all out. If we take out the Fortnite project, is there any chance to get a piece of the pie from Tencent?
