Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

At Shang Yang Games…

Ye Zhizhou’s heart had been filled with discomfort as he waited for a long time. Finally, he received Boss Pei’s response. After reading the contents of Boss Pei’s reply, he became confused.

“Brother Wang, come here quickly! Look!”

Wang Xiaobin had nothing to do at the moment. When he heard Ye Zhizhou calling for him, he immediately stopped whatever he was doing and walked over to Ye Zhizhou’s desk.

“Brother Wang, Boss Pei has given us the plan for our new game. He… chose my plan.” Ye Zhizhou pointed at the folder on his screen: ‘Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version’.

Wang Xiaobin’s mouth opened slightly. He was shocked. “You came up with that name?”

Ye Zhizhou replied, “No… Boss Pei edited it. I named it Bloody Battle Song 2 at first.”

Tss…!

Wang Xiaobin sucked in a deep breath. This name was overflowing with extremely intense, cheap vibes! Why would Boss Pei give the game a name like that? This was…

Hard to understand!

“Did Boss Pei make edits to anything else in your proposal?” Wang Xiaobin asked.

Ye Zhizhou looked awkward. “I studied the document closely once through. He did not change a single word of it. He only changed the name…”

Wang Xiaobin was speechless. He could not help but feel emotional. Wang Xiaobin knew very well that Ye Zhizhou wanted to create a sequel to Bloody Battle Song primarily because he was still indignant.

Ye Zhizhou had created a ‘Chosen One’ system for Bloody Battle Song and edited the game’s paywalls and profit model per Boss Pei’s instructions. He felt quite proud of his achievements in this area.

Now, a good number of active players on Bloody Battle Song was being maintained. Many old players had returned, and its reputation had made a 180-degree turn.

There was only one problem: the game was not making any money!

Ye Zhizhou cared a lot about this detail. To him, a game that was not making any money was considered a failure, no matter how good its reputation was. He had to think hard about why the game was not making money.

It was mainly because Bloody Battle Song’s graphics were lousy. It was completely outdated. What’s more, Shang Yang Games did not have enough money to run marketing campaigns for the game. That was why no new gamers were trying it out.

After getting rid of all but one purchase option, they realized they could not generate a steady income from the pathetic group of old players alone.

That was why Ye Zhizhou felt indignant. He hoped that more players would be able to try out the new ‘Chosen One’ system. Researching and developing a sequel to the game would turn loss into profit.

However, Wang Xiaobin did not agree with this direction.

In the past, they created games with paywalls for the sake of survival. Now, they had already been bought over by Tengda. With Boss Pei as their backing, they would have food on the table. Why would they still choose to eat sh*t?

Bloody Battle Song was not an impressive IP. It was a third-rate game with paywalls. Why did Ye Zhizhou insist on clinging onto it instead of letting go?

Thus, Wang Xiaobin wrote a design manuscript for a standalone game and submitted it in the hopes that Boss Pei would choose it. The dream he had had for years would then finally be realized-he would finally be able to develop a true, premium, standalone game.

Wang Xiaobin was very confident about the design manuscript he submitted.

USO

This was because he had the most experience out of everyone in Shang Yang Games. The design of his standalone game should also have catered to Boss Pei’s taste.

In Wang Xiaobin’s mind, Boss Pei was a talented designer who made saving the game industry his personal, lifelong mission. Wang Xiaobin saw Boss Pei as a highly-skilled businessman who had freed himself from low-class taste and the greed of money.

Why else would he have gotten rid of most of the purchase options in Bloody Battle Song?

Yet, now, Boss Pei’s decision had been revealed.

He had chosen Ye Zhizhou’s plan over his. Not only that, Boss Pei had not changed a single word in Ye Zhizhou’s proposal. All he did was change the name.

This confused, puzzled, and disappointed Wang Xiaobin.

“Oh, that’s right, Brother Wang.

“Boss Pei said that your plan was quite good, but it was too conservative. He told you to make edits to your proposal during the research and development period because there’s a chance we might use it in the future.”

Ye Zhizhou repeated Pei Qian’s message, word for word.

Wang Xiaobin immediately perked up.

Oh! So that was why!

Boss Pei still validated my proposal. He just thought that I was being too conservative. The game was not outstanding enough as a standalone!

Wang Xiaobin was filled with motivation.

Now, he roughly understood why Boss Pei had chosen Ye Zhizhou’s proposal over his. Ye Zhizhou’s proposal was considered relatively novel among games with paywalls. However, Wang Xiaobin’s proposal was considered quite average and boring among standalone games.

Boss Pei had different criteria for each type of game, and Ye Zhizhou’s plan contained more novel ideas. Naturally, Boss Pei would think more highly of it.

Boss Pei said that my proposal was too conservative. That’s right, that’s the way it is. I prioritized stability and used very mature designs. Now that I look at it, it is pretty outdated.

The industry is always changing at a rapid pace. The game might barely be trendy now. However, after a few months, when research and development is complete; it would be outdated.

Boss Pei is right. I was being too conservative. Indeed, Boss Pei is worthy of his reputation. With a single look, he could point out the root of the problem!

It looks like I have to keep working hard.

Wang Xiaobin’s temper tantrum dissipated at once.

Since this was the case, he had to do his best to cooperate with Ye Zhizhou. They needed to produce Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version. Then, the next game they would produce would be the standalone game that he liked.

These three or four months would be the perfect time for him to keep brainstorming. He could revamp his entire plan and try to satisfy Boss Pei by the end of this period!

Ye Zhizhou scanned his design manuscript once again.

Indeed, Boss Pei had not changed a single word!

“Brother Wang, what should we do? Should we work according to this proposal?” Ye Zhizhou felt slightly guilty.

At that moment, the blind faith that Wang Xiaobin had in Boss Pei was at its peak. He immediately nodded and said, “Of course! Since Boss Pei has made his decision, what is there holding us back? Let’s work according to this!

“There’s another advantage to working according to your plan. The research and development period can be shortened significantly.

“We’re going to produce Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version. Wow, this name is really awkward. However, we can look at it as a high-definition replacement of the old version. We don’t have to change much of the game’s functions and gameplay. At the very most, we could spend a bit of time improving the various functions.

“This way, we can focus our time and energy on producing better art resources.

“Didn’t you always say before this that the current Bloody Battle Song has already been made over, and that all it’s lacking is a nice packaging? That’s just right! We’ll take this opportunity to change its packaging!

“I think that was what Boss Pei intended, too.”

Ye Zhizhou nodded. “Yes, that’s right. I’ll tidy up the design manuscript and prepare a list of art resources that we would need!”

Once he finished tidying up the design plan, the first thing Ye Zhizhou did was prepare the list of art resources.

Until now, Shang Yang Games had been incurring losses consistently. All of its money had been handed over to Tengda Games. What’s more, it could not even sustain its daily operations, rent, salaries, expenses, and the like. It had no choice but to ask Tengda Games for money.

This time, they needed a huge sum of money to produce the new game. They had no choice but to write a report, requesting for this sum of money from Boss Pei.

“I’m slightly worried. I want two million yuan, but I don’t know if Boss Pei would allow it.” Ye Zhizhou felt extremely apprehensive.

Wang Xiaobin hesitated for a second. Then, he said, “Give it a shot. Boss Pei will surely be willing to splurge to ensure the quality of the game. If he really refuses, we can think of ways to reduce the budget.”