Tokyo: Being coveted by my wife, I just want to play games

Chapter 430 Five Years in the East, Five Years in the West

During his trip to Los Angeles, Dongchuan Che had a happy and fulfilling time.

Every day he either goes shopping, watches movies and has sex with Chika Ohara and Asuka Tsukitake, or negotiates with major entertainment companies in Europe and the United States.

The overall negotiation process was not very smooth, but because Dongchuan Che did not have the idea of ​​getting too involved in the film and television industry, most of the conflicts and disagreements during the negotiations were just a tug of war between the two parties in order to gain more benefits. It was not to the extent that the conflict of interest was so great that the talks could not continue at all.

And this trip to Los Angeles also brought a lot to Dongchuan Che.

The first is that it brought a lot of international superstars to the TV series "World of Warcraft: Stormwind Rising", and this popularity also boosted the popularity of the upcoming "Hearthstone".

Under the operation of two strong women in the marketing department, Miyano Miyano and Sato Fujiko, 80% of the current discussion topics in the entire gaming circle are related to "Hearthstone" and "World of Warcraft"!

Everyone is paying attention to the game "Hearthstone", and when Miyano Miyano and Sato Fujiko were promoting "Hearthstone", they naturally did not forget to add the slogan [GO! Handheld escort masterpiece]!

The influence spread layer by layer, coupled with the company's strong financial support. Although the [GO! Handheld] has not yet been released, its popularity has already been completely established!

This was a huge gain. In addition to games and handheld consoles, Dongchuan Che also looked for some capital related to the e-sports industry during his trip to the United States and had a brief chat with them.

After the handheld game console is released, he will start to work on e-sports.

There are actually a lot of twists and turns in this.

For example, "League of Legends" and "DOTA2" in the previous life.

Although League of Legends was indeed the most popular MOBA competitive game in the world at the time, and its e-sports league was also the best, the number of viewers of the League of Legends S-League finals was actually only 2% higher than that of DOTA30.

This gap is actually quite large, but if you don't know this data and are not a Chinese player who often plays these two games, then you will generally think that "League of Legends" should suppress "DOTA2" with a crushing attitude. After all, the popularity and activity of these two games in China have already had a big gap.

For example, if some professional teams in League of Legends have scandals or buy some big-name players, then in China, such news may become a hot search. But for DOTA2, it seems that it will only be a hot search during the TI finals.

Obviously, the difference in the number of viewers of the finals is not particularly exaggerated, but the number of hot searches and news activity between the two are very different.

Why is that?

Because of the different ownership of capital.

The domestic partner company of "DOTA2" is Perfect World.

Although Perfect World is also a large company with a strong background, for Perfect World, "DOTA2" is not their own game, they are just an agent. "DOTA2" is still a game from the American Valve, but "League of Legends" is different.

"League of Legends" is the product of the company [Riot Games], and Riot Games was 2015% controlled by Tencent in and became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tencent.

Although "League of Legends" nominally belongs to "Riot Games", "Riot Games" belongs to Tencent, which means that "League of Legends" is a game that belongs 100% to a local Chinese company.

This not only involves interests, but also involves ownership and control.

"League of Legends" is a game produced by a domestic Chinese company, so government agencies can safely allow this game to develop the e-sports industry in the country. After all, the market value of the e-sports industry is still very large, and the country cannot hand over the lifeblood of this industry to others.

Therefore, if Dongchuan Che wants to make "League of Legends" a global super-popular e-sports game in the future, he must make some concessions. And the concessions made by Dongchuan Che are also very simple, setting up the [League of Legends Global Production Committee].

After League of Legends becomes successful, he will bring in some big investors from major markets such as China, Japan, South Korea, Europe and the United States to jointly invest and establish a production committee responsible for the League of Legends e-sports industry.

Investing capital together means dividing up equity.

By then, it will be impossible for Dongchuan Che to monopolize all the profits of the "League of Legends" e-sports industry, but the benefit of his concession is that with the entry of capital from various countries, the "League of Legends" e-sports industry can be better developed in more countries, thus gaining a broader market.

To put it simply, although the proportion of the cake he eats has become smaller, the size of the entire cake has become larger, so he can eat more.

Of course, the e-sports industry has only just begun to show some signs. After all, the League of Legends game has not yet been made. Only after this game is made and detonates the entire market, Dongchuan Che's idea of ​​globalizing e-sports can be slowly implemented.

Nothing has been decided yet, but Dongchuan Che is no longer the ordinary office worker he used to be.

Although the League of Legends game has not been released yet, when the big companies and conglomerates in Europe and the United States involved in the e-sports industry heard that he was going to visit them in person, they still gave him face and sent luxury cars to pick them up every day.

The most outrageous one among them was a wealthy man who directly took Dongchuan Che and his family to his private island full of bikini beauties to play. If Dongchuan Che hadn't brought a female companion, it's possible that a hard party would have started.

Overall, Dongchuan Che gained a lot from this trip to Los Angeles.

The e-sports industry has laid some foreshadowing. Hearthstone and handheld games have attracted a lot of traffic because many international superstars are filming the drama World of Warcraft: Stormwind Rising. Under this trend, SATE and Shanhe Group, which have been watching from the sidelines, are also a little anxious.

They have not joined the game because they think that Dongchuan Che cannot bear the pressure of competition from the handheld game consoles alone, and they hope to enter the market when Dongchuan Che is at a disadvantage, so that they can maximize their benefits. But now the GO handheld game console is gaining momentum, and as the momentum of handheld game consoles grows, Dongchuan Che will become less and less dependent on them, and as the degree of dependence decreases, the initiative in negotiations will naturally increase.

But they never expected that Dongchuan Che would actually use a roundabout way to save the country this time.

To be honest, Fuyukawa Che does have high hopes for Hearthstone, Minecraft, and Pokémon, and these three games have received a lot of attention before. But it has been three or four years since the last generation of handheld games were released.

Generally speaking, each generation of handheld game consoles has a lifespan of about seven years, which means that after the previous generation of handheld game consoles is released, it will take about seven years for the next generation of handheld game consoles to be released. But generally speaking, after each generation of handheld game consoles is released for about three or four years, an upgraded version [PRO model] will be released.

For example, the PS4 was released in 2013, and by 2016, the PS4PRO and PS4Slim models were released; another example is the Switch, which was released in 2017, and in 2019 and 2021, the Switch released an enhanced battery life version and an OLED version respectively.

It has been more than three years since the last generation of NICO handheld game consoles and Juyin's Sugimu handheld game consoles were released. Therefore, these two major manufacturers have actually begun to prepare to release pro models and new representative masterpieces to maintain the popularity of the machines.

Toru Fuyukawa had known for a long time that these two companies were going to release new handheld game consoles, and although he was very confident in the GO handheld game console, he was not the kind of lunatic who would create difficulties even if there were none.

According to previous news, NICO and Juyin's new handheld game consoles will both be released early next year. Dongchuan Che did not think it was necessary to force a head-on confrontation with the other party, so he set the release date of the GO handheld game console in July this year. However.

As the saying goes, the tree wants to be still but the wind does not stop, business competition has always been a life-and-death struggle.

The release date that NICO and Juyin originally scheduled for the handheld game console was indeed early next year, but when they learned that Tohru Fuyukawa was going to release the handheld game console this year, both companies chose to postpone the release date!

The GO handheld game console will be released in July, and NICO and Juyin's machines will also be released in July!

A fierce battle!

This doesn't mean that NICO and Juyin want to slap Dongchuan Che in the face or compete with him.

Although the competition between the three parties has been fierce in recent years, business matters are no joke. The reason why these two big companies reversed the payment is simple.

First, when it comes to handheld game consoles, few people would buy several at the same time.

Second, the GO handheld console is a new series of handheld consoles with exclusive games, while their Giant Silver and NICO are just enhanced versions of old machines.

Suppose you have a PS5, and now the PS5 has a PRO model, while another well-known game manufacturer has released a console with a classic IP and exclusive games. At this time, if you want to buy a second machine, which one would you buy?

To put it bluntly, the enhanced models of Juyin and NICO are not as competitive as the new GO handheld game console. But the problem is that they have to compete.

This year and next year will be critical nodes for these two companies.

If the enhanced models cannot be launched in these two years, the release schedule of their next generation models will be stuck.

At that time, their next generation of models will either be released later, but this will give users more window periods, which will increase the risk of losing users.

Let me put it this way, if the slightly enhanced PS5PRO model is released in 2024, and then Sony releases the PS2025 in 2026 or 6, Sony users will definitely be furious.

From the perspective of the overall corporate strategy, Juyin and NICO must release their enhanced models this year or early next year. This brings us back to the first question. If they release the new model early next year, they will give Fuyukawa Tetsu half a year to grow. If the quality of the GO handheld is really strong and fills the gap in handheld gamers, then when they release the new machine early next year, the sales may not be very good.

Hold it.

Just like Dongchuan Che felt that he didn't want to go head-to-head with NICO and Juyin unless it was necessary, Juyin and NICO also felt that Dongchuan Che was a very difficult opponent, and they didn't want to go head-to-head with Dongchuan Che unless it was necessary, but there was nothing they could do.

Dongchuan Che must seize their window period and enter the handheld game console industry while their handheld game consoles are in a sluggish state for three or four years, snatching away their users. Otherwise, when their next generation of handheld game consoles comes out, things may be even more troublesome. And they must also use new models to fill their own sluggish window period.

Therefore, SATE and Shanhe Group are aware that in this handheld war, Dongchuan Che will definitely face crazy pressure from NICO and Juyin. This can actually be seen from the game lineup.

On Dongchuan Che's side, they are "Hearthstone", "Minecraft" and "Pokemon". Although SATE and Shanhe Group are unaware of the craze these three games caused in their previous lives, except for "Minecraft", all of these three games are IP adaptations with huge influence.

The game lineup of Holy Light Society is very strong, but so are NICO and Giant Silver!

These two giant companies have also brought out several highly anticipated sequels to classic IPs this time! Many of them are sequels to big IPs that have won the best game in top awards such as TGA and IGN!

Come on!

Honestly speaking, before Toru Fuyukawa went to Los Angeles and increased the popularity of the TV series "World of Warcraft: Stormwind Rising", the GO handheld game console was still surpassed by NICO and Juyin in terms of popularity!

Therefore, SATE and Shanhe Group were previously sitting on the Diaoyutai.

But it’s different now!

No one expected that Dongchuan Che would come up with a roundabout way to save the country, and directly boosted the popularity of "Hearthstone"! This is also the reason why Dongchuan Che felt that the film and television industry could not make much money, but he still had to spend money to do it.

The communication effects of these three carriers, namely, film and television carriers, music carriers, and text carriers, are far greater than those of games!

The most typical example is "FATE". This Galgame was the best-selling Glagame in its previous life. But even though it was the best-selling Glagame, this game only sold a few hundred thousand copies, and its popularity has always been confined to this small circle of Glagame. However, after "FATE" was adapted into an anime, the influence of the entire IP quickly showed explosive growth!

This is quite exaggerated.

You have to know that the original version of "Fate" is very large, with vises, water pumps, and cohabitation magic, it is a real 18X. But even if the "screaming" element, which is known as one of the three most profitable elements, is added, the popularity of "Fate" still relies on the film and television carrier.

And that’s what Hearthstone is like now!

Although the big IP sequels of NICO and Juyin are very famous in the gaming circle, the popularity of "Hearthstone" has directly broken the circle!

The heat is so high that it explodes!

As soon as the final photos and cast list of "World of Warcraft: Stormwind Rising" came out, coupled with the large-scale publicity and promotion funds injected by the Holy Light Society, "Hearthstone" broke the circle almost overnight!

Hearthstone can be seen on almost every trending search list on major media platforms around the world!

The heat explodes!

Now everything is ready, only the east wind is missing!

As long as the quality of Hearthstone is not bad after its release, it will definitely become a phenomenal game! And as long as Hearthstone can become a hit, GO! The initial sales of the handheld console will be guaranteed!

So, on the second day after the final photos and cast list of "World of Warcraft: Stormwind Rising" were released, Dongchuan Che met two "old friends" whom he had not seen for a long time in his president's office.

"Can't sit still?"

Looking at President Bao and Executive Director Kuriyama who walked in, Dongchuan Che, who was sitting behind the boss's desk, did not stand up. Instead, he put his hands on the table and winked at the two of them playfully.

It was a very impolite thing to do, but both President Bao and Executive Managing Director Kuriyama just looked at each other and then raised the corners of their mouths with a slightly amusing and helpless arc.

The relationship between the three is very delicate.

Although in the business competition, the three of them are unyielding and will do whatever they want. But in normal times, they actually have some sympathy for each other. They are not enemies, but good friends who can drink and chat together.

Looking at the mature man behind the boss's desk, who is already thirty years old, with a gentle and easy-going temperament but can be seen as extraordinary at a glance, President Bao and Executive Manager Kuriyama also have more emotion in their eyes.

Strictly speaking, Dongchuan Che is the junior who grew up in front of them.

When they first met Dongchuan Che, they thought Dongchuan Che was just a little Karami. They just thought Dongchuan Che was very talented and experienced, so they were willing to make friends with him. But they didn't expect that in just five years, the office boy in a white shirt and suit pants has become a big man who can shake up the entire industry.

[Twenty years later, this man will have the final say in the Japanese gaming industry]

"Twenty years. Ha, I still underestimated this guy."

In his mind, he recalled the first time he met Dongchuan Che in Shanghai four years ago, and what he said to his subordinates after he had dinner with Dongchuan Che and sent Dongchuan Che to the car. He also looked at the mature man in front of him who had just been joking and put on airs but now stood up and greeted him with a smile. There was more emotion in Mr. Bangbao's eyes.