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Sports games are an important game category, including e-sports. They are actually a branch of sports and may even enter the Olympics in the future.

Regardless of whether there is any provocation from EA, in the long run, Changyou will definitely lay out its track for sports games.

Zhou Buqi owns teams such as Manchester United, Golden State Warriors, San Francisco Giants, Zurich, and San Jose Earthquakes. He has such a huge influence in the sports industry. It would be a waste of resources if he did not make sports games.

In the sports game industry, the most influential company is of course EA.

Because EA has "FIFA Football".

The second largest gaming giant is Take-Two, which owns the flagship 2K game series.

However, because Take-Two does not have football games, the "2K" brand is not well-known enough, and its main sales are only in North America.

There are too many sports game companies in Europe.

Without football games, it would be difficult for Take-Two to open up the European market.

Because there has been a wave of basketball craze in China, many domestic players have played 2KNBA, but the focus of players is "NBA", not "2K".

In other words, the 2K sports game brand was not really established under take-two.

At least the degree of globalization is not enough. It is limited to the North American market and is relatively niche.

Zhou Buqi asked Changyou to buy the company Take-Two, not only because this company owns well-known series such as "Civilized City", "Bioshock", "Grand Theft Auto", "Red Dead Redemption", and "Duke Nukem" Games, the more important reason is that he is eyeing the sports brand "2K".

He has the advantage of foresight and must make good use of it.

It’s not that the 2K brand will shine in the future. In fact, Take-Two in its previous life has become a top gaming giant with a market value of nearly 30 billion U.S. dollars. They have not developed the “2K” sports game brand.

The fundamental reason is that there is no football.

It is FIFA that does not take precautions.

What if Changyou launches "FIFA Live Football" and further strengthens the "FIFA" brand, and when the contract expires, FIFA no longer authorizes it?

Or, what should I do if FIFA is willing to license it, but asks for a sky-high licensing fee?

Just like in the previous life, EA's "FIFA Football" was blackmailed by FIFA when it was at its peak. EA is unwilling to give money, so "FIFA Football" can only be renamed "EA Football".

In fact, the name "EA Football" is quite good, because "EA" is also a very strong sports game brand.

The startup screen of all EA games will have a large "EA" logo.

So what about Pro Evolution Soccer?

Changyou's own brand is far inferior to that of EA, which has been working hard for decades. It can't continue to use Konami's "PES" name, right? Doesn’t that mean Changyou uses its own resources to advertise for Konami?

Zhou Buqi would not do such a thing.

Therefore, be sure to acquire take-two.

We need to bring over the "2K" brand.

Then, rely on "Pro Evolution Soccer" to truly develop the "2K" brand and turn it into a world-class game brand, planting an impression in the minds of players-as long as they play sports games, they can play "2K" ".

In this way, any potential problems will be solved.

If FIFA turns its back on others in the future and wants to cause trouble with the "FIFA" trademark licensing, then let them do it. Changyou wants to develop the "Pro Evolution Soccer" brand in the direction of "2K" instead of "FIFA".

However, this matter cannot be rushed.

Fortunately, the "FIFA" trademark license signed with FIFA is for ten years per term.

It has ten years to operate.

enough!

In the short term, we will use the influence of football, the authority of FIFA, and the popularity of PES to launch the game "FIFA 2 KPES".

Mainly using "FIFA" and "PES" as marketing selling points.

Let's use these two powerful brands to strengthen players' impression of "2K".

After three or four years, when the players are familiar with the football game "FIFA2 KPES", they can change the name appropriately. Change "PES" to the more accurate "Football" and call it "FIFA2K Football".

This completes the brand transfer.

From the core "PES", to "FIFA" and "2K".

Continue this line of thinking for the next few years.

To step by step strengthen the brand attributes of "2K" and weaken the influence of "FIFA", the marketing of the game and the design of the main interface should be based on "2K" and "FIFA" as a supplement.

We should use the authority of "FIFA" to give impetus to "2K".

The game was renamed again, and it was called "2KFIFA Football".

By this time, the "2K" brand was built on football games.

At first, players would choose to play this game, partly because of the attraction of "FIFA" and partly because of the attraction of "PES". Slowly, we need to de-"PES", weaken the presence of "FIFA", and focus on "2K".

Players recognized this game because of "2K".

By that time, let alone FIFA and Lions, they will come to blackmail Changyou. If FIFA does not perform well, Changyou may take the initiative to break away from them.

The actual value of the "FIFA" trademark to this game is minimal.

The final name of this game should be "2K Football".

Just like "2K Basketball", "2K Football", "2K Baseball" and "2K American Wrestling", it should be called "2K Football".

Therefore, Changyou must complete the acquisition of take-two.

Changyou is too young and its development time is too short.

Insufficient background.

If you start many things from scratch, it will be too slow.

If you want to quickly grab territory in some core game markets, the best way is to trade space for time. Obtain the copyright of "Pro Evolution Soccer" and buy the "2K" trademark, and effectively integrate them in the future, let's live together!

Together with Ren Yuxin, Zhou Buqi smoothly signed a series of contracts with Konami surrounding "Pro Evolution Soccer". As well as an agreement to increase strategic capital, Konami will issue an additional 4% of its shares to Changyou for US$200 million.

However, even if Zhou Qi comes, there must be some extra gains.

Zhou Buqi came up with an impromptu idea and said he wanted to buy out the mobile game rights to the two games "Contra" and "Red Fortress" for US$2 million.

This request is really unreasonable.

However, since he is the richest man in the world, he cannot refuse it completely.

Last month Takuya hesitated and looked at his father.

Jingzheng was also a little angry last month, but now he is under too much pressure, with surging external public opinion and internal management conflicts, which has forced him to resign. He really has no heart to compete with Boss Zhou. It's hard to say : "You can only choose one!"

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "What about the price?"

Shang Yue Jingzheng glanced at him and said, "We have to pay more!"

The old game "Contra" has been in Konami's warehouse for a long time. It has been many years and no one is playing it.

This is an old tradition that Konami has always criticized.

Once a hit game is developed, all business units will start to squeeze out all the value of the game.

Today, "Contra" contributes less than $1 million in revenue to Konami every year.

Moreover, what Zhou Buqi asked for was a mobile game version, which was not in line with Konami’s current business.

Just sell it.

Zhou Buqi just mentioned it casually. He didn't expect that he would be so proud and asked, "How much?"

Last month Jing Zhengdao said: “One game costs US$2 million.”

Zhou Buqi was silent for a moment, then said with complicated eyes: "Then let's each take a step back. I want both games, a total of 3 million US dollars."

Last month Jingzheng took a deep breath and said solemnly: "It's just the mobile game version."

"Of course." Zhou Buqi smiled, "If the mobile game version fails, you won't lose; if the mobile game version succeeds, these two old games will become popular again, and maybe they can also drive the field of console games, so you still Not a loss."

Last month Jingzheng was getting older and couldn't keep up with his energy, so he waved his hands feebly, "That'll be it."

The deal actually came to fruition.

Ren Yuxin was already stunned.

In the past period of time, it's not like he hasn't communicated with Konami about cooperation on other games, but the other party's attitude was very conservative. Cooperation is possible, but not now, and it is not a buyout model.

Unexpectedly, as soon as Boss Zhou appeared, he sealed the deal in a few words.

Is this an invisible big hand controlling things behind the scenes?

Is this industry influence?

Not to mention him, even Zhou Buqi himself was a little surprised.

This is the benefit of being the richest man in the world, right?

Face is so useful!

In the end, Shang Yue Jingzheng sent out the invitation.

Now that the deal is done, it’s time to celebrate. Tomorrow evening, Konami will hold an open celebration cocktail party. At that time, some industry celebrities and some media reporters will be invited to announce the cooperation news between Konami and Changyou for everyone to witness.

In particular, I hope Zhou Buqi can be present in person.

Zhou Buqi was not very willing to come forward, but he always wanted to reciprocate after taking advantage of others, so he agreed.

Surrounded by many people, the negotiation team led by Zhou Buqi and Ren Yuxin finally left Konami's headquarters. Looking back, this building only has 6 floors in total and is located in a prime location in Tokyo.

All of them demonstrate Konami’s heritage.

Changyou's branch in Japan would not be able to acquire land in such a good location, and even if it did, it would not be possible to build only a 6-story building.

In terms of foundation, Changyou is still a bit lacking.

But that's okay.

If you don’t have enough background, you can buy it!

For US$3 million, we bought the mobile game copyrights of two games, "Contra" and "Red Fortress", with buyout terms...

This business is so cost-effective!

If you have a beginning, it will be easy to handle.

The mobile game copyrights of "Contra" and "Red Fortress" have been bought so easily, so will the mobile game copyrights of Konami's other classic and old games be far behind?

Well, cooperation is of course mutually beneficial and the more the merrier!