Yao Yuan came to the game studio again. After firing nearly half of the employees and not having time to fill in the small building, it became increasingly empty, but it still maintained normal operations.
Originally, why would a small, broken company do so many bells and whistles? They are all just trying to make money.
Everyone is paying close attention to "FarmVille" and talking about it with great interest. One Chinese guy was very excited and said: "I have made console games before, and the difficulty is completely incomparable. It took me several months to make a little progress. "FarmVille"
How long did it take initially?
4 weeks? 5 weeks?
I mean it’s so simple, I didn’t expect so many people to be crazy about the farm!”
"Because it's a social game at its core, don't forget what our studio is all about."
"Yes, yes, I was just so surprised."
"If we continue to develop at this rate, "FarmVille" will become the most popular game in the United States. I can't imagine that by then we may be favored by big shots, invest some money in us, and step by step become an important industry giant."
The employees are excitedly thinking about the future, almost replicating the scene where "Farm" became a hit in China.
"FarmVille" was launched yesterday. How many active players will it attract on the first day? The final number is between 2,000 and 9,000.
At that time, I thought 9,000 was too exaggerated. How could 9,000 people come to grow vegetables?
As a result, this morning, Facebook data came through, and everyone was shocked: the number of active users on the first day was 50,000, and while they were chatting, this number had become 120,000!
The stairs of this small building are all on one side. Standing at the guardrail on the third floor, Yao Yuan can directly see the actions of the employees below.
Cheng Wei was also there, wondering: ""Farm" is so popular in China, and you can find out with just a little research, why do they still look so weird?"
"Because Americans don't care about things outside the United States, if you want to do business with them, you have to understand their habits as soon as possible."
Yao Yuan shrugged and called Cheng Wei into the room.
Zhao Haitao had been ordered to return to China. The office was empty. He sat on the boss's chair and spun around. It was awkward to sit on it. He simply stood up and said, "When you finish the work here, you can stay and take care of the game studio and wait for the selection in China."
So that the receiver can come and replace you."
"OK!"
Cheng Wei nodded without hesitation, in sharp contrast to Zhao Haitao, and asked: "Mr. Yao, the technical threshold of "FarmVille" is not high, will anyone plagiarize it?"
"Of course, but the most important thing about social games is the platform and gameplay. We have already occupied it first and are at the top. Even if someone copies it, they will just copy it without much innovation."
The domestic "Happy Farm" has simple gameplay and belongs to a series, followed by "Happy Ranch", "Happy Fishing Ground" and "Happy Restaurant".
"FarmVille" is full of them directly, integrating the two.
You can farm, raise livestock, dig ponds to raise fish, and open small workshops for processing... One is to suit the preferences of Westerners, and the other is to prevent plagiarism.
Because as long as it is within the concept of "farm game", there are only so many ways to play it. If you think about it as hard as you can, that's it. Even if someone plagiarizes it, it will be the same at most and there will be no innovation.
Of course, if someone is inspired by "FarmVille" and combines the farm mode with other modes to create a new game, Yao Yuan will inevitably do so.
So we can only try our best to prevent plagiarism.
In fact, in history, the biggest reason why "Farm" was copied and overtaken when it went overseas was that it did not make local improvements and did not understand the tastes of Westerners.
Yao Yuan was chatting with Cheng Wei and received a call from Zuckerberg.
Zuckerberg was also very surprised. Barabala said that he hoped that the two sides would maintain friendship forever. Yao Yuan agreed with a haha, saying that it is okay to maintain friendship until you go for a run in Tiananmen...
Later, I received another call from Milner.
"Yao, you can really bring me a lot of unexpected joy. I thought I had made a high judgment on your game company, but I didn't expect it could go further."
"Thank you for your compliment! In fact, this game has been popular in mainland China for a long time. We just made a transplant."
"So do you need funds? It's not easy to develop in the United States."
Milner's turn was very stiff and direct.
Yao Yuan sighed. People already support the video industry, so they can't always take him for granted. They have to give him something in return, and said: "Of course, my studio needs your help."
That night, the two met again.
The two parties agreed that Milner would invest US$5 million, considered an angel investment, and take 10% of the studio's shares.
"The recently popular "FarmVille" has been ridiculed by many developers. They even held up a sign outside the small company and shouted: This is not a game!
But it is undeniable that the success of "FarmVille" has had an impact on elitism and pretentious attitudes in the industry."
"This is a turning point in the gaming industry. You don't need hundreds of dollars worth of specialized equipment, you don't need to learn how to install software, how to use a controller, etc.
These 'ordinary people' can also play video games, just like doing crosswords in newspapers or watching soap operas."
"FarmVille lets developers, investors and players know that there are games that appeal to everyone. Playing games is a fun and easy way to spend time, regardless of the age, gender or skill level of the player."
"FarmVille" has been online for less than a week, and the number of active users has grown like a rocket, with more and more discussions in the media. It is as popular as "FarmVille" in China, and some people even set alarm clocks to steal food...
People from all walks of life were also alarmed and turned their attention to this small and broken company.
If a company wants to grow big in the United States, regardless of whether it is foreign or local, it is impossible not to let Wall Street/Silicon Valley share profits.
Yao Yuan didn't mind raising money, but Milner was glad that he was close to the water.
…………
Los Angeles, Rogge Films.
Goulden once again met with guests from China.
The two parties had several rounds of exchanges, and the price hovered between 150 and 180 million, but Goulden always felt that the other party's base price had not yet been quoted, and he couldn't figure out what other cards he could play.
The assets of Rogge Pictures are clearly on the table, and it is impossible to significantly lower the price.
"Hello, see you again!"
"Hello, I hope we can have a happy outcome this time."
Goulden shook hands with Yao Yuan's negotiator and started another round of verbal sparring. When the argument became fierce, he became impatient and said: "Sir, let's not waste any more time. You can tell us your final price."
!”
"That's fine!"
The negotiator paused and spit out a number: "80 million!"