“Well, okay, I’ll be busy now. Let’s talk after get off work.”

beep…

Listening to the busy tone on the phone, Guo Tao was a little dazed.

Lan Yu’s tone on the phone seemed to have returned to his college days, still so high-spirited.

I couldn’t bring myself to ask him to come back and help the penguin through the difficult times.

After a long time, Guo Tao sighed.

Oh, let’s hire more people.

Chapter 232: Taking over the Central Plains is just around the corner!

Just when Guo Tao was busy trying to save Penguin Games from its decline, he suddenly received news from Penguin headquarters.

His superiors asked him to be prepared and contact Nebula Interactive Entertainment to jointly operate the Antarctic Cloud Platform.

Hearing this news, Guo Tao felt a little relieved, but also a sense of helplessness.

Indeed, in the short term, if we cooperate with Nebula, there is a high probability that we can solve the urgent needs of the Antarctic Cloud Platform.

The Nebula platform has been in operation for more than ten years and has many excellent works. As long as these games enter the domestic market, they can easily attract a group of players, and the Antarctic Cloud Platform can also be revived.

In fact, the benefits that Penguin can reap are not limited to these. By taking advantage of the Nebula platform’s urgent need to enter the domestic market, Penguin can make a lot of money from them.

I guess the Penguin executives also had this idea.

If the cooperation between the two parties goes smoothly,

Guo Tao will also be relaxed, and he won’t have to worry about the platform anymore.

But in the long run…

To be fair, Guo Tao doesn’t want to operate jointly with Nebula.

He knew very well that the purpose of the Nebula Platform was simply to use the Antarctic Cloud Platform as a springboard to enter the domestic game market.

Once Nebula gains a foothold, it is only a matter of time before he kicks out the Penguin.

Moreover, Guo Tao had also heard about the methods used by Nebula, a large foreign capital.

The predecessor of Nebula was not originally a gaming company, but made its fortune in the mineral trading business.

After it officially entered the gaming industry, in order to quickly seize the market, its methods also inherited the style of its predecessor, almost using any means necessary.

It is no exaggeration to say that he is simply a rogue.

One of the most common methods they use is malicious annexation.

The general process is:

Look for retail investors in the secondary market of the target gaming company, then acquire a large number of shares from these retail investors, and instantly become a small shareholder with a certain say in the company.

Then, they start to buy back shares from other small shareholders at a price higher than the market price.

Once the shares held exceed 50%, a forced acquisition will be carried out and the target company will be taken over.

In the more than ten years since the Nebula platform was launched, countless game companies have been robbed by such means, including some game companies with great influence in the local area.

Game companies acquired by the Nebula platform often do not have a good ending, and their endings are almost the same.

The original company team will be disbanded by Nebula and replaced by Nebula’s own employees.

Without the original game team, this company will be doomed to fail.

Without the release of new games that satisfy the players, the company’s influence in the local area will gradually become smaller and smaller.

Then, after being ruthlessly squeezed dry of its last bit of value by the Nebula platform, it was submerged in the fragments of history.

Finally, in this land without any competitors, the Nebula platform took advantage of the situation and began to implement a monopoly on game sales, reaping huge profits. How high the game prices could be raised depended on its mood.

And on the surface, what Nebula did was completely reasonable and legal.

It was just a normal acquisition for the company’s expansion.

The cooperation between Penguin and Nebula is tantamount to inviting a wolf into the house.

Although considering the size of Penguin, the measures taken by Nebula Interactive Entertainment will not have any impact on Penguin itself.

But if Nebula enters the domestic market, the domestic gaming industry will face the most terrifying winter in history.

It’s pretty much like what’s written in that classic science fiction book.

Just like the technology that Sophon used to lock down the Earth,

The domestic gaming industry, which has just started to pick up, will also be completely locked down by Nebula.

By then, the price to pay for saving domestic games will be far beyond imagination.

Guo Tao sat in the chair, feeling a little desperate.

In his heart, there is still a glimmer of hope for the rise of domestic games.

However, even if Guo Tao was extremely reluctant, the cooperation between Penguin and Nebula had become a foregone conclusion and was irrefutable.

What his superior sent him was a notification instead of asking for his opinion.

Ugh……

Somehow,

Guo Tao suddenly remembered the time when he was talking to Lan Yu on the phone, and Lan Yu’s energetic tone when he was working at Mihoyo.

After a long while, he muttered to himself, “If there is only one person who can change this ending, it should be the one from Mi Huyou.”

……

……

Nebula Interactive Entertainment Headquarters.

Quarterly summary meeting of the company’s senior management.

After a summary report on the operational data of the nebula platform, the secretary picked up a thick stack of reports and gave up his seat in front of the stage.

Nebula’s general manager Anastasia Rossdale slowly walked forward and stood in the center of the podium.

With his hands on the table, Rossdale looked around at the senior executives present before speaking.

“The game markets of various countries are becoming increasingly saturated. Fortunately, we have discovered a virgin land that has not been cultivated – China. For this purpose, we have prepared the sharpest hoe.”

“The AAA masterpiece Dream Resurrection, led by Albert, the director of our company’s first game project team, has now entered the final stage of production.”

“The goddess of harvest has smiled upon us. Rejoice! The horn of victory for the Nebula Platform is about to sound!”

“Dream Resurrection”, as an action RPG masterpiece that has been polished for nearly 5 years, Nebula has invested nearly 3 million US dollars in research and development funds.

The reason why the Nebula platform invested so much money in this game is not to bring an audio-visual feast to the players, but entirely out of business plan considerations.

In order to compete for the Oscar of the European and American gaming industry – the Golden Controller Award, in order to enhance the competitiveness of the Nebula platform.

Because in recent years, although Nebula can still control most of the overseas game distribution channels, more and more game manufacturers, unable to tolerate Nebula’s exploitation, choose to set up their own companies.

After considering many aspects, Rosedale finally decided that Nebula should also set up its own game production team.

After all, although the channel can make money without doing anything, if the game resources are controlled by others, Nebula will not be able to rest in peace.

So Rossdale set his sights on the Golden Handle Award.

After winning the award, it can also slightly change the despicable impression of the Nebula platform in the eyes of players.

The cost of game development can be fully recovered, and you can continue to make money without doing anything. Isn’t that wonderful?

Now, seeing that “Resurrection from Dreamland” can also contribute to the Chinese market, killing two birds with one stone, Rossdale feels even more wise about his previous decision.

“I think it won’t be a problem for Dream Resurrection to get the golden controller or to launch a dimensionality reduction attack on the Chinese game market.”

“We have done our best in graphics, music, operation feel, and special effects. In terms of plot, we have pushed linear narrative to the pinnacle. God, I can’t think of any game that can beat it.”

“After winning the award, not only can we change the reputation, but we can also make it an exclusive work of the nebula platform, giving a heavy blow to those small workshops that want to build their own platforms.”

“…”

Seeing that the members of the first project team had started to open champagne in advance and were discussing what to do after “Dream Resurrection” won the award, John from the second project team frowned.

“We should not ignore the Chinese Mihuoyou. What if they come to snipe us? You know, their “Night …”

Before John could finish his words, he saw that everyone present was looking at him with contempt as if he were a freak.

“Hey, bro, are you scared? Do you want me to get you a pacifier?”

“Kang Muang! John, it’s just a small company. We can crush it with just a flick of our fingers. What are you worried about?”

As everyone was mocking, Albert from the first project team also started to speak in a sarcastic tone.

“Can I understand your words as you questioning my ability? Or do you think that our Nebula is not as good as a small workshop? Tsk tsk, if you have such thoughts, no wonder you are the second one.”

There has always been friction between the first and second project teams. Usually, when they are competing for resources, the two often quarrel. Now, they start to feed each other sour radishes without any agreement.

The meeting room suddenly became noisy.

“Fuck off!” Rossdale slammed the microphone hard, and the loud bang from the speaker silenced the entire conference room.

“Get out if you keep making noise. The news we got from our Chinese partners is that Mihoyo is indeed developing a new game.” After a pause, Rosedale looked around sharply and spoke slowly, “And, I heard that it’s based on a completely open world. Um… it seems to be saying that it’s a large map that players can explore freely. What do you think of this kind of game?”

The voice just fell.

The game designers present looked at each other in surprise, and then the entire conference room was instantly filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

“There is no guidance, allowing players to explore freely… Tsk tsk tsk, it seems that this will be the most useful episode of the 2-hour no-reason refund on the Youmi Cloud platform.”

“Completely open, free to explore? Hahahaha, oh no, I laughed so hard that my stomach hurt. What a genius idea. Is this the Mihoyo you’re worried about, John?”

After Albert finished mocking John, he looked at Rossdale again, performed a strange ancient ritual, and said solemnly:

“This is a pure gimmick game. If Mihoyo really comes up with something like this that has no gameplay value, Dream Resurrection will teach them a lesson they will never forget, and their Youmi Cloud platform will roll back to China in disgrace.”

“My lady, I will bring victory back to Nebula!”

In fact, it’s no wonder that Nebula’s game designers couldn’t help laughing when they heard the word open world.

Because this idea was proposed by someone in the European and American gaming circles in the early years.

Freeing players from the constraints of linear games and giving them freedom sounds like a perfect idea.

But during the actual production, the game designer who came up with this idea became autistic.

Because he discovered,

Unless the person playing the game is a hardcore fanatic, he or she will be eager to collect every detail and every task reward in the game.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have any interest in taking on those crappy side quests, let alone exploring the large map.

80% or even 90% of the entire game’s content is completely empty, and it’s all in vain.

The players’ ideas are also simple.

I am about to defeat the last demon king and become the most powerful hero. How glorious it is! I wish I could teleport directly to the demon king’s palace and take off his head and kick it like a ball.

At this time, the game designer gave a task to “help Widow Li in the village find a cat”, and it would be strange if the players would do it.

Afterwards, the game designer voiced the opinions of players during the game’s beta test period. Of course, the game died in the womb before it could be officially launched.

Most of the players’ feedback was “I don’t know what to do”, “It’s totally unattractive”, “There are a lot of side quests, I don’t want to do them at all”, “I can guess that there might be Widow Li’s cat in the cave in the distance, but what can I do if I find it? It’s of no use to me in my journey to defeat the Demon King.”

It is precisely because of the unanimous negative comments from players,

Game makers in Europe and the United States have also discovered the fatal shortcomings of open world games beneath their seemingly beautiful appearance.

As long as the problem of “the game world is large and empty, players are not interested in it, and still advance the main line according to the order of linear games” is not solved, there will be no open world games.

Gradually, this has become a slide that cannot be touched in the minds of European and American game producers.

Dare to touch? You will be nailed to the cross and severely humiliated.

Therefore

When they heard that Mihoyo was going to make such a game, the game designers at Nebula laughed so happily.

However, John in the field frowned.

Although John didn’t know how Mihoyo would solve the deadlock of “the big world cannot attract players’ desire to explore”, he had carefully studied Mihoyo’s “Night City”.

In Night City, the weak part of the mission guidance…