“I’ll choose Ye Zhizhou’s plan.
“Wang Xiaobin’s plan is also worthy of praise, but it’s a bit too stable for my liking. There are no risks involved. If your dreams were more bold and imaginative, perhaps I would be won over.”
Finally, Pei Qian saved Ye Zhizhou’s design manuscript. However, Ye Zhizhou himself had not thought about what he would call this sequel.
Pei Qian quickly typed on his keyboard to add the name of the game.
Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version!
En, since it was going to be a tacky game, he needed to make it tacky through and through.
Pei Qian had even thought about the marketing strategy for this game, which was most likely going to fail. He had to burn as much money and garner as much criticism as possible!
Once he made the edits, Pei Qian sent the design manuscript back to Ye Zhizhou.
“We’ll go with this.”
After pondering for a moment, he added, “Tell Wang Xiaobin that his plan was quite good, but it was too conservative. While researching and developing the game, ask him to make appropriate edits to his design manuscript. There’s a chance we might use it in the future.”
Chapter 193 - Choosing Between Two Plans
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 hold
ing 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.”
Chapter 194 - The Plan in the Notebook
At Tengda Games…
Pei Qian flipped through his little notebook. There were two more people he had to make arrangements for.
Actually, the first name on Boss Pei’s little notebook was not Lin Wan. After all, Lin Wan had only helped him save hundreds of thousands of yuan in rent. He could easily spend all of that money now.
What’s more, considering the two hundred thousand yuan Lin Chang gave to him, Boss Pei had to be lenient in dealing with Lin Wan.
The first name on the little notebook was Qiao Liang!
The week before last, when The Lonely Desert Road was updated, Teacher Qiao praised Tengda once again. As a result, Pei Qian nearly hired someone to murder Teacher Qiao.
Ever since Tengda Games released The Lonely Desert Road until it released Game Designer and the new downloadable content, Teacher Qiao had been like a relentless ghost.
Ever since he began looking into Teacher Qiao earlier, Pei Qian had not figured out a good way to deal with him.
Qiao Liang lived in Beijing, but he was not a local of Beijing. This made him a mere migrant worker there.
He should have been living a difficult life in the beginning. After joining Aili Island, his living standards improved significantly because he was able to depend on the incentive plan and everyday sponsored partnerships. He could even afford to decline low-end sponsored partnerships.
Basically, ever since he recommended Game Designer under the Products of the Gods series, Teacher Qiao freeloaded off ‘performance-art-style of marketing’. After that, he unknowingly managed to rake in sponsored partnerships without doing much else.
It was all very strange. Other UP Masters were scolded as they accepted sponsored partnerships. However, when Teacher Qiao did the same, the bullet screen comments were filled with praise for his ‘good performance’ or ‘good artwork’!
When other UP Masters saw this, they became overwhelmingly envious.
Yet, someone as special as Teacher Qiao was unique. There would be no second Teacher Qiao.
For this exact reason, Teacher Qiao was immensely grateful towards Tengda Games. After all, he had only been a slightly popular UP Master before this. Now, he was one of the most popular UP Masters on Aili Island’s games channel. This was all because he stood on Tengda Games’ shoulders.
For all Pei Qian knew-once they released their new game, Teacher Qiao would jump onto it at lightning speed.
At first, Pei Qian wanted to use money to orchestrate the collapse of Teacher Qiao. This was possible, but there was still the problem of what would happen after that.
It was true that Teacher Qiao was in need of money, but what would Pei Qian ask him to do after buying him over?
Could Pei Qian ask him to produce videos that dissed Tengda’s games?
That would be very unreasonable. What’s more, Pei Qian feared that no matter how hard Teacher Qiao tried to diss the games, the audience would see it as large-scale performance art.
Could he ask Teacher Qiao never to create videos about Tengda’s games again?
If he spent money purely for this purpose, Teacher Qiao might begin to doubt Pei Qian’s true motives. This would run contrary to his objective to keep the System’s existence hidden.
Thus, Pei Qian found himself caught in a deadlock.
Asking Teacher Qiao to praise Tengda would be increasing publicity for it.
Asking Teacher Qiao to diss Tengda would also be increasing publicity for it.
This was disastrous.
Pei Qian understood that he could use money to orchestrate Teacher Qiao’s collapse. He could even make sure that Teacher Qiao would never be able to stand on his own two feet again. However, even if Teacher Qiao tried to make money lying down, it would be of no help to Pei Qian.
That was the most hurtful thing.
However, no matter what, he had to take revenge!
“Once the new game is published, I will use the rest of the budget to make sure Teacher Qiao completes the game a hundred times. That would be the only way to dispel the hatred in my heart!”
Pei Qian quietly looked down at the name in the second line of the notebook: Lin Wan.
Before this, he had already decided to send Lin Wan to Shang Yang Games. Now was the best time.
Shang Yang Games’ current framework was quite complete. Between Ye Zhizhou’s creativity and Wang Xiaobin’s experienced planning, they were not lacking people-at least for now.
However, Wang Xiaobin was the chief systems designer after all. He was wearing multiple hats. The current framework was somewhat unreasonable.
Pei Qian’s main intention in sending Lin Wan in would be to allow her to experience how painful the life of a chief planner was. At the same time, he would introduce a bit of the Tengda Games’ spirit into Shang Yang Games.
The best outcome would be that Shang Yang Games failed—even after Lin Wan worked her behind off, day and night. Pei Qian wanted her to lose hope in the game industry and go home to take over her family business.
An average outcome would be that Lin Wan failed to achieve anything there. She could keep working hard, but Shang Yang Games would continue to incur losses. What’s more, Lin Wan would not be able to suddenly give Pei Qian a discount on rent. That would spare him a sudden heart attack.
The worst outcome would be that Lin Wan and Shang Yang Games both became popular for no reason. That would greatly boost her confidence.
However, Pei Qian thought that this was unlikely to happen.
At that thought, Pei Qian called Lin Wan into his office and briefly explained his plan. Unexpectedly, Lin Wan immediately shook her head and turned his offer down.
“I’m not going.”
Pei Qian was slightly confused. Why was she so decisive?
When others found out that they were getting promoted, most of them would be so moved that their eyes would well up on the spot. Lin Wan, on the other hand, was not moved in the least bit. She was even turning Pei Qian down so decisively.
Lin Wan replied seriously, “Boss Pei, thank you for you
r kind intentions. However, I’m not good enough at the moment.
“I hope to be able to remain in Tengda. At the very least, I want to stay until Repent and be Saved is published. I want to accumulate more experience.”
Pei Qian was speechless.
Indeed, she was a rich second-generation heir. What a letdown!
Lin Wan did not care about promotions at all. She could not possibly advance as quickly as if she went home and asked for money to become her own boss.
What Lin Wan wanted was experience and lessons in creating premium games. She wanted to experience working side-by-side with her colleagues. She was happily working on the projects in Tengda. She had no desire to be moved elsewhere.
Pei Qian did not think that the time-tested first-place elimination system would meet with such an unexpected setback!
Was this the superpower of rich second-generation heirs?
However, Pei Qian would not be defeated by such a minor problem. The cogs in his wheel spun at rapid speed. Almost immediately, he thought of another way to present the idea.
“The people in our company love to underestimate their own abilities. Of course, this is normal. When you’re working with so many outstanding colleagues, it’s easy to develop the feeling that you suck. However, you must believe that you are good enough to take over this role.”
Pei Qian paused and faced Lin Wan with a somber expression. “The role in Shang Yang Games is extremely important. No one else can take it up but you.”
Lin Wan hesitated. “Huh? Is that so?”
Once she heard the words ‘no one else can take it up but you’, Lin Wan could not help but feel curious.
Pei Qian stood up and took two steps forward. Then, he explained, “Shang Yang Games has been incurring losses. Now that Tengda has bought over the company, we naturally have to change it from the inside out.
“However, we cannot rush these changes. We have to take them step by step. After all, a company cannot change its culture overnight.
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