Losing Money to Be a Tycoon c1-883

by Inebriation-seeking Blue Shirt, 青衫取醉

  It appeared as though the entire world heard of that game. Zhang Zuting and his four brothers created a trend on the internet. Their commercial compilation alone had two million views on Aili Island.

  The ‘Zha Zhuti’ meme was even more popular on the internet. There were also many diss videos about the commercial and the game itself.

  If this was not viral, what was considered viral?

  Therefore, players were happily waiting for the release of the mobile version.

  However, Ye Zhizhou had been lurking in the players’ group chat, and he knew clearly that all of that were merely illusions.

  On the surface, the game was gaining popularity. However, in reality, Shang Yang Games had been burning Boss Pei’s money. Currently, the development and publicity of the game had cost him around ten million yuan.

  Ten million yuan. That was not a small sum.

  If they were to save some of that money, they could even create a mini client-side game or a good-quality unique game.

  If the mobile version had been published and this fake popularity continued, it would be a huge blow to everyone.

  September 18th…

  On this day, the employees of Shang Yang Games arrived at the company very early and were all waiting anxiously.

  They had all downloaded Shenhua’s application store on their phones and were checking it out every now and then.

  At 10 in the morning…

  Ye Zhizhou refreshed the application store habitually once again and exclaimed, “It’s there! It’s there!”

  Those around him surrounded him.

  The Shenhua application store could be downloaded on all phone brands other than Pineapple phone. Meanwhile, it was in-built in all Shenhua cell phones.

  Everyone started playing the ‘find it’ game. They started searching for the recommendation spot for the mobile version of Bloody Battle Song.

  After looking through the app, everyone took in a deep breath.

  That was definitely the treatment that a biological daughter would get!

  It was totally beyond everyone’s expectations!

  On the homepage of the application store, there were four cover-page recommendations. One of them was Bloody Battle Song.

  Zhang Zuting raised a huge sword and was about to slash it down.

  Below it were five horizontal category bookmarks. Even further below were five popular and recommended apps that included an online purchase app, a video app, and more

  re.

  Bloody Battle Song was once again amongst those five apps.

  The promotion picture was a head portrait of Zhang Zuting cosplaying a game character, and the caption was Bloody Battle Song (Available from 18th September, 10 a.m.)’.

  Below it were some details of the game. The installation package was about 370M. The game had a four stars review. There was also an advertisement slogan: Endorsed by Zhang Zuting. Definitely a fair and green nation wars game!

  After clicking on it, users would be directed to the game details page for Bloody Battle Song.

  Every recommendation spot on the homepage of the application store was priceless.

  Yet, Bloody Battle Song occupied two of those crucial spots!

  Not only that, but on the ‘Games Store’ bookmark, the first in the ‘Editors’ Choice’ list was still Bloody Battle Song!

  When they clicked on the web-based games category, the top of the ‘New Recommended Games of the Month’ was still Bloody Battle Song!

  The third bookmark was a ranking. It ranked all the apps and games in the market according to their recent and long-term download numbers, ratings, popularity, and profitability. Bloody Battle Song was the seventh on the list!

  There was a caption below: 350,000 installed, 4.7 ratings. The most absurd part was the striking red ‘Recommended!’ icon after the caption.

  This recommendation was produced by Shenhua. The company would reward this icon to good quality and popular games periodically. To Shenhua app store users, that icon symbolized that the game had been specially selected by Shenhua.

  The various recommendation spots made everyone gasp in awe.

  What kind of connections did they need to receive such a treatment!

  Some recommendation spots could be bought with money, such as the little recommendation spot on the bookmark page.

  However, for homepage recommendations, not only did they have to compete with other popular games; but they also had to beat other popular apps. There was no way they could win it without forking out enough money!

  Of course, the homepage recommendation spot was not the most mind-blowing.

  The most unbelievable part was that Bloody Battle Song had discreetly reached the seventh place in the rankings!

  The seventh position was right at the bottom of the cell phone screen once the users clicked into the rankings. They could see the game without having to scroll down. The rankings mostly followed Shenhua’s calculation and were mostly fair. After all, if the entire rankings were forged, that would be too obvious. The users could easily realize that the rankings were not completely reliable. Therefore, what most app stores did was to squeeze a few publicity projects into the rankings discreetly. They would also tweak some statistics of those apps that they were publicizing to fit their rankings. Anyways, most users did not know the criteria and rules of the rankings.

  It was similar to the hot searches on Weibo.

  Chapter 264 - Boss Pei Should Be Happy Knowing that Bloody Battle Song’s Popular

  Bloody Battle Song had obviously been snuck in like that. Otherwise, how could it have been downloaded 350,000 times immediately after being released?

  Everyone looked at one another, shocked and confused. What kind of background did Director Lin come from?

  Director Lin had said before that she could obtain recommendation spots in Shenhua’s application store. That was why she suggested changing the game into a mobile one.

  Everyone had thought that they would be inconsequential recommendation spots. At the very most, they thought that the game would be displayed on the home page for one or two weeks.

  However, it looked like they were all wrong!

  Wang Xiaobin looked in the direction of Director Lin’s office and could not help but feel moved. “All of Tengda’s employees are freaks…”

  Wang Xiaobin had worked in Shang Yang Games for many years; he had pretty good self-awareness.

  In such a small city like Jingzhou, one’s exposure would be limited.

  Wang Xiaobin had thought that it was good enough to be the chief systems designer for a web-based game that could generate revenue.

  However, ever since Tengda Games bought Shang Yang Games over, Wang Xiaobin had his pre-conceived ideas crushed into pieces again and again.

  They casually poured five million yuan into research and development and then poured another few million yuan into hiring a celebrity to advertise the game. Now, they had even casually obtained such critical recommendation spots on Shenhua’s application store.

  Wang Xiaobin would never even have dared to imagine these things.

  Apart from ‘awesome’, Wang Xiaobin had no other words to describe this.

  Soon, many gamers began to leave comments on the game’s details page in the application store. Many people also began discussing the game in forums and groups for mobile games and web-based games.

  “Eh? Isn’t this the game that Zha Zhuti advertised?”

  “Why did Zha Zhuti produce a mobile game? Awesome, it’s in such an eye-catching position as well. The company is so rich!”

  “It seems perfectly logical for the game to earn so much money, given its advertising and the fact that it’s a traditional web-based game.”

  “I don’t think so. The game doesn’t have many paywalls.”

  “A web-based game with no paywalls? Are you kidding me?” “Who knows? I heard this from others as well. I thought the mini-client was too big so I didn’t download it.”

  “Yo
u can download the game on your cell phone, then. I don’t have anything to do on the way to work anyway.”

  After the game was placed on Shenhua’s application store, many people began to download Bloody Battle Song! On one hand, it was because the game had been converted from a web-based to a mobile one. The entire market was different. On the other hand, long-term advertising had allowed them to accumulate popularity. In the end, they were able to achieve fundamental change.

  The original Bloody Battle Song was a mini-client. Unlike traditional web-based games, people could not open it and play as and when they wanted to. Yet, compared to traditional client-side games, their graphics and operations were far worse.

  In addition, their paywall model ensured that they could not generate profits from a limited number of players.

  Thus, even though they heavily advertised Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version online, they saw negligible results.

  Although they advertised both versions of the game, the conversion rate for the mini-client was too low.

  If players mistakenly clicked on advertisements for other web-based games, a window would pop up; and they would find themselves in the game at once. They could start playing immediately.

  If they had nothing better to do, they probably would play the game.

  However, Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version was completely different. If players mistakenly clicked the advertisement, they would be asked to download a 370-MB folder. Most people would close that window immediately.

  Now that the game had moved to mobile platforms, the situation was completely different!

  At the moment, traditional card games like Ghost General and Qute Three Kingdoms were considered more popular in the mobile industry. More serious games with complicated operations were still in developmental stages.

  One could say that Bloody Battle Song was a whole level above the market for mobile games because of its graphics and operations!

  It was like in Honor of Kings, when a player who was used to being tortured in the High-King Tier moved to the Bronze Tier and suddenly realized that everyone around him could not play at all.

  What’s more-after Zhang Zuting’s commercial became popular, many people formed an impression of the game in their heads.

  When they saw the game appear in their application store, players who had nothing better to do became curious.

  They could not help but download the game so they could discover the truth behind the commercial. Since the commercial had become so popular, they wanted to see the game’s true colors for themselves.

  Once they entered the game, many people who had originally been prejudiced against it realized that it was completely different from what they had imagined!

  In the afternoon…

  Lin Wan sat in her office, watching the figures increase rapidly. She was over the moon. It looked like changing the game into a mobile one was the right move! Although they could not see much result in half a day, one thing was obvious.

  Bloody Battle Song’s mobile version had been the seventh-best mobile game at first, but it was now number six!

  It was quite amazing.

  Although the mobile version of Bloody Battle Song had been in seventh place on the application store at first, it was only because the staff at Shenhua had created fake figures for it. It was almost the same as buying followers on Weibo.

  However, the exact mechanics behind these rankings were vastly different from hot searches on Weibo.

  The mobile version of Bloody Battle Song was ranked in seventh place because of fake figures. No matter how unpopular it was, it would still remain in seventh place. It would not descend any further.

  However, if its true figures surpassed seventh place, it could continue to climb!

  At first, Lin Wan thought that Shenhua’s staff had adjusted the fake numbers. However, on second thought, she realized that was not logical.

  Whether Bloody Battle Song was in first or seventh place, it would still be seen on the charts. Given that there were so many recommendation spots, it would not make any practical difference even if the game was moved up by one rank. The staff had no real reason to alter the fake figures, right?

  Lin Wan pondered for a while and decided to contact the staff in charge of Shenhua’s application store. She sent a message to ask about the chart.

  The response came almost immediately.

  “Director Lin, those are real figures! I thought it was incredible as well, but I just checked with my technical staff. The game made it to top ten on the charts in a single day!

  “That’s crazy. I’ve been in charge of Shenhua’s application store for so long, and I’ve seen many explosive games. However, I’ve never seen anything like this!

  “I’m going to open two more recommendation spots right now!”

  Even through the cell phone screen, Lin Wan could sense that the staff was pleasantly surprised as well.

  It was natural.

  A single sentence from Boss Yu and the staff had to create so many recommendation spots for the former’s little sister. Although she could not say anything out loud, she must have been cursing in his heart.

  People had to pay for these recommendation spots!

  Of course, the staff would not have received the money. However, these figures were akin to his report card. Just giving away these recommendation spots for free would affect his own achievements and bonuses.

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  He had to forcefully push down many other games and applications in order to give Bloody Battle Song that many recommendation spots. If Bloody Battle Song’s figures turned out to be bad, the platform would lose out in the long term.

  However, in one day alone, Bloody Battle Song’s figures managed to blow up to such an extent. The situation was completely different. The staff could not even wait to give Bloody Battle Song more recommendation spots in order to maximize its exposure!

  Lin Wan finally felt relieved when she heard the staff’s response.

  Great!

  Ever since they began researching and developing Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version, they had experienced many difficulties and setbacks. All the anxiety she felt dissipated at that moment. Lin Wan felt like the clouds had finally parted, and the sun was finally shining bright.

  She had not let Boss Pei down. She had not given up on her own dreams.

  Although she was still a long way from becoming an elite game designer, the mobile version of Bloody Battle Song had proven to be a success. Without a doubt, it was a great beginning!

  Lin Wan’s eyes began to well up. At that moment, the person she most wanted to thank was Boss Pei.

  Before coming to Shang Yang Games, she would never have imagined becoming the leader of a game company, making important strategic decisions, and leading everyone to success.

  Yet, Boss Pei had remained confident in her. He was the one who gave her these precious opportunities to prove herself.

  One could say that without Boss Pei’s encouragement, the mobile version of Bloody Battle Song would not have come so far!

  At that moment, Lin Wan’s phone vibrated.

  She picked it up and saw that it was a message from Boss Pei.

  “You’ve been working hard during this period. I’m going to hold a feast for employees of Shang Yang Games on the evening of the 20th. We’ll meet at the same place.” When she saw this message, Lin Wan perked up.

  Did Boss Pei already know about the developments?

  That seemed unlikely.

  It was not expensive to create the mobile version of the game. What’s more, Boss Pei had given Lin Wan free-reign to make changes to Bloody Battle Song. She was only required to consult him if she met with unresolvable problems.

  Thus, Lin Wan had not informed Boss Pei about the decision to create a mobile version of Bloody Battle Song. To her, this was a matter she could resolve on her own.

  Did someone else report the updates to Boss Pei?

  That was unlikely,
too. After all, nobody stood to gain from doing so.

  What’s more, Boss Pei was a busy man. He had many things to take care of. Lin Wan guessed that he would not have the energy to think about Shang Yang Games. Thus, she was quite sure that Boss Pei did not know about the good news.

  After seeing how hard the employees of Shang Yang Games had been working, he probably arranged for this feast to encourage them.

  If that was the case, Boss Pei’s actions were heart-warming!

  Shang Yang Games had spent a lot of money and achieved nothing. Other leaders would have been hopping mad by now.

  Yet, not only did Boss Pei remain calm, but he also treated everyone with kindness and acceptance. He even wanted to encourage everyone with a feast!

  Lin Wan was moved by this good leader. She immediately replied, “Alright, Boss Pei!”

  Boss Pei may have been busy at work, but he had always paid a lot of attention to Shang Yang Games.

  While they were researching and developing Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version, Boss Pei contributed to the game’s name, gameplay, and advertising method.

  Lin Wan would give Boss Pei a huge surprise during the meal. She would tell him that Bloody Battle Song finally rose from the dead. Losses had turned into profit. Boss Pei should be happy knowing that, right?

  Chapter 265 - Take This as Black Rice!

  September 20th…

  Pei Qian had booked Ming Yun Private Kitchen on the 20th of every month. Although Boss Pei was disappointed that Ming Yun Private Kitchen was now generating profits, he could not save on such expenses.

  In fact, it was precisely because Ming Yun Private Kitchen was no longer incurring losses that he had to pull all stops. He had to channel his sorrow to his appetite and stuff himself with food from Ming Yun Private Kitchen, so that he could spend as much money as possible! Although Ming Yun Private Kitchen was his own restaurant, he had to pay for the food he ate. Take the King Crab that he ate the last time for example. Based on the price of the ingredients alone, each bite cost him thousands of yuan.