Video Game Designer

On Saturday, according to the normal situation, except for some studios who work overtime and on-duty employees, basically most people will have a holiday, and Chuhe will also cat in his home, sleeping on the sofa while eating potato chips , while playing games.

But today Chuhe is going to lead a group of people to visit Tianhe Network, a small company from a mountain city.

"Is this the headquarters of Tianhe Network?"

Wearing a black and red coat and wearing glasses, Wu Zifei, who is about forty years old, and Xu Zhi, who has short wavy hair and looks baby fat.

Just like when Chuhe visited Capcom and EA in the early years, they are the same as Chuhe back then for Tianhe Network at this moment.

"Compared with EA, Capcom, and Nintendo, our Tianhe network still has a long way to go, but I believe this road will get closer and closer." Chu He led two people into the Go to the Tianhe network and point to the figures of the same height next to them to introduce them one by one.

These are the witnesses of the culture of Tianhe Network, from the very beginning to the present.

At the beginning, Tianhe Network was forbidden to visit, but after some changes, the company also specially renovated and opened a viewing area inside the company. Any player or tourist media can visit during normal hours.

Of course, that kind of visit is only for ordinary players to see the culture and honor of Tianhe Network, and some visits that involve a little bit of connotation still need to make an appointment.

People in the game industry like Wu Zifei and Xu Zhi didn't want to visit Tianhe Network, but most of them were rejected by Chuhe.

It's just that this time, on the one hand, Yao Daxian took the initiative to introduce them, and on the other hand, it was Chuhe who inquired about their experiences, so he decided to meet.

This is a game company from a mountain city. It used to only make one ACT game. Of course, it was not a big production with tens of millions of dollars, but a small production game, and then suffered a disastrous failure.

"Only Mr. Chu has such qualifications and confidence to say such a thing." Xu Zhi beside him said with some emotion.

Just like most game producers in the industry, she is not a professional person. She majored in civil engineering in college before, and then joined Pasimiao in Shancheng. Her experience in the industry can be said to be almost half new.

But I also know a little about the domestic game industry. How many manufacturers can confidently say that they are getting closer to world-class game manufacturers such as EA, Capcom, and Nintendo?

Hearing Xu Zhi's exclamation, Chuhe just smiled and did not speak, but continued to take two people to visit various departments of Tianhe Network.

Naturally, some important places cannot be visited, so the places Chuhe showed them were mainly the usual art development department, the game experience area, and the motion capture room belonging to Tianhe Network.

"It is really difficult to achieve such a result in China." Wu Zifei who was beside him said with a sigh.

Unlike Yao Daxian and Zhang Ke, who are local game makers in China, Wu Zifei is a Chinese-American and has worked for THQ, which developed the Warhammer series and the Company of Heroes series.

But compared to ordinary people, he has the experience of working in top foreign game companies and the actual experience after returning to China. He needs to understand what the domestic game environment is like.

When it comes to Huaxia games, especially stand-alone games, you can’t escape some rigid or accurate evaluations—poor, weak, backward, boring, copycats, etc., let alone going abroad and facing the world, if it’s not because of feelings, Huaxia players themselves probably won't buy it.

The emergence of Tianhe Network is really an exception. Before the success of Paz Meow, Wu Zifei returned to China and spent about a year with his team to develop an ACT game, but it was cracked only a few hours after the game was released. On the one hand, it is a factor of piracy, and on the other hand, it is also a factor of the game itself.

"Are you trying to attract investment?" Hearing Wu Zifei recalling the past and sighing with emotion, a guess arose in Chu He's heart, and he said hesitantly.

The scene suddenly became quiet, and Wu Zifei gave a wry smile after two or three seconds.

"I want to visit Tianhe Network and talk about games with Mr. Chu on the one hand, and on the other hand I really want to find investment." Wu Zifei said frankly.

Before founding Paz Meow, Wu Zifei set up a project, but because of team building, games and other reasons, it ended in failure.

"Why did you choose us? After all, we are not angel investors." Chuhe asked strangely.

To attract investment and find Tianhe Network, it sounds like you want to buy canned oranges, and then ran to a stall selling oranges, which makes people feel very strange.

"Because we don't want to make games with the original intention of business, but with the original intention of independent games. We have no reputation or even failure experience. There are very few external funds that agree to our request, and Mr. Chu, you once I invested in the acquisition of Longzu Studio." Wu Zifei said to Chuhe.

Not aiming at the original intention of business does not mean not wanting to make money. In fact, independent games are another existence compared to commercial games, and there is no clear distinction in essence. Generally speaking, the most obvious difference between independent games and commercial games is the aspect of profit. Commercial games are aimed at market profit in the early stages of planning, while independent games focus on gameplay and playability.

For example, the various krypton gold settings in web games are obviously for commercial purposes at the beginning, and the gameplay needs to be considered later. The first consideration is commercial profit.

In the end, the two sides had a discussion, and Wu Zifei showed Chu He a draft of the project proposal.

In the restaurant, after reading the first draft of about fifty pages, Chu He already had a number in his heart.

Different from the IP feelings of Swordsman, Pasimiao has no background and no feelings to consume.

Coupled with deep-rooted thoughts, Pasimiao couldn't put all his eggs in the domestic basket when he wanted to make a pure stand-alone machine at the beginning, because in their opinion, although the domestic stand-alone machine has begun to recover, the stand-alone market is still too large. Small, especially some unpopular games.

In the budget, this project will exceed 5 million. This is already a big investment project, especially a stand-alone project. The quality of the game is one aspect of making money in China. On the other hand, it also has emotional blessings. For example, starting from the surrounding market, The frantic peripheral products launched by Swordsman Legend, such as cheap demon figures and plastic umbrellas are the best examples.

"Those of us who are engaged in games, especially those who engage in stand-alone machines, can't just aim at getting back the cost, because it doesn't make sense to us, that would be equivalent to wasting several years of development time, only if the profit reaches three times the cost, or even Four times, so that after the team distributes bonuses, we will have enough funds to invest more in the next project and gradually move towards greater goals." Wu Zifei said.

Hearing what Wu Zifei said, Chuhe nodded in agreement.

For a project with an investment of 5 million, if the final profit is 5 million, then for the entire company, it is actually a loss, because the development time and team bonuses need to be deducted, and the profit reaches twice the cost That is 10 million, which can only be said to be a return of capital. Only when the profit amount is tripled or quadrupled, can the team invest more.

This is why most companies with no investment and no background suddenly and inexplicably disbanded after the first game was a great success, and the second game received a mediocre response but was not a disastrous failure.

Because these companies have no room to fail, they must succeed, and continue to succeed.

"It's a very interesting game, and it's almost perfect." Chu He turned off the document and looked at Wu Zifei and said, in fact, Chu He was already willing to invest in it, although it was only a reduced version, but from Chu He's perspective Naturally, it can be seen that the other party has a complete set of ideas.

"This idea came up a long time ago. As early as when I was in THQ, the person in charge at that time submitted a proposal for this project. It's a pity that the producer was not interested in this proposal at that time." Wu Zifei said with a smile.

"As for the proportion of investment, there will be people inside the company to discuss with you. I am basically not responsible for this. The only thing I can promise is that as long as it does not appear to be the kind of decision to die, I will not interfere with the strategy of game development and operation." Chu He looked at Wu Zifei and said.

Chuhe has already decided to invest, but because Wu Zifei does not agree to a wholly-owned acquisition here, he still invests according to the valuation ratio. Of course, these are negotiated by special people, although an investment of several million is not enough for Chuhe today. It's nothing, but he doesn't start a charity, and he doesn't just come to a domestic game company, so he has to invest.

The reason why he decided to invest was not only that the other party's concept of stand-alone games was compatible with his own, but more importantly, the other party's game projects looked very interesting.

Because I don’t understand business, and it’s not a commercial text, it might be a little unrealistic. It’s all in one stroke, and the main thing is to put it on the game~ As for the company in this mountain city, I think everyone should know what kind of game it is developing.