You call this entrepreneurship?

Chapter 462 A great victory
Soon, the situation became turbulent.

The two founders of Riot Games were dumbfounded when faced with the subpoena. Compared to Brandon Baker's slow reaction, Marco Merrill immediately noticed the crux of the problem.

They quickly hired a lawyer and first consulted about certain terms in the gambling agreement to confirm how much they would pay if they lost the lawsuit.

According to the terms of the bet, if Riot Games infringes on the rights of the game project and causes losses, Party A (the investor) will receive a maximum reward of 70% of the company's shares.

Before signing the agreement, the two people consulted a lawyer to understand the ownership of DOTA.

This is a mess in itself, and even if Blizzard comes, they can't sue them.

Since the largest IP-related party has no chance of winning the lawsuit, then it is basically a sure win. Others will have no legitimate reason or legitimacy to fight for ownership.

Moreover, taking ownership of the DOTA IP would indeed be beneficial for Riot Games in attracting investment, and Edward Damon increased the company's valuation at the time.

On the one hand, it is an investment of real money, and on the other hand, it is a low-probability event.

This is a completely beneficial thing with no harm. How can you lose when the dragon hits your face?
But no one expected that the situation would take a turn for the worse just a few days later, and suddenly someone emerged to compete for the DOTA IP.

Now when they checked the terms of the bet, they found that they were full of traps, and the two founders were so regretful that they stamped their feet.

But they can't just like to bet on the contract when things are in their favor.

Business is business and a contract is a contract, and both are protected by law.

The lawyer confirmed that if they lost the lawsuit, they would suffer heavy losses.

After that, things become simple: how can you win the lawsuit?

Even though the lawyer had helped assess the risks before they signed the bet contract, the two were still panicking.

After confirming with the lawyer again, they had a high chance of winning the case, so they felt relieved and began to actively deal with the lawsuit.

First, Guisuo, one of the parties involved, was pulled over and was scolded by the two founders.

Then the two bosses forced him to compile evidence to prove that the DOTA IP belonged entirely to him.

Guisuo was also dumbfounded, he never thought he would encounter such a thing. DOTA was obviously a game he made, so how come the IP didn't belong to him?

At this point, he could only start collecting evidence and prepare to fight the lawsuit.

If you don't prepare well, you might lose, and I'm not kidding.

Guisou doesn't have the money to hire an expensive lawyer. If the opponent spends a lot of money to hire a lawyer, it is possible that he can easily defeat his lawyer.

After all, there is a clear gap between lawyers who earn a few hundred dollars an hour and those who earn tens of thousands of dollars an hour.

The other person involved in the incident, Pencil Dragon, received the news the latest. He realized something was wrong when he found someone scolding him on the forum.

Faced with the overwhelming attacks and accusations from DOTA players, Pencil Dragon panicked and immediately enabled his permissions.

First, the posts were deleted, then the account was banned, and all the posts attacking him were blocked.

This action angered more DOTA players, and more and more users flocked to the forum, posting crazy abusive messages.

Finally, Pencil Dragon couldn't delete any more messages, so he directly activated the big mute technique and banned posting rights on the entire forum.

The forum was quiet, but the popularity of this matter on Facebook skyrocketed.

The DOTA group on Facebook quickly formed a player committee, and everyone began voting to select player representatives, and then crowdfunded to hire a lawyer.

No matter who the DOTA IP belongs to, as long as we can win the lawsuit against Pencil Dragon and Ghostsong, we players will definitely help!
As a third party, Facebook played a significant role in this. Not only did it give the incident a very high level of attention, it was also willing to sponsor a sum of money to the DOTA Player Committee to fight the lawsuit.

Many lawyers also volunteered to represent the DOTA Players Committee, even for free.

The powerful network once again played a role. The "DOTA Player Committee" found the long-retired DOTA founder Eul and production team member Neichus, and IceFrog was also willing to testify in court.

In order to increase the chances of a successful lawsuit, the "DOTA Player Committee" also launched a signature petition campaign on Facebook.

Soon, DOTA fans from all over the world gathered in the Facebook DOTA community and signed their names in support.

Blizzard, which had been observing for a long time, suddenly jumped out and said that DOTA has a deep connection with them, and in fact they are the real masters of DOTA.

The players quickly turned their guns around and criticized Blizzard, and Blizzard immediately said that although DOTA was theirs, they were willing to share it with players for free.

Then, Blizzard also hired a lawyer and actively participated in the DOTA battle.

TNB, Riot Games, Blizzard, and the "DOTA Players Committee" were in a four-way fight, and the northwest United States was in chaos.

……

A week later, the local court in Seattle officially opened the trial.

Local DOTA players in Seattle spontaneously rushed to the scene to cheer, held up banners in protest outside the court, and even more than a dozen media reporters showed up to interview.

In court, TNB directly presented evidence that the two IPs, DOTA and dota-allstars, were registered by them as early as December 2003, which is officially certified by the United States.

When TNB’s lawyer presented the official legal documents, Riot Games was completely stunned, and Guisoo, who appeared in court, was stunned.

At that time, he had not yet taken over DOTA, but the other party had already registered.

This ultimate move made him unable to use it. Originally, he could still rely on the title of "the father of DOTA" to get some benefits, but now he is accused of plagiarizing others.

Riot Games’ lawyers were also confused. How can they fight this lawsuit?
When Blizzard's lawyer saw that the situation was not right, he immediately suggested to his client that they cut the lawsuit, saying that they had no chance of winning and that it was better not to get involved.

So Blizzard chose to withdraw decisively, and then issued a touching statement, saying that it decided to give up the competition for the DOTA IP for the sake of the players.

After discussion, the "DOTA Player Committee" decided to continue the lawsuit.

Because the name DOTA was created by the game founder Eul in October 2002, when he also built the first generation of official community.

The lawyers of the committee felt that this was convincing evidence, at least proving that DOTA had a creator and that it was registered earlier than TNB.

At least, they can still fight for it.

However, Riot Games definitely has no hope. Although their lawyers presented a lot of evidence to show the relationship between Guinsoo and DOTA, the court directly ruled that they lost the case.

Riot Games has violated the rights of TNB and they have no right to use the two IPs of DOTA and dota-allstars.

The official forum of dota-allstars should either be renamed or handed over to TNB.

A representative of TNB told reporters at the door of the court that the reason we filed the lawsuit was not for money, but to defend our legitimate rights and interests.

In response to the demands of the "DOTA Players Committee", TNB said it was open for communication and negotiation.

After negotiations and communication, TNB quickly reached a settlement with the Players' Committee.

TNB said that the official forum of dota-allstars belongs to the entire player community, and as for the two IPs of DOTA and dota-allstars, they will authorize them to third-party game companies for use. All the income obtained will be used to build the player community, establish regular official competitions and award competition prizes.

At this point, TNB, Valve, several DOTA development team members and the majority of players are very satisfied.

Blizzard was just there to make a cameo appearance, and suffered no loss other than being scolded and paying legal fees.

Riot Games is the biggest loser. Seeing that they are about to lose 70% of their shares, the two founders are unwilling to admit defeat.

They appealed directly in the Los Angeles court. If I can't beat you in Seattle, why can't I beat you in Los Angeles?
Then the Los Angeles court quickly ruled that they supported the Seattle court's decision, and Riot Games lost the case again.

Double kill!

TNB directly stated that if you are not satisfied, you can continue to appeal and you can choose any court in the United States.

After realizing the gap in strength, Riot Games had no choice but to give in.

Bro, I give up. I don’t want the DOTA IP anymore.

It’s not mine anyway, so I’ve let it go.

You can give up the IP, but losing the shares is really a loss.

The two founders had no choice but to accept the reality and obediently handed over 70% of their shares. Fortunately, they still had some shares left and did not lose everything.

As for the person involved, Guisoo, in addition to losing the lawsuit, his reputation among the DOTA player community has been almost ruined, and the player committee has expelled him from the DOTA creator list.

Feeling frustrated and disheartened, he once wanted to resign, but was finally retained by Riot Games.

We have already lost to this point. The only chance to turn things around is to make the game. Otherwise, we will lose completely.

As for the other person, Pencil Dragon, he lost the most completely. As the instigator, both Riot Games and the player community hated him.

He was soon removed from Riot Games, and the company issued a statement to cut ties with him.

The Players' Committee also publicly ruled that this person is a scum and traitor in the DOTA community and has been added to the permanent blacklist.

Pencil Dragon’s biggest reliance was the player forum, but now it has been stripped of all permissions and even its account has been permanently banned.

With resentment and unwillingness, he quietly disappeared from the Internet.

TNB soon signed a cooperation agreement with Valve, entrusting Valve to develop DOTA, and "DOTA2" was officially launched.

At the same time, several other members of the DOTA development team announced that they had joined Valve and were responsible for leading the development of the project.

……

When the Seattle court made its ruling, Qin Shaoyan and others had already embarked on their journey back home.

Zhang Pingyi was surprised when he learned the final result. "I thought you were going to kick the founder of Riot Games out completely."

"It's not the right time yet." Qin Shaoyan explained with a smile, "I still need them to set up the framework of the entire project, at least to get the project on the right track. At the same time, before I find a new producer, the two of them will still be useful."

"Continuous additional financing will easily squeeze them out. There is no need to make a big move now, which will affect the project."

"What about Gui Suo?" Zhang Pingyi asked, "Why did you keep him here?"

"This person is a little stupid, but he is still useful." Qin Shaoyan took the juice handed over by Mingyue and took a sip. "I still need someone to check and balance the production team of "DOTA2"."

“DOTA2 must have it, and so must League of Legends.”

"The stage has been set for them, but who can stand up on their own still depends on their hard power."

Qin Shaoyan said with emotion, "Who will be the king of MOBA? Let Hayek's big hand test it."

"You are now using the strategy of raising Gu." Zhang Pingyi was very surprised.

In the past, Qin Shaoyan was a man of his word. He would do whatever project he said he would do, and he had never failed.

Now Qin Shaoyan no longer makes games himself, but starts to form different teams for each type, focusing on one thing that has it all.

"I have a lot of things to do, so I need to focus on attracting investment." Qin Shaoyan said seriously, "I can't control every detail, so I can only let the team figure it out on their own."

“There are gaps between people, and the same is true for the capabilities of a team.”

“Let the teams compete among themselves. The winners who emerge first will be better able to adapt to the market.”

"Moreover, games of the same type have different positioning. For example, the two FPS games "Counter-Strike Online" and "CSOL" have a low threshold and are suitable for players to relax and have fun, while the other focuses more on competition and is suitable for experienced players."

"The same is true for DOTA and League of Legends. DOTA is fun, but the entry barrier is too high. The operation of controlling the line of soldiers, the terrain and vision are enough for ordinary players to learn for a long time."

"If we want to promote the game and attract more players, we need to lower the threshold of the game."

Zhang Pingyi thought about it and felt that what Qin Shaoyan said made sense.

In the field of gaming, he can fully trust Mr. Qin's vision and judgment.

"This trip to the United States was very rewarding." Qin Shaoyan looked at the clouds outside the plane and felt refreshed.

He used to hate flying abroad, but now he kind of enjoys the journey.

After all, every time he comes, he will have fewer opportunities to go abroad. I guess he won’t be able to go abroad in a few years.

This time, not only did he successfully take Campus Network public, he also cashed out a portion of his Facebook shares, giving him more liquid funds on hand.

We also took over the "DOTA2" and "LOL" projects, giving us two more good cards in our hands.

"The most important thing is that we won the lawsuit." Qin Shaoyan raised the juice with a strange smile on his face, "This shows that we still have many friends in the American judicial community."

Zhang Pingyi was very surprised. "I have friends in the American judicial system. What's there to be happy about?"

"You don't understand." Qin Shaoyan answered nonchalantly, "In the future, we may have to come to the United States to sue more often. So far, we have maintained a winning streak, which is very helpful."

Zhang Pingyi certainly didn't understand, and Qin Shaoyan didn't explain further.

"Master Zhang, you will have to work hard again after you return home." Qin Shaoyan quickly changed the subject and said seriously, "The campus network is going to make a big move again."

“Although the company has gone public, this is just the beginning.”

"Some people have criticized Campus Network's stock price for being inflated, which is very bad for the company. We must be responsible to our investors and shareholders."

Zhang Pingyi suddenly became serious, "What do you want to do?"

"Next, we need to expand the number of users on the campus network and make it break through the circle." Qin Shaoyan said, "Do you know any web games?"

(End of this chapter)