The world is in trouble

Chapter 276 The Hunt! The Pinnacle!
The current shareholding structure of Dream Vision is very complex, but in summary, Lin Xiao holds about 35% of the shares in the company, but his voting rights exceed 70%.

The remaining shares belong to Masayoshi Son, Sony Columbia, Xia Xi, and Li Meijing.

This investment was undoubtedly one of Masayoshi Son's most casual investments, and the amount was very small, but no one expected it to soar to this level.

And most importantly... Lin Xiao has pledged almost all of his shares to Masayoshi Son.

In other words, if Lin Xiao fails to repay the more than 900 million US dollars by the due date, Masayoshi Son will be able to acquire more than half of the shares of Dream Vision.

Previously, he might not have cared too much about this wealth. But now, the value of this stake is an astonishing figure.

Moreover, when Lin Xiao pledged these shares, they were only worth about two hundred million US dollars, but now they have increased many times over.

As the saying goes, wealth can be very tempting.

Many financial tycoons lobbied Masayoshi Son to take advantage of the situation and legally seize all of Lin Xiao's shares in Dream Vision.

The solution was quite simple: collaborate with Sony Columbia to delay paying Lin Xiao the box office revenue share he was owed.

Because of the movie "The Hunger Games", the Lin Xiao Group was the largest producer, accounting for about 80%, while Sony Columbia only accounted for 20%.

Of course, Sony still manages to reap the biggest profits because it is the publisher in most markets worldwide.

Based on the current global box office trend of this film, Lin Xiao is likely to receive around two hundred million US dollars in box office revenue.

Of course, there's also the revenue sharing from DVD and videotape copyrights, which is also a significant amount.

Generally speaking, the settlement period for movie box office revenue sharing varies in length.

Therefore, if Masayoshi Son can really get Sony to agree to extend the revenue sharing period to next year, then when the deadline arrives, Lin Xiao will definitely not be able to repay the huge loan of nine hundred million US dollars.

At that time, Masayoshi Son will be able to legitimately take over the shares of YouTube, Facebook in the United States, and Dreamscape.

When the contract was signed, these shares were pledged for approximately $9 million.

Now, the value of those shares has increased many times over.

With such huge profits, almost anyone would be tempted.

Therefore, countless financial giants have lobbied Masayoshi Son and Sony.

There are Hollywood moguls and Wall Street tycoons.

There are even many high-level brokers.

Among them are Microsoft and Google.

Because Facebook is so popular in the US, YouTube is so popular overseas, and even Dream World is so popular.

That's enough to make the giants salivate.

These giants have very, very tempting bargaining chips in their negotiations with Masayoshi Son and Sony.

Basically, they were willing to join forces with Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, and Merrill Lynch, and lobby Sony to create a loan default by Lin Xiao, in order to help Masayoshi Son acquire more than 30 percent of the shares of each of these three unicorn companies.

According to the contract, if Lin Xiao is unable to repay the principal and interest of the nine hundred million US dollars, Masayoshi Son will have to help cover the cost.

The bargaining chip these financial giants offered was that Masayoshi Son wouldn't have to pay a single penny; they would provide the more than 900 million US dollars.

Once Masayoshi Son acquires shares in Facebook, YouTube, and Dreamworld, he can give them one-third of those shares.

In other words, Masayoshi Son can acquire more than 20 percent of the shares in three unicorn companies for free, without paying a single penny.

All that's needed is to betray Lin Xiao.

Meanwhile, Sony Columbia has received countless lobbying offers.

The goal was to get them to delay the revenue sharing period for Lin Xiao, thus creating a loan default for him.

It can only be said that the three companies have developed too quickly, arousing a lot of jealousy.

And what gives you, a Chinese person, the right to control such a large amount of profit?
Taking advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to swallow these benefits whole is, of course, incredibly tempting.

Masayoshi Son secretly met with Lin Xiao.

"You'd better hurry up and negotiate the revenue sharing period with Sony. I don't know how many financial giants and giants have tried to tempt or even threaten me."

"For the sake of our friendship, I will not betray you."

"But when the benefits are large enough that I can take them, and I don't, many people will be dissatisfied with me and will escalate their threats against me."

"Therefore, you need to fix this flaw you've exposed as soon as possible, otherwise it will be like a glaring wound on a lion, attracting not only countless flies, but also other lions, cheetahs, and even hyenas."

“Going forward, I will face increasing pressure because I am an outsider to American giants.”

Lin Xiao: "I understand. Can you tell me who wants to hunt me down this time?"

Masayoshi Son: "Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Microsoft, Google, and so on..."

That's the power of capital. One minute they're all smiles and doing business with you, the next they might want to bite you to death.

......................................................

Next, Lin Xiao met with Amy Pascal.

"The Hunger Games are so popular that they've aroused a lot of jealousy."

"It's too famous."

“Now, not only are many big players coming to me, but even many people within Sony want to exploit this weakness and take a big bite out of you in this hunt. At the very least, they want to get the rights to develop the entire Hunger Games in advance.”

"What we need to do is very simple: delay the revenue sharing for The Hunger Games, and then delay the revenue sharing for Kung Fu Panda."

"You should know that this is very normal in Hollywood. Many big directors and stars have had this experience."

That's not all. Some Hollywood moguls, in order to avoid sharing profits with stars and directors, have deliberately made a hugely profitable film appear to be a loss in their accounting.

Even if it grosses a billion dollars worldwide, in the end, it still loses money.

Of course, as the largest producer, Lin Xiao doesn't receive a share of the profits, but rather a direct share of the box office revenue; he gets whatever he's entitled to.

However, it's really possible to drag it out for a year or two.

"Lin, don't worry, as long as I'm here, I will definitely give you your share of the box office revenue in a timely manner." Amy: "But the global box office revenue share for this movie will only be around 200 million at most."

"There's still a long way to go before you reach your massive $900 million debt."

"You must find a way to get this money right away."

“Of course, there’s another way to give you a quick boost in income,” Amy Pascal said. “Don’t wait for the revenue sharing from DVDs and videotapes; that takes too long. Just let us buy them outright, and the price will be very high.”

“I’ve calculated it. If we buy out the videotape and DVD rights to The Hunger Games, as well as the television broadcasting rights, in one go, I could give you more than 1 million US dollars, depending on my authority.”

"That adds up to more than 300 million US dollars, and could potentially reach as high as 350 million US dollars."

"You still have a shortfall of nearly $600 million."

“Lin, we have to be quick, otherwise it will be too dangerous if the interests involved are too great,” Amy Pascal said. “If the interests are big enough, they might even be able to get someone to replace me.”

"You should get your team to negotiate with Sony as soon as possible, and then sign the contract immediately."

"I'll settle your bill as quickly as possible."

In Amy's view, strongly opposing dissenting voices within the group was tantamount to killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. She and Lin Xiao had been working together for many years and knew how to maximize their profits.

Moreover, her strategic alliance with Lin Xiao is now extremely deep.

........................

Next, both sides moved very quickly.

One day of negotiations, two days to sign the contract.

Within a few days, the buyout fees for the copyrights of DVDs and videotapes were directly deposited into Lin Xiao's account.

However, box office revenue sharing is not so quick.

However, AMC quickly signed a contract, acquiring the second season of "Breaking Bad" for $6500 million.

CBS hesitated for a while about whether to pay the copyright fee for "The Squid Game" on schedule.

But Leslie, the Mexican tycoon, weighed the pros and cons for a long time.

What does it have to do with me that those tech giants are hunting down Lin Xiao, this Chinese man?
This hunting feast is very tempting, but I won't get any meat.

The contract had already been signed, and if I didn't pay this fee, it would jeopardize any possibility of cooperation with Dream Vision.

In addition, I will have to bear the consequences of breaching the contract, while what I will probably gain is the goodwill of those big shots.
However, my reputation is going to be ruined.

Totally unnecessary.

Besides, they didn't even come to me, so why should I make a scene for myself?
So CBS ultimately and readily transferred the $2900 million fee to Lin Xiao.

....................................

Lin Xiao went to Er Gou Studio in the United States, carrying several newspapers in his hand.

It seems that public opinion has suddenly started to exert its influence, and is now widely publicizing Lin Xiao's debt crisis!

The newspapers listed exactly how much money Lin Xiao owed, down to the single digit.

The repayment period was also clearly stated.

Moreover, the overall tone of the article is that there are still six months left until the repayment deadline, and this young Chinese man is destined not to be able to raise the money.

Furthermore, the article concludes by advising major US banks to be cautious with their lending practices.

This is a typical hunting behavior.

First, expose your wound completely, then tear it open violently, showing it to everyone in a bloody display.

This is also a warning to many people: we are conducting a hunting operation, so don't interfere or obstruct it.

This scene was seen many times over the years.

The downfall of many giants and tycoons began with the collapse of dollar-denominated bonds.

First, it was reported to the media, then it was widely exposed, tearing open the wound.

The best outcome of this hunt for Lin Xiao would be for Lin Xiao to breach the contract, allowing them to acquire the highest quality assets at the lowest cost.

In a better-than-average outcome, Lin Xiao would start selling off valuable assets at a low price in order to repay his debts.

Therefore, in this world, glory and splendor are also very dangerous.

Standing at the top is glorious, but it also makes one a target of criticism.

One day you might be riding high, the next you could be in a sorry state. A certain newly richest man must have a lot to say about this.

Lin Xiao put the newspapers down.

The Hunger Games, Breaking Bad, and The Squid Game IPs have already brought him a lot of cash.

It is estimated that around $4.3 million will be earned.

Next, a large portion of the revenue will come from Fallout 3 games.

It took three and a half years and cost $3700 million to complete.

Compared to previous Fallout 3 games, the development time was even longer, the number of developers was three times that of Fallout 3, and the development costs were several times higher.

This is based on the fact that two-thirds of the team members are from China, and the salary costs are much, much lower.

Therefore, the development scale of Fallout 3 in this world is much, much larger than that of the previous version.

In this respect, Lightning Games really does have a bit of a Rockstar feel to it.

Lin Xiao visited Er Gou's studio once again.

Although the game has been completed, the entire studio has entered its busiest phase because it is about to be released.

Sawyer, the head of Er Gou Studio, kept getting phone calls.

The phone was ringing almost constantly around him, and he was also constantly making calls to other people.

The game will be released globally on September 1st.

The internet environment has improved a lot, and games have become digitized, but a large portion of sales still rely on physical CDs.

Moreover, this game is a whopping 10 GB in size, more than 50% larger than its historical counterpart.

Before the game is released, there will be a large-scale promotion, so the game will be sent to relevant review media well in advance.

There is also extensive distribution.

Lin Xiao didn't bother Sawyer, but went to the best computer in the studio and opened Fallout 3.

The powerful yet melancholic theme song began to play.

The save file has been loaded, and the protagonist has now left the shelter and entered the outside world.

This scene... is fantastic.

Compared to last November, the game has been greatly improved.

Lin Xiao opened Crysis 1 directly on another computer. Although the game wouldn't be released for another three months, Lin Xiao had already found a way to get his hands on it.

A very detailed comparison was conducted.

Lin Xiao felt that the visuals of Fallout 3 were in no way inferior to those of Crysis.

However, the latter, being set on an island, has extremely high vegetation density and a greater variety of elements, thus placing a much greater strain on the graphics card. Undoubtedly, Fallout 3's graphics are top-tier in the current global gaming industry.

Even the highest level.

Before a game is released, the most important thing is public relations, which is the ratings from relevant authoritative media.

Even many years from now, the ratings from authoritative media outlets will still be very important.

suddenly……

Sawyer's voice suddenly rose in volume.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck..."

"Corey, you are disgracing the entire gaming industry."

"Put your hand on your conscience, tell God, are you telling the truth?"

"Don't let profit blind you, and don't let IGN's authority be tarnished."

Then, Sawyer angrily hung up the phone, took a deep breath, and went to stand in front of Lin Xiao.

"Sorry, Boss!"

"Our Fallout 3 has been marginalized and suppressed. IGN may give us a low score and a bad review."

"The key point is that they are lying. Not long ago, their game editor called me, expressing his excitement and praising our game to the skies. He even called me in the middle of the night to say that we had developed a great game."

"Although they didn't give a score at the time, someone told me that they would give our game an unprecedentedly high score and say that it would be the best RPG game in 20 years."

"But now their tone has changed."

Capital is ubiquitous; even seemingly authoritative media outlets are ultimately controlled by capital.

IGN is considered the most authoritative and important rating in the gaming industry.

Sawyer said hoarsely, "Boss, Microsoft's Halo 3 will be released on the same day as ours."

"Could it be them? Why would such a big company like Microsoft, such a giant, go after such a small company like ours?"

Lin Xiao: "What about Europe and Japan?"

Currently, there are three most important markets for single-player games worldwide: North America, Europe, and Japan.

Sawyer: "I don't know, I'll handle the public relations immediately. If it's just a competition between two games, then neither the European nor the Japanese media should be affected much."

But what if it's to hunt down Lin Xiao's most valuable assets?

So that he would default on his debts?
That would be worth the significant cost.

....................................

Lin Xiaofei went to Washington, but he still didn't visit Microsoft; instead, he went to Steam.

After more than two years of development, Steam's user base has grown rapidly, now reaching around 2000 million users worldwide.

Historically, they won't reach this number of users until next year because in the early days, no one was optimistic about Steam and no one invested in it.

In this world, Lin Xiao invested tens of millions of dollars more than two years ago, which made its development much faster than in history.

It's a pity it's not glorious enough; otherwise, this platform alone would have been enough to make Lin Xiao incredibly powerful, as he is one of the largest shareholders.

More than a decade later, this platform alone was worth tens of billions of dollars.

The two founders warmly stepped forward and hugged Lin Xiao.

"Lin, Fallout 3 is amazing, it's so excellent!"

"This is the best RPG game in 20 years."

Lin Xiao: "Gabe, Mike, our Fallout 3 may face a siege. Game media such as IGN may give us a low score because we changed our style and said that we subverted the tone of Fallout 2."

Gabe Newell said slowly, "Actually, we've heard about it too."

“Some people in the industry are already stirring up certain emotions, claiming that the radiation originally belonged to the United States, but now it has become China’s.”

"And they're even claiming that this is a terrible loss of American cultural heritage."

“Even more ridiculous claims are that this is some kind of communist conspiracy.”

"Of course, this is America after all, and we don't care too much about these emotions. After all, the Soviet Union has been gone for more than a decade, and these arguments are simply terribly naive."

Lin Xiao: "At this time, I need your support."

Gabe Newell: "Don't worry, we on Steam will definitely promote this game in the most prominent places."

Lin Xiao: "Not only that, if we are really treated unfairly in media ratings, I hope to start a movement."

“Record a video and put it on YouTube, giving your rating for Fallout 3.”

Gabe Newell said, "I understand. You want to unite and rally the top people in the gaming world to fight against the ratings from media outlets like IGN. Use a more authoritative group to strike at these media outlets."

Lin Xiao: "Yes, is that alright?"

Gabe Newell: "Of course, no problem, you're the game angel."

Mike Harrington: "We not only do it ourselves, but we also call on our friends and other game developers to do it."

"Lin, your reputation in the gaming industry is too good. You could totally make a splash."

"This is a big operation, an exciting operation, let's get moving, let's get moving!"

..........................................

Lin Xiao flew back to California and headed to San Mateo.

Amy Pascal personally accompanied him on a visit to Sony Electronic Entertainment (also translated as Computer Entertainment), the predecessor of Sony Interactive Entertainment, which was in charge of games.

Sony Electronic Entertainment gave Lin Xiao extremely high treatment.

Outside the company, a long red carpet was laid out, and Kazuo Hirai, the newly appointed CEO of the electronic entertainment company, was there with many people to greet them at the entrance.

For a long time, global gaming platforms have been somewhat similar to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft.

Most of the time, Sony is the strongest. Last November, Sony's PS3 was launched, ushering in the era of 1080P high definition.

The Xbox 360 from two years ago is considered Microsoft's most successful game console ever, even surpassing the PS3 in many specifications.

The next part involved a company tour, a brief interaction with Sony Electronic Entertainment employees, and then a meeting.

Lin Xiao's visit to Sony Electronic Entertainment had only one purpose: to obtain Sony's full support, put pressure on the global gaming media, and exert greater efforts in the promotion of Fallout 3.

It was actually quite difficult, because Lin Xiao's Fallout 3 was only released on the PS3 as a launch platform, not as an exclusive platform.

Sony Electronic Entertainment treats exclusive games and launch titles at completely different levels.

But Lin Xiao is different; he is now practically one of Sony's most important strategic allies worldwide.

Moreover, Kazuo Hirai also came from Sony Music, not from an engineering background, but from a purely entertainment background, so his relationship with Sony Columbia Pictures is closer.

"Lin, your Fallout 3 is simply magic."

"It seems to have been born for our PS3. Since our console was launched last year, very few games have been able to push it to its limits, or rather, very few games have been able to satisfy it."

"But your Fallout 3 and our PS3 are a perfect match."

"This game, whether in terms of graphics or gameplay, is simply an immortal masterpiece."

Although Kazuo Hirai doesn't understand technology, he still praised Fallout 3 in unparalleled terms, showering it with compliments. While some of what he said was true, it was mostly mutual flattery.

Of course, Lin Xiao also highly praised Sony Electronic Entertainment and the PS3.

"We have a common enemy," Lin Xiao said bluntly at the end.

Hirai Kazuo was taken aback, then nodded vigorously and said, "Yes, we have a common enemy."

"Sony is certainly a global company, but our parent company is in East Asia, and Lightning Games' parent company is also in East Asia."

"I believe that we should be treated fairly on American soil."

"Neither Fallout 3 nor Lightning Games should be bullied."

"Lin, Sony Electronic Entertainment will definitely give you Fallout 3 the highest level of treatment, no less than that of an exclusive game!"

"In addition, we would like to thank you for your early optimization and adaptation for the PS3, which made the game extremely smooth on the PS3 platform."

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A few days later!

The most prestigious IGN ratings in the world have been released.

Halo 3, 9.5 points!
Radiation rating: 3, 8.3 points!
The former score is similar to the historical score, while the latter is 1.3 points lower than the historical score.

Historically, Fallout 3 has a rating of 9.6.

And most importantly, there are the reviews inside.

Compared to Fallout 2, after the Chinese bought the Fallout rights, they made almost revolutionary changes to the entire game.

Fallout 2 didn't sell well, but it has a group of very loyal fans who are very protective of the Fallout universe.

In his review, he specifically pointed out that the Chinese bought the copyright to Radiation, resulting in a disruptive change.

This is to provoke die-hard fans of the Fallout IP, telling them that the game has been completely distorted.

It is well known that fans of the original work, the die-hard fans, are often quite resistant to changes.

"In addition, the protagonist of the game is actually half Chinese. Of course, this is not bad news. I can understand the mentality of the current owner of this IP in making this decision."

"However, the large amount of Chinese storyline in the game seems very abrupt, even though the Fallout universe is based on a nuclear war between the US and China leading to the apocalypse. The game's setting is the East Coast of the United States, Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. Isn't it unreasonable to include so much Chinese storyline in it?"

"To reiterate, I completely understand the IP owner's motives. But is this eagerness to add so many Chinese elements an expression of some kind of nationalist sentiment?"

“We firmly believe that a game should not incorporate so many political elements; games should be purer.”

"Therefore, we are very sorry about Fallout 3."

The article also cited some screenshots, which showed prominent five-pointed stars, imposing Chinese weapons, and military faces.

All I can say is that the cuts were very professional; they were trying to create a sense of cultural invasion.

Immediately afterwards, Gamespot's editorial review was released.

Microsoft's Halo 3, 9.4 points.

Radiation rating: 3, 8.3 points.

This media outlet did not emphasize the Chinese elements in the game, but it highlighted the revolutionary changes made to Fallout 2, which made the game seem to lose the essence of Fallout.

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8 Month 18 Day!
Lightning Games held a global launch event for Fallout 3 in the United States!
This surprised many people. When did a game start having a press conference?

We're not surprised that a movie has a premiere.

The games are basically only demonstrated and released at exhibitions such as E3.

So, you held a press conference just for a single game?
Of course, Lin Xiao will not be present at this press conference; the main speaker will be Sawyer, the head of Er Gou Studio.

Currently, YouTube still cannot provide large-scale global live streaming functionality, and in the United States, there are still some procedures to go through and relevant licenses are required to enable the LIVE function.

Therefore, pre-recorded broadcasts are the only option.

The guests attending this press conference were truly glamorous.

Valve, Ubisoft, Epic Games, Capcom, Konami, and other gaming giants were all present.

More than 60% of the world's renowned game producers were present.

Furthermore, Kazuo Hirai, CEO of Sony Electronic Entertainment, was also present and sat in the most prominent position.

Then, many reporters sensed something was amiss.

This is not an ordinary game launch event; it is a fierce battle of capital.

A battle of giants.

It's not just a war between Halo 3 and Fallout 3.

It's not just a battle between Lightning Games and Xbox games.

It's still a battle between Sony and Microsoft.

Lin Xiao invested a lot of money in this press conference.

Since it's difficult to change the ratings of the most authoritative media outlets in the United States, we might as well take public relations to an unconventional extreme.

Maximize the exposure of Fallout 3, escalate the conflict, and attract the attention of players worldwide.

Two weeks before release, maximize the game's exposure to create a new sales phenomenon.

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Note: This is so hard to write, I must change the update time back tomorrow! My benefactors, do you still have your guaranteed monthly votes? Could you please give them to me?
(End of this chapter)