My game, you have no right to award

Chapter 170 Like a thorn
"Hey, why did you come here in person?"

Niu Tieming greeted Zhou Kuang who had just arrived at his company. There was a hint of complaint in his tone, but he couldn't stop smiling on his face.

Seeing the high-spirited look on the other person's face, Zhou Kuang couldn't bear to tell him the truth and hit him, so he changed the subject and asked about work.

This is what Zhou Kuang is really good at.

"Are there any teams you're optimistic about?"

Since it is an incubator, it is impossible for Niu Tieming to poach game teams from within the Antarctic Group.

Even if we can dig them out, they will definitely not be valued by others. The quality of talent and team capabilities should be clear with a little thought.

Therefore, selecting talents from outside is a task that must be done.

"I was just about to ask you about this!"

Niu Tieming's eyes lit up, and he quickly pulled Zhou Kuang into the office. Then he took out his key to open his file cabinet and took out several blue folders.

"I've been researching these days, and friends in the industry have recommended many teams and candidates to me, but I haven't made a decision yet."

"So I'd like to ask for your opinion. In the domestic gaming industry, if you say your eye for selecting producers is second best, then no one dares to claim to be first!"

Zhou Kuang nodded after hearing this, without any modesty.

It’s not so much that no one can compare with him, but rather that others don’t have this opportunity.

I am the only one who has the experience to lead the company to develop 3A-level stand-alone games, not to mention how to select the backbone producer and the experience of the entire development team from scratch.

The entire industry heard that Zhou Kuang poached Feng Qi and Yang Ji with high salaries.

Anyone with a brain would know how risky it was to reuse the two men to make 3A games in China given their resumes at the time.

A young game developer who has only worked as a producer once, and the game he was responsible for cannot be considered a success.

Another artist with a unique painting style whose personal style is incompatible with the mainstream domestic style.

No matter who looks at it, it would be difficult to entrust the two with such an important task, or even to invest tens of millions to make a single-player game with huge risks.

However, Kuangshi Games was a success.

Zhou Kuang's vision couldn't be more accurate.

Facts have proved that both of them are talented!

Not only did Antarctic Group regret its actions afterwards, but other gaming companies did too.

After all, although Antarctic Group lost two top talents, it did not affect their overall talent pool.

In addition to Feng Qi and Yang Ji, they still have many top gaming talents.

But other game companies are different!

They have only a handful of top talents, and any opportunities these talents have are sucked away by top companies like Antarctic Group. Where is their place?
Therefore, they regard such talents as treasures!

Even a producer like this can lead a company's top project.

And according to their status at the time, if Kuangshi Games could poach two people, why couldn't they?
At that time, Megvii Games had only made one mediocre mobile game, which was much worse than theirs.

Isn't it just about money and treatment? Don't we have them?

This was the source of their regret afterwards, because the conditions of Kuangshi Games were not as good as theirs.

However, there is a logical flaw in their thinking.

Just because Zhou Kuang convinced Feng Qi and Yang Ji doesn't mean they can do it too.

Not to mention the high level of trust he placed in the two of them, just the help from the system was something they could never have imagined.

If Yang Ji had not taken the initiative to join, Feng Qi would never have thought of coming to Kuangshi Games.

"Then let me take a look."

After hearing Zhou Kuang's reply, Niu Tieming handed him the information.

Zhou Kuang opened the document and began to read it carefully, while Niu Tieming explained it to him.

“This is the one I’m most optimistic about.”

"Cao Qingli, 39 years old."

"I am now a senior producer at Shencheng Elemental Force Company."

Hearing the other party's words, Zhou Kuang's eyes flashed, and his ears quickly caught a word.

A name he had heard before.

Shencheng elemental power?
Ok?
Sounds familiar, where is it...

Zhou Kuang thought for a few seconds, and then a light bulb went off in his head, and he finally remembered where he had heard this name.

Chen Xingyu, the music director of Kuangshi Games, was recruited by me and entrusted with important tasks.

Isn’t he from Shencheng Elemental Force Company?
"...He's good at making 2D-style action-adventure games."

"During our investigation, we found that the type of games this person is good at would still be viable if they switched to single-player games."

"And the two-dimensional elements can help us reduce the risk of returns."

"An industry report from Antarctic Interactive Entertainment shows that ACG players spend more money on average on games, play for longer periods of time, and generally make impulse purchases."

“And they have a higher tolerance for the quality of the game.”

"They only have one requirement for games, and that is beautiful 2D girls."

Hearing Niu Tieming talking seriously about the topic of the second dimension, a sense of contrast emanated from him, causing Zhou Kuang to unconsciously reveal a strange expression.

It seems like he and the two-dimensional element shouldn't appear at the same time.

"Action-adventure games are also a gaming field in which China has experience, so if we want to form a team, we have certain advantages."

“So I think this is a good choice.”

"What do you think?"

At the same time, Zhou Kuang also glanced at this person's resume, and after thinking it over in his mind, he spoke.

"I think it's really good. He has a good resume and is very experienced."

"right?"

Niu Tieming was recognized by Zhou Kuang and a look of joy appeared on his face.

It is obvious that he personally agrees with this candidate, otherwise he would not have introduced this person to him right away.

Zhou Kuang had not made a decision immediately and wanted to hear the introduction of the candidate after Niu Tieming, but before that, he still had to ask some more questions about this person.

"How did you find this person?"

Zhou Kuang asked.

"Someone recommended him to me," Niu Tieming explained without hiding anything. "I asked a few friends in the industry, and they all said he's very capable, passionate about games, and full of energy."

"Will he come of his own accord?"

Zhou Kuang asked the most crucial point. If the other party is unwilling to come to Niu Tieming, no matter how much investigation is done, it will be useless.

Niu Tieming chuckled and said with a smug expression.

“That’s the best part, because the reason my friend recommended him to me was because he wasn’t happy with his current situation.”

"Oh?"

Zhou Kuang showed a curious look. "Shencheng Elemental Force is at best a second-rate company in the gaming industry. If it weren't for Cao Qingli's project, they might have already fallen to a third-rate gaming company."

"Without the profitable 2D mobile games he made, his company would have gone bankrupt long ago."

"None of the several new projects launched by Shanghai Elemental Force in recent years have been successful."

"Some were canceled before they could even launch, some were shut down after just a few months, and some couldn't even be completed and were forced to cancel."

"The problem is that in the past two years, the new projects Cao Qingli has been responsible for have been difficult to launch. Under the various changes, he has to shoulder tremendous pressure."

"I heard that the boss of Elemental Force is not very satisfied with him."

Zhou Kuang was a little surprised when he heard this. The boss of Elemental Force was not satisfied with this person?
Isn’t this person the only talented person in their company?

Having done so many profitable projects, it is already very good considering their size.

What else?
Is the boss of the other company crazy or something?

Niu Tieming saw the surprise in Zhou Kuang's expression and continued to explain.

"Cao Qingli has always wanted to expand the scale of the project and challenge more difficult works, but their boss disagrees."

"The project was delayed because the two sides had different ideas."

"Cao Qingli developed the project according to his own ideas, but his boss didn't provide the corresponding resources."

"It's like the two of them are in a stalemate, openly or covertly."

"But the boss of Elemental Force didn't dare to fire him."

Zhou Kuang nodded. It seems that this person is indeed suitable.

If you flirt with them a little, maybe they will be willing to invest.

Those gamers who are not doing well in the company but not because of their own ability problems are the most likely to have "disloyalty".

But from Niu Tieming's perspective, this is certainly a good thing.

In addition, Cao Qingli was not satisfied with making money. Instead, he had a conflict with his boss because of the scale of the project, which shows that he was extremely ambitious.

For big companies, they are not afraid of your ambition, but they are afraid of your lack of ability.

As long as you have ambition and the corresponding abilities, big companies can provide you with sufficient resources to allow you to continue to climb up.

This upward process also helps the company earn greater profits.

The company couldn't be happier.

"Then tell me about the others."

"Okay, then you take a look at this first."

Niu Tieming introduced him to several producers and even several complete game teams.

Backed by the financial resources of the Antarctic Group and the other party's extremely high expectations, Niu Tieming is fully capable of poaching an entire team in one go, or directly investing in and controlling the other party's company, and then allowing the team to join Antarctic Pioneer Games, that is, his company, with full legitimacy.

The producers on the list are all senior producers with experience in two or even three large projects.

Since Niu Tieming had just established the company and was the focus of attention of countless people in the Antarctic Group, he was under a lot of pressure.

Not to mention, he was promoted from the vice president of games at Antarctic Interactive Entertainment to the head of a company of the same level as Antarctic Interactive Entertainment, and was directly affiliated with Antarctic Group, just by relying on the battle of "Nether Mountain and Sea".

This is also the first time in the history of the Antarctic Group.

If it weren't for the fact that the development potential of Antarctic Group's gaming business in all aspects has been almost exhausted, the pace of progress has been getting smaller and smaller every year, and even many departments have begun to go backwards, only 3A stand-alone games are still a blue ocean, Niu Tieming would never have taken such a big step.

After looking at all the candidates, Zhou Kuang still felt that Cao Qingli, the one at the beginning, was the best choice.

So he told Niu Tieming about this idea.

"Would you like to consider poaching an entire team?"

Niu Tieming raised the questions in his mind.

"no need."

Zhou Kuang shook his head and began to explain.

"Single-player games are different from other types of games, and the requirements are also different."

"These teams may have developed a good understanding and experience in developing games together, but this may not be applicable when switching to a single-player game development environment."

“It’s a question of developing habits.”

"If you recruit a producer and let him build his own team, it will be time-consuming and laborious, but at least the team will be in line with the needs of the project."

“The producers can select their own team, which makes it easier to use.”

“Don’t assume that the same producer will have the same requirements for the team when facing different projects.”

"Within a company, if a team has already been well-coordinated, it's naturally impossible to lay off everyone and rebuild the team just because of a project change."

"But now that you're incubating a team from scratch, I recommend this approach."

Zhou Kuang explained.

He himself behaved in the same way.

At the beginning, Zhou Kuang asked Ma Tu to set up a new studio and took away most of the old employees, leaving only employees with outstanding abilities, in order to pave the way for Feng Qi to take over.

As it turned out, this approach made Feng Qi feel at ease from the very beginning, after all, he could choose how to build his team.

All these recruited talents became his confidants, and since no one set traps for him, he naturally got things done smoothly.

Such freedom and power are not always available.

Although it was a bit unfair to Ma Tu, after all, it seemed like Feng Qi took the advantage, but Zhou Kuang later made up for it.

Not only him, but all the employees who contributed during the demo phase, even if they did not continue to stay in the "Youming Shanhai" project team, Zhou Kuang still gave them bonuses according to the standards of other employees.

This is a windfall for them.

They only spent two months developing the demo, but received the full prize money for "Netherworld Mountains and Seas", which took two years to produce.

Moreover, in addition to money, Zhou Kuang also did not forget about fame.

In the final producer list of "Netherworld Mountains and Seas", not only were their names included like ordinary employees, but Zhou Kuang also specially added them to a special thanks list.

Like Ma Tu, his name is listed alongside Feng Qi and is also placed in the position of producer.

It's just that his name is listed after Feng Qi.

Even so, Ma Tu was grinning from ear to ear.

After all, this is "Youming Shanhai", the first domestically produced 3A stand-alone game, which is of milestone significance.

No matter what it is, the first time is the most important.

Just like the moon landing, everyone remembers Armstrong who said, "That's a small step for me, a giant leap for mankind," but not many people know that the second person to land on the moon was named Aldrin.

Many people in the industry didn’t understand at first why “Netherworld Mountains and Seas” had two producers?
For this purpose, they also specifically checked who Ma Tu was.

Zhou Kuang's approach not only satisfied them in terms of treatment, but also restored their reputation.

Naturally everyone was very satisfied.

After hearing this, Niu Tieming nodded solemnly.

He valued Zhou Kuang's advice very much, and he invited him over just to hear such insights.

(End of this chapter)