My game, you have no right to award

Chapter 217 Passing
"It doesn't matter, none of it matters..."

Zhou Kuang changed the subject and brushed it off, and Cao Qingli didn't notice anything unusual, turning around to arrange work.

Coming to Antarctic Pioneer Games this time was definitely the right decision. Developing the game according to the original "Narukami" plan, even with the backing of Antarctic Group's marketing channels and their generous marketing budget, this game is unlikely to fail.

However, if Naruto's performance also fails to reach a "striking" level, then the project's directional errors may be criticized.

In order to maintain the resources that Kuangshi Games could obtain from Antarctica through Zhou Kuang and Niu Tieming's personal relationship, he was absolutely unwilling to let the project fail from the start.

Now, by modifying "Ming Shen" according to Zhou Kuang's understanding of business law, as long as Antarctic Vanguard can serve up a meal of above-average quality, these micro-transaction designs can reap huge profits.

Of course, achieving the commercial success of the game Zhou Kuang played before his time travel will be very difficult.

The right time and place are indispensable.

In terms of timing, Naruto no longer has the conditions to participate in a historical global event, so it is absolutely impossible for the game to reach a commercial height that would shock the global gaming community.

In terms of geographical advantage, when that game was released, there were no domestically produced "big games" that could reach international standards in terms of industrialization. Its appearance gave many Chinese gamers hope at the time.

I fantasize that even if we can't make AAA games of international standard, having a similar level of pay-to-win games to play would be better than nothing, a "great victory for domestic games".

In addition, factors such as cultural identity in the global market contribute to players' strong support, even to the point of obsession.

Of course, players gradually realized that the so-called "cultural export" was just an illusion, a business tactic aimed at stabilizing the core market.

Those who work in the anime and manga industry are actually more passionate about Japanese culture; otherwise, they wouldn't be so enthusiastic about making such games.

This isn't really a problem. After all, everyone has different preferences. If someone is condemned simply for not sharing content from their own culture...

So where is the freedom to create? And where is the driving force for innovation?
When creating works depicting other cultures, one can still capture the essence of Chinese culture.

Creating games with a Chinese perspective and Chinese values—that's the true future of Chinese games.

Adapting traditional Chinese culture will inevitably limit what can be conveyed to the subject matter.

In Zhou Kuang's view, this is also a manifestation of a lack of confidence in one's own culture.

Of course, the premise for doing this is that you should not use "cultural export" to win the favor of players and thus make a profit.

That would just be a blatant and despicable business practice.

Speaking in English at a concert held in China, just to make it understandable to foreign audiences during the global live broadcast, Zhou Kuang could only say...

It's hard to evaluate.

In this dimension, the Chinese gaming industry already has a top-tier AAA game like "Netherworld Mountains and Seas," so the sentiment for supporting domestically produced games is even lower than in the previous life.

Therefore, it cannot be said that the geographical advantage does not exist, but it is just not so obvious.

In the last point, and above, Antarctic Vanguard game also has no advantage.

The game Zhou Kuang played before his transmigration was developed by a company that had been creating anime-style mobile games since its inception. The company gradually rose from the lowest level of game development difficulty to the highest level of game development.

Finally, after years of hard work, they created a top-tier mobile game.

Although Cao Qingli also has extensive experience as a producer in ACG mobile game projects, his production path is very inconsistent.

Often, depending on which theme and genre the market favors, he needs to develop games that "can make money" at the company's request.

There is little connection between projects.

Moreover, even if he himself has some experience, this team is still a newly formed team, and its integration is far less than that of a team that has worked together for nearly ten years.

Therefore, based on his personal opinion, Zhou Kuang also did not have a high opinion of "Narukami".

This is why Zhou Kuang was willing to share everything he knew with him.

Even if the other party learns it, it won't pose any threat to him. However, due to various changes in conditions and environment, he has reservations about whether this kind of open-world mobile game can reach the same level as before he transmigrated.

Furthermore, as a company that started with AAA single-player games, it is absolutely impossible for Megvii Games to develop other types of games that would weaken its brand image in the eyes of players.

In the hearts of players, Kuangshi Games is, and can only be, a top-tier Chinese game company that develops top-tier AAA titles!
Zhou Kuang followed behind Cao Qingli, watching him arrange the work and occasionally correcting any misunderstandings the other party might have.

The explanation just now was too short, and many things may not be understood by Cao Qingli and Zhou Kuang respectively.

Every time Zhou Kuang spoke, Cao Qingli listened very attentively and then deployed the work according to Zhou Kuang's instructions.

After all, in his mind, Zhou Kuang was the boss and game industry professional of the top game company in China, and his understanding of games was much deeper than his own.

How could I possibly lie to myself?
It must be because I haven't learned it well enough!

Zhou Kuang was also very pleased. Most producers have their own principles, but the other party was very accommodating.

That's how it's always been, at least in front of myself.

Arranging all the modifications took them nearly two hours.

After all, the cost of communication between people is still very high. This sudden change in the design of the micro-transaction system caught many employees of the "Narukami" project team off guard.

As the saying goes, "a single hair can affect the whole body," many designs in the planning documents must be reconsidered from the underlying logic as the gacha system and currency system are modified.

In Zhou Kuang's view, two hours was already incredibly efficient.

It was already past midnight. After giving instructions to the numerical planner to recalculate the gacha rates, Cao Qingli looked at Zhou Kuang apologetically.

"Mr. Zhou, I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting so long. How about we go have some lunch first?"

"Okay."

Zhou Kuang nodded; he was indeed a little hungry.

But then he suddenly thought of Niu Tieming and Ma Tu, so he took Cao Qingli to their studios.

They knocked on the door, and the two people pushed it open and went inside.

Niu Tieming was looking at Ma Tu with excitement, while Ma Tu was sitting in Niu Tieming's office chair, writing something with his head down.

"Old Niu, Xiao Cao and I are about to go eat, do you want to come?"

"Oh, we're not in a hurry, you guys go first, go first!"

Niu Tieming waved his hand, clearly engrossed in his work.

Ma Tu paused slightly while writing, and looked up at Zhou Kuang.

Zhou Kuang inexplicably sensed a longing for lunch in his eyes.

He shrugged, indicating that he couldn't help.

"Better to die than to die myself," Zhou Kuang said. "Let's order first."

The two turned and walked out of Niu Tieming's office, considerately closing the door behind them.

Cao Qingli said thoughtfully, "It's been a long time since I've seen Boss Niu so excited."

He realized what he was saying after he finished speaking, and quickly continued to explain, "I mean, Mr. Niu has been under a lot of pressure lately..."

"Hmm?" Zhou Kuang looked at the other person when he heard this. He hadn't noticed anything when he was interacting with Niu Tieming.

"Because the senior management of Antarctic Group still has some objections to this project, but since only Mr. Niu has relevant experience in the company, they can't change our company's mind."

"He used his reputation within the company as collateral to forcefully push through this project."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Kuang's expression became much more serious.

He had indeed anticipated that the three-way interconnection project would be questioned by the Antarctic leadership, but hearing such specific details from Cao Qingli was still somewhat unexpected.

From this perspective, Niu Tieming has doubled down on the reputation he gained from "Youming Shanhai" and invested it all in the "Mingshen" project.

It's all or nothing...

Whether Cao Qingli's words were intentional or unintentional, Zhou Kuang kept them in mind.

It seems he will need to contact Cao Qingli frequently to check on the project's progress.

We finally have half a person of our own in the Antarctic Group, and someone who holds a high position and great power. We can't just let him be sacrificed for no reason.

Zhou Kuang still remembered that Antarctic Group owned 5% of Megvii Games' shares. Without Niu Tieming's inside information, it would be somewhat unsettling.

As he walked to the cafeteria, lost in thought, he discovered that it was actually the cafeteria of the Antarctic Group.

Yes, this entire building is full of employees of the Antarctic Group, and Niu Tieming's staff only make up a small portion of them.

Almost everyone who comes to the canteen is from Antarctica.

"You guys are really generous."

Zhou Kuang sighed.

Even the most legendary games don't have their own cafeteria.

"No, no, no, it's because there's money up there."

Cao Qingli said.

The two of them lined up to get their food. Since Zhou Kuang was not an employee of the Antarctic Group, he was unable to pay, so Cao Qingli paid for the meal.

The two found a place to sit down, and Zhou Kuang joked, "It's not a problem for you to treat me to a meal, is it?"

“What’s so special about that!” Cao Qingli replied earnestly, “I have benefited immensely from what you taught me this morning alone!”

"Don't even mention treating you to a meal, I'd be happy to eat here every day!"

Seeing the sincerity on the other person's face, Zhou Kuang smiled and shook his head.

Even he couldn't help but feel pleased by this genuine flattery.

As the two ate their meal, Zhou Kuang asked, "Tell me, how do you plan to design the first area?"

From the very beginning, this project was destined to gradually unlock the map.

If, like a typical open-world AAA single-player game, all the maps were already in the game from the start...

The options are either to reduce the map size or to significantly increase the development time.

Therefore, the correct approach is to only provide a small number of maps at launch, and then create more map areas with subsequent updates.

Cao Qingli clearly understood this point, nodded, put down his chopsticks, and said.

"We want to design the first area as a plain in the style of Chinese civilization, mainly consisting of villages, markets, and towns."

Players can trade with villagers and accept side quests from officials.

"Weapons and equipment can also be purchased and crafted from blacksmith shops."

The more Zhou Kuang listened, the more it felt like an MMO game.
And it still has that feel of domestically produced MMO games.

This is somewhat inconsistent with his image of a "2D open-world mobile game".

However, this time, Zhou Kuang did not immediately suggest revising the other party's plan.

After all, there are clear advantages and disadvantages to microtransaction systems in games.

However, this approach doesn't apply to aspects like the game's regional settings and various background settings.

It remains to be seen how Cao Qingli and his team plan the "Narukami" project.

The two continued their conversation about the project, with Cao Qingli mainly explaining and Zhou Kuang occasionally raising his own questions.

This caused them to eat unusually slowly. Often, just as one person picked up a piece of food, they would have to put it down immediately to answer Zhou Kuang's question.

However, at least Zhou Kuang gained a comprehensive understanding of this project.

Cao Qingli, as expected of a producer who has worked on many anime-style mobile games, is very experienced.

Although his understanding of the game was not as good as Zhou Kuang's—after all, Zhou Kuang had seen what high-scoring answers looked like and naturally knew which path was the right one—he still lacked Zhou Kuang's understanding.

However, many of the other party's ideas, which came from intuition or previous project experience, coincided with Zhou Kuang's ideas in project design.

He enjoyed the meal, and apart from reminding the other party of some minor details, he didn't interfere as much as before.

After finishing their meal, the two returned to their office.

Cao Qingli continued assigning tasks to his subordinates, while Zhou Kuang picked up the proposal again and began to read it aloud.

From Zhou Kuang's perspective, who had already obtained the key to talent, this project proposal, if viewed solely as a single-player game, would probably only score around 50 points.

Because the monetization strategy of a game will not be taken into consideration in the design of a single-player game.

However, if we consider this as a mobile game designed to maximize profits, this project proposal would still be at least 70 or 80 points even now.

This all demonstrates Cao Qingli's own abilities.

Zhou Kuang suddenly felt that he had been taken advantage of, especially in the matter of Cao Qingli.

His keen sense for talent kicked in again at this moment. If it weren't for the fact that the other party was now Niu Tieming's man, he probably would have already started a "detailed discussion" with Cao Qingli in private.

Pity.

Zhou Kuang sighed as he looked at the proposal in his hand.

What is the most precious thing in the 21st century?

Talent.

And when it comes to talent, the more the better.

Putting down the proposal in his hand, Zhou Kuang felt there was no need to look at it anymore.

He had already conveyed most of the advice he could to Cao Qingli regarding "Narukami". Now, he only needed to keep an eye on the project occasionally to ensure that "Narukami" did not fail miserably and implicate Niu Tieming.

(End of this chapter)