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Chapter 395 0385 [Perfect World Also Uses Upay?]

The Japanese distributor was there to snag a bargain, pushing the licensing fee down to only $20 more than that of Vietnam.

However, Yuko has no bargaining power in the Japanese market.

The game "Sanguosha" that was previously licensed to Japan was shut down two years ago, causing the Japanese licensee to lose a lot of money.

Anyway, the game industry conference was going to last three days, so Chen Guiliang had the export specialists continue negotiating. They figured they'd have to negotiate for tens of thousands more dollars, and finalize the contract on the last day.

Damn it, it's just exporting games, right?
If all else fails, I'll go and explore the Middle Eastern market!
Web game technology is becoming increasingly mature; it's time to take care of our oil-producing friends.

How did Chen Guiliang achieve financial freedom before his rebirth?
It's a custom-made browser game for Middle Eastern countries!

How could he possibly let go of something he succeeded at in his past life?

This year, NetDragon simply translated a browser game called "Conquer Online" into Arabic, initially with very little localization. Then, they had a Singaporean distributor distribute it in Arab countries, and it easily generated tens of millions in monthly revenue.

Let's customize a browser game with a Middle Eastern theme, wouldn't that be a game that takes off immediately?

By the way, the Japanese eat this too.

They simply reskinned a browser game, set it in Japan's Sengoku period, and had Japanese players take on the role of a descendant of a fallen daimyo. Players then engaged in battles while simultaneously drawing cards.

Needless to say, there are all sorts of awesome Japanese samurai, and also beauties from all over the world and from all eras.

Japanese players conquer and expand their territory, eventually becoming shoguns. With powerful generals and beautiful women all around, they have everything – power and beauty – which Japanese otaku could resist?
This thing has been proven in reality.

Chinese companies you've never even heard of are making a fortune in Japan, South Korea, the Middle East, and even India by creating these reskinned web games.

"Hey bro, come eat."

"Where?"

"Hotel restaurant."

"coming."

Upon receiving a call from Tao Chenggang, Chen Guiliang immediately took the elevator over, where Shi Yuzhu and others were also dining.

Since Tao Chenggang met Shi Yuzhu, their personal relationship has become increasingly close.

It's actually quite easy to understand; both of them have a rough-and-tumble,江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the world of martial arts and chivalry) spirit. Whether you call it mutual respect or simply being kindred spirits, they can get along well.

"Come over here quickly, or the feast will start!" Several guys waved to Chen Guiliang.

Chen Guiliang walked over with a smile: "It's only been a little over half a month since we parted ways in the capital. How have you been lately, old brothers?"

"That's it."

"It's definitely not as hydrated as yours."

"Stop talking nonsense. You're late, so punish yourself with three drinks!"

Everyone took turns speaking.

Chen Guiliang could only punish himself with three drinks, and while chatting, he asked Shi Yuzhu, "51.COM is going to make games? And they're even building their own game platform?"

Shi Yuzhu said, "I'm just a shareholder, not responsible for the operation. Don't ask me about it."

“You’re the largest shareholder, I don’t believe they can make games without your support,” Chen Guiliang said with a smile.

Leaving aside QQ Space, 51.COM is HaiNei.com's biggest competitor.

Last year, Shi Yuzhu invested $51 million to acquire a quarter of 5100.COM's shares, making Giant Group its largest shareholder.

Just a few days ago, 51.COM announced its entry into the online gaming industry, and its first step is to launch card and board games.

Shi Yuzhu dropped the pretense and half-jokingly said, "51.COM is making SNS social networking sites and gaming platforms, and it'll be launching web games and PC games in the future. It'll crush your ByteDance and Youke!"

"Haha, I'm waiting for you to do it." Chen Guiliang wasn't afraid at all.

Compared to HaiNei.com, Chen Guiliang has more competitors on Weibo.

In this year's internet cleanup campaign, Fanfou was ordered to shut down and rectify its practices due to being filled with dissident information. Wang Xin's second entrepreneurial venture failed, and it's unclear when he'll end up delivering food.

Besides Fanfou, there are other microblogging websites.

For example, Jiwai's founder was formerly the site administrator of Tsinghua University BBS and the chief scientist of Youku.

Other microblogging websites, such as Digu, Taotao, and Zuosha, have names that are more bizarre than the last.

TaoTao is Tencent's Weibo product!

Damn it, I made the Weibo concept popular, and now a whole bunch of people are rushing in to grab the market.

Giants like Sina, Sohu, and NetEase are also preparing to enter the market.

Especially Tencent's Taotao, relying on its massive QQ user base, has already surpassed 100 million registered Weibo users. The reason for such rapid development is that Chen Guiliang has worked hard for several years, and the Weibo product has become increasingly well-known and accepted by more and more people.

When Chen Guiliang first started, it was incredibly difficult.

After a few drinks, everyone started talking about games.

As they chatted, Tao Chenggang complained, "Junwang is in a mess right now, which is even affecting the sales of game cards for 'Quan Yu Tian Xia'."

Chi Yufeng said, "Your company is doing alright, operating through multiple channels, with Junwang accounting for less than 20% of the market share. Damn it, for our company's game recharge cards, Junwang accounts for more than 50%." Chen Guiliang chuckled and said, "Come use my Youpay. Putting everything else aside, I guarantee I won't get fired."

Chi Yufeng said seriously, "I really do intend to use your Youpay as a recharge channel. You can't put all your eggs in one basket, otherwise it's too dangerous."

Junwang is China's largest game distributor, responsible for distributing recharge cards from companies such as Tencent, The9, and Perfect World.

The internal strife that broke out last year was truly indescribable.

Junwang's CEO was dismissed by the board of directors. However, the new CEO, after only two or three months in office, went to the media to complain that he could not even step into the company office.

The dismissed former CEO, sitting in the president's office, gave an interview: "Junwang is operating normally, there are no problems."

Enraged, the shareholders sued Junwang and froze 10 million yuan of its assets. Subsequently, they shut down the portion of Junwang's servers they controlled, a move that left Tencent, The9, Perfect World, and other companies completely bewildered.

The matter has escalated to the point where it is known throughout the country.

But what's even stranger is that no one can say for sure what Junwang's shareholding structure is.

The former CEO claimed to own 70% of the shares, while other shareholders said he only owned 20%.

This is because Junwang is not a legitimate company, but rather an alliance of companies of varying sizes. Each member company is an independent legal entity with its own board of directors and shareholders' meetings.

Junwang is preparing for an IPO, and this current arrangement cannot continue. When everyone sat down together, the disagreement over the unequal distribution of profits led to a breakdown in negotiations.

Nowadays, major companies such as Tencent, The9, and Perfect World are looking for other recharge card agents or simply building their own game recharge platforms to reduce their dependence on Junwang's recharge channels.

"Perfect really intends to use my Youpay?" Chen Guiliang was overjoyed.

Chi Yufeng said, "Why would I lie to you? I came to Qingdao this time to talk to you about this."

Chen Guiliang said, "Great, let's talk alone tonight."

Shi Yuzhu, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, said smugly, "My method is the most effective and sustainable. In the early stages of promoting 'Zhengtu,' I established branch offices in cities across the country. I promoted it in internet cafes while simultaneously setting up recharge channels there, and even built recharge channels at newsstands. I did it all myself, and I had plenty to eat and wear, without having to depend on anyone else."

"Do you think everyone is as rich and powerful as you, spending hundreds of millions before the game even launches?" Chi Yufeng said irritably.

Chen Guiliang said, "President Shi is really too ruthless. My Youpay offline channels have been promoted for three whole years, and they are still not as perfect as Giant's channels. Only health product sellers can do a promotion team of two or three thousand people.

Shi Yuzhu was even more pleased with himself, taking it as praise and compliment.

After everyone complained about Junwang, the topic shifted to web games.

"Shanda made a lot of money from web games last year, ranking second in market share. I also plan to make web games this year," Tao Chenggang said, taking a sip of his drink.

Chi Yufeng scoffed, "Making web games is pointless."

Tao Chenggang said, "Making money isn't interesting?"

Chi Yufeng said, "Web games are too low-level. There are no technical barriers, so anyone can break in and fish in troubled waters."

Shi Yuzhu laughed and said, "Hehe, I'm also planning to fish in troubled waters. Lao Tao, let's chat privately another day and exchange ideas about making web games."

Tao Chenggang asked Chen Guiliang, "Where is You Ke?"

Chen Guiliang said, "Youke has been making web games for a long time. Those guys are doing a terrible job. If we don't talk about the web version of 'Three Kingdoms Kill,' Youke's total revenue from web games last year was only over 6000 million yuan. I don't even bother to look at the net profit; I estimate they didn't earn much because the promotion costs for web games are too high."

Chen Guiliang was not lying; he had never interfered with the company's web game business and wanted the web game department employees to take initiative.

The result was not satisfactory.

I made money, but not much.

This year, Chen Guiliang plans to personally take charge and teach those guys how to make money through web games!

If Tao Chenggang and Shi Yuzhu were to make web games, they'd probably be incredibly successful. They could simply copy the money-making methods used in games like "Quan Yu Tian Xia" and "Zheng Tu" and apply them to web games.

Chi Yufeng is the only one who's aloof; he knows web games are profitable but doesn't bother with them.

"Damn, you guys are here so early?" Zhang Chaoyang suddenly appeared in the restaurant, and Ding Sanshi followed him in.

This hotel is called the Qingdao Shangri-La Hotel. Most of the delegates attending the game industry conference stayed here. It was arranged by the organizers.

Chi Yufeng said, "If you don't mind the leftovers, sit at the same table and ask the waiter to bring a few more dishes."

Ding Sanshi asked, "What are you talking about?"

Chen Guiliang said, "Let's talk about that thing with Liaojun.com."

“Hahahaha,” Ding Sanshi burst into laughter. “Junwang is just too bizarre. I can’t help but laugh whenever I think about it. The new CEO complained to reporters that he couldn’t get into his office. The former CEO, who was dismissed, sat in the president’s office and gave an interview, saying that there were no problems with the company and everything was normal.”

It's hard to imagine that players of games like World of Warcraft, CrossFire, and Perfect World are making in-game purchases through this one company.

Shi Yuzhu asked, "Aren't you going to DJ this time in Qingdao?"

Ding Sanshi said, "No more. Who wants to be a DJ every time they go out?"

Chen Guiliang added, "I heard that pork prices have gone up recently. If NetEase is interested, they could actually invest in opening a pig farm."

"Am I crazy? An IT guy going to raise pigs?" Ding Sanshi felt baffled.

Chen Guiliang thought to himself: I also think it's pretty crazy. I still can't figure out why you went to raise pigs.

(End of this chapter)