Huayu: Starting from joining the mainstream entertainment industry in 96

Chapter 317-315: The Hunt

October is here in a hurry.

The inspection tour of the "China Film Grand Cinema" projects in various locations has come to an end.

Wang Sheng turned his attention to his next task—hunting for "Legend".

Unlike typical collaborators seeking agents, Wang Sheng did not send emails or submit proposals first.

Faced with an absolute information advantage, tedious preliminary contacts seem superfluous.

He assembled a highly capable negotiation team, which included the head of Shengying Media's business development department, an advisor proficient in Korean business law and culture, and technical backbone personnel temporarily seconded from Tencent who already had a basic understanding of online game operations.

The group took a flight and flew directly to Seoul, South Korea.

At this time, Seoul had just emerged from the shadow of the financial crisis, and the whole country was filled with an atmosphere of striving to catch up.

The internet industry, especially online games, is seen as a new hope by many young people in South Korea.

On the second day after arriving in Seoul, Wang Sheng did not contact Actoz headquarters directly. Instead, through an intermediary, he met privately with Park Kwan-ho, the programmer and lead designer of Mir 2, who was known as the "father of Legend".

The meeting place was arranged to be a quiet coffee shop in Gangnam District.

Park Kwan-ho is around thirty years old, wears glasses, and has slightly messy hair. He has the typical look of a programmer, with a look that reflects the persistence of a technologist as well as a hint of detachment and caution towards business negotiations.

Wang Sheng's opening remarks were direct and powerful. Through translation, he expressed his appreciation for Park Kwan-ho's technical vision and game world view in "Mir 2," especially praising the design of its PK system and the Shabak city siege as "quite forward-thinking."

This precise and technical compliment first eased some of Park Kwan-ho's guard.

“Mr. Park, I’m a straightforward person. I admire your talent and the potential of ‘Mir 2.’ But business is business. The success of a game, especially in an unfamiliar market, requires many factors.” Wang Sheng changed the subject and got to the point. “So, I’m here today with two proposals.”

He held up two fingers: "First, on behalf of my investment company 'Prosperous Capital,' I am willing to invest $50 in you personally, and in exchange for corresponding shares in any game development projects you may independently undertake in the future. This is an investment in your personal capabilities and has nothing to do with Actoz."

A hint of surprise flashed in Park Kwan-ho's eyes.

$50 was no small sum in 2000, especially for an investment made by him personally; it was undoubtedly a great recognition and temptation.

“Secondly,” Wang Sheng continued, “I hope to acquire the exclusive operating rights for *Mir 2* in mainland China. However…”

He deliberately emphasized the "but," adding, "Precisely because I value it, but also because the risks are enormous, I can only propose a relatively conservative cooperation plan."

He presented the conditions he had already prepared:

The authorization period is five years.

Wang Sheng gave a very good reason: "China's current network infrastructure is still very imperfect, broadband penetration is low, and the network environment in internet cafes is complex."

It will take at least two years to complete market education, server setup, and Chinese localization. The actual effective operational period may only be around three years. Five years is a reasonable risk control period.

Authorization fee: $30.

Wang Sheng explained, “For Actoz, this money is almost pure profit. But for us, it means bearing huge investments in servers, bandwidth, manpower, and marketing over the next few years, as well as the risk of total failure if the market doesn’t accept it. This price is based on the fact that Mir 2 has not yet achieved overwhelming success in South Korea.”

The profit sharing ratio is 10% of the operating profit, which will be given to Actoz and Park Kan-ho personally (the specific distribution will be negotiated internally by them).

Wang Sheng emphasized: "This is based on our optimistic expectations for the future market. You have to understand that our operating costs are huge, and we need to continuously carry out localization updates and maintenance."

Park Kwan-ho listened in silence, his fingers unconsciously stirring his coffee.

Wang Sheng's terms sounded harsh, especially the licensing fee and revenue sharing ratio, which were far below the general standards for South Korean game exports at that time.

However, the current situation and risks in the Chinese market that Wang Sheng pointed out do indeed exist objectively.

Finally, Wang Sheng raised the most crucial point: "Mr. Park, I know that as a creator, what you care about most is the integrity of the game itself and its technical support."

In order to ensure the stable operation of the game in China and effectively resist potential piracy issues such as private servers and cheats in the future, I would like to obtain your source code-level technical support.

Of course, this can be conducted under the guise of 'strategic technology cooperation,' whereby you or your trusted technical team establish direct communication channels with our designated technical partner (Tencent) to assist us in in-depth localization and anti-hacking/anti-private server technical reinforcement. For this part, we can sign a separate confidentiality agreement and technical service contract, with fees to be calculated separately.

Providing source code support was one of Wang Sheng's key objectives for this trip.

He was well aware of the devastating impact the proliferation of private servers for the game "Legend" would have on the official operation. If he could obtain the underlying code in advance, or at least establish a close technical support channel, he could gain the upper hand in the future battle against private servers.

Wang Sheng's private meeting with Park Kwan-ho and his proposal of personal investment and technological cooperation was a carefully planned move.

He needed to first stabilize and win over this key figure who had a deep passion for the game and wielded significant technical influence.

Faced with the temptation of a $50 personal investment, and Wang Sheng's apparent expertise and focus on technical issues, Park Kwan-ho wavered.

He agreed in principle to support the agency agreement and was willing to provide as much technical assistance as possible. The two parties signed a preliminary, non-legally binding memorandum of understanding that expressed a strong intention to cooperate.

……

With Park Kwan-ho's private approval, Wang Sheng's team officially began direct negotiations with Actoz.

As Wang Sheng had predicted, the negotiation process was full of strategic maneuvering.

Actoz's president and business representative expressed strong dissatisfaction with the terms offered by Wang Sheng, especially the $30 licensing fee and only 10% revenue share.

They cited other examples of South Korean game exports in an attempt to inflate prices.

However, Wang Sheng's team was well-prepared:

Regarding the market risk argument, they presented detailed data reports on China's internet infrastructure (at the end of 2000, China had only a few hundred thousand broadband users, and internet fees were expensive), the structure of internet users, and their spending power, repeatedly emphasizing the huge uncertainties and high costs of developing the Chinese market.

Regarding the current state of the product, they pointed out that Mir 2 did not rank among the top in terms of concurrent online users in South Korea, and had issues such as insufficient content and the need to optimize balance, making it not a "perfect" product.

Tempted by short-term gains, the $30 prepayment for authorization is a cash flow that can immediately improve the financial statements of Actoz, a company of modest size.

As a strategy of differentiation, during the negotiations, Wang Sheng's team subtly revealed their good communication with Park Kwan-ho and their emphasis on "technical cooperation," implying that if Actoz refused, they might consider waiting and cooperating with Park Kwan-ho, who may develop independently in the future.

The most crucial point is that Wang Sheng insisted on the five-year short-term authorization and the low revenue sharing ratio, showing a strong attitude of "we'll talk if we can, otherwise forget it".

This led to a heated internal debate among Actoz's management, who were eager to make breakthroughs in overseas markets but were skeptical about the potential of the Chinese market.

The focus of the debate naturally centered on Park Kwan-ho.

The company's management was inclined to accept this contract, which, although not ideal, would bring immediate financial returns, especially after Wang Sheng's team hinted at potential future collaborations.

They kept pressuring Park Kwan-ho to agree to the agreement for the company's benefit.

Park Kwan-ho was in extreme pain and inner conflict.

He loves his work and doesn't want it to be thrown into an unknown market in a "cheap" way.

He argued that the terms were too harsh and underestimated the value of Mir 2.

During the meeting, he had a heated argument with the company's senior management and even slammed the door and left.

But the reality is cruel.

Actoz needs this money, and it also needs a successful overseas case to boost its stock price and investor confidence.

Faced with capital and corporate decisions, the producer's ideals and perseverance seem so pale and powerless.

Ultimately, after several days of back-and-forth negotiations and internal coordination, Actoz conceded.

At the final, decisive meeting, facing the president's almost pleading words about "the company's survival and development," and considering Wang Sheng's private promise of personal investment and emphasis on game technology, Park Kwan-ho, looking exhausted and helpless, signed his name on the "Software Licensing Agreement" that he was extremely reluctant to sign.

The pen tip glided across the paper, carrying a hint of resolute determination.

Core content of the agreement:

Shengshi Capital (Shengshi Investment) has acquired the exclusive five-year operating rights for "The Legend of Mir 2" in mainland China.

Authorization fee: US$30, payable upon signing the contract.

Profit sharing ratio: 10% of operating net profit, paid to Actoz quarterly.

Actoz must provide the game client and necessary technical documentation, and promise to provide standard-level technical support and version updates during the licensing period.

After the signing ceremony, Wang Sheng did not linger.

He immediately instructed his subsidiary, Shengshi Investment, to meet with the dejected Park Kwan-ho alone and quickly finalize the signing of the $50 personal investment agreement, thereby acquiring a portion of Park Kwan-ho's company's shares.

At the same time, a confidentiality agreement regarding "strategic technical support" was also signed, stipulating that Park Kwan-ho would assign reliable technical personnel to establish direct contact with the Tencent team to collaborate on technical issues such as game localization, anti-cheating, and anti-private server, with Sheng Ying paying the corresponding technical service fees.

……

After returning to China, Wang Sheng leveraged his extensive network of contacts to expedite the approval process under the guise of "long-term strategic cooperation to introduce high-end digital cultural products."

Because the contract terms were clear, the cooperation period was long, and it aligned with the policy trend of encouraging long-term and in-depth international cooperation, the approval process went exceptionally smoothly.

(End of this chapter)