A writer has arrived in the Chinese entertainment industry.

Online games, including web games and mobile games, face a different situation than the single-player game market.

Online games are a classic example of a channel-driven business model, characterized by long-term operation and a winner-takes-all mentality. The entire business model revolves around "grabbing time and money." Monthly revenue, retention, and ARPU (average revenue per user) determine survival. Once players have invested time and money in game A, it's very difficult for them to invest in game B.

Moreover, with giants monopolizing the market and dominant distribution channels, top-tier products account for over 70% of revenue, making it difficult for small and medium-sized manufacturers to survive. They must compete for users, distribution channels, and product versions.

Single-player games are different. If online games are about racing against time and money, then single-player games are about selling content. It's a one-time sale; if a player buys game A, it doesn't affect their ability to buy game B. The lifespan is short; once players finish a game, they'll naturally look for the next one.

Moreover, the explosive popularity of one game can often boost sales across the entire genre. Therefore, the relationship between manufacturers is more like a partnership for mutual support and market expansion.

In addition, the anime and manga market is inherently narrow, so companies have to compete fiercely and aggressively, or they will fail.

Therefore, Liu Wei never expected the other party to agree.

"How is it?"

Cai Haoyu and Luo Yuhao looked at Liu Wei, who had just finished making the phone call, like two fledglings eagerly awaiting their food.

"She said she couldn't interfere and that Yusei should discuss it internally."

"Isn't this just a blatant attempt to fob you off?"

"This was never going to work out in the first place." Liu Wei threw his phone down and sank into his chair.

"What should we do then?"

Cai Haoyu was frantic. He'd finally secured investment and completed the game, only to be faced with this situation?

"How about we... try using AcFun?" Luo Yuhao suggested from the side.

"A-site's daily active users are only half that of Bilibili, and they don't even have a mobile app, so their mobile game distribution capabilities are practically zero. Moreover, I've heard that their management is in disarray, so the billing cycle will probably be very long."

A-site lacks a mature operating system, and under the influence of executives who only want to make quick money, they are likely to take 60%-80% of the game's revenue. Moreover, if the payment period exceeds three months, Mihalyu's cash flow will immediately break down.

Liu Wei pondered for a while before speaking: "We won't do joint operations with AcFun, we'll just talk to them about promotion. Then we'll talk to a few moderators on Tieba about cooperation. Finally, I'll talk to U17 to see if they're interested in joint operations."

U17 is currently the largest original comics and ACG (Anime, Comics, and Games) community in China, second only to ACFun and Bilibili in terms of traffic.

Most importantly, it has an app and a dedicated game channel, making its mobile game distribution capabilities far superior to AcFun.

Given that Bilibili was completely suppressed by Yusei, Liu Wei's plan was the optimal solution.

Su Liu was naturally unaware of the troubles the Mihalyu trio were facing. He was currently at Yonghua Cinema at No. 1 Hongqiao Road with Reba, Mao Xiaotong, Li Xian, and Yu Hewei.

Shanghai Film Group and Enlight Media launched limited screenings in several cities across the country. The group will wait until the film ends to go inside and interact with the audience, which can be considered a mini-promotion.

Su Liu was currently browsing Bilibili when he came across a parody video of Zhuge Liang scolding Wang Lang from the classic Three Kingdoms period.

"Hey, Teacher Yu," he asked Yu Hewei, who was standing next to him, "when you were filming the new Three Kingdoms, did you expect it to be criticized so harshly? Everyone says it's ridiculous."

Upon hearing this, Mao Xiaotong subtly tightened her grip and pinched Su Liu hard. Wasn't this blatantly exposing his shortcomings? Didn't Teacher Yu have any pride?

Yu Hewei was taken aback for a moment, but didn't take it to heart, and then laughed out loud, "Actually, we all felt there was a problem when we were filming."

"How so?"

Several people turned to look at Yu Hewei, their eyes gleaming with gossip.

At this moment, Yu Hewei resembled an old man telling stories at the village entrance.

"For a big-budget drama with an investment of 1.55 million yuan, when it was filming in Hengdian, Director Gao said there was a serious shortage of funds, and he personally paid over 20 yuan for the meals. Moreover, at that time, people frequently came to urge payment of location fees, and once we were almost kicked out. Tell me, where did all that money go?"

"Where did they all go?"

"I'm telling you," he said, pausing for a moment, "but you mustn't tell anyone."

"No, no. We're not gossipy people."

"In all my years of acting, I've never seen such a chaotic film crew," Yu Hewei said in a low voice, then leaned back with a serious expression.

"How so?"

"Take that Three Kingdoms palace for example. They first demolished the original pre-Qin palace, then built a palace in the Three Kingdoms style, and then restored it after filming. Isn't that just a waste of time and money?"

"Why would they do this?" Mao Xiaotong, who had experience working on several period drama sets, found this behavior completely incomprehensible.

"Why? How much of the cost incurred during this demolition and construction can be inflated?"

"Wow."

Several people sighed. Apart from Mao Xiaotong, who had some experience on film sets, the others at Fuxing Culture didn't have a deep understanding of the film and television industry.

"That's not all. Why did I say this film crew is chaotic?" Yu Hewei asked mysteriously.

Why?

"When we're filming, to improve efficiency, we shoot according to the scene, right?"

"Yes." Several people looked puzzled. Isn't this common sense?

"No, they are different. When we are filming, there are often some inexplicable scene transitions. For example, today we film a scene of Zhou Yu's military camp, and after filming, we go to film something else, dismantle the set, and then rebuild it when we need it again next time."

"Really? That's outrageous!"

"Would I lie to you?" Yu Hewei shrugged.

The new students looked at each other in disbelief. Dilraba said, "It's hard to imagine, it's different from what they said at school."

"Is it also for...that?" Su Liu pointed to the inflated costs.

"What else could it be for?" Yu Hewei lowered his voice again, "There's something else, I've only heard about it, I don't know if it's true."

"You say so," Reba seemed the most enthusiastic.

"I heard that money such as venue fees, sponsorship fees, and product placements were not deposited into the public account, but were divided among the production manager, producer, and director."

Su Liu said with absolute certainty, "Since you've heard about it, it must be true."

"Hey, I didn't say that."

Such a corrupt production crew is rare even among those working in the Chinese entertainment industry. While Su Liu was filming "Sharp Blade," he discovered many old problems, but at least it didn't involve corruption.

In the future, when assembling teams for their own film and television projects, Chen Si must keep a close eye on things; they absolutely cannot follow the old path of the Chinese entertainment industry. Su Liu, suddenly hearing about the dark side of the film and television industry, felt extremely vigilant.

He thought, why not start with the show "Unnatural" and try to make the whole crew more professional?

As for the specifics of how to proceed, we'll have to discuss it thoroughly with Chen Si.