Chapter 225 Games to make quick money
In the e-sports market, Singapore plays a very special role. There are no local events and no local players, but it is a favorite place for e-sports organizations.
In a place as big as Singapore, there are hundreds of e-sports organizations, such as Blizzard, EA, and even Riot Games in the future, all of which have established their Asian headquarters in Singapore.
Many events were also held in Singapore, such as the later DOTA2 International Invitational Tournament and Major, the League of Legends Global Champions Cup, and the Valorant Championship Tour, all of which were held in Singapore. Even the later Olympic Esports Week was also held in Singapore. Held in Singapore.
Singapore’s enthusiasm for international e-sports competitions is inseparable from Singapore’s special geographical location and infrastructure level.
In terms of geographical location, Singapore guards the Strait of Malacca, and the transportation is very convenient. Whether it is from Europe, the Middle East or East Asia, it is not far away, and visas are relatively easy to obtain.
In terms of infrastructure, the entire country of Singapore is covered by the Internet, and the Internet speed is not bad. Connecting to European servers from Singapore is much faster than in South Korea.
Of course, in 2005, LAN games were still the world, and e-sports competitions did not require a high-speed network.
In Singapore in November, the fierce battle of the 2005 WCG World Finals is in full swing.
Taking advantage of the gap between the two finals, there was a DOTA exhibition match on the main stage, with the Korean team playing against the Singaporean team.
As you can imagine, the South Korean team defeated the Singaporean team easily.
With a place as small as Singapore, it is not easy to find five people playing DOTA.
This is indeed the case. The five people representing Singapore are not even amateur players. They probably found five people who are good at playing DOTA in the university dormitory and formed a team. It is quite a team. So the dormitory turned dark.
Although the five people sent by the Korean team are not professional DOTA players, they are professional players of Warcraft 3. Although they are not famous, they have the skills of professional players at least. In terms of operational accuracy and AMP, they are much better than the Singapore team.
When you encounter professional players at the black level in the dormitory, it is completely impossible to compete. The game only lasted for more than 20 minutes, and the Korean team had already flattened the Singaporean team.
Five Korean athletes stood in front of the medal podium with excited faces, wearing Taegeuk flags and shouting "loyalty".
Although it is a performance event, a gold medal is still specially set up. In order for the South Korean team to win the championship, the sponsor Samsung Group must also add this gold medal.
At the same time, in the Blizzard forum, posts discussing DOTA were also extremely popular. During the game, some people used text to live broadcast in real time. After the game, some people posted posts reviewing the game process.
For any activity with a competitive nature, holding competitions is an excellent way to promote the activity. Of course, promotion is promotion. Whether it can be accepted after promotion is another matter.
Just like football in a big Eastern country, no matter how many games are held and no matter how much bonuses are given, it is still the same as the original Xiong Virtue, and in the end it can only be used to balance the national destiny.
Yao Xiaoguang was in front of the computer, constantly refreshing the discussion threads in the forum, but deep down he was hesitating.
Just now, he received another job invitation. This time the invitation was from the vice president of Penguin Group. Penguin hoped that Yao Xiaoguang could join Penguin Games.
The salary package offered by Penguin is still very good, and they are also willing to let Yao Xiaoguang be independently responsible for the research and development and operation of a game studio, which is equivalent to a great delegation of power to Yao Xiaoguang, allowing him to play freely.
Penguin is so big, and it owns QQ, China’s number one social platform. If you join Penguin, you can enjoy the shade against a big tree.
To be honest, Yao Xiaoguang was very excited about Penguin's invitation, but he was not willing to give up the DOTA project in his hands.
Not to mention that since Yao Xiaoguang took over DOTA, he has updated several versions and has developed feelings for DOTA.
Just talking about the current popularity and development momentum of DOTA, any fool can see that it will soon become a popular game in the world.
If Yao Xiaoguang joins Penguin, it means saying goodbye to the DOTA project.
But except for Penguin, other companies cannot have such a scale, and it is difficult to offer Yao Xiaoguang the same good conditions. If he misses this opportunity, Yao Xiaoguang doesn't know if he will have the chance to hug such a thick thigh again in the future.
It is difficult for Yao Xiaoguang to make a choice between holding a penguin with his thick legs and starting a business and continuing to engage in DOTA.
If Yao Xiaoguang knew how popular DOTA would be in the future, he would probably choose the DOTA project without hesitation. However, Yao Xiaoguang is not a reborn person. Now he is faced with a DOTA1 that has no profit points. Of course he will be in a dilemma. between.
That night, Yao Xiaoguang lay in bed, unable to sleep for a long time. He kept tossing and turning, his thoughts were tangled up in a mess, and the chaos in his heart was as unpeaceable as the fallen leaves blown by the wind outside the window.
Yao Xiaoguang stayed up all night. In the early morning, it was already dark outside, and he finally made a decision.
"Fight for your dream one last time!" Yao Xiaoguang made up his mind, then got up from the bed and dialed Zhang Wei's number directly.
After the number was dialed, Yao Xiaoguang realized that it was only six o'clock in the morning, and most people probably hadn't gotten up yet at this time!
Yao Xiaoguang immediately hung up the phone, but more than a minute later, Zhang Wei called again.
"Brother Xiaoyao, you called me? I was about to answer the call when you hung up. Do you have anything to do with me?" Zhang Wei asked.
Zhang Wei's voice didn't sound like he was getting up. Yao Xiaoguang breathed a sigh of relief before he said; "I thought you didn't get up, and I was worried about disturbing your sweet dream again."
" It's an hour faster in Japan than in China. It's already past seven o'clock, and I'm ready to have breakfast," Zhang Wei replied.
Yao Xiaoguang continued: "Yesterday's WCG World Finals, DOTA was a performance event, did you understand?"
"I read the news reports. There seems to be text battle reports online, but no one has posted a replicamode yet." Zhang Wei replied.
At the end of 2005, video websites were still a new thing. In China, video websites such as Youku had not yet been established. At this time, online TV was popular, such as Boidian Network TV, PPStream, PPLive, etc.
In addition to watching programs from various TV stations, this online TV software also has special channels that rotate movies or TV series. College students in the early 2000s used this thing to skip classes and go to Internet cafes to watch NBA games. Many people born in the 1980s watch Stephen Chow's entire series of movies through the carousel of this online TV software.
During the 2008 Beijing Olympics, this online TV software even cooperated with CCTV to broadcast the entire Beijing Olympics live. Games that could not be seen on TV channels could be seen on the online TV software. .
Later, with the strengthening of copyright protection and the increasing number of resources on video websites, all kinds of videos can be directly watched on demand. Internet TV gradually declined, and the rise of live broadcasting completely crushed it. Internet TV software.
In 2005, YouTube could only be regarded as a platform for friends to share recorded clips. Most of the videos recorded clips of daily life, such as going to an amusement park or eating delicious food, similar to today's friends. lock up.
Although YouTube at this time already had millions of short videos and hundreds of thousands of views every day, there was no profit point. It was not until after being acquired by Google that commercial operations began.
In other words, in this era, even if there is a video of the game, there is no place to upload it, and there is no website to watch the video of the game.
If you want to watch the replay of the game, there is only one way, download the replica mode of the game and enter the game for replay.
In order to hide the details of their tactics, many professional players often keep their replymode secret. If you don't compete with him for a round, you won't be able to get his replymode at all.
The reason why South Korea's StarCraft was so great back then was because Korean players blocked their own repeatmode. Although South Korean TV stations would broadcast the game live at the time, many details could not be seen in the pictures given by OB.
In the era of StarCraft 2, with Battle.net, players can check the replica mode of masters on Battle.net, so it is no longer difficult to keep the details of Korean players secret, and European players can also rise. Getting back to the subject, Yao Xiaoguang chatted with Zhang Wei for a few words about WCG, and then got down to the topic: "Zhang Wei, when will you return to China? After you return to China, let's register a game company!"
"Great, Brother Xiaoyao, you finally decided to stay and work on the DOTA project!" Zhang Wei suddenly beamed.
The original agreement between Zhang Wei and Yao Xiaoguang was to let Yao Xiaoguang be responsible for DOTA for a period of time. If Yao Xiaoguang felt that this project had potential, he would stay and start a business with Zhang Wei. If Yao Xiaoguang felt that DOTA was not good, he could do it at any time. Leave as you please.
Now that Yao Xiaoguang brought up the matter of registering a company, he obviously planned to start a business with Zhang Wei.
Zhang Wei was afraid that Yao Xiaoguang would change his mind, so he immediately said: "Brother Xiaoyao, I will book a flight ticket soon and fly back to the capital in the afternoon!"
"The matter of registering the company is not that urgent. "You don't have to come back in the afternoon." Yao Xiaoguang said sheepishly.
“It’s okay, I’ve had enough time in Japan anyway! I originally planned to come here for a trip and relax, but who knew that after coming here, I would also have to attend academic conferences every day, which is so annoying "
Zhang Wei made a monkey-brother expression, and then said: "Brother Xiaoyao, you are an expert in game development. After the company is established, you will be the CEO and I can count on recruiting people. You, a layman, will not participate in the company’s operations.”
"In that case, you provide the funds, and I will contribute. You are the boss, and you have to make the final decision!" Yao Xiaoguang said immediately.
“Even if I want to make up my mind, I don’t have the energy! I have to go to school, do scientific research, and have so many academic conferences. Maybe when I get busy, you won’t be able to find me even if you call me Me! So don’t count on me!”
Zhang Wei sighed helplessly, and then said: “But I still have two expectations for our company.”
"The company hasn't been registered yet, and the boss is about to issue instructions? Tell me, what are the instructions?" Yao Xiaoguang asked with a smile.
“I think that after the company is established, we will immediately start the research and development of the DOTA2 project. The DOTA2 we develop will no longer be a map in Warcraft 3, but an independent client game.” Zhang Wei said.
"Independent client? Then we have to develop a new game engine! That is a big project." Yao Xiaoguang said.
"I remember that when you were at Shanda, you worked on Sandi Games. You are experienced in making game engines." Zhang Wei said with a smile.
“The third brother game I made seems to be just a piece of cake now, and it is far worse than the third brother game in World of Warcraft. The product produced by Blizzard must be a high-quality product. This sentence is not nonsense. Say it. To be honest, even if I was given five years, I would not be able to achieve that level of Third Brother effect." Yao Xiaoguang is not as optimistic as Zhang Wei.
“What we want to do is not a third brother game like World of Warcraft that can rotate 360 degrees. What we are making is a fixed perspective game. Although the terrain, buildings, units and trees in the game must be three-dimensional. The model is presented, but as long as there is a bird's-eye view, it is enough to allow players to feel the three-dimensional sense in the game."
"If that's the case, then the third brother's modeling is more complicated, and I can do it. Give it a try." Yao Xiaoguang replied.
"This alone is not enough. We need to strengthen the interaction between the environment and the game characters. For example, the effects of movement, strikes, collisions, and explosions can increase the experience of the game." Zhang Wei continued.
"I understand this. It probably means that when moving in the water, there should be ripples, and when being attacked, there should be special effects of being beaten. Is that what it means?" Yao Xiaoguang asked next.
"Yes, that's what it means. But the most important thing is to ensure the smoothness of the game. You can't sacrifice the smoothness of the game for the sake of visual effects. No one is willing to play a game that is stuck one after another!"
"I've written it down." Yao Xiaoguang paused, then asked: "Then about our development of DOTA2, do we need to talk to Blizzard first?"
"No such thing. Yes, the DOTA trademark has been registered by me anyway. Our development of DOTA2 is completely legal and does not infringe on Blizzard's copyright. What's more, even if we go to Blizzard, Blizzard has no time to deal with us. "
"Why? Isn't DOTA very popular in European and American countries? Are we developing DOTA2? Will Blizzard respond?" Yao Xiaoguang asked in confusion.
“Now Blizzard’s main focus should be on the World of Warcraft expansion pack! In addition to the World of Warcraft expansion pack, the development of StarCraft 2 has also been put on Blizzard’s agenda.
StarCraft is Blizzard’s flagship product, and the sequel will definitely take more care. I don’t think Blizzard will have time to manage DOTA within five years!” Zhang Wei replied.
There is another point that Zhang Wei did not mention, and that is that Blizzard is busy fighting a lawsuit with South Korea's Kespa.
The StarCraft competition operated by South Korea's Kespa has formed an industry and brought huge business opportunities. It is said that at its peak, Kespa had an income of 2 billion won a year from StarCraft competition licensing fees alone. At that time, 10,000 Korean won could still be exchanged for 80 RMB, and 2 billion Korean won was equivalent to 16 million RMB.
You want to know how big Korea is and what its population is? If this were replaced by a big Eastern country, wouldn't it be doubled twenty times?
This is only the licensing fee for the competition, the advertising sponsorship fees during the competition, the TV broadcast fees, and the advertising fees inserted during the TV broadcasts. These are all money. The entire industry chain adds up to a huge amount of revenue.
From Blizzard's perspective, a mere South Korea can bring so much income. If the whole world can follow this model, then the income will be astronomical!
Blizzard wants to get the competition license back, but Kespa is definitely not willing. So Blizzard started a lawsuit with Kespa.
Blizzard said that StarCraft is a game developed by Blizzard, and Kespa held the competition without Blizzard's authorization, which violated Blizzard's intellectual copyright;
Kespa said that if I purchased a genuine version of StarCraft, then the product belongs to me and I can use it however I want. Hosting competitions is also a way of using the product, and Blizzard has no right to interfere.
The back and forth between the two sides lasted for several years, and in the end Blizzard did not take advantage. Blizzard still overestimates the identity of American dads. In a lawsuit against Koreans in South Korea, American dads will not work and they will not win!
The result was that Kespa moved all the StarCraft games to the foot of the Oriental Pearl TV Tower in Shanghai, and Blizzard could only drool with envy.
Finally, when StarCraft 2 was released, Blizzard directly canceled the LAN and established a Battle.net. As a result, Kespa was unable to hold StarCraft 2 competitions.
Kespa is also stubborn. If you don’t let me hold StarCraft 2 games, I will continue to hold StarCraft 1 games. Anyway, the TV broadcast rights are mine, and I have been arguing with Blizzard for several years.
Blizzard said that without Zhang Butcher, I would still eat meat. He cooperated with an online media in South Korea to organize a StarCraft 2 competition, which was broadcast through the Internet, and the bonuses were huge.
The Korean market is so big that it cannot support two real-time strategy games. There will inevitably be a loss between the two parties.
In the end, it ended with Blizzard's victory. The audience still loves the new and hates the old. With StarCraft 2, fewer and fewer people will watch StarCraft 1.
After all, StarCraft 1 was a game that came out in 1998. It was popular for more than ten years, so it can be considered the end of its life.
But the most annoying thing is that after Blizzard took back the right to host the competition, it did not organize the competition properly. It has such good game resources and is not short of money, but there is no decent event. Get it started. The typical situation is that you don’t want to take up the manhole when others occupy it, but you don’t want to shit yourself when you occupy the manhole! It deserves to be in decline.
After writing down Zhang Wei's research and development requirements for DOTA2, Yao Xiaoguang then asked: "Boss Zhang, what is your second instruction?"
"DOTA2 will not be developed in a short time, and the company must also To make money, employees also have to eat, so I think that while developing DOTA2, I can take some time to make a few games to make quick money."
“A game to make quick money?” Yao Xiaoguang was startled.
In his opinion, online games are all about accumulation of reputation and attracting players. How can there be such a thing as making quick money?
Zhang Wei asked with a smile: "Brother Xiaoyao, do you know web games? This is a great tool for making quick money!"
(End of this chapter)