Chapter 1811: Long-Term Considerations

Zhao Fusheng knew very well what IP meant years later, and how much value and popularity it would have.

For example, even a movie like Warcraft, which flopped at the North American box office, could make a fortune in China. In the final analysis, wasn't it because of the Warcraft IP?

Often, a game or an IP is a kind of sentiment for many people.

Sentiment is hard to define.

Most people think sentiment should be respected, because it's a beautiful memory of one's own. But the problem is, when sentiment becomes a commodity, it has already lost its original flavor.

Filmmakers sell sentiment, saying they owe the audience a movie ticket.

Singers sell sentiment, saying that later we are no longer young.

Even TV drama producers sell sentiment, uttering lines like 'The armor is still there.'

But in reality?

The movies are terrible, the songs are mediocre, and the TV dramas are a mess.

In the end, it's just a marketing tactic by the distributors to gain higher profits.

Of course, from the perspective of capital, Zhao Fusheng not only didn't look down on such tactics but actually approved of them.

After all, now he himself was an investor, and he understood that the film and television industry had long investment cycles and it wasn't easy to recoup funds. If he didn't use every means to boost box office revenue, the one who would suffer losses would be himself.

Though reluctant to admit it, Zhao Fusheng had to say that he was slowly becoming the kind of person he once despised.

Capital, by nature, exploits others.

This is beyond doubt and cannot be changed.

No matter how beautifully it is whitewashed, no one can alter the essence of capital.

"For merchandise, we plan to first promote it around this game. Once the game has more players, we..."

Dong Guoxiang detailed his plan to Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng chuckled: "No need to make it so complicated. Just cooperate with Tencent Technology."

"Huh?"

Dong Guoxiang was taken aback, somewhat surprised.

Zhao Fusheng smiled: "Do you think there's a better user base than Penguin?"

Hearing his words, Dong Guoxiang immediately understood.

The most important thing for online games is the user base. In short, only users can determine whether an online game can survive long-term.

User recognition means the game's profit point.

Under such circumstances, as Zhao Fusheng said, Tencent Technology was undoubtedly the best partner for future internet companies.

In fact, Dong Guoxiang now felt there was no better partner than Tencent Technology.

"Got it?"

Seeing Dong Guoxiang's expression, Zhao Fusheng knew he understood.

"Got it."

Dong Guoxiang nodded: "I'll send someone to contact them right away."

He knew very well that in online games, the key was who came first. With the same product, launching earlier made it easier to take the initiative.

If a similar game came out later, they wouldn't have a chance to make money.

"We can negotiate cooperation."

Zhao Fusheng said to Dong Guoxiang with a smile: "We can't swallow such a big cake alone. We can discuss cooperation with them and work on it together."

This was the approach he thought of; otherwise, given Tencent's nature, even if they were partners, Little Ma might still pull some copycat stunt.

"I know, don't worry."

Dong Guoxiang nodded, indicating he understood.

In fact, in recent years, Tencent Technology had begun to show their 'hobby' of copying—various projects were imitations.

Domestically, opinions were mixed, but because Tencent developed so fast, no one said much.

However, Zhao Fusheng had made up his mind: if Little Ma's team dared to copy his game, he wouldn't hesitate to preemptively develop Tencent's most awesome product from the future—WeChat.

"Also, the game project team's year-end bonus will be doubled."

Zhao Fusheng continued, saying to Dong Guoxiang: "And for individual rewards, submit a report to me later, and I'll approve it personally."

Rewarding merit was one of the principles of doing business. Since they had achieved results for the company, as the boss, Zhao Fusheng had no reason to be a Scrooge.

If he really acted like a miser, he might succeed temporarily, but in the long run, it would undoubtedly be very unwise.

A truly smart businessman naturally knows how to maximize profits.

Short-sightedness and draining the pond to catch the fish are not choices a smart person should make.

At least, Zhao Fusheng wouldn't do such things.

Sure enough, after Dong Guoxiang announced the reward decision, the programmers were very excited and applauded to show their gratitude.

Those who work in programming are not stupid; they just spend most of their time and energy on coding, so they aren't good at scheming.

Since they chose software development, they naturally hoped to be recognized and achieve success.

And now, they had undoubtedly succeeded.

Of course, this success was only the first step. How far they could go depended on whether the game would be accepted by the market.

After encouraging the hardworking programmers and exchanging a few more words with Dong Guoxiang, Zhao Fusheng left.

The significance of a boss is not to hang out with employees all day. Although such a boss gives the impression of being approachable, to employees, no matter how approachable the boss is, he is still the boss—the one who decides their career.

Therefore, a good boss should only appear in front of employees when paying salaries and bonuses; that's the best way.

"Are you very optimistic about this game?"

On the way back, Wu Sijie asked Zhao Fusheng.

He could tell that Zhao Fusheng was genuinely happy, especially when Dong Guoxiang introduced the game's situation; Zhao Fusheng clapped first several times, which was rare for him.

Zhao Fusheng smiled: "Is it that obvious?"

Wu Sijie nodded: "Very obvious."

"Heh..."

Chuckling softly, Zhao Fusheng said: "I'm not just optimistic about this game; I'm optimistic about the entire online game industry."

"The game industry?"

Wu Sijie was stunned, looking at Zhao Fusheng in surprise. He never expected Zhao Fusheng to have such strong confidence in this area.

"You mean this industry has the potential to develop better?"

Looking at Zhao Fusheng, Wu Sijie asked.

Clearly, he wasn't too convinced by Zhao Fusheng's judgment, since the domestic online game industry had been stagnant, showing no signs of hope.

And now, Zhao Fusheng said it was a sunrise industry—what a joke!