Game Development Giant

"Yes, RTS games. You should know that I will produce at least three different RTS games in the next three years. This will be the game category in which I invest the most energy in the next few years."

Jester smiled and nodded.

The people in the game workshop looked at each other. Although judging from their expressions, they were very moved, but they were obviously still undecided for the moment.

At this time, Jester stood up and extended his hand to the people in the game workshop.

"Actually, this is just our first contact. I never thought that I could get such an important authorization in the first contact. However, I think our meeting is still very pleasant. You can Go back and think about it, I will leave London in three days, and before leaving, if you can make a decision, we can meet again."

Jester was smiling and his tone was very sincere.

The people in the game workshop looked embarrassed. After all, it was Jester who gave them a step up, so they immediately stood up and stretched out their hands to touch one of Jester's. Holding hands together: "Thank you so much. We will definitely give you a clear answer within three days."

These three days are very free for Jester. Claudia has to hand over her work and doesn't have much time to spend with him. And what he wants to do seems to be meeting people from the game workshop. One thing, after seeing it now, Jester felt a little bored.

He had been sitting in the cafe of the Four Seasons Hotel, drinking coffee quietly, and thinking about what else he could do.

After thinking about it, Jester really remembered a studio owned by him, and it seemed that he should go and take a look.

This studio is owned by the European branch of Mars Entertainment. Last Christmas, a game from this studio was highly recommended by Jester. We specially used the promotional resources of "Quake" to recommend it. This game is "God Is Crazy".

And this studio is Bullfrog.

Because of the success of last year's "God Is Crazy", this originally unknown studio became famous throughout the UK and even Europe.

Moreover, Claudia’s support for the acquisition of Bullfrog Studio, which was not expected at first, made people look at her with admiration and felt that she was not just someone relying on Jester. Remaining power. Only then can they gain a foothold in the video game industry.

Jester called the European branch of Mars Entertainment, asked for the address of Bullfrog Studio, and asked the driver to drive him there.

For the boss of a company to visit a subsidiary studio of his company, Jester's move was still a bit hasty. Although the incident happened suddenly, Bullfrog Studio was notified by the European branch of Mars Entertainment as soon as possible.

When Jester's car arrived at the Bullfrog Studio location, Pete Molyneux was already greeting him at the door.

The previous location of Bullfrog Studio was very simple, but since it became famous. They have also moved to London's business district. As the earliest international city in history, London's business district is far less prosperous than Los Angeles' urban area.

Last year, Jester only had a quick meeting with Molineux, a designer destined to become a legend in the future. Jester is full of admiration. Unfortunately, due to time constraints last year, we didn’t have much in-depth contact with him this time. It could just make up for some of the regrets I had at that time.

Molyneux is in his thirties, which is not considered a young age in the video game development world, which is dominated by people in their twenties.

But he is very capable. Extremely energetic.

In the reception room of Bullfrog Studio, Jester quietly listened to Molyneux telling him about the changes in Bullfrog Studio over the past year and the new games they released this year, but Jester was not familiar with these. His interest is not very great. In his eyes, the most valuable thing about Bullfrog is the person in front of him.

So, when Molyneux was mid-sentence, Jester interrupted him with a smile.

"Pete, do you have any problem with me calling you that?"

When Molyneux heard Jester suddenly say this, the expression on his face paused slightly, and then he smiled and nodded: "Of course not, my friends all call me that."

But when he heard that the boss, whom he had only met for the second time, was calling him so intimately, Molyneux always felt that something must be going on.

"I actually have a grudging request. I want to ask if you have any plans to work in Los Angeles, which is the headquarters of Mars Entertainment. Or let me ask you this, have you moved Bullfrog Studio to Los Angeles? What about the idea of ​​going?”

Jester smiled and said something that shocked Molyneux.

Los Angeles is the heart of the current video game industry. Almost more than half of the games in the world are developed here. Being able to go here and enter the core area of ​​​​the world's video games is certainly the dream of any game developer. .

But for Molineux, if someone had invited him like this before Bullfrog became famous, he would not have hesitated at all.

But now, Bullfrog has become successful through his own efforts, and the work pressure in London is far less than that in Los Angeles. If he can do this in London, if he moves Bullfrog to Los Angeles , he was worried that these young people in his studio would not be able to withstand the pressure from the headquarters of Mars Entertainment.

In London, these people are regarded as the most outstanding gaming talents. Molyneux, who knows them very well, knows that these people are often arrogant in normal times.

Sometimes, they even make disdainful remarks about some games from Mars Entertainment Headquarters, feeling that the games they produce are not much better than their own, and the reason why their sales are so high is just because of the resources they occupy.

If the headquarters is willing to spend enough resources to promote its own games, then our Bullfrog's sales may not be lower than theirs.

Although, whenever someone said this, Molyneux would yell at them and tell them not to be so arrogant, but as Bullfrog became more and more famous in the UK, the phenomenon of such arrogance did not decrease, but increased. There are signs of increase.

Of course, Molyneux can also see that this place in London is too small and cannot accommodate the current Bullfrog Studio.

Jester didn't know Molyneux's concerns. He saw that after hearing his question, Molyneux's face showed a hint of joy at first, but soon it turned into a kind of joy. He looked so melancholy that it was difficult to make a decision, which made him very curious.

After asking, Molyneux did not hide anything and immediately told the truth.

"Are you worried that these employees under you may not be able to withstand the pressure of working in the headquarters?" Jester smiled a little after hearing Molyneux's words, but after thinking about it, he realized that it was indeed the case. In this way, after all, those who can gain a foothold in the Los Angeles headquarters are all elites in the industry.

However, he still couldn't speak directly. Jester just pondered for a moment and then came up with an idea.

"Peter, to be honest, what you are thinking is a bit redundant."

Jester said it lightly, and then Molyneux's face showed a puzzled look. He didn't know why Jester said such words, and even faintly, he felt a little uncomfortable in his heart. .

After all, he values ​​his employees very much.

"It's actually a very simple truth. If your employees can withstand the pressure of working at the headquarters, then it will be a completely reborn growth for them. If they can't withstand it, then they will indeed lose their ability. It’s limited.”

Jester said, his voice suddenly changed: "For example, "God Is Crazy 2", I attach great importance to this series of games of yours. After all, the first game of this game was recommended by me to countless players. Yes, but in the past year or so, I have asked Claudia several times about the second game of this game, and she told me that the project of "God Is Crazy 2" took more than a year to develop and was the result of pre-development. Didn’t it satisfy you?”

This kind of question would naturally embarrass Molyneux, but he could only nod his head and admit it.

"Yes, after several interviews with R\u0026D, I found that the abilities of my subordinates are still somewhat different from my requirements. Many of my ideas, when asked to be completed by them, are always incomplete." Molyneuk Si said a little discouraged. He took a sip of water from the table and moistened his throat.

"Actually, I wanted to ask the headquarters to provide some technical support before, but some of my people always felt that they were the best in the world. If I asked the headquarters for support, I would be looking down on them. I also think they may lack experience. So I want them to practice for a year and start the development of "God Is Crazy 2" next year."

As he said that, Molyneux looked at Jester seriously: "Boss, they have grown a lot this year, and it can be seen from the games that Bullfrog released this year, so I think it will be a good idea to finish "God Is Too" next year. "Crazy 2" is very confident."

Jester just listened quietly, and this time he did not suddenly interrupt Molyneux.

It was not until Molyneux finished speaking that Jester spoke with a smile.

"I have a question, I don't know whether I should ask it." (To be continued...)