Reborn Tycoon Rise

Just when RCA was being surrounded by various forces, Xu Zhi had returned to Hong Kong. Although Goldman Sachs and the many consortiums behind it were far more powerful than RCA, they stayed in the dark and wanted to crush a top American company in a short period of time. Basically, impossible.

However, the first step has been successful. Under the influence of unfavorable information and massive short selling, RCA's stock price fell from 5 billion to 3.5 billion US dollars. Goldman Sachs made a profit of hundreds of millions of US dollars on this alone, and Xu Zhi also followed suit and made a small profit of two dollars. Tens of millions of dollars.

It has been almost a month since I left Xiangjiang. Many things have to be decided by Xu Zhi. As the boss of several large companies, although Xu Zhi does not have to worry about some details, many things must be decided by him. For example, a few days ago, Midea received a final notice from Sony: It is willing to pay a compensation and end the cooperative relationship between the two parties early!

"80 million U.S. dollars!" Xu Zhi smiled and shook his head: "Shaofu Morita is really a ruthless man, and he is willing to pay such a large sum of money."

He Guoyuan said: "There is nothing we can do about it. If we follow our contract, the minimum sales volume of Mario and Contra alone is a huge sum of money, probably more than 80 million, although this money does not need to be a one-time sum." But if we release console games ahead of schedule again, Sony will probably suffer even worse losses."

Yao Mingcheng said: "Xu Sheng, I have carefully calculated the numbers in the contract. According to the current agreement, if we pursue a lawsuit, we should be able to obtain higher compensation, which is estimated to be more than 100 million US dollars."

Xu Zhi shook his head and said: "No, it's expensive and laborious to fight a cross-border lawsuit with a big company like Sony. Moreover, although Sony suffered a big loss with this trick, if the truth is really revealed, it will have a negative impact on our company's position in the industry." The image is also not good. If this is the case, it will be troublesome for us to find dealers in the future. We can earn 80 million US dollars!"

He Guoyuan said: "Then how should we develop the Japanese market next?"

Xu Zhidao: "We set up our own company. Midea has already had an R\u0026D institution in Japan. It is not a problem to have another sales department. What's more, Midea's other products will also need to be stationed in Japan in the future. There is no harm in opening up the sales channels early!"

He Guoyuan nodded and said, "Okay, no problem."

Xu Zhi smiled and asked: "Lao He, how are you preparing for third-party game development?"

Since 1978, when Japan's Taito Company's Space Invaders detonated the arcade market, countless small Japanese companies have wanted to become the next lucky one to get rich, investing tens of millions of yen in return for tens of billions of yen. .

The rise of Xiangjiang Midea Company has added to this myth. Although Midea Company, as an unlisted company, does not need to disclose its financial statements. However, according to reports from some authoritative economic newspapers, Midea's total annual sales have exceeded US$1 billion, and its net profit is no less than US$300 million.

Not only in Xiangjiang, where Midea is located, various gaming companies have begun to be established in many regions in Asia, with the intention of replicating Midea's rise.

However, the reality is cruel. Just the initial hardware research and development and subsequent channel promotion of arcade machines require a lot of funds. Taitong Company has been in business for many years before "Space Invaders", and Midea also had many projects before Xiangjiang Cube. With their own funds, many game companies have taken up the idea of ​​Midea's home console.

Midea's home game console sales have skyrocketed since the release of Tank Battle and Pac-Man cartridges. However, no matter how fun the games are, they cannot be played every day, and countless customers have begun to complain that there are too few game types.

Xu Zhi has also noticed this problem a long time ago and has begun preparing to license third-party game software vendors. This is good news for many small game development companies. As long as they focus on developing games, Midea will handle the rest. , but when these people saw Midea’s overbearing contract, they began to complain.

He Guoyuan replied: "Several Japanese companies have begun to soften, and it is expected that negotiations will be concluded soon."

"Then hurry up!" Xu Zhi said with a smile, and when it came to game creativity, no one in the world could compare with him as a time traveler.

But if one person can’t compare, what about ten, a hundred, or a thousand people? The answer is yes. No game manufacturer can continuously develop games that monopolize the market, but as long as it monopolizes the channels for market games, that will be the greatest success!

Later generations of Nintendo's Famicom relied on this royalty cooperation system and almost monopolized the entire game market until personal computers became completely popular and destroyed the home game market.

Simply put, Nintendo's royalty system means that hardware manufacturers are responsible for promoting the hardware, software manufacturers have to pay a portion of the money to the hardware vendors, and the software must be reviewed by the hardware vendors. But in fact, Nintendo relies on its monopoly position in the market of FC red and white machines, which allows it to impose extremely harsh licensing conditions on third-party software vendors. It transfers almost all risks to the other party and makes no losses to itself.

Midea, on the other hand, is much better. The games naturally have to be reviewed, but the third party only needs to pay the review team's fee. If they don't pass, there will be nothing to say. But if they pass the review, the game program will enter Midea's arcades and homes according to the type of game. It is fully promoted on consoles and Gameboys. The third party does not need to provide any funds, and only needs to wait to receive the money.

This kind of cooperation means that Midea bears the risk of game failure, which is of course best for third parties. However, Midea also has a condition, that is, the copyright of the game must belong to Midea.

As for the game risks it takes, there are actually not many. Midea has already prepared its own plan. After multiple reviews, more than a dozen third-party games will be trial-produced in its own motherboard factory in Xiangjiang and installed on arcade machines. After that, it will be sent to several major markets to test the water. If the effect is good, it will be launched in the arcade market first. If it does not work, it will be tested in the home console market. This aspect is easier, just make some cassettes.

In total, the cost of promoting a failed game program may be tens of thousands of dollars, which is just a drop in the bucket for Midea, which has annual profits of hundreds of millions of dollars. Not to mention that if you find a good game, you can completely cover the loss of a few hundred games.

In later generations, Nintendo deliberately exaggerated operating costs and forced game developers to pay huge deposits. Although it reduced risks, it also improved the entry requirements for many game companies. It seemed like a loss, but in fact it killed many new companies with potential. .

The requirement to obtain copyright is to prevent Sony or other giants from launching third-party licensing in the future when they enter the game market.

Of course, third-party companies are happy to have no risks. Although they are not very willing to hand over the copyright, it is useless to have copyrights for games that are not promoted. These people will soften sooner or later.