Chapter 2152 Konami

Zhou Buqi is now more confident.

It feels like winning "Pro Evolution Soccer" won't be a big problem. He has already found a way to target the Japanese game industry.

After this investigation and analysis, the various shortcomings of Japanese game companies have become very clear. These disadvantages are all good things for Changyou and can be exploited.

Today's Japanese game companies mainly have two major characteristics.

One, mainly console games.

Console games include two parts, namely TV games that are connected to the TV through home game consoles, and handheld games that can be played through handheld game consoles.

This is a game category that has been developed since the 1980s.

Under the operation of those local game giant companies, the Japanese game industry is still dominated by these two game types.

Even including the large game console model that has long been eliminated in the European, American and domestic markets. It is to open an entertainment city with hundreds of machines. Each game machine has a game. Players can buy game coins and then insert coins to play.

This type of game city from decades ago can be seen everywhere in Japan.

The domestic Internet cafe model is almost coming to an end.

This shows how backward Japan is.

Second, focus on the local market.

The vast majority of Japanese game companies have more than 90% of their local market share. The reason for this phenomenon is mainly due to console games.

The game market in Europe and the United States has long been dominated by computer games.

Next comes the era of mobile games.

Even if some players pursue new gameplay and buy home game consoles, Microsoft's Xbox has already emerged. Japanese game manufacturers have been slow to transform, and many have not developed Xbox versions of their games, further reducing their market share.

In short, Japanese game manufacturers still regard console games as their basic business. The main market for console games is the local market, so they can only compete fiercely in the local game market.

The vast overseas market has very limited development.

Far worse than Korea.

It’s not even comparable to the current domestic game industry. Domestic game exports have also increased significantly in recent years, especially social games. Among the social games on Facebook, 15.4% are from domestic game companies.

This became an opportunity that Zhou Buqi could take advantage of.

He went to Konami and met Konami's founder, chairman, and CEO Keimasa Kamezuki, who is Konami's great dictator. Originally, when we started the business, there were three people working together.

Later last month, Jingzheng used strong tactics to buy out the stocks held by the other two people, and he took sole control.

Before coming, Son Zhengyi had said.

This last month Keimasa is a legend in the Japanese game industry, but he is also controversial because he is too obsessed with power and does not allow anyone to refute his views.

Therefore, within Konami, there is a line of death in the workplace: game geniuses enter the company - receive support - awakening of personal genius - have ideological differences with Jingzheng last month - the conflict cannot be resolved - resign and leave.

Especially after 2010, a large number of Konami's elite game producers have left their jobs. This has caused Keimasa to be severely criticized by the industry.

Because what Jingzheng likes most in last month is "loyal ministers". He can always give the best rewards to loyal ministers, even marrying his daughter to him.

But it is difficult to tolerate people who think differently from him, even if they are geniuses.

It’s no surprise that Konami is in decline.

It is natural that "Pro Evolution Soccer" is surpassed and crushed by "FIFA Soccer".

Zhou Buqi doesn't care about the way Yue Jingzheng manages Konami.

But after seeing him, I was a little speechless.

This man was born in 1940 and is 72 years old this year.

Such a game company is still led by him, and he has a strong style and has absolute say... One can only imagine how decadent this company will be.

However, when Yue Jing was meeting with Zhou Buqi, he brought along a young gold medal game producer he had recently trained, named Hideo Kojima.

Konami’s core team is relatively “young” and is under 50 years old this year.

Zhou Buqi was not in a hurry to get down to business, so he first chatted with the gold medal producer Hideo Kojima about his views on the game.

I was stunned immediately.

Hideo Kojima started criticizing the social games and mobile games that are currently trending in the market, saying that they are not called games at all.

A truly good game must have movie-level graphics, and that is what it is.

This view is similar to Hollywood’s attitude towards streaming media. They believe that movies should be played in cinemas for better visual effects; TV series should be played on TV for the best clarity.

Watching excellent film and television works through a computer screen, or even a pad or mobile phone is a kind of blasphemy.

This new era trend has given Silicon Valley the opportunity to develop the streaming media industry. Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, etc. have all invested in movies, and Hollywood's sphere of influence has been seriously eroded.

Zhou Buqi felt that he had nothing in common with them and could not communicate at all.

After talking a lot about the scene of the wheel, we went straight to the topic.

Zhou Buqi said: "The market of "Pro Evolution Soccer" seems to be seriously eroded by "FIFA Soccer". Do you have any solutions?"

Last month, the old man Jingzheng was very stubborn and pretended to be calm, "Let's not talk about erosion. In the field of console games, the sales share of "Pro Evolution Soccer" has already taken the lead by a large margin."

Zhou Buqi glanced at him, "Isn't that because "FIFA Football" currently does not have a handheld game version?"

Last month Jingzheng said with a smile: "The main handheld game consoles are Sony's PSP and Nintendo's 3DS. It is not that easy to develop games corresponding to them. Even if they are developed, they may not be able to obtain good game sales. channel."

Zhou Buqi almost laughed angrily.

I think this old man is simply baffled.

I am quite proud of the alliance behind this semi-monopoly of Japanese companies.

In fact, Japanese game manufacturers support Sony and Nintendo's handheld game consoles and develop exclusive versions of games for them; at the same time, Sony and Nintendo will focus on recommending games from these Japanese game manufacturers on their game console platforms.

Products drive the platform, and the platform drives the products.

By joining forces like this, these Japanese companies can almost monopolize the world's handheld game console market. After all, this field mainly consists of two game consoles, Sony's PSP and Nintendo's 3DS.

Having eaten the market whole, they were satisfied.

This makes Zhou Buqi really despise him.

This far too big market, taken together, may not even account for 1% of the mobile game market. Even if it is completely monopolized by Japanese companies through a series of strategies, what use is it?

Zhou Buqi has traveled extensively in the past few years, visited many countries, and met many entrepreneurs who disapproved of him. However, even if many entrepreneurs have shortcomings of one kind or another, they always have admirable shining points.

These people in the Japanese game industry really don't see any merit at all. They are stubborn, pedantic, arrogant, and self-righteous.

It even gave Zhou Buqi a sense of blind arrogance. He felt that each of these people was more stupid than the last. He simply couldn't believe that this was a group of famous entrepreneurs from developed countries.

Ren Yuxin said with a smile: "Microsoft's Xbox game console is now gaining momentum. Although it cannot match Sony's PS3 in terms of sales, it has already formed a competitive situation. The Xbox game console is paired with EA's FIFA Football."

Shang Yue Jingzheng said in a deep voice: "That's right."

Sure enough, Ren Yuxin found the best entry point, and then said: "Does Konami have any countermeasures? On the PC side, "FIFA Football" has developed rapidly in recent years, and has surpassed "Pro Evolution Football". Far away. Even if "Pro Evolution Soccer" can continue to dominate the handheld game console market, in the field of video games, the combination of Microsoft and EA will also be a great threat."

Shang Yue Jingzheng felt like he was being held within seven inches.

"Pro Evolution Soccer" was surpassed by "FIFA Soccer" on the computer. It's actually no big deal. This is not Konami's core department in the first place.

However, Sony has failed to live up to expectations in the past few years, while Microsoft's home game console, Xbox, has been growing rapidly.

After players buy an Xbox game console, they naturally choose "FIFA Football".

In the past, "Pro Evolution Soccer" dominated the world and was the highest-selling football game. In fact, it relied on the near-monopoly platform advantages of video game consoles and handheld game consoles.

The arrival of Microsoft's Xbox broke Sony's blockade in this field, and Japanese game manufacturers began to suffer hardships.

Last month Jingzheng looked serious, "What can you do? I met with Masayoshi Son a few days ago, and he told me everything. They said that Changyou is very interested in "Pro Evolution Soccer" and wants to cooperate with Konami Cooperate to help "Pro Evolution Soccer" compete with "FIFA Soccer"."

Zhou Buqi said with a smile: "It is true. Changyou does want to launch a football game. Either it will cooperate with "Pro Evolution Soccer", or if the cooperation fails, it will develop it itself."

"How to cooperate?"

Last month Jingzheng actually had little room for maneuver.

There is already an EA "FIFA Soccer" on the market that is a strong rival. If Changyou also comes out to enter this market, how can there be room for "Pro Evolution Soccer" to survive?

It is actually not easy to develop a game of this level.

The initial investment in research and development would cost 80 million US dollars instead of 100 million US dollars. Add in the licensing of various football-related intellectual property rights, and the cost would be even higher.

Ordinary game companies simply can't afford it.

So now there are only two games in this field on the market: "FIFA Football" and "Pro Evolution Football".

However, Shang Yue Jingzheng did not dare to be careless.

The other party is Changyou!

It is currently the gaming giant with the highest market value in the world and is not short of money at all.

Once Changyou really comes to an end, with the connections and influence that Boss Zhou has accumulated in the Japanese business market over the past few years, he will even have a good relationship with Sony and Microsoft.

By then, "Pro Evolution Soccer" may really be hopeless.

After meeting with Sun Zhengyi, Jingzheng thought about it for a long time last month and was actually mentally prepared to a certain extent. As long as the other party's conditions are not too excessive, cooperation may really be a way out for the future of "Pro Evolution Soccer".

The growth of "FIFA Football" in recent years is amazing.

Pro Evolution Soccer really needs a helper.