Chapter 2301 The risk of group convergence

After hearing what he said, Zhou Buqi understood what he meant.

Changyou is a gaming giant. Not only has it acquired many game companies from outside, it also has many game studios and many self-developed games.

Covers almost all game categories.

Once the categories are repeated, it is easy to cause "infighting".

For example, Changyou currently has three tower defense mobile games that have been successful in the market.

One is "Avengers". With the momentum of the movie, this game has become the most popular tower defense mobile game in North America. It has ranked among the top ten free games on iOS and Android. .

One is "Three Kingdoms War", which is a tower defense game developed based on elements of the Three Kingdoms. The gameplay is basically similar to "Avengers", in which heroes from the Three Kingdoms are recruited to defend. This was developed by Changyou's domestic team. Due to the subject matter, this game is mainly aimed at the domestic and Japanese markets.

The last one is the famous "Plants vs. Zombies", which is Baokai's flagship game.

They are both tower defense games, but are developed and operated by different product teams.

Even if everyone is from the same company, for the benefit of their respective teams, there will inevitably be some friction between different teams, trying to find ways to compete for more company resources and obtain better promotion and publicity.

There is internal competition, which is actually a good thing.

Each other can grow and improve through competition, and will become more competitive when fighting in the market.

But this is all idealistic.

No matter how high Zhou Buqi's level is, he has to admit that his control over Changyou's overseas business is far less than his influence on Changyou's domestic business.

Those foreigners are used to being undisciplined, extremely individualistic, and often not very obedient.

Just like Zhou Buqi can do whatever he wants in Ziweixing, but he can't be too presumptuous in Ziweixing International. Many major decisions must be handled with caution and comprehensive communication with senior executives.

Therefore, when competing within an enterprise, it is easy to lose control of the situation.

When competing, there are two strategies for standing out.

You are strong and I am stronger, so I stand out;

I am weak, you are even weaker, and I can stand out.

This presents a hidden danger.

My level is terrible...it doesn't matter, as long as your level is worse. As long as you have a bad life, I can have a good life. The company's resources are limited. If you can't get the resources, the resources will naturally fall on me.

This has turned into internal fighting within the company.

EA is a lesson learned from the past.

"Three Kingdoms War" is better, it is a regional game.

"Avengers" and "Plants vs. Zombies" had similar frictions, and it was Zhou Buqi's direct intervention that settled the matter.

This led to the release of the movie "Avengers", which became a global hit; and then the mobile game "Avengers" followed suit and became popular in North America.

At that time, people from Baokai Studio protested internally, believing that the mobile game "Avengers" imitated some elements and designs of "Plants vs. Zombies" and asked them to stop immediately.

The mobile game "Avengers" is developed by a newly formed game studio called "Legacy". It has little say within the company, and they are all newcomers. Without authority and status, it is difficult to speak up.

Baokai Game Studio is Changyou's most relied-upon studio and has a strong say. Once targeted, the release of the "Avengers" game will definitely be delayed or even aborted.

Later, Zhou Buqi hurriedly stepped forward, opened a board of directors, and reorganized Changyou's organizational structure from a vertical model to a flat model.

A vertical model involves layer-by-layer management.

For example, Heritage Game Studio is relatively low-level because it has just been established. It is affiliated to the Casual Game Department 2 of the Mobile Game Department. It has several layers of leaders, including directors, senior directors, business unit presidents, group vice presidents, and Big Boss CEO Tang. ·Mattrick.

Because Baokai Game Studio is so senior, it has a high level. The president of the studio is at the level of the president of the business unit.

It's easy to talk to people of the same level.

I beg you today, maybe you will be begging me tomorrow.

This can easily lead to the blending of power.

If the president of Baokai says a few words to the president of the mobile game department, the mobile game department may order Heritage Game Studio to modify the design of "Avengers".

Internal competition has turned into internal fighting.

Flat management means reducing the layers in the middle. The more layers there are, the easier it is for power corruption and institutional rigidity to occur. Everyone is on an equal footing.

Whether it’s a big studio or a small studio, it’s all the same level.

They all report directly to the group vice president in charge.

Some focused games can even be reported directly to CEO Mattrick.

If everyone is equal, the situation of one studio being bullied by another studio can be reduced. Rely on games to compete and the market to speak, rather than internal power.

Today's technology companies are basically transforming towards a flat organizational structure.

Changyou is just following the crowd.

good results.

The self-developed game "Avengers" jumped out immediately and achieved excellent market performance. It is also easier to do external mergers and acquisitions.

Those game studios that have been acquired don't have to worry too much about being suppressed by the inherent forces in the company after being bought.

Just like EA.

In the past few decades, it has become a graveyard in the game industry. It has acquired too many excellent game studios. After the acquisition...these studios suffered miserably, and their development was hindered at every turn, until they finally laid off employees and closed their doors.

Hearing what Don Mattrick said, Zhou Buqi frowned slightly, "Isn't everything resolved? Will there be internal fighting?"

"It's not an internal fight, it's just some controversy." Mattrick's reaction was relatively calm, "I think it's reasonable. We can't learn from EA."

Zhou Buqi paid attention, "Oh? Tell me about it."

Mattrick said: "Games are a creative industry, especially mobile games. The technical content is generally not high, and the biggest selling point is creativity. If "Avengers" steals some of the ideas from "Plants vs. Zombies", there will be sequelae. .If the team of "Plants vs. Zombies" comes up with an idea that is good for this game but better for "Avengers", they may abandon this idea."

Zhou Buqi was a little angry, "The game market is so big, so what?"

Mattrick sighed, "Players' time is always limited. They are all tower defense games with the same audience. Including "Clash of Clans" that we are going to acquire this time, and a company in Uruguay that I am interested in." It is also a game studio in the tower defense genre. Their game is "Kingdom Defense", which was launched last year and the market performance is not bad. These games are similar in form. They are all competitors to each other."

Zhang Chaoyang said with a smile: "Normally, competition in the market mainly involves two strategies. One is to please users, and the other is to suppress competitors. Compared to pleasing users, suppressing competitors is an easier method."

Zhou Buqi looked at Mattrick, "What are your plans?"

Mattrick said: "Changyou already has "Plants vs. Zombies" and "Avengers". If you buy "Clash of Clans" and "Kingdom Defense"... By the way, Heritage Studio is still adapting "Clash of Clans" and "Kingdom Defense". Star Wars", I want to develop a tower defense mobile game with related themes. The internal competition is too fierce. Putting so many games under one account may lead to more and more homogenization of products and lack of Relatively independent creative design.”

"Well, that makes sense!"

Zhou Buqi was immediately convinced by his last words.

All groups have similarities.

If you put a good person in a group of bad people, he will slowly become bad; if you put a bad person in a group of good people, he will slowly become good.

Once there is convergence, individuality will degrade and creativity will be lost.

If you want to be creative and imaginative, you must maintain individual independence, rather than letting a large group include every individual.

This collective may be an organization, a company, or a society.

If Changyou bought all these excellent game studios, it would be equivalent to integrating those independent individuals into its own collective.

If there is a lack of individual independence, there will definitely be a lack of creativity.

Zhang Chaoyang also became serious and realized the seriousness of the matter, "There really should be such a change in thinking! The development threshold of mobile games is very low, and the greatest competitiveness is creativity. We must ensure that every mobile game player is protected at the level of rules and systems. It is the creative source of the game team. This is not the same as those large AAA games, such as "2KNBA" and "2K Live Football". In fact, there is no creativity. What is more important is to make the game exquisite enough. Mobile You have a completely different logic.”

Mattrick said with a smile: "That's true. EA's lesson is too profound and we must avoid it."

Zhou Buqi asked: "How to avoid it?"

"Keep some of the great studios independent," Mattrick said.

Zhou Buqi took a deep breath, "It should be!"

Mattrick said: "Actually, Changyou also had this concept in the past. For example, "Angry Birds" and "Talking Cat" were all operated independently. But I gradually found that it still didn't work, and it would still be subject to huge restrictions at the company level. Impact. Fortunately, these games have no competing products within the company, so they will not cause internal creative suppression and can maintain the status quo. But the same cannot be said for tower defense games. There are too many similar games, and we must consider the convergence of Hidden danger.”

"So..." Zhou Buqi narrowed his eyes, "We must ensure the independence of the studio at the source, starting with equity and voting rights. Changyou must show its attitude and take the initiative to give in."

Zhang Chaoyang nodded repeatedly, "Well, it should be!"

Mattrick was very happy and his smile was beyond words.

Both big bosses agreed.

This pattern is really unusual.

If he agrees to this, it will be easier for him to carry out his work in the future, and it will be much easier when he manages the company.