Chapter 2529 Using Internet thinking to make games

For such favorable terms, Ballmer is somewhat unbelievable.

This is not surprising either.

His thinking has long been out of step with the times.

Especially the gaming industry.

When mobile games first came out, many game giants dismissed them. One of the important reasons was that they could not see the profit direction of mobile games.

But in fact, mobile games are the most profitable game type in the future.

In the past, most of the profit models for PC games were based on selling genuine games; the reason why mobile games make money is that they follow the strategy of "free + value-added services".

This seriously challenges the concepts of many traditional gamers.

Many people are stubborn and believe that the in-app purchase model of the game is squeezing players and will also destroy the balance and experience of the game.

Especially those game manufacturers in Japan, it is always easy to "go online" when making games.

This idea is also correct, but it is more suitable for stand-alone games and is suitable for some 3A masterpieces, which are large-scale games that pursue an artistic sense. For online games, the core point of the business model is to stimulate players' desire for comparison, which is the main driving force for value-added consumption in the game.

The main reason why Zhou Buqi offered such good terms to Microsoft was that he wanted to use Microsoft's channel resources to carry out low-price promotions to promote the two games "NBA2K13" and "Fifa2K13 Live Football".

The business models of these two games are going to change.

It shouldn’t just be about selling games to make money.

A new direction has also been added - card drawing.

Players can draw cards in the game, and there are routines for converting low-level cards into high-level cards. There will also be hidden legendary cards and rare cards. If this new business can develop, the game's profitability will skyrocket.

As for the money earned from selling game software, it's not worth mentioning.

One is for drawing football star cards, and the other is for drawing basketball star cards.

If you want to start this card drawing business, the most important thing is to expand the user base and attract more players to join. With more players, competition among players can be stimulated.

Otherwise, there are too few players to compare with each other, and there won’t be much room to show off the divine cards.

EA Sports and 2K Sports are the two largest sports game brands in the world.

In comparison, EA is more famous.

Now that Zhou Buqi is in charge of Changyou, he must seize the opportunity to lead 2K Sports to surpass EA Sports. He must first focus on the two major areas of football games and basketball games.

As for Microsoft, it's much easier.

Zhou Buqi made another request, saying that he hoped to borrow some of Skype’s patented technologies to develop Helo and Snapchat’s OTT phone services.

Skype was the first product to get involved in this field, and it has also established a huge patent barrier. Instead of racking your brains to try to circumvent it, it is better to be more magnanimous.

Zhou Buqi proposed that in the next five years, Ziweixing International will pay Microsoft US$30 million to use these related technologies.

Ballmer allowed patent licensing, but required a three-year contract with a total price of $30 million.

Zhou Buqi disagreed, insisting on the five-year requirement, and said impatiently: "If you don't agree, we will develop it ourselves. By then, we will bypass your patent system, and Microsoft will not make a penny. "

"It's not easy to get around it," Ballmer said with a smile.

Zhou Buqi said: "For Apple's FaceTime, did you pay Microsoft? Apple can do it, but I can't?"

Ballmer smiled and said: "Apple has circumvented it, but their technology is not good. FaceTime can only rely on extremely expensive private lines. The annual cost of renting a dedicated line from an operator may cost 10 It’s over 100 million U.S. dollars, which is not an ordinary price.”

This is really a bit of a technical barrier.

If technology is not enough, we must rely on more advanced equipment.

For many years, Skype has always relied on the most common data network instead of spending huge sums of money to rent dedicated networks and dedicated lines.

"You don't know how to talk about technology," Zhou Buqi waved his hand, "Just one sentence, I need to get all the patent licenses of Skype. In 5 years... I will give you 35 million US dollars! If you agree, I will give it to you. A great gift!”

"What kind of gift?"

Ballmer was slightly startled.

Zhou Buqi said: "Microsoft is about to hold its annual shareholder meeting. Various news from the outside world is spreading. Many institutions are full of concerns about Microsoft's prospects, and the stock price continues to fall."

Ballmer sighed secretly.

He was also troubled by this.

Under his leadership, Microsoft is still the most profitable company in the world. Its performance has been exceeded every year, setting new highs year after year. In the past year, its net profit exceeded US$20 billion.

But the capital market has never been optimistic about Microsoft.

Zhou Buqi said: "I have a sum of cash in my hand, and I plan to buy some Microsoft stocks from the secondary market."

Ballmer asked: "How much?"

Zhou Buqi said: "One billion US dollars."

"Huh?" Ballmer was stunned and in disbelief, "Really?"

Zhou Buqi smiled and said: "I said, I came to Seattle this time just to support you. I don't care about other people's opinions, but I always believe that Microsoft will return to the top under your leadership."

Ballmer took a deep breath and asked, "When will I buy it?"

Zhou Buqi said: "It depends on your sincerity."

Ballmer said simply: "Okay, at the price you mentioned, you can get the Skype patent license for only 5 years."

"Okay, just 5 years!"

Zhou Buqi was satisfied.

At this time, the Internet's OTT phone services are only in their infancy. Many technologies are not mature enough, and it will be more complicated to circumvent Skype's patent portfolio.

In five years, the industry will have undergone a big change.

It is estimated that by that time, even if Skype is willing to license it for free, Ziweixing International will not need it and may have developed a better OTT phone service solution.

…

It’s been half a year since Zhou Buqi replaced Lao Zhang as Changyou’s chairman of the board of directors.

Changyou’s current market value is four times that of when he first took over.

But this is not enough.

The next task is to develop the "2K" sports game brand, which must surpass EA Sports.

Once Microsoft's Xbox is solved, Changyou will basically be completely ahead in the channel.

On the computer game side, there is Steam, the largest game platform; on the console game side, after Sony and Nintendo, it has also reached cooperation with Microsoft.

Next, we can take advantage of the channels and the upcoming summer season to start promoting the two games "NBA2K13" and "Fifa2K13 Live Football".

CEO Don Mattrick was notified of the good news.

It's up to him to take charge of this.

Mattrick was a little panicked, "Cooperating with Microsoft's Xbox for promotions? What about Sony and Nintendo? Our agreements include price equality clauses."

Zhou Buqi said: "For promotions, we must first increase the volume! We must use the thinking of the Internet to play games, and promote all platforms together!"