Chapter 2595 Assassin’s Creed

Ubisoft is a European gaming giant. Its most famous game is the "Assassin's Creed" series, which has gradually expanded into a complete fantasy story.

In addition, there are many 3A-level masterpieces.

Many are outdated.

Including the first generation of "Assassin's Creed", there is no sales volume now, and loyal players are chasing the latest version. No matter how good the quality of the old version of the game is, it is outdated when it becomes outdated.

This is really different from the movie.

Kind of like a fashion item.

Once they are outdated and out of fashion, even if these products are as shiny as new, they will not be recognized by fashionistas and the added value will disappear.

The membership package model proposed by Joel Hart actually captures the pain points of this industry and completes the "secondary use of waste."

In fact, it’s not just the old version of the game.

Some new games have just been released, but their sales have been very poor after they were launched, and the market does not recognize them at all. For game manufacturers, it has caused huge losses.

At this time, this new game can also be put into the Steam membership package.

Use waste.

It's a good idea to earn a little more.

For the Steam platform, these outdated games have become the most important pillars of the platform.

The strategic value is huge and far more important than earning that membership fee.

Just like Amazon, JD.com, eBay, Taobao, Meituan and other platforms have launched membership services. Many times, membership discounts are too large and the benefits provided are too many, which may cause losses for the company.

But even if it's a loss, it's worth it.

Because this is strategic value.

Members have long-term sticky value. For example, once they become a Taobao member, consumers will think, "I have already purchased a membership, and I must earn back the money I paid for the membership."

This is basic human nature.

The purpose of the merchant has been achieved. In this way, consumers who have purchased memberships will continue to spend money on Taobao, enjoy shopping discounts, and slowly become Taobao's most loyal users.

There are now more than a dozen platforms similar to Steam in the market.

If Steam can establish its own strong membership system like Amazon, it can crush its competitors in terms of user stickiness.

Times are changing with each passing day, and there are more and more new products.

If you want to protect users from losing, the most important thing is to cultivate users' usage habits and form a strong sticky relationship between the product and users.

Therefore, in Zhou Buqi's view, if Joel Hart wants to launch a membership service in Steam, making money is the second most important thing. Taking advantage of Steam's current momentum and popularity, which is the world's number one, to establish a complete training platform and strong adhesion between users. Sexual relationships are the more important strategic value.

The main reason why Joel Hart chose to cooperate with Ubisoft is because Ubisoft has had a very miserable life recently.

As a French game company, its strategic transformation is too slow, its response to the Internet is too slow, and it is a bit left behind by the times... This is the strategic level.

There is also the business aspect.

Just a few days ago, Ubisoft announced that their highly-promoted racing game masterpiece "Car God" has been postponed until next year. It directly suffered a critical hit from the capital market. The stock price fell by 32%, and it encountered the French market in 1996. The worst loss since going public on the SEC.

The reason for the postponement...

It’s also related to Boss Zhou.

"Grand Theft Auto" from Rockstar Studios, a subsidiary of Take-Two acquired by Changyou, is so powerful that after the new model was launched in April, it has swept the world. In less than two months, sales exceeded 10 million units. ! Sales reached $560 million!

This is higher than the total sales and total sales of other racing games this year combined.

Not only could Ubisoft not be able to handle it anymore, but other racing games owned by Changyou had to avoid its edge and postpone their release.

Changyou now has a market value of US$46 billion.

Ubisoft’s market capitalization…

Only $2.8 billion.

However, this time it was not Changyou who came to discuss cooperation with Ubisoft, but Ziweixing International. As a platform party, it wanted to bring Ubisoft into the partnership.

Not only strategic cooperation in business, but also strategic cooperation in equity.

Purple Star International will provide a sum of money to make a strategic investment in Ubisoft.

This can help Ubisoft from multiple dimensions and reduce the pressure on the board of directors and management. With the support of MSI International, Ubisoft's stock price will be able to rise and alleviate the capital crisis it has recently encountered.

If it weren't for strategic cooperation, Boss Zhou wouldn't take time out of his busy schedule to make a trip to Rennes.

Went to Ubisoft.

All the other party’s heads showed up.

Looking at this formation, it felt like they had stopped the company's daily operations. The entrance was full, estimated to be two to three hundred people.

This is so passionate!

Zhou Buqi politely said that there was no need to create such a grand display. Ubisoft CEO Mr. Guillermotte said that this was not arranged by the company, but because these employees did not listen to discipline. When they heard that the world's richest man was coming, they all came over to watch.

Zhou Buqi asked strangely, how could the employees be disobedient?

Mr. Guillermotte told him that Ubisoft has been in trouble recently and suffered a strike. It wants to improve its treatment and increase work freedom, otherwise it will cause the stock price to plummet by 32%.

Zhou Buqi laughed.

It seems that Ubisoft is currently suffering from internal and external troubles and is being attacked from both sides.

This is even better.

When Ziweixing International offered rescue, they had no chance of rejecting it.

After exchanging pleasantries and shaking hands with a large number of Ubisoft employees, Zhou Buqi could tell that the French were really enthusiastic. The female employees were ogling him without any secret, and they were laughing and joking in public. Asked him if we could have coffee together or go on a date.

After pulling for more than half an hour, Zhou Buqi finally went upstairs for a formal visit.

Then, Mr. Guillermotte led him to stop in a corner on the fifth floor. The signs were all in French, and Zhou Buqi didn't recognize them. Sun Wanran, who was accompanying him, didn't understand French either.

Guillermotte told him that this was the film and television area.

"Movies and TV?"

Zhou Buqi raised his eyebrows.

Mr. Guillemot spoke English very well and said with a smile: "You have a big industry in Hollywood. You may have heard that Blizzard is launching a large-scale movie project."

Zhou Buqi actually heard about it, "Well, "Warcraft". I wanted to do it several years ago, but all aspects have never been very promising."

"Ah?" Guillermotte was slightly startled, "Are you not optimistic about it either?"

Zhou Buqi said: "I'm not optimistic about it. It's too complicated a story. It imitates the theme of "The Lord of the Rings" and it's impossible to compare with "The Lord of the Rings". It's not impossible to adapt the game into a movie, but first it should be a simple one." For a bright story, the plot design should not be too complex, and the ambition should not be too high."

"Really?"

Guillermotte was filled with worry.

Zhou Buqi nodded, "The producers of Universal Pictures were not optimistic about that project when it came to me. I accepted their opinion. Let alone "Warcraft", even the three "Lord of the Rings" films The song also has a high threshold for watching movies. Just because "The Lord of the Rings" is a monument in the history of literature, the entire fantasy system is established on this work, and it has been popularized from the niche to the public. "Warcraft" is very good Games, however, are still too niche compared to the large market covered by movies.”

Guillermotte was silent for a moment, and then told the truth, "We are launching a plan to find a major Hollywood company to develop the "Assassin's Creed" series of movies."

"Well……"

Zhou Buqi became embarrassed.

Depend on!

He is a movie fan. He has watched both the "Warcraft" and "Assassin's Creed" movies in his previous life. One movie is really worse than the other. Game manufacturers have a very grand plan to create a game universe similar to the "Marvel Universe" and produce a series of big-budget movies.

The result was that after filming the first part, there was no follow-up.

Guillermotte seemed to be unwilling, "Mr. Zhou, "Assassin's Creed" is really different from "Warcraft". We also know that adaptation is very difficult. We have made many attempts in the past few years. ”

"try?"

Zhou Buqi is very curious.

Guillermotte said: "Yes, we cooperated with a Canadian film company. First we filmed several "Assassin's Creed" cartoons, which received a very good response. Then, we filmed three episodes of a live-action TV movie. The market's feedback It’s also very good. Because of these results, we have confirmed our plan to make a big movie.”

Zhou Buqi thought for a while and felt that he should be honest, "To be honest, based on my understanding of Hollywood movies, if you want to adapt a game into a movie, the most important thing is to lower the threshold. Just like when I am promoting the development of a game If we adapt the movie "Angry Birds", the plot will be very simple, there will be no grand background and complex interpersonal relationships, and all game elements will have to be abandoned."

Guillermotte was silent.

Zhou Buqi continued: "Just like the hugely successful "Tomb Raider" a few years ago, excluding Angelina Jolie's personal charm, after watching this movie, if you don't tell the audience, they won't even know it. Feeling that this is a movie adapted from a game is the greatest success. If you over-emphasize game elements in the movie to promote the game, you will get nothing in the end."

Guillermotte said in embarrassment: "This plan has been approved and the board of directors has passed it. Next, we will go to Hollywood to find partners."

Zhou Buqi smiled and said: "If that's the case, it doesn't matter. You don't have to ask someone to find a relationship. I can agree on behalf of Universal Pictures."

"real?"

Guillermotte became excited immediately.

In his view, making a movie for "Assassin's Creed" is even more important than cooperating with Steam. Even though Boss Zhou has been pessimizing, he still has some luck.

What if Big Boss Zhou makes a wrong judgment?

What if the Assassin's Creed live-action movie becomes a huge success?

Marvel's comics have been so successfully adapted that they have become a banner for Hollywood's commercial blockbusters. Why not Assassin's Creed? If it's done, maybe we can create an "Assassin's Creed" universe!

This is the opportunity that Ubisoft should seize most in its rapid rise!