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Chapter 136 The Development and Planning of Jumping Games

The night sky over San Jose, like a giant black velvet cloth, slowly covers the hustle and bustle of this core Silicon Valley city.

Just after 7 p.m., the bright lights inside the floor-to-ceiling windows of YueDong Games' office building collided with the deep night outside, creating a wonderful light and shadow effect. The light cast crisscrossing spots on the soft carpet of the R&D department, like an ever-changing abstract painting.

Inside the office area, the constant clicking of keyboards merges into a dense and rhythmic drumbeat, crisp and rapid, playing a unique innovative symphony of Silicon Valley.

Ryan Ruiz was engrossed in his computer screen at his workstation, his brow furrowed, gesturing with his hands in the air as he whispered some game details to the engineer beside him.

I glanced up casually and unconsciously raised my right hand to rub my eyes.

In the lobby, Ernst walked slowly ahead, followed by two burly bodyguards.

It wasn't a trick of the eye; the boss, who was always elusive, really did launch a surprise attack, making the atmosphere in the entire office area quite tense.

The programmers subconsciously sped up their typing, hurriedly tidying up the slightly messy files and coffee cups on their desks, trying to make their workstations look neater and more organized, and even their breathing became much lighter.

Renn took a deep breath, gave a few instructions, and quickly went to meet him.

"Boss, I didn't expect you to come so late." Renn's voice carried a hint of surprise, and his hands unconsciously clenched slightly at his sides.

Ernst's gaze swept across the office area, lingering for a moment on the lit computer screens and busy figures, before he slowly spoke, "I originally planned to stay in San Jose for one night and come back tomorrow. When I passed by here, I saw that the company was still brightly lit, so I came in to take a look."

His voice wasn't loud, but it reached Ryan's ears clearly.

Looking around the entire office area, I saw that most of the workstations were occupied by programmers who were focused on their work. Their profiles looked particularly serious under the light from the screens.

"Why are there still so many employees so late?" Ernst frowned slightly. He remembered that the closing time for YueDong Games Company was six o'clock, and it was clear that they had already passed the designated closing time.

Ryan Ruiz glanced at Ernst cautiously, his eyes filled with a hint of probing, before truthfully saying, "The whole company is going to San Diego for a three-day team building trip in a couple of days, so everyone is rushing to catch up and finish their work ahead of schedule."

It's perfectly normal for companies to organize team building activities, which can relieve employees' work pressure and enhance team cohesion.

However, it is extremely rare in the industry for a company like YueDong Games to shut down for three days and go on a group trip.

However, Ernst showed no sign of blame. Instead, he smiled broadly and said, "Since we're going to San Diego, let's make sure everyone has a great time."

"How about this, we'll charter two luxury yachts and let everyone go out to sea for a day. I'll cover all the expenses." Ernst's voice wasn't loud, but in the relatively quiet office area, it was enough for many of the employees around him who had their ears perked up to hear him clearly.

Instantly, cheers erupted like a flood breaking through a dam. Several young programmers even clapped excitedly, their faces beaming with undisguised joy.

"Boss, I love you!" a cheerful female employee shouted excitedly, her voice full of joy.

Ernst smiled upon hearing this, and seeing the employees around him making a fuss, he raised his hand and gently gestured for everyone to be quiet.

He has always valued clear rewards and punishments, and since his employees have created tremendous value for the company, he naturally shows them sufficient sincerity.

This dual incentive of material and spiritual support can often maximize employee motivation.

You can't just keep using psychological manipulation; employees need to make a living too.

He then turned to Ryan and instructed him, "Have someone order some late-night snacks for the employees. Let them order whatever they want."

Amid cheers of "Thank you, boss! Boss is wise!", Ernst and Ryan Ruiz turned and walked toward each other's offices.

After a brief period of excitement, the employees in the office area returned to their workstations with even greater enthusiasm. The sound of keyboards clicking rang out again, but this time, the sound was lighter and more energetic.

Ryan Ruiz followed Ernst into the office and began reporting on the recent operations of Leap Games.

"As of April 15th, two months after its launch, Counter-Strike has generated over $3.37 million in sales." Ryan Ruiz's tone was brimming with pride, his eyes gleaming with excitement; this achievement far exceeded their initial expectations.

But soon, his expression turned serious, and his tone became a bit somber. "However, judging from the situation in the past half month, sales are declining rapidly. The average daily turnover is less than one-third of the peak period, and the downward trend is still continuing."

Ernst was looking down at the financial statements in his hand. When he heard this, he simply raised his eyelids slightly and said, "That's normal."

His tone was calm, showing no surprise whatsoever.

"Counter-Strike's main profit model is the sale of prepaid cards. With so many prepaid cards sold in the first two months, distributors now have a large amount of inventory stuck in their hands, so a significant drop in sales is inevitable. It would be strange if it didn't."

Ernst tapped his finger lightly on the report, which clearly recorded the purchase volume of each distributor.

In order to produce a good financial report, Ernst offered huge discounts and incentives to Blockbuster's major distributors.

If you purchase more than 30 million US dollars in a single transaction, you can buy it at a 50% discount.

Don't be fooled by the fact that $30 million seems like a large sum; when divided among Blockbuster's various stores, it's not much at all.

Blockbuster now has more than 7300 stores across the United States, which averages out to less than $5,000 per store.

The original minimum selling price of YueDong Games' game cards was 7% off, but because of the 10% commission given to sales staff, the actual selling price was 6.3% off.

Although the price has now dropped to 50%, YueDong Games didn't incur much cost; all they paid was a bunch of data, yet they received a beautiful financial statement.

And what about large distributors like Blockbuster? They are also very willing to do this deal.

They buy goods at 50% off and then sell them to their affiliated stores at 60% off.

This 10% discount is something other promoters can't offer, so stores will definitely choose to source their goods from Blockbuster.

Blockbuster can easily earn a 10% profit margin; frankly, it's just a matter of passing the buck.

In addition, the game Counter-Strike is indeed very popular, so there is no need to worry about these game cards being stuck in your hands. Blockbuster, for example, received $8000 million worth of game cards in one go.

These prepaid cards are piling up in their hands and they can't sell them all. It's perfectly normal for their sales to plummet in a short period of time; it would be a problem if they didn't.

"How's the overseas promotion going?" Ernst changed the subject, steering the conversation towards the overseas market.

Ryan Ruiz shifted his posture and reported, "The game went live in Europe over two weeks ago."

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"South America started landing ten days ago."

"Three days ago, it was also launched in South Korea and Japan, and a week later it will be launched in Southeast Asian countries."

"The subsequent planning will proceed simultaneously in Central Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and other regions."

"But as you know, half of the world's internet users are in the United States, and more than 30% are in Europe, Japan, and South Korea." Ryan Ruiz shook his head, his tone tinged with helplessness and pessimism.

"Internet penetration rates are too low in other regions, and the player base is limited. I'm not very confident about Counter-Strike's performance in those areas."

Ernst understood what he meant, of course. In many areas, even basic food and clothing were a problem, and there was simply no extra money or energy to play games.

But then again, even the poorest places don't lack rich people.

Ernst knew, of course, that the response wouldn't be very good. In many areas, people were struggling to make ends meet, let alone have the money to play games.

But then again, there is no shortage of rich people even in impoverished areas.

Ernst's goal was promotion, to make YueDong Games leave an impression in these regions and establish an initial player base.

It doesn't matter if there are players or if the profits can cover the investment. As long as the seeds are planted and the impression is left on potential players, we can wait for them to take root and sprout.

"How is the development progress of the game platform and Call of Duty?" Ernst asked again. These two projects are the company's next priorities, as they are crucial to whether YueDong Games can maintain its current momentum in the fierce market competition and solidify its industry position.

When the two projects were mentioned, Ryan Ruiz's face immediately lit up with a smile, and his tone became lighter.

He picked up the coffee on the table, took a sip, and moistened his dry throat. "The game platform has entered the final testing phase. All functions are being debugged. If nothing unexpected happens, it will be officially launched in a few days."

"As for Call of Duty, the large model has been developed. The next step is to polish and optimize the details. If everything goes smoothly, it can be launched in the market in a maximum of four months."

"Not bad," Ernst nodded in agreement.

His initial goal for YueDong Games was to launch Call of Duty before October. Based on the current progress, it is very likely that it will be launched in August, two months ahead of schedule, which is undoubtedly good news.

The two then discussed the establishment of the headquarters for YueDong Games.

Like Google, Leap Games is also in a phase of rapid expansion. With the continuous increase in the number of employees, the current office space is becoming somewhat crowded, and neither the office space nor the supporting facilities can meet the needs of the company's development.

When Ryan Ruiz reported to him that he was looking for a new office space, Ernst's idea was to build a headquarters.

Since the company is not short of money, it should do what Google does and buy a piece of land to build its own headquarters.

Moreover, YueDong Games is about to launch a financing round, which will bring in a large sum of money. The company currently has ample funds and sufficient strength to support the construction of its headquarters.

Besides the issues of headquarters and talent, there is also the development of game platform content.

In fact, to a certain extent, YueDong Games is copying EA and borrowing EA's model.

As early as the early 1990s, EA began to scout out game developers with ideas, providing them with funding, technical and art support, and promising them a substantial share of the game's profits.

The goal is simple: to acquire the publishing rights to these games.

The purpose of establishing the YueDong Games platform was the same; it was essentially a template for how large game companies later supported independent studios.

This is also one of the reasons why Ernst needed a good financial statement to raise funds for YueDong Games.

Next, YueDong Games will leverage the YueDong Games platform to quickly and massively release a variety of new games, enriching the platform's content.

All of this requires substantial financial support.

"What about new game projects? Do you have any ideas?"

Ryan Ruiz nodded. "There are two projects at the moment, and I think they are both very good."

"One is sports games," he began to explain in detail.

"Currently, most sports games on the market use preset animations and fixed routes, which doesn't offer much in terms of gameplay. Their popularity is entirely due to the limited variety of games available, coupled with the powerful endorsement effect of sports stars."

"One of our engineers came up with a game idea based on real physics calculations, and we plan to use a dynamic engine to develop a more realistic sports game," Ryan Ruiz said, his tone full of anticipation.

"For example, the jersey swaying effect brought about by the player's movements, the accurate reproduction of the signature moves of various sports stars, the real-time changes of the ball's shadow, the creation of the atmosphere on site, and even the players' running, friction, collision and breathing must be as close to reality as possible. It is the details that determine success or failure."

Ernst's mind instantly conjured up images of many classic sports games, such as NBA 2K and the FIFA series. These were all very successful sports games that used dynamic engines.

This is a relentless pursuit of EA. In the field of sports games, EA has always been a globally recognized giant and an absolute empire in the industry.

After entering the 1990s, the game industry developed rapidly, and sports games became an important branch of the game industry.

With games like rugby, soccer, tennis, baseball, and basketball, EA has ventured into almost every sports genre, using a strategy of real-world licensing and annual releases to dominate the global sports game market.

However, Ernst also knew that EA's game development approach had no future. Pre-set animations and fixed routes made the gameplay too rigid and stagnant, with too many limitations.

Historically, it was Sega's NBA 2K that dealt a heavy blow to EA, but now it's unexpected that their own company is playing that role.

"As for the other option, it's a Star Wars-themed game," Ryan Ruiz continued, introducing the second project.

The strength of the Star Wars IP is not only reflected in toys, but also in games, which are a major source of revenue.

In the nearly twenty years since the release of the Star Wars movies, there have been at least eighty or a hundred Star Wars games.

It can be said to have remained popular for a long time, with players consistently buying into it.

"We don't lack funds now, what we lack now is content for the game platform. As long as the project has potential, we can invest in it simultaneously."

Upon hearing this, Ryan Ruiz smiled with delight.

He then gave Ernst a detailed explanation of the specific plans and details of the two games, and Ernst also offered his opinions and suggestions from time to time.

As night deepened, Ernst took the financial statements and related documents prepared by Ryan Ruiz and left Leap Games Company.