As a mage, I just want to pursue the truth

Chapter 117 VR System (4000 in words)
Tencent is not the only one that wants to build a VR ecosystem.

In 2019, Zuckerberg told The Information that FB was developing a new operating system for VR devices.
In May 2021, Andrew, vice president of Facebook's AR/VR department, confirmed in an online forum that Facebook is developing a dedicated AR/VR operating system.

Tencent has always had this idea in mind, but there has been endless internal controversy over whether to do it or not.

Because making an operating system requires a lot of manpower and material resources, and it may not be successful.

If you fail in making software, the loss is not big. But if you fail in making an operating system, the manpower and material resources invested are not on the same level as the software.

Tencent has many subsidiaries and was unable to make a decision on developing an operating system until it was reported that Ke Chuang Biotechnology was going to develop brain-computer VR.

Ren Yu realized that this was an opportunity, a rare opportunity.

So far, Ke Chuang Bio's brain-computer connection technology has a monopoly. The VR devices developed based on brain-computer connection technology definitely have richer functions and better experience than products on the market.

The experience of operating solely by buttons and operating directly with the brain are completely different.

As the president of Tencent's Interactive Entertainment Business Group and Platform Content Business Group, Ren Yu attaches great importance to the cooperation with Ke Chuang Bio.

The issuance of game licenses has become stricter in 2022, which has caused a large number of small game companies to be unable to survive.

If small and medium-sized game companies want to survive, they have almost no choice but to sell their games on Steam.

However, there are very few small and medium-sized game companies on Steam that can create games that are well received and support the company's survival.

"Black Myth: Wukong" has been delayed again and again.

On the contrary, big game companies like Tencent and QQ are doing very well. They can get a small number of game licenses and select talents from defunct small and medium-sized game companies.

Finding a good job in the gaming industry in 2022 is as difficult as hell, and even big companies have had many projects cut.

Tencent has a large number of experienced gaming talents who use high-quality graphics and sophisticated numerical systems to create various pay-to-win games.

Instead, he made a lot of money.

The foundation of all this prosperity is built on the fact that Tencent controls massive amounts of traffic. If you are a Chinese, you cannot do without Tencent's software.

The advantages of QQ and WeChat are so huge that no matter how popular MiHoYo’s Genshin Impact is, it cannot affect Tencent’s basic base.

Tencent's prosperity is based on traffic, so its decline must also be caused by traffic. That's why Tencent regards Douyin as a formidable enemy.

Because users spend more time on TikTok, it must mean that they spend less time on Tencent apps. People’s time is limited.

At the same time, Douyin is also recruiting talents in the fields of games, novels, e-commerce, etc., and is determined to replicate the successful experience of Tencent and Ali.

Crossing borders to develop VR operating systems is a way to respond to ByteDance’s dimensionality reduction attack in the traffic war.

However, ByteDance entered the VR market early, acquiring Pico in full and recommending Pico's new products through splash screen ads on TikTok.

It is almost impossible for Tencent to rely on Black Shark to win this battle. Black Shark has not made much progress in mobile phones, and Tencent hopes that Black Shark will transform into VR after the acquisition.

The cooperation with Ke Chuang Bio has given Tencent hope, the hope of defeating its competitors and monopolizing the VR market.

After Ren Yulai expressed his desire to cooperate, manufacturers such as Ali, ByteDance, Dami, OV, and Huawei came to him one after another.

Each of them is very persistent.

Especially for Huawei, Huawei's consumer electronics industry has been experiencing declining sales due to the impact of the American ban.

5G was promoted at the beginning, but now my high-end mobile phones are all 4G. You can't say that Huawei's 4G signal is better than other mobile phone brands' 5G signal.

The market share given up by Huawei was basically divided up by OV, Dami and Honor.

I would like to add that among the four OVMH companies, rice sales ranked last in the fourth quarter of 2021, and the situation did not improve in 2022.

Lei Jun is very anxious. The domestic smartphone market has become a red ocean. Xiaomi cannot break into the high-end market, and its market share in the mid- and low-end markets is being eroded.

Having said that, Huawei employs a large number of people in the consumer electronics line, including HiSilicon Kirin. Although there is no chip foundry to manufacture for Huawei, HiSilicon cannot be disbanded. It has to be maintained even if it only costs money but does not make any profit.

This puts Huawei under tremendous pressure, and it would be great if he could work with Ke Chuang Biotechnology to develop brain-computer VR.

VR and mobile phones are both in the consumer electronics industry, so employees can transfer directly to the other industry. In addition, if the brain-computer connection for VR is good enough, the market will be huge and can fully support Hua Wei.

Therefore, Yu Chengdong personally led the team to Kechuang Biotechnology to talk to Cheng Gang.

They played the card of interests and the card of emotions, and of course the conditions they offered were also very generous.

This level of cooperation can only be decided by Zheng Li. During the remote board meeting, the participants discussed this agenda for a very long time.

Each has its own unique advantages, making it difficult to choose.

After coming down, Li Miaomiao asked Zheng Li in private: "What do you think?"

“Who will cooperate with brain-computer VR?”

“I think Huawei is very good, but the only drawback is that it is afraid of being blocked by America. The chip problem is difficult to solve. If VR is to be sold to overseas markets, it is almost impossible to cooperate with Huawei in the American market.”

Zheng Li: "Pick a hardware manufacturer, then pick a software manufacturer, and it would be more reasonable for the three to cooperate."

As for why brain-computer VR does not adopt patent licensing, it is because it is difficult to define specific charges for patent licensing.

In addition, VR is different from mobile phones. It is not a standardized product and requires targeted technical adjustments.

If the patent licensing method is still adopted, the researchers of Ke Chuang Bio will be too busy.

Another point is that Ke Chuang Bio has a team specializing in AI chips and a team specializing in brain-computer connection chips.

They hope to use this opportunity to train the team.

Li Miaomiao said: "In terms of hardware, DaMi is more suitable, and in terms of software ecology, Tencent is definitely the most suitable."

"Ali focuses on e-commerce, and only Tencent has the most diverse business formats."

"By the way, Tencent also promised that if the two sides cooperate, they are willing to transfer their shares of SecondMind to us."

Zheng Li said disdainfully: "We have poached more than half of SecondMind's technical team, and the rest are basically worthless. Their data is even less useful to us. Why do we want SecondMind's shares?"

IDG Capital and Goldman Sachs originally thought that they could negotiate with Sinovation Biotechnology by relying on their shares in SecondMind.

Everyone agreed to jointly carry out the C round of financing for SecondMind, which was equivalent to Ke Chuang Bio's full involvement in SecondMind's production and operations, and IDG and Goldman Sachs also got in on the action.

As a result, Ke Chuang Bio turned the table and said, "Since SecondMind refused to be acquired by me in full, I would directly set up a research center in England and poach people from SecondMind."

The only thing that Ke Chuang Bio has no shortage of is money after its listing.

Not to mention the continuous cash flow from the patent licensing fees for brain-computer connection to mobile phones. After being tricked, IDG and Goldman Sachs also found a way to transfer their shares in SecondMind, making a small loss.

It was Tencent that paid the bill, buying the shares held by IDG and Goldman Sachs at a discount.

"Brain-computer connection VR cooperation, if Tencent is going to make an operating system, how long will it take them?"

"We can consider cooperating with Tencent, but the copyright of their operating system and related patents need to belong to the cooperating company."

Li Miaomiao nodded: "Of course, the VR operating system patent cannot belong to Tencent."

"But if it's just us and Tencent working together, it will be hard to distribute the shares, and Tencent won't let us take control easily."

Zheng Li: "Introduce another hardware manufacturer, and you will be responsible for the negotiations. You will choose the one that offers the most favorable conditions."

The last VR company named Ke Chuang Future is jointly funded by Dami, Tencent and Ke Chuang Bio, with a registered capital of 10 billion RMB.

In terms of shareholding ratio, Kechuang Bio and Tencent each hold 35%, and DaMi holds 30%.

As for why I chose Dami instead of OV, Honor, or Huawei.

First of all, Huawei has a flaw. They are blocked by America, and choosing Huawei will be subject to many restrictions.

Although Li Miaomiao wanted to support Hua Wei emotionally, from the company's perspective, it was unwise to cooperate with Hua Wei.

OV focuses on the mobile phone field, and Xiaomi has been working on MIUI for so many years, so it has some accumulation in the operating system field.

Although MIUI has become less and less user-friendly over the years, it feels a bit like negative optimization.

Dami is acceptable in all aspects. It is a brand-new brand led by Ke Chuang Biotechnology and Tencent. There is no need to worry that Dami’s cost-effective image will affect the sales of VR.

Including rice, which has deep accumulation in the upstream and downstream of the electronic products supply chain.

After the news of the tripartite cooperation came out, the capital market was the first to respond.

Because there have been rumors that Ke Chuang Bio is going to develop VR and cooperate with Dami and Tencent to establish a new company, investors think that the rumors have come true.

On the second day after the news was confirmed, Kechuang Bio's stock price hit the daily limit in early trading, with an increase of up to 20%.

You have to know how difficult it is for a company with a market value of trillions to increase by 21%. In , despite continuous good news, CATL only increased by or points.

The Hong Kong stocks of Tencent and Xiaomi also opened high and ended high, with an increase of more than 10%.

While the market reacted strongly, discussions on major social media platforms were also heated.

“What do you think of the joint venture company Kechuang Future established by Kechuang Bio, Rice and Tencent?”

“Thank you for the invitation. As a mid-level manager in Tencent’s interactive entertainment business group, I won’t reveal the specific level of mid-level management I am at, but I will tell you about the inside story and Tencent’s expectations for the future of science and technology innovation.

Since a lot of inside information is involved, I can only speak anonymously. If I don't, Mark will have to talk to me tomorrow.

First of all, Ke Chuang Future is very clear that it wants to make brain-computer connected VR devices, among which Dami is responsible for hardware, Ke Chuang Bio is responsible for brain-computer connection technology, and Tencent is responsible for the software ecosystem.

Brain-computer connection VR is definitely much stronger than the current mainstream VR.

After the news that Kechuang Biotechnology was planning to develop brain-computer VR, Mark personally led a team to Kechuang Biotechnology to talk to Cheng Gang.

After the two sides reached a preliminary agreement, Pony held at least three remote video conferences with Zheng Li, each of which lasted for several hours. It is said that Pony's internal executives were full of praise for Zheng Li when they spoke, and they believed that Zheng Li had a very strong strategic vision.

Then, on the hardware level, Ke Chuang Biotech contacted Da Mi, and the three parties reached a cooperation.

Let me tell you a piece of news. The three of us will work together to develop an operating system for brain-computer VR and develop a software ecosystem based on the operating system.

Tencent's internal expectation for the VR operating system is to achieve the same effect as Android does for smartphones.

At the same time, the Interactive Entertainment Business Group has mobilized its most elite personnel to make a game based on brain-computer VR connection, which is definitely worth looking forward to.

The brain-computer connection prototype has been sent to Tencent. The brain-computer connection prototype here is not VR, but the style is very similar to VR, and it is connected to the computer screen through the brain.

Compared with the brain-computer connection to mobile phones, the brain-computer connection prototype has more functions and can recognize more commands.

When I was chatting with my colleagues from the VR game team, they said they had a lot of inspiration and would definitely make a game that would amaze players in China and around the world.

As a stakeholder, I can only say that I am looking forward to the future development of science and technology innovation and the VR products they will produce.

Although Dami's development in recent years has not been as expected, they have accumulated sufficient experience in the field of consumer electronics, and Dami's product design and industrial aesthetics are still worth looking forward to.

And Ke Chuang Bio has a monopoly in the field of brain-computer connection. The combination of brain-computer connection and VR is a good complement.

What Tencent needs to do is to build a good ecosystem and create a hit VR game that can promote VR devices on a large scale.

All I can say is that the future of science and innovation is as vast as the stars and the sea.”

The answer with the most likes on Zhihu reveals a lot of information that is enough to prove that the person is an internal employee of Tencent, but there is no way of knowing whether it was a personal act or he was instructed by the company to disclose the information.

“Thanks for the invitation. After reading the Tencent employee’s answer above, I can only say that I hope Tencent will have some conscience this time and not make the ecosystem of brain-computer-connected VR devices full of pay-to-win games.

By then, there will be all kinds of ways to induce players to spend money.

Make a PVE VR game. If you spend money, you can only hit it at -999-1.

I hope you can have a little more conscience.

The most important thing for the first brain-computer connection VR is to promote it as much as possible, rather than to make money. Only with enough users can a prosperous software ecosystem be cultivated.

I hope Tencent won’t be too short-sighted.

Of course, I believe that Kechuang Biotechnology will not be so short-sighted. At that time, their patent licensing for brain-computer connection mobile phones in the Chinese department was mainly aimed at cultivating the market.

The price of brain-computer interface phones increased significantly when it came to English. Kechuang Biotechnology has done a good job in this regard. At least it is cutting leeks from foreign countries, unlike the domestic Internet manufacturers who are focusing on cutting domestic users.

Like Qiandu Cloud Disk, the domestic version has all kinds of speed limits that you can’t use without paying for membership, but the overseas version has no limit on download speed.

Including LOL, which is represented by Tencent itself, you can buy overseas version skins at will, but the various domestic limited editions force you to draw lots to get them.

Therefore, when I saw Ke Chuang Bio and Tencent working together, I had only one thought in my mind, which was that I hoped Tencent would not be too short-sighted.

I am very pleased that Ke Chuang Future is willing to develop operating systems. Finally, a Chinese manufacturer is willing to make efforts at the operating system level.

Even if you are a Linux system kernel and do customized development, I will recognize it.

Be more conscientious, I will pay even if the price is higher. As for rice, don't always do negative optimization! "

(End of this chapter)