Started as a comics editor

Chapter 262 Ding

Chapter 262 Ding—

[It is reported that on August 1st, EAGame made a major adjustment to its internal interactive entertainment organizational structure, disbanding the original eight studios and instead forming nearly twenty studios more suitable for rapid mobile game development. These studios are respectively affiliated with studio groups such as Thunder and Qianmu. This strategic adjustment will lay a solid foundation for EAGame's leading position in the mobile game market.]

[Nine Heavens has begun its expansion into the mobile game industry! Its flagship PC games, such as "Eight Doors" and "Night Watch," will be developed into mobile games. Simultaneously, it has launched the "Spark Project," actively collecting story themes and recruiting top game developers...]

[Blue River Technology App Store Launches Mobile Games and Becomes a Hit! The wide variety of applications has attracted a large number of users, and many developers have begun to use this platform to find business opportunities. Other major mobile phone manufacturers have also joined the competition, with well-known brands such as Aurora, Xingyao, and Huayue establishing their own app stores.]

It is reported that Blue River Technology has begun to establish a developer alliance, starting by providing technical support and incentive policies to encourage developers to continuously launch innovative apps, thereby bringing users more diverse choices and a better user experience.

The influence of the built-in app store is growing stronger! Monthly active users have reached a new high!

Third-party app stores are ramping up their efforts to compete for market share!

Avalon launches a third-party app store, aiming to gain a share of the app store market...

【…】

All of July.

Even in the first half of August.

All the news stories were similar.

It's no surprise that the mobile game market has been so hot lately... And the reason why the mobile game market is so hot is related to the rise of mobile app stores. The two complement each other and can be said to have completely broken away from Avalon's monopoly in the mobile game market. They started to work together... cough, they started to mutually benefit each other and gradually pushed up the popularity of the entire mobile market.

Mobile games, app stores, mobile applications...

They're all advancing triumphantly!

Especially app stores.

This is the app store.

This refers not only to the apps that come pre-installed on the phone, but also to some third-party app stores. This is quite similar to Tang Yao's previous life, where there were many third-party app stores on the market, such as 91 Mobile Assistant, Wandoujia, and AppChina in Tang Yao's previous life.

These third-party app stores either have their own unique appeal or offer bundled sales, all vying for market share.

However, they really have very little content related to mobile games.

Otherwise, Tang Yao wouldn't have given up on such a channel in the first place.

of course.

That was before.

They have now clearly realized the money-making potential of mobile games and have begun to increase their investment in this area.

With mobile phone manufacturers joining the competition, things got really lively.

Despite the constant stream of criticism, both sides made a fortune.

The scale has gradually grown.

With the increasing number of smartphone users and the booming app store market, their rise is truly unstoppable.

Avalon, a pioneer in mobile games, seems to have caught the wave of popularity during this period. Compared to Yiyou, which has established more than 20 studios, and Jiuxiao, which has adapted many top PC games into mobile games, Avalon is charging towards a completely different track, getting involved in the app store field.

This wasn't just Ji Zhuo's opinion that Avalon was being whimsical.

Yi You and Jiu Xiao also felt that Avalon had made a terrible mistake.

Instead of consolidating its advantages in the mobile game field and expanding its game distribution channels, it plunged headlong into unfamiliar territory and fought against other app stores!
What were they thinking?!

This is not.

They tried to steal a chicken but ended up losing the rice instead!

So many first-party and third-party app stores.

Avalon's own game assistant made absolutely no splash.

I haven't even heard of many games being listed on Avalon Game Assistant!
...Now, where does the awkwardness lie?
Really are.

Obviously
Most people believe that.

As reported, Avalon launched its third-party app store with the intention of gaining a share of this market.

And the distribution hasn't been successful yet.

But is that really the case?

Avalon.

"Currently, Avalon Game Assistant has over ten million active users."

Li Xue handed the data to Tang Yao and reported, "85% of them are from our original game's core player base."

Tang Yao took the data and looked at the charts: "The conversion rate is 20% higher than expected."

"Yes."

Li Xue leaned forward slightly, her hair falling onto Tang Yao's shoulder, and pointed to a string of data below: "Here, almost 90% of Hearthstone players have downloaded the client. That 'one-click deck copy' feature is indeed very popular."

"What about other games?"

"Here, the conversion rate for FGO players is 78%, for Fantasy Journey to the West it's 65%, and even for single-player games like Yun, 42% of players have downloaded the client."

Li Xue reached out to help Tang Yao turn to the next page: "What's most surprising is that the average daily usage time per user has reached 47 minutes, far exceeding the industry average."

"It seems that the strategy of focusing on high-quality products, community building, and differentiation has been quite successful."

Tang Yao was somewhat pleased to see this data.

"Well... many people think that we launched this game assistant in order to get a share of the app store market."

Li Xue's expression was somewhat strange as she said, "They even believe that no game would want to log in to our game assistant..."

Actually.

There are still many games willing to list on Avalon Game Assistant...

However, Tang Yao rejected them all.

...The reality was slightly different from what they imagined.

"Let them think that way then."

Tang Yao stretched and casually said, "As long as we know what our goal is internally, that's enough: an integrated platform exclusively for Avalon games, with a friend social system, multi-platform compatibility, account data sharing, and cross-platform synchronization of the MOD community... Distribution channels are just a side effect and are not important at the moment."

Essentially, we're not making app stores or anything like that.

One side prioritizes traffic.

The other side is that content is king.

They are indeed quite different.

In her past life, Tang Yao would not have dared to do this.

Because the game publishing environment is more complex, thanks to the huge domestic market, the booming population dividend, and the multi-level market and user base, for a long time, controlling the user channels was the real behind-the-scenes king. Maintaining good relationships with mobile phone manufacturers and app stores was once the most effective way for game companies to acquire users.

After all, the game products in the industry are highly homogenized, there are a large number of game products, and players' aesthetics and tastes are not yet mature. They rely heavily on store recommendations, which directly leads to the channels holding the greatest say.

Two similar products, the one that gets channel recommendations is more likely to become a bestseller, and the one with an IP can get channel recommendation slots.

This is why game developers had to rely on distribution channels back then.

But it's different here.

Tang Yao still had some confidence in Avalon's gameplay.

"Ah."

Li Xue nodded slightly, then said, "Should we release information about the new game? It already has a certain reach."

Tang Yao paused, then lowered her arm: "...Is the promotional video ready?"

"Ah."

"Then I'll go take a look later."

Tang Yao thought for a moment, then chuckled and said, "If there are no problems, let's release it. It'll be perfect... to see the effect!"

……

at the same time.

Shen Lun of Jiuxiao, Jin Feng of Yiyou, and Ji Zhuo of Lanhe met again.

This time, however, the meeting place was chosen to be the lounge of Blue River Technology.

The three men who sparked this mobile game craze sat together.

Ji Zhuo spoke first, smiling broadly, "I have some good news for you two: our app store's monthly active users are about to surpass 80 million!"

Shen Lun and Jin Feng exchanged a glance, then smiled and said, "Congratulations."

Actually, the two didn't have a good relationship.

Or to be more precise, Yiyou and Jiuxiao do not have a good relationship.

The two companies have always been competitors, but they came together because of mobile game distribution channels and Avalon.

Ji Zhuo continued with a smile, "Congratulations to you both! Your games, which rely on app stores, have also achieved good results, right?"

Hear this.

Shen Lun and Jin Feng immediately broke into genuine smiles.

"really."

"good."

Actually, it's more than just good.

These two companies were among the first to put mobile games on app stores, and they are large and have the most promotional resources. In addition, their games are, to be honest, of good quality, at least compared to those games that are simply reskinned, which gives them a big advantage.

Unfortunately, Avalon's games weren't on the same platform, so all the traffic went to those two companies.

In fact.

The two companies have launched a total of seven mobile games so far, and all of them have achieved remarkable success!

I think about this every time.

Both of them were somewhat relieved; thankfully, Avalon had made a terrible mistake by going and creating something called Avalon Game Assistant.

The two companies have finally managed to regain some of their lost first-mover advantage through distribution channels.

And next.

If this trend continues, it's only a matter of time before those two companies surpass Avalon in the mobile game field!
"That's good."

Seeing the smiles on their faces, Ji Zhuo nodded and continued, "Actually, the reason I invited you two here is to discuss something with you. Our Blue River Technology app store will be undergoing restructuring, and we're preparing to launch a 'Traffic Support Plan.'" Jin Feng's smile froze, and he asked with a hint of unease, "...A Traffic Support Plan?"

"Ah."

Seeing the expressions on their faces, Ji Zhuo didn't rush to continue. Instead, he stood up and went to the bar: "Would you like something to drink? Red wine? Whiskey? Tea?"

"Whiskey bar."

Shen Lun frowned, looking at Ji Zhuo's back, and also felt that something was wrong.

Ji Zhuo calmly went to the bar, poured two glasses of wine, and handed them to the two men, while also pouring one for himself: "Traffic support plan... Simply put, I plan to increase user stickiness and quality through community building, and try various forms such as splash screen, browser, and store ads to explore advertising traffic."

"Just open the app store and you'll see what I mean."

As he spoke, he picked up his phone from the table and handed it to each of the two men.

Jin Feng and Shen Lun took the phone and then opened the app store.

But unlike before.

When they opened the app store, the first thing that popped up wasn't the app's homepage, but the infamous 'splash screen ad'...

An advertisement for the mobile game developed by the two individuals.

"..."

Jin Feng and Shen Lun were stunned when they saw this scene, and then a hint of fervor appeared in their eyes.

moment.

The two then realized just how powerful the advertisement was.

This level of exposure is far more terrifying than the previous minor incidents!
...because you can see it as soon as you open the software.

"How about it?"

Ji Zhuo noticed the change in their expressions and his smile widened: "This is just one aspect. In the future, there will not only be splash screen ads, but also ads at the mobile system level, built-in browser ads... These are all part of the traffic support plan, the purpose of which is to better showcase excellent games to users."

The relevant feature will be launched soon, are you interested?

"of course."

"Have."

Hear this.

Jin Feng and Shen Lun gave a definite answer in unison.

Clearly, both of them knew what this meant.

"That's good, but... to be honest."

Ji Zhuo gently swirled the wine glass, the ice cubes clinking together with a crisp sound: "This traffic support plan requires a lot of resources. As the platform provider, Blue River Technology naturally hopes to grow together with the best partners."

Speaking of which.

He paused, his gaze shifting between the two men: "Therefore, we plan to introduce a new revenue-sharing model—tiered revenue sharing. Simply put, it means dynamically adjusting the revenue sharing ratio between the platform and the developers based on the game's quality and user feedback."

Shen Lun frowned: "What exactly is this tiered method?"

"The basic revenue sharing remains 30/70, with the platform taking 30%."

Ji Zhuo put down his wine glass and picked up the document that had been sitting on the table: "But if the game can meet our set data standards, such as revenue exceeding 10 million and retention rate meeting the standard, we will adjust the revenue sharing ratio to 60/40 or 50/50."

Conversely, if the data doesn't meet the target, the percentage will drop to 20/80.

"..."

Upon hearing this, Jin Feng quickly flipped through the documents, and then his expression gradually darkened.

He finally saw it.

They're here to fleece the wealthy!
"Mr. Ji, isn't this inappropriate? We agreed on a 70/30 split!"

“The market is evolving, Mr. Jin.” Ji Zhuo smiled meaningfully. “Now there are nearly a hundred new apps on the app store every day, but less than 10% of them can actually survive. What we at Blue River want to do is take the route of high-quality products and allocate traffic to products that are truly valuable.”

As for how to assess value, relying on manual methods would be too unfair. Therefore, I think we should optimize resource allocation based on data. After all, Blue River has invested a lot of money in promotion, community building, and system-level exposure, so these resources should naturally be prioritized for the most profitable games. Do you agree?

He paused, his tone carrying a deeper meaning: "Besides, think about it. Although Avalon isn't exactly a household name right now, it has created quite a few miracles. You could even say it single-handedly carved out a blue ocean for mobile games. What if they suddenly make a big push one day? If we don't team up, will your games be able to compete with theirs in the future?"

—Avalon!

The name was like a thorn, instantly piercing the hearts of Shen Lun and Jin Feng.

Indeed, Avalon's games are of extremely high quality, and its player loyalty far exceeds the industry average. If they continue to exert their strength, and Nine Clouds and EasyPlay lose their distribution channels, their advantages will vanish instantly.

more importantly.

What if they agree?

Thinking about the advertising model we just discussed.

Jin Feng and Shen Lun exchanged glances.

But... a 60/40 split? Or a 50/50 split?

This is practically bloodsucking!
Shen Lun took a deep breath, thought for a moment, and then suppressed his anger: "President Ji, I need to go back and discuss this matter."

Jin Feng also said coldly, "Yi You is the same."

Ji Zhuo seemed to have anticipated their reaction, maintaining his businesslike smile: "Of course, you two can take your time to consider it, but—"

He tapped the table lightly and added:
“Aurora and Starshine are also interested in implementing similar traffic support programs. I’ve spoken with their CEOs.”

--boom!

These words struck Shen Lun and Jin Feng like a heavy hammer blow.

Aurora and Starshine have agreed?!

If these two major mobile phone manufacturers follow the same path as Lanhe, then Jiuxiao and Yiyou will be in a very passive position!
I have no choice but to agree!
Their faces darkened further.

"Would you like to sit for a while longer?"

And just then.

Ji Zhuo took the initiative to stand up and ease the atmosphere.

Shen Lun and Jin Feng slowly sat down.

"I know this decision is not easy to make, so please let me say a few more words."

Ji Zhuo chuckled and said, "Although we've adopted a tiered revenue-sharing model, think about how much extra revenue our new advertising model can bring us because of the innovation in the advertising model."

Shen Lun and Jin Feng exchanged a glance and temporarily suppressed their urge to leave.

"Splash screen ads, system push notifications, browser recommendations..." Ji Zhuo counted on his fingers, "According to our calculations, the exposure of high-quality games will increase by more than 300%."

The two heard this.

Thoughtful.

You know what, it's true.

Although they received a larger share, they also earned a larger share.

Jin Feng stroked the rim of his wine glass: "So, what does President Ji mean..."

“What I mean is,” Ji Zhuo’s eyes gleamed, “this is the perfect opportunity for you to surpass Avalon! They have taken the lead in the mobile game field, but now we have hundreds of millions of users. If we seize this opportunity, Jiuxiao and Yiyou could very well become the new kings of the mobile game market within six months!”

Shen Lun frowned slightly: "But Avalon's game quality..."

"No matter how high the game's quality is, it's useless without distribution channels," Ji Zhuo interrupted decisively. "Think about it, why were games like FGO and Hearthstone so popular? Wasn't it because of their novelty and marketing? Now we have a more powerful advertising matrix, which can completely turn your games like 'Eight Doors' and 'Night Watch' into phenomenal products!"

The conference room fell into a brief silence.

Shen Lun and Jin Feng both looked thoughtful.

Ji Zhuo pressed on, "Moreover, I can promise that Jiuxiao and Yiyou will receive the highest level of traffic support, including prime-time splash screen ads, homepage recommendation slots, exclusive operational activities... all resources will be tilted towards you, as long as you sign this agreement... This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. As long as you seize this traffic dividend, Avalon will soon go from being a leader to a follower. Do you two want to make history together?"

Shen Lun and Jin Feng's eyes met in the air, and they both saw wavering and ambition in each other's eyes.

A 50/50 split...?

Finally, Shen Lun slowly raised his glass: "President Ji, we need to see a more specific support plan."

Jin Feng also raised his glass: "And there are the contract details."

Ji Zhuo let out a sigh of relief, then laughed: "Of course."

"Speaking of which... Mr. Ji, don't you care about Avalon's game assistant?"

Do you think they can pull it off?

"Ha, what a pipe dream."

Where is President Shen?

"If they can't even manage Nine Heavens, how can they rely on their games?"

"Who would want to go against the tide?"

"Yes."