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Chapter 251 0248 [Three Kingdoms Kill Selected for National Online Game Project]

"Hello, Director Kou."

"Haha, Xiao Chen, hello to you too. You did a great job this year."

"Thanks to Director Kou's support."

On the third day of the CJ Electronics Show, Director Kou of the State Press and Publication Administration took the initiative to call Chen Guiliang in for a talk.

As early as 12 years ago, when the internet was just emerging in China, Director Kou was already in charge of managing this area. He was also instrumental in bringing about the ChinaJoy Electronics Show.

In the 80s, he worked at the State Publishing Bureau, in charge of book publishing. He was in charge of introducing world classics, Japanese comics, and Hong Kong and Taiwan novels.

In a few years, he will resign and start an investment fund.

After Xiaomi's founding, the first private equity fund it participated in was one that brought Lei Jun, a prominent figure in the industry, into the fold. Following him, companies like Shanda, Ourpalm, Yoozoo, Starway, Linekong, Renren, and Powerlong were also brought in…

Chen Guiliang will definitely join in the future, but how much he will invest depends on how much Director Kou has supported him over the past few years.

"You're going to develop three games on your own at the same time?" Director Kou asked.

Chen Guiliang gave an irrelevant reply: "Thank you for your attention, leader."

Director Kou then asked, "Won't you be biting off more than you can chew? After all, Youke is only a medium-sized company right now. The country is currently supporting domestic games, but we still hope you can proceed steadily and surely."

Chen Guiliang said, "Of the three games, the single-player game didn't require a large investment, with an initial investment of less than 100 million yuan. The other two weren't developed simultaneously either; 'Future Era' has been in development for nearly a year, while 'Wulin Gaiden' is still in preparation."

“It’s good that you have a comprehensive plan,” Director Kou said. “The third batch of ‘National Online Game Project’ list will be announced in October. There are a total of 20 domestically produced games, and ‘Three Kingdoms Kill’ has already been selected. You should come over in person then.”

"I will definitely be there," Chen Guiliang said happily.

Besides the quality of the game itself, the strength of one's network of connections is also crucial.

Last year's second batch of entries did not include "Three Kingdoms Kill". Sohu's "Tian Long Ba Bu", however, was selected even before it had begun development!

Once you're on this list, you'll receive official support.

Each game receives a research and development subsidy of 50 to 100 million yuan, and the local government where the company is located will also provide additional subsidies.

Overseas revenue (including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) is eligible for a 13% VAT refund and overseas expansion fund subsidies.

It should be included in the national key cultural export project catalog. For example, if "Three Kingdoms Kill" wants to be released in the United States, Youke can send someone to the Chinese Embassy in the United States for assistance.

In the future, with the implementation of a game license system, the approval cycle for games on this list will be halved.

Now that "Three Kingdoms Kill" has been selected, Game Science's applications for various policy support measures in Beijing will undoubtedly proceed smoothly. This includes the "three exemptions and two 50% reductions"—ByteDance has already received these benefits, while Game Science's application is still pending.

Director Kou added, "You've submitted all three of your new games for the fourth batch of the list next year. But only one will be selected. I hope you can understand."

“I understand; leaders need to consider the overall picture,” Chen Guiliang said.

With only 20 games available each year, we certainly can't let Chen Guiliang monopolize three.

The State Press and Publication Administration needs to consider the issue of dividing the pie.

Otherwise, if all the slots are taken up by large and medium-sized companies, how can we support small businesses?

Each year, there are even special, unofficial quotas for small startups. The State Administration of Press and Publication selects one or two of the most promising games from the various submissions for subsidies. Although most fail, even just one success is considered a political achievement.

After the conversation ended, Chen Guiliang got up to see Director Kou off.

To be honest, Chen Guiliang had some grievances against the State Administration of Press and Publication. From any perspective, *Three Kingdoms Kill* should have been included in last year's second batch of lists.

But he didn't pull any strings at the time. It wasn't until the second batch of names was confirmed that Director Kou discovered that "Three Kingdoms Kill" had actually been sold to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.

So last winter, Director Kou went to Youke for an inspection, which can be regarded as a sign of his support for "Three Kingdoms Kill".

This immediately mended his relationship with Chen Guiliang.

When Director Kou later resigned to start a private equity fund, how did he acquire such a formidable network of connections?

He has excellent relationships with the owners of all the large and medium-sized game companies.

Well, there are exceptions.

For example, in an effort to support and protect domestically produced games, some companies deliberately block the import licenses of foreign games. This causes a rift with the CEOs.

Around noon, Tao Chenggang appeared beaming: "The game 'Reign of Power' has been selected for the third batch of national online game projects."

"Congratulations! You've been selected for 'Three Kingdoms Kill' too," Chen Guiliang said with a smile.

If "The Emperor's Reign" is selected, then "Conquer Online" and "Magic Domain" will definitely be selected as well.

This year's list is very prestigious.

Tao Chenggang sat down with an air of authority, sighing with emotion, "Two or three years ago, I wouldn't have dared to even imagine this. I owe my success today to your help, brother."

Chen Guiliang laughed and said, "It's your own courage that made you dare to take such a risky game. My help was just icing on the cake."

Tao Chenggang shook his head repeatedly: "Without the game solution you sold me, I would never have been able to make games, and I would probably still be running an internet cafe in Longdu."

"Haha, let's not talk about that, we're all brothers." Chen Guiliang said.

Tao Chenggang said, "Shi Yuzhu invited me for drinks, and I've already accepted. He even asked me to invite you. Are you going or not?"

Chen Guiliang said, "Go ahead. We have nothing to do tonight anyway."

The afternoon is the Cosplay Competition.

The number of cosplayers participating this year has doubled compared to last year. They don't necessarily have to cosplay game characters; in fact, anime characters are more prevalent.

The teams representing major game companies mostly participated in performances and didn't compete for rankings. Watching the cosplay performances on stage, Chen Guiliang asked the person in charge of the game expo next to him, "How many tickets have been sold for the Three Kingdoms Kill finals?"

The person in charge of the exhibition was Duan Zhixing, a graduate of Nanjing University recruited by Qu Guohao.

At this time, there were two major factions within Game Science.

First, there's the technical team led by Dong Qianqiu, primarily composed of Peking University graduates, but also including graduates from other universities in Beijing. They constitute the vast majority of the team.

Secondly, Qu Guohao led the management and operations team, recruiting more than ten former colleagues, mainly graduates from major universities in Nanjing. He also took over the team that Ao Yanchen and Xie Yang had left behind at Youke.

Besides these two major forces, there is also "Future Studio," the development team for "Future Era," which directly liaises with Chen Guiliang.

Future Studio has a diverse group of employees from all over the country. There are seasoned professionals poached from companies like Target Software and Pixel Software, as well as newcomers like Feng Ji, and even writers like Shuxia Yehou.

Duan Zhixing is not only in charge of this exhibition, but also the upcoming "Three Kingdoms Kill" finals.

This year's finals were held in a large hall at the National Expo Center, the venue for ChinaJoy. It can accommodate 5000 spectators!
Duan Zhixing said, "More than 2700 people bought tickets online. Through the promotion of the exhibition over the past two and a half days, more than 1200 people have bought tickets offline. This afternoon, I will increase the promotion efforts. But there may still be a few hundred seats left empty in the end."

"It's alright, a few hundred dollars is fine as long as it's empty," Chen Guiliang said understandingly.

The slogan for the finals of the "Three Kingdoms Kill" National College League is "Colleges from Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong are one family," because college students from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan will also participate.

The leaders attach great importance to this because it has political significance!
Director Kou of the State Administration of Press and Publication and local leaders from Shanghai will both be present at the finals. The venue rental fee, originally 5 yuan per day, was voluntarily reduced to 3 yuan by the local leaders.

Director Kou also helped retain the journalists who participated in the CJ exhibition; the number of journalists alone was over one hundred.

Even CCTV and Dragon TV sent reporters to conduct interviews and filming.

News Broadcast!
Although it appears as a short news item lasting only a few seconds, it's quite an achievement to be featured on CCTV's "News Broadcast".

Without the phrase "universities across the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong are one family," this kind of small-scale e-sports competition would never have been featured on CCTV.

After the event concluded on the afternoon of the third day, more than 300 tickets for the Three Kingdoms Kill finals were sold.

Including the seats for leaders and reporters, the 5000-seat convention hall probably has five or six hundred empty seats.

Tickets are still 30 yuan each.

Meals are not included this time, but each person will receive a T-shirt with the "Three Kingdoms Kill" logo and a small gift.

After calculating all the costs, we barely broke even.

Because an electronics brand sponsored 30 yuan.

The showgirls hired by Youke will continue to work until the Three Kingdoms Kill finals are over.

That evening, all the major game companies left the venue.

Only the Youke team remained.

Shi Yuzhu said, "You've made quite a big deal out of this. I heard a CCTV reporter is coming too?"

Chen Guiliang laughed and said, "It's all thanks to Director Kou's help; I don't have that much power."

Looking at the promotional poster for "Universities Across the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong and Macau Are One Family," Shi Yuzhu asked, "Are we going to be on the evening news?"

"I don't know," Chen Guiliang replied ambiguously.

“They’re coming,” Shi Yuzhu said.

Tonight, Shi Yuzhu is treating everyone to drinks, and it's not just Chen Guiliang and Tao Chenggang he's inviting.

There are two other people.

One is Chi Yufeng, the CEO of Perfect World.

One is Zhou Hongwei, the controversial leader of the "Red-Clothed Cult".

ChinaJoy is an electronics expo, not a gaming expo, so it's normal for Zhou Hongwei to come and promote 360 ​​Security Guard.

360 Security Guard was just launched this month, and its slogan is "Professional uninstaller of rogue software" (winking).

After leaving Yahoo, this guy became an investment partner at IDG, and Xunlei was one of the companies he invested in.

"Mr. Chen, Mr. Tao, it's an honor to meet you all!"

"I dare not accept such praise; Mr. Zhou's reputation is truly renowned."

"Hello, Mr. Chi."

"Hello."

"..."

These past few days, Shi Yuzhu has been treating people to drinks every night; he's a complete drunkard.

Chen Guiliang and his group belonged to the third batch of invitees.

The restaurant was Hong Yi Club, a private club invested in by Stanley Ho, and it seems that Dr. Sun Yat-sen's granddaughter also has a stake in it.

Only members can dine there, and the number of non-members invited cannot exceed the capacity of the private room.

This country bumpkin, Chen Guiliang, was visiting such a high-class place for the first time.

His specific impression was: it's just so-so. But the house and garden are particularly beautiful.

(End of this chapter)