Restart life

Chapter 521 0509 [Outrageous Award Reform]

The day after watching "The Flowers of War," Chen Guiliang led his team to Guangzhou to attend this year's China Game Industry Annual Conference.

Guangzhou, Sunshine Hotel.

Domestic and international game developers gathered together, and some animation companies also participated.

The official opening ceremony was held at 2 PM.

First came speeches from leaders at all levels, followed by commendations for outstanding enterprises, entrepreneurs, associations, organizations, and local governments…

The commendation ceremony lasted for more than an hour, leaving the attendees somewhat bewildered.

"Shouldn't these be part of the award presentation? How did they become verbal commendations?"

"I heard that this year there are reforms and innovations being implemented, and many awards have been set up to take care of the vast number of small and medium-sized game companies."

"That works too, it can promote the development of the industry."

"Something feels off to me."

"..."

The speaking time for entrepreneurs has been reduced.

Yuke is now the industry leader, and Chen Guiliang was the first to take the stage to give a speech.

Perhaps because it's so close to Shenzhen, Pony Ma personally attended this year, and Chen Guiliang finished his speech before it was Pony Ma's turn.

Everything proceeded smoothly, and the atmosphere at the summit was lively.

Next, the Golden Finger Award will be presented.

"The winner of the 2011 Business Model Innovation Award is... Hangzhou Tianxia Game Management Co., Ltd."

Nobody took it seriously. This company has state-owned background and is developing some kind of international entertainment industrial park.

Anyway, Chen Guiliang never really understood their business model.

Even Chen Guiliang, a reborn individual, couldn't understand it, so it was only natural that others would receive the Business Model Innovation Award.

"Is Charles (Zhang Chaoyang) really depressed? He didn't come again this year," Chi Yufeng asked.

Chen Guiliang said, "It seems he is receiving treatment. I spoke to him on the phone a couple of days ago."

Chi Yufeng couldn't understand: "How could such an optimistic person suddenly become depressed?"

Ding Sanshi also remarked with deep emotion: "He may appear optimistic, but he is actually very sensitive and repressed inside."

Awards were being presented on stage, while the bigwigs sat below chatting.

It's supposed to be a gaming industry annual meeting, but they're awarding "Outstanding Animated Film of the Year." The winning entries are also quite unfamiliar, like "The New Tortoise and the Hare" and "Legend of the Rabbit Warrior"...

As the awards were announced, many people showed expressions of surprise.

The host, still smiling, announced, "The 2011 China Game Industry Annual Conference Golden Finger Awards ceremony is now concluded. Next is the reception banquet. Distinguished leaders and guests, please proceed to our banquet hall for your meal..."

Ding Sanshi's face darkened at this moment. If he weren't worried about offending his superiors, he would have stormed off long ago.

NetEase, one of China's three giants in the gaming industry, received no awards for games like Fantasy Westward Journey and World of Warcraft. Instead, they awarded "Most Anticipated Online Game" to the yet-to-be-released game, Tianxia 3.

Chen Guiliang was equally annoyed at the moment, as games like "Three Kingdoms Kill," "Future Era," "Oracle Era," "Plants vs. Zombies," and "Minecraft" all failed to make the list. Only "Wulin Gaiden" won a major award.

It's worth noting that this year's Golden Finger Awards presented over sixty trophies.

As the industry leader, Youke only won one award!

"Damn it, I'm not coming next year!" Wang Erlei cursed angrily.

The game he distributes, World of Tanks, won an award at the Great Hall of the People just two weeks ago. Meanwhile, in Guangzhou, the award for Outstanding Military Online Game of the Year went to Giant Interactive's Glorious Mission.

It's understandable that they awarded it the "Glorious Mission" designation, given that it was supposedly developed in collaboration with the military.

But this isn't a multiple-choice question; they could have easily awarded two more games. They gave out ten awards for Outstanding Online Games of the Year, so why only one for Military Online Game of the Year? And why completely ignore the most popular one?

The situation is similar for other major companies.

If it's truly to support small and medium-sized game companies, then the owners of large companies can understand.

But why didn't "AskTao," which was incredibly popular this year, be awarded any awards, even though it's operated by a medium-sized company (Guangyu)? Instead, they gave Guangyu's "Tianjiao 3," which hasn't even been released yet, the Most Anticipated Game Award.

A group of people attended the dinner with pent-up anger, and the next day they all cut their trips short.

The bigwigs were originally supposed to attend the events in person over the next few days, but instead, they all sent company representatives instead.

While waiting at the airport, Chi Yufeng said, "Who the hell is in charge of this event?"

Chen Guiliang laughed and said, "Even President Chi has his moments of swearing?"

Chi Yufeng roared, "To hell with it! Perfect World has so many games that they don't give awards to, but they only give 'Swordsman Online,' which hasn't even been released yet, a 'Most Anticipated Award'? In all my years of participating in industry events, I've never been so blatantly insulted!"

"That's enough. NetEase and Perfect World are treated the same, and Ding Lei didn't say anything." Chen Guiliang was no longer angry; instead, he joked with schadenfreude.

Chi Yufeng laughed angrily: "Ding Sanshi had a dark face all night, as if everyone at the banquet owed him money."

Chen Guiliang said, "Now I think I understand. Yesterday, before the official awards ceremony, they spent more than an hour giving us 'sweet treats.' Weren't you and your Perfect World being recognized as outstanding entrepreneurs and outstanding companies?"

"Can verbal praise be the same as a formal award?" Chi Yufeng was still quite frustrated. Even so, he would still eagerly come to participate next year.

As for Chen Guiliang, Chen Tianqiao, Xiao Ma Ge, Ding Sanshi... they really won't attend in person anymore; sending the CEO is already a great honor for the leaders.

The judging criteria for the Game Golden Finger Award have become completely incomprehensible to Chen Guiliang.

This award is completely ruined!

From now on, I'll only focus on the Golden Feather Awards for games, since the awards are given at the Great Hall of the People and the selection criteria are more objective and fair.

"Hey, you guys are on this flight too?" Wang Erlei came over, dragging his suitcase.

Chen Guiliang pointed at Wang Erlei and joked, "This guy is even more unlucky; he didn't even get a verbal commendation."

Chi Yufeng burst into laughter: "Now that you say that, I feel better."

"Trying to expose my weaknesses, huh?" Wang Erlei was extremely annoyed and swore, "If I come to participate again next year, I'll be a dog!"

He really won't come back.

Not everyone is as enthusiastic as Chi Yufeng about personally participating in various activities.

After putting down their suitcases, Wang Erlei sat down next to the two and said, "Your investment in 'Love is Not Blind' was great. You must have made a killing, right?"

Chen Guiliang said, "It's alright."

Chi Yufeng boasted, "Mr. Chen and I each earned tens of millions."

"Damn, making movies is really lucrative," Wang Erlei said with envy.

The film "Love is Not Blind" had a production cost of less than 9 million yuan, but grossed 350 million yuan at the box office. After deducting theater revenue sharing, distribution costs, special funds, and business tax, the production company still made a net profit of 120 million yuan.

Chen Guiliang's Byte Pictures and Chi Yufeng's Perfect Pictures, as co-producers, split the profits 50/50.

Chi Yufeng asked, "Your two films haven't been finished yet?"

Chen Guiliang said, "Filming will begin next spring."

“Another year has passed,” Chi Yufeng laughed. “Should I invest to mitigate the project’s risk?”

Chen Guiliang said, "Go cool off somewhere else."

Wang Erlei said, "I've taken some time these past few days to read 'The Three-Body Problem' that you recommended on Weibo. It's really brilliant!"

Chen Guiliang said, "I have permanently bought out the full rights to 'The Three-Body Problem' and plan to make it into a Hollywood-level sci-fi blockbuster. Hmm... no, wait, let's make a TV series first. The content is too grand, it's hard to choose which parts to make into a movie."

"Is it really that good-looking?" Chi Yufeng asked.

Wang Erlei said, "Absolutely great, highly recommended."

Chi Yufeng said, "Then I'll have to go back and take a look."

Wang Erlei then asked Chen Guiliang, "What do you think of Chen Zhixi, the one I recommended to you?"

Chen Guiliang said, "She's quite a capable woman. She went to discuss cooperation with Huaqi."

Of course, it was about discussing the sequel to "Lost in Thailand" with Huaqi.

There were many versions of the sequel's script, which eventually turned into a Rashomon-like situation.

It was probably after "Lost in Thailand" became a hit that Xu Zheng wanted to team up with Yang Qing (the screenwriter of "Nightclub" and "Hot Pot Hero") to work independently. However, the copyright holder, Huaqi, only wanted Xu Zheng to continue acting, as they didn't trust his directing abilities.

It's unclear who actually wrote the script (just an outline). What is clear is that Xu Zheng registered the script first. Huaqi sued and got the script back, but filming couldn't begin without Xu Zheng as the lead actor.

Xu Zheng had already approached Xiaoma Benteng, and they were willing to invest. However, Huaqi took back the script through a lawsuit, forcing Xu Zheng and Yang Qi to revise the script and change the filming location to Thailand.

Xiaoma Benteng did not accept the filming proposal in Thailand, so they gave up investing in "Lost in Thailand".

Xu Zheng may have been suspected of stealing the script in the early stages, but this script has been recovered by Huaqi. The actual film "Lost in Thailand" was based on a different script. (The company that initially agreed to invest in Xu Zheng was called Qitian Dadi, but it withdrew after losing the script lawsuit.)
It's stuck now.

Huaqi has a script, owns the copyright, and has obtained a filming permit. However, they lack a lead actor, and replacing him would definitely result in poor box office performance.

Xu Zheng has a script, but he doesn't have the copyright and can't secure investment. The main reason is that investors don't trust his directing abilities and are worried that a rewritten script won't perform well at the box office.

The two sides have already fallen out and the legal battle over the script is over. It's not easy for anyone to act as a peacemaker.

Just as they were about to board the plane, Chen Zhixi called: "Boss, the CEO of Huaqi said they've agreed to compromise on this matter, but on two conditions."

"What are the conditions?" Chen Guiliang asked.

Chen Zhixi said, "The first condition is that the CEO of Huaqi wants to have dinner with you, and you must personally fly over and act as the mediator at the dinner table. The second condition is that Xu Zheng must toast the CEO of Huaqi to apologize."

"That's quite the江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the world of martial arts and chivalry) style," Chen Guiliang said with a smile. "I can fly over there. As for Xu Zheng, you're in charge of making contact. Let's see if he still has any shame."

If ByteDance and Huaqi jointly invest in the project, and Xu Zheng only serves as the director and lead actor, then Xu Zheng's commercial income will definitely be greatly reduced.

If Xu Zheng wants to earn more, he must find another company to invest in him. If Xu Zheng does this, he will have completely offended Chen Guiliang and Huaqi. Even if Chen Guiliang doesn't suppress Xu Zheng in every way, he will definitely not cooperate with him again in the future.

Let's see what Xu Zheng chooses.

Chen Guiliang had a complicated impression of Xu Zheng. Although he looked down on the guy's character, "Dying to Survive" definitely earned him a lot of credit.

As for Huaqi, it's not exactly innocent either.

(End of this chapter)