Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 289 Internal Force
At this moment, they either only have a demo or only a framework, but in this timeline, they all have one thing in common.

That is, they all received investment from Starry Sky, which is why they have gathered here today.

In contrast to Tencent's "slogan-style" support for domestic games, StarCraft launched a "1 billion yuan subsidy" program for domestic single-player game developers starting in January of this year.

StarCraft has invested hundreds of millions of RMB in 24 domestic single-player game companies through various means such as investment, equity participation, and project equity participation.

Many "insiders" consider these investments incredibly stupid; if they were at Tencent, NetEase, or other companies, they wouldn't even bother to glance at many of their projects.

For example, the fact that Xingchen invested 1000 million yuan in the Legend of Sword and Fairy 7 project even became a trending topic.

Although Chu Chen's original intention in voting for Legend of Sword and Fairy 7 was to "promote" it.

However, the reason this matter became a trending topic is quite subtle. Apart from the players cheering, most domestic game companies viewed StarCraft's investment with a "foolish and rich" perspective.

In addition, some media outlets, in their reports, also expressed pessimism about Xingchen's investment.

This "lack of optimism" wasn't just limited to the media; even many developers who received investment from Xingchen were quite surprised.

For example, Feng Yi from Youke.

To be honest, they do have some connection with StarCraft. Last year, their first game, "Art of War: Red Tides," obtained its publishing license with StarCraft's help.

Furthermore, it was also launched on Starry Sky's Tap platform at the end of last year.

However, after its launch, it did not become a "viral hit" as they had imagined. Its performance was only average, neither bad nor good.

It's the kind of work that made a splash in the market for a while, and then faded into obscurity.

When they decided to go all in this year and prepare to launch the "Black Myth" project, they started looking for Starry Sky to invest money. At first, they didn't really expect Starry Sky to invest too much money.

After all, Feng Yi had approached many people in the industry with his "Black Myth" project proposal, and the vast majority of them shook their heads after reviewing the project, feeling that it would be too difficult to develop such a game in China.

So, Feng Yi's initial idea was to get some money from Xingchen to make a demo first.

Then we need to find more funding.

However, when they arrived at the stars...

The actual outcome of the final negotiations far exceeded his expectations. Chu Chen inexplicably became very optimistic about the project, and the two sides hit it off immediately. Youke quickly became Xingchen's joint studio.

This joint studio is somewhat similar to Sony and Microsoft's third-party studios.

Xingchen will be responsible for costs, while Feng Yi will retain management control of the studio. Xingchen will receive 60% of the final revenue, and the independent studio will receive 40%.
This is different from "investment and equity ownership".

This joint studio does not need external financing; Starry Sky has promised to continuously inject development costs.

In other words, once you become a joint studio, there won't be a situation where, for example, you invest 3000 million to get shares this time, and then when the money runs out, you have to raise more funds and dilute your shares again.

Feng Yi doesn't need to worry about funding at all; he only needs to be responsible for development and management.

A year ago, Feng Yi might have been worried and conflicted for a while, but after the actual failure of "The Art of War" and his gradual understanding of Chu Chen, things have changed.

Feng Yi was intrigued. He no longer needed to manage the finance department; all he had to do was recruit people and develop the game.

This is arguably the perfect contract for game developers who have tried and "failed" once.

Even after signing the agreement, when Feng Yi was drinking with the other people from the studio, he was still a little dazed, wondering why Chu Chen was so optimistic about this project, only saying that the cost was reasonable and that it could be used, and that it was negotiable if it did not exceed 100 million a year.

When Feng Yi heard this, he was dumbfounded.

In the end, all I could do was sigh, "Anime and manga really make money..."

The subtext of this statement is, to some extent, the feeling that they have too much money to burn.
~~~
Chu Chen certainly wasn't throwing money away. The reason he did this was that these projects were indeed worth investing in, not to mention the exaggerated rate of return of Black Myth.

The other games also have potential.

Secondly, the extensive investment in domestic single-player game studios has a clear purpose: to prepare for future exclusive content for the Starry Sky Games platform.

Exclusivity is always the most powerful weapon of a platform.

In today's mature Steam ecosystem, newcomers need a few sharp tools to catch up.

Take PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) for example.

Even though StarCraft dominates the domestic market, globally, apart from China, Steam still holds the lion's share of sales in other regions.

EPIC has tried exclusives, but EPIC's core user base is the same as Steam's, which means EPIC doesn't actually have much appeal.

The exclusive titles are all "ordinary" games.

Some exclusives are even "poaching" games, meaning they are games that have already been released on Steam and then made exclusive.

Therefore, EPCI's exclusivity strategy not only failed, but also drew criticism from players.

However, after giving up exclusivity, Epic Games, with its low revenue share and free games, was ultimately crushed by Steam.

Having witnessed the failures of those who came before him, Chu Chen has his own ideas on how to compete with Steam.

This is why StarCraft not only spent heavily in the ACG (Anime, Comics, and Games) game sector this year, but also made large-scale investments in the domestic single-player game sector.

Anime-style games are a quick way to make money; they are a sharp, short-sighted weapon, the foundation of StarCraft, and can rapidly accumulate cash flow.

Domestic single-player games are slow to generate revenue and have a long payback period, but they are like a heavy sword that needs to be forged slowly. Once it is completed, it will be extremely powerful.

Most importantly, whether it's a short sword or a heavy sword, both are powers that Xingchen can rely on entirely, powers that belong to him.

Even Xiang Yu knew that he had to rely on the elders of Jiangdong when he fought battles.

Chu Chen felt that although the analogy sounded a bit ominous, the principle was the same.

Not to mention searching globally.

It's probably difficult to find an investment environment in China's single-player game market like it was in 17, given that "Chinese single-player games" and "small domestic workshops" have been suppressed for over a decade by pay-to-win games.

The valuation is pitifully low.

Chu Chen's investment plans are often done in "annual installments," without paying the full amount at once. After the investment is completed, the recipients are always extremely grateful, sometimes even crying during dinner, saying that President Chen is someone who truly cares about Guodan.
These are assets that nobody wants.

Even if the short-term return is pitifully low, and even if it is ridiculed by the industry, and even if it is foreseeable that some games may not be able to recoup their costs.

But every penny spent is accumulating "internal strength" for Xingchen.

Tencent is spending money on a massive global buying spree, but what it buys ultimately belongs to others and cannot truly become its own foundation.

The so-called "exclusive Chinese distribution rights" are nothing more than a rented halo; once the lease expires, they're gone.

(End of this chapter)