Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 484 Three-Way Battle
“Yes.” Jason nodded.

“That’s exactly what Xingchen did. They used subsidies to get zero-commission cooperation from manufacturers, which is the most direct competition we are currently facing.”

Mark paused for a few seconds, then adjusted his glasses.

Jason, do you know what you're saying?

“Vilford never subsidizes promotions. We provide the platform, the traffic, and the world’s largest PC game distribution network. We are the ones creating value for manufacturers, not the other way around.”

As someone who has been with Steam since its early days, Mark understands Steam very well, has his own set of logic for dealing with people and things, and is deeply trusted by Gabe Newell himself.

However, the mindset formed by being at the top of the industry for a long time is not so easy to change.

In the eyes of Mark and many Valve executives, Steam's winter sale is a "gift." They open up their huge traffic pool to allow manufacturers to come in and make money, and in return, they take a 30% commission, which is only natural.

Now, some people are actually demanding that the platform pay for this "gift" itself?
This is a fundamental challenge to Steam's business model.

"But the current situation is indeed very complicated."

Jason did not compromise. In his view, no matter what you say, StarCraft is indeed a real subsidy in real money, and if Steam does not follow suit...

His work became quite difficult to carry out.

If something goes wrong in the end, then that will become his problem.

If he insists on getting the subsidy, even if the subsidy doesn't come through in the end, he can then shirk responsibility.

Mark could actually understand Jason's thoughts.

After all, as the COO of Steam, he was aware of the impact of StarCraft. With all the ups and downs StarCraft has been up to this year, including all the advertising, how could he be completely unaware?

But Mark also had his own difficulties.

Compared to Steam, StarCraft is much smaller in scale, which means less cost for organizing events.

On the contrary, Steam is already a mature and large market with billions of dollars in revenue every year. If they were to offer subsidies, or reduce their commission as others have suggested, they could achieve similar results.

Even if we don't compare it to Starry Sky's 15%, a drop of just 10 percentage points still amounts to a "loss" of nearly $20 billion.

Nobody dares to make this decision, not even Gabe Newell.

In addition, another disadvantage of Steam is that, compared to the profitability of StarCraft and Tencent, Valve's first-party games such as CS and DOTA2, although they also make money.

But the bulk of the profits still come from the platform's commission.

Therefore, Steam isn't incapable of offering subsidies, but rather...
“If we subsidize the China region, will Europe need subsidies too? Will North America need subsidies too? Once this door is opened, it can never be closed again. Our profit margins will be devastated.”

That's how it is to run a business.

Often, a decision has both positive and negative effects.

"What should I do?"

The meeting reached a stalemate. Abandon the winter sale in China? Impossible. Not to mention that the preliminary publicity had already been launched, Gabe Newell's decision to return to China was not something they could do.

Can we get subsidies through Starry Sky?
This could also shake the foundation of the company.

“We can’t let them lead us by the nose, but we can’t do nothing either. A full-scale price war isn’t suitable for us, but you might want to try a small-scale one?”

"Small-scale?"

Mark nodded. "A fist only hurts when it's clenched. We don't need to offer 10,000 games at a 90% discount. We just need to offer a few games at rock-bottom prices to create hype and make an impression on players. Then, even if other publishers offer smaller discounts or no discounts, it won't stand out as much."

To be fair, Mark is someone who has followed Gabe Newell (GabeN) all the way through.

Having a basic understanding of the game market, they quickly came up with a reasonably good "win-win" solution.

“From our partners, we will select two or three companies with global influence and absolute flagship products. For example, Rockstar and CDPR.”

"Besides these two, find a few more companies that have the strongest opposition and seek in-depth cooperation."

"cooperate?"

"Yes, cooperation."

"During the winter sale, for all the games sold in the China region by these partner companies, we can reduce our platform's commission from 30% to 15%, or even 10%!"

"I don't care if they're offering a 90% discount or a massive discount; I want their flagship game to be available at an unprecedentedly low price in the China region."

"In addition to reducing commission rates, all promotional resources will be allocated to manufacturers who join this program throughout the entire sale period."

"We want all Chinese players to see a game of The Witcher 3's caliber when they open Steam, with a price they can't refuse."

Jason's eyes suddenly lit up.

This plan seems the same as directly giving money as a subsidy, but in reality it is completely different. On the one hand, Valve saved face.

On the other hand, once a few leading manufacturers are convinced, the other manufacturers who want to join in will naturally shut up. The only problem is that this approach will actually result in a loss of some Steam revenue.
"Will Gabe Newell agree to this plan?"

"I will try to persuade him."

~~~
Time flies, and December has arrived.

This winter has been exceptionally lively for China's gaming industry.

It's like a grand drama of the Three Kingdoms, with various forces taking turns on stage, beating drums and gongs, quite impressive.

The first to beat the drum was the "Wei Kingdom," a behemoth that occupies half of the world's territory, which officially launched its marketing campaign in China for the first time.

Gabe Newell (GabeN) has clearly invested heavily in this marketing campaign.

Three indie games are being given away for free, and over a dozen AAA titles are available for limited-time free trials, especially the over a dozen AAA titles available for free trials.

Steam has created a separate page with a row of posters, including top-tier titles like Borderlands 2 and Fallout 4, which looks truly impressive.

So much so that the cry of "Gabe Newell is my dad" resounded throughout the player community.

However, if you look closely, you'll find that many of these games are also available on the Game Star platform.

Moreover, this discount is comparable to that on Steam. For example, The Witcher 3 on the Starry Night Games platform can be as low as 55 yuan with additional coupons.

However, Mark's "fist-like" fighting style still worked; with a bunch of games placed together, he did create a sense of "impressive power".

Following closely behind "Wei" is the large and powerful "Eastern Wu," Tencent.

If we're talking about conquering the world, Tencent might be a bit lacking.

However, in China, Tencent is not backing down at all, and its two major gaming platforms have launched a massive pre-holiday promotional campaign for Christmas and New Year's.

(End of this chapter)