Rebirth 08: Can a mobile game company also build a tech empire?

Lu Chen tapped the table to quiet the room, then looked at Wu Zhixuan and said:

"Old Wu, send a questionnaire to all players in the game to see where the problem lies."

"Yeah! Why don't we just ask the players directly!"

Chu Yu slapped her forehead, suddenly realizing what was going on.

Everyone was impressed by Lu Chen's abilities, wondering why they hadn't thought of that.

Lu Chen's idea was simple.

Instead of a group of people sitting in the office brainstorming, why not send out a questionnaire and let all players work together to find the problems?

Soon, a carefully crafted questionnaire was sent to all players through the game.

Players simply need to click the link and select the option.

Although there are no rewards for filling out the survey, sending out a survey in the game is a novel thing.

There will definitely be a lot of players filling in the form purely out of love for the game.

Moreover, Lu Chen doesn't need to collect opinions from all players. As long as more than 10,000 people fill out the forms, he can identify the problems with the game.

Sure enough, a few days later, some players submitted their questionnaires one after another.

Everyone gathered in Lu Chen's office once again.

This time, the atmosphere was not as relaxed and pleasant as before.

The office was shrouded in gloom, everyone's faces tense, as if the sky were about to collapse.

Lu Chen felt so pressured that he could hardly breathe, so he had to calm himself down first.

"Hey, hey, hey, why is everyone looking so serious? The company is still here, isn't it?"

Can't we find the problems right away from the questionnaire?

Now that we've identified the problem, all we need to do is solve it.

Hearing these words, everyone's expressions softened slightly, and Lu Chen seized the opportunity to press his advantage.

"Besides, if the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up, so why are you all panicking?"

And isn't the company still making a profit?

Even if the Fruit Swordsman fails, there's still the income from Angry Birds.

That's enough for us to get through some time before developing new games!

"So what if we have to endure another period of hardship? We've experienced that before!"

Lu Chen's heartfelt words finally moved everyone present.

"Yes, we survived when the company was about to close down."

"Yes! Even if things are difficult now, will they ever be as difficult as they were back then?"

"Thinking about it, our situation is much better now than it was back then, and our company is still profitable!"

The group's thinking was clear.

Indeed, if the sky falls, someone taller will hold it up.

The boss has such a good attitude; he's just an employee of the company, what's there to worry about?

Besides, the company is indeed still making a profit.

Leaving aside the ongoing revenue that Angry Birds brings to the company.

Even Fruit Swordsman can't be called a failed game.

Based on current sales figures, even after deducting Apple's share, the profit is still a staggering one million!

How many companies in all of China make a profit of one million per month?

Once they understood, everyone felt a sense of liberation and wonder.

The gloom in the office dissipated, and although it wasn't quite time to pop the champagne, everyone regained their fighting spirit.

Seeing that everyone was no longer nervous, Lu Chen nodded.

In difficult times, a company's morale is very important.

With high morale, everyone is united and working together towards a common goal.

No matter how big the difficulty, it can be solved.

Otherwise, the company will be a disorganized mess, and even with favorable winds, it can capsize!

Moreover, as a game company, the vitality of its employees is also very important. How can they bring joy to players if they are all bitter and resentful?

anyway.

Lu Chen opened the completed survey questionnaire.

According to statistics, Journey Technology collected more than 20,000 questionnaires this time, accounting for more than half of the total number of players.

The game's direction can definitely be modified based on the questionnaire results.

The questionnaire is divided into three parts, all of which are filled out by scoring, so that the scores can most directly reflect the problems of the game.

The first part of the questions concerns the game's gameplay and art style:

"Game control smoothness: When cutting fruit, the touch screen is responsive and quick. 1-5 points."

"The game's exhilarating feeling: the sound effects and visual feedback when slicing fruit. 1-5 points."

"The game's art style: The background music and art style match my aesthetic. 1-5 points."

No one dared to blink, several pairs of eyes fixed on the statistics scores that followed.

The scores achieved by the players did not disappoint those present.

The average score for fluency is 4.7.

The average score for the sense of exhilaration reached a high of 4.8!

The average score for artistic style is around 4.5.

This proves that the game itself is completely fine!

It could even be said that Fruit Swordsman is another classic game.

Just now, Lu Chen didn't dare to breathe loudly either.

His eyes were fixed on the score in the art style column.

The player gave a high score of 4.5.

The huge weight on his heart finally lifted.

What Lu Chen fears most is that he might change the game's art style on a whim, only to find that Western players simply don't accept the Chinese martial arts style.

This resulted in a significant drop in game sales.

A score of 4.5 proves that Western players fully accept the game's art style.

"Phew, as long as the game isn't bad, it's fine."

Tao Manwen patted her chest and breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Yes, we spent a whole month developing the game, working from dawn till dusk every day. We revised the plan countless times. If the players still don't find it fun, I don't know what to do."

Once Chu Yu relaxed, she regained her usual liveliness.

Wu Zhiyuan nodded in agreement.

"Alright, everyone, let's continue looking at the survey and see where the problems lie."

Lu Chen drew everyone's attention back to the computer.

The second part of the questionnaire focused on the game's promotion.

"The game's description and images are appealing. 1-5 stars."

"You downloaded the game through an App Store ad. 1-5 stars."

"You downloaded the game through Angry Birds' recommendation. 1-5 stars."

These questions can quickly determine whether a player is a veteran Angry Birds player or a complete newbie.

The scores for this section are 4.8, 2.1, and 4.2 respectively.

"Huh? What's going on?"

Seeing the glaring 2.1 points among the numbers, Lu Chen expressed his doubts.

This situation can only explain one thing.

Few players discover games directly through the App Store's new game library.

Most players learned about the game Fruit Swordsman through internal push notifications from Angry Birds.

Therefore, most players of Fruit Swordsman are veteran users who have played Angry Birds, and there are very few new players.

If Angry Birds hadn't been used to push notifications about the new game's release to players, Fruit Swordsman's sales might have been even worse.

"Why aren't there many new users?" Wu Zhixuan also noticed the problem. "Did Apple limit our traffic?"

"No way, our games sell a lot, so Apple gets a large share of the revenue."

He Tao, who had been silent all along, spoke.

"Yeah, why would Apple do something that damages its own reputation?"

Seeing this strange score, everyone was puzzled for a moment.

Indeed, as long as an app is listed on the App Store, Apple can legitimately take a 30% cut.

This was later jokingly referred to as the "Apple tax," and it's also a point of contention for Apple among many developers.

Apple has absolutely no reason to restrict a game.