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

Suddenly, Lu Chen had a flash of inspiration, and then slammed his hand on the table and stood up.

"Yeah! MP4!"

The MP4 that Lu Chen is referring to here is the iPod touch.

It suddenly occurred to him.

Previously, when looking at the sales composition of "Angry Birds" and "Fruit Swordsman"

It was discovered that some users downloaded the app via iPod touch after paying for the download.

At first, he was a little confused.

Why are people still buying games via iPod touch?

I only understood it after searching online.

I've made a mistake that's very common for reborn individuals—empiricism.

At first, Lu Chen always thought...

The only way for players to access the game is through the App Store on the iPhone.

This is not the case.

After Steve Jobs released the first iPhone, he wanted to make more people use this brand-new way of operating the iPhone and to promote the iPhone as soon as possible.

Steve Jobs launched the iPod touch product line for this purpose.

The iPod touch offers a user experience that is essentially the same as the iPhone at a lower price.

It only has some functions removed.

For example, it cannot make phone calls, take photos or videos, or use GPS.

But that doesn't affect anything.

Most iPod touch users treat it as a purely entertainment product.

To date, two generations of the iPod touch have been released.

The second-generation iPod touch came pre-installed with iOS 2.0 and the App Store.

Users can then access App Store apps through their iPod touch.

That's why, when Lu Chen was reviewing the game sales breakdown, he discovered that some people were playing games on their iPod touches.

Furthermore, the first-generation iPod touch sold between six and eight million units in a single year.

The second-generation iPod touch sold millions of units in just one month after its release.

Therefore, one of the reasons for the sales surge of Fruit Swordsman after updating the friend system is the number of iPod touches.

Of course, this is due to issues such as accounting rules and cost allocation.

Upgrading the first-generation iPod touch to iOS 2.0 was a paid service.

The cost is not low.

It costs a whopping $9.95.

However, upgrading to iOS 2.0 on the original iPhone was free.

This caused psychological imbalance among first-generation iPod touch users.

This also triggered a class-action lawsuit.

Finally, in 2009, Apple reached a settlement with its users.

The deal ended with the user receiving either a $5 compensation for the paid upgrade or a $3.25 refund.

Let's get back to Lu Chen's side.

Since the number of players is limited by the number of products running the iOS system.

Why don't I make a product that can play games?

This increases the player base.

It can also help Journey Technology expand into new businesses.

That's killing two birds with one stone.

It's late October 2008, and Apple has only released two generations of the iPod touch.

Domestically, MP4 players that support touchscreens, similar to the iPod touch, have also emerged.

However, these domestically produced touchscreen MP4 players still use the outdated resistive touchscreens.

Resistive touchscreens are not as user-friendly as the capacitive touchscreens found on iPhones and iPod touches.

Its biggest drawback is that it is difficult to control via touch.

Yes.

Touchscreen is difficult to use.

Can you imagine an MP4 player whose biggest selling point is touch control?

Is the biggest drawback that touch control is difficult?

Because capacitive and resistive touchscreens use different technologies.

The former only requires touch operation with your fingers.

The latter usually requires a stylus to use.

Without a stylus, you can only operate it by pressing hard with your fingernail.

This has resulted in domestically produced touchscreen MP4 players being very difficult to use.

Fortunately, there are currently no MP4 players in China that use capacitive screens.

Doesn't this give Boss Lu room to maneuver?

The cost of manufacturing an MP4 player is not as high as that of a smartphone.

Lu Chen's ten million yuan was barely enough.

MP4 players can also perform some of the functions of smartphones.

It perfectly meets the current needs of Journey Technology.

If these were made, wouldn't they sell like hotcakes?

Furthermore, Lu Chen also believed it was time for the company's games to enter the domestic market.

After all, Journey Technology is a Chinese company.

Foreign players can play these games all day long.

Domestic players are watching with bated breath.

This also allows domestic players to experience the thrill of playing a touchscreen game for the first time.

……

Having clarified his thoughts, Lu Chen immediately took action.

As usual, Susie called a meeting.

A group of people crowded into Lu Chen's office.

Lu Chen shook his head when he saw the crowded office.

The company is still too small.

There wasn't even a place to sit for a meeting.

It seems that as the company develops further, it's time to move to a larger office space.

There should at least be a proper meeting room.

Once all the employees were present, Lu Chen didn't waste any words and got straight to the point.

"As you all probably guessed, today's meeting is about a new game."

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Everyone laughed.

Indeed, whenever Boss Lu calls a meeting, doesn't that mean the company has something new to do?

A long time has passed since the Fruit Swordsman was completed.

It's been more than half a month since the last emergency update due to poor sales.

During this period of time.

The employees basically had no work to do.

A day can pass by in the blink of an eye, just by paddling around and catching fish.

They were living a very comfortable life.

Moreover, with the company's games selling so well, there's absolutely no need to worry about the company closing down.

So what worries do people still have?

Go ahead and slack off!

Lu Chen saw the bright smiles of everyone below, revealing eight big teeth, and knew that his employees hadn't been doing anything productive lately.

However, Lu Chen did not stop him.

Because all work is for the sake of making a living.

How can you work endlessly all day long?

That's simply unrealistic.

Don't be fooled by the fact that employees at big companies work overtime until "996" (9 am to 9 pm, 6 days a week), they'd love to work "007" (24 hours a day, 7 days a week).

But the actual time spent working was very limited.

They were all doing things while slacking off.

Or they concentrate their work on a certain period of time and slack off the rest of the time.

Some people simply want to save on electricity bills by using the company's air conditioning.

Rather than sneaking around, Lu Chen would rather let everyone slack off openly.

As long as you are serious when you are working, that's enough.

Now it's time for the employees to get to work.

Jiang Chang rubbed his hands together impatiently and was the first to speak:

"Boss, bring out any new games so everyone can take a look!"

"Yeah yeah."

"That's right!"

"Yes, ever since Angry Birds, I've been wondering what game the boss will come up with next."

tsk...

Hearing the conversation, Lu Chen shook his head.

His biggest headache is that his employees only know how to work hard without using their brains.

But what can we do? We'll just have to make do.

Who can blame us when our company is small?

When Lu Chen first started the company, he also wanted to find industry leaders.

Unfortunately, Lu Chen didn't have the resources; the industry leaders looked down on his small business.

Therefore, we can only recruit a handful of people.

"Alright," Lu Chen said, pulling over the whiteboard. "Since everyone trusts me, I can only bring out my most treasured secret."

All eyes immediately turned to Lu Chen.

"What kind of game will Boss Lu come up with this time?"

"I don't know, but I think it definitely won't be bad."

"Yes, Boss Lu has already proven himself with two games."

Seeing that everyone had perked up, Lu Chen shared his thoughts:

"We're making a casual tower defense game this time."

After he finished speaking, everyone looked bewildered.

"what?"

"Tower defense games? I've never heard of that before?"

At this point in 2008,

Tower defense games have only recently become independent from the side gameplay of World of Warcraft.

Look, it's World of Warcraft again.

The game genre that emerged from the birth of World of Warcraft

There are already tower defense games and MOBA games.

The achievement system and PVP system in future games will be derived from this game.

As a result, we can see some influences of World of Warcraft in many games in the future.