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

a few days later.

It learned from the success of Angry Birds.

The employees' enthusiasm for their work has clearly increased significantly.

I don't know if it was the empty promises made to the employees at the celebration banquet that had an effect, or the cell phone and a month's bonus that did the trick.

Regardless, seeing his employees working diligently made Lu Chen's efforts worthwhile.

this day.

Lu Chen arrived at the company early as usual.

Good morning, boss!

"The boss looks great today."

With greetings all the way, Lu Chen returned to his office.

On the table was coffee that Susie had prepared for Lu Chen in advance, as well as today's newspaper.

She now serves as both the accountant and helps Lu Chen organize his work affairs.

It's like they're handling both finances and secretarial work.

Lu Chen plopped down in the boss's chair and expertly turned on the computer.

After searching for some information on his computer and taking a few sips of coffee, Lu Chen fell into deep thought.

Angry Birds has been a huge success.

Although it is still far from the grand occasion when the original company Rovio was launched in 2009.

Back then, Rovio had all the advantages of timing and location.

Angry Birds was also a paid download on iOS back in the day.

The number of downloads in one year reached a staggering 1200 million!

Rovio Company rakes in over $100 million!

This propelled Rovio to instant fame as an industry leader.

But Lu Chen's side isn't bad either.

Angry Birds is now a long-term, steady success.

It can bring in millions of yuan in revenue for ZhengTu Technology every month.

With the number of iPhone users increasing further, it's not impossible for them to replicate the success of breaking ten million downloads in a year.

And this is pure income with almost no cost!

Thinking about it, maintaining this way is not bad.

But Lu Chen didn't want it to be like this!

He's the kind of man who's going to build a great company!

How can we just coast along and wait to die?

With this in mind, Lu Chen began to devise a new game.

To say it's a concept is an understatement; it's more like a cheat code.

Lu Chen kept recalling the classic games he used to play.

Especially games that are simple to play, easy to make, and very popular.

After considering all the options, Fruit Ninja seems like a good choice.

Fruit Ninja was developed by the Australian company Halfbrick Studios and officially launched on the App Store in April 2010.

It garnered 300 million downloads in just two years after its release, a true commercial miracle!

Back in the day, Fruit Ninja, Angry Birds, and Plants vs. Zombies were known as the "Three Musketeers" of smartphones.

If you don't have these three games on your phone, you can't say you've ever used a smartphone.

Moreover, Fruit Ninja is a game truly designed for touchscreens!

It truly defines what intuitive touchscreen gaming should mean – what you see is what you get!

Having been reborn, if I don't make these three games, then my life will have been wasted!

Having made up his mind, Lu Chen said to Susie, who was standing beside him:

"Susie, tell everyone to come to the office for a meeting!"

Upon hearing this, Susie was visibly shaken.

Is Boss Lu planning something new?

The grand ambitions made at the victory celebration banquet, are they about to be put into action so soon?

The last time I called everyone to a meeting, Angry Birds, the game that saved the company, was born.

Will a new game be born again this time, witnessed by everyone?

Thinking of this, Susie quickened her pace.

"Everyone to the office, the boss is having a meeting."

"Whoosh!"

A series of chairs being pulled out rang out in unison.

Do you all still remember the meeting we had in Boss Lu's office last time?

Everyone rushed into the office with anticipation.

Soon, everyone had arrived.

"Is everyone here? Let's have a short meeting today."

Lu Chen looked around and found no one missing.

"How is everyone doing lately? Our company finally has a profitable project, so you don't have to worry about the company closing down."

Moreover, since Angry Birds was released, everyone has had some free time.

I think Chu Yu even has time to dye her hair now.

As is customary, Lu Chen exchanged a few pleasantries first.

Chu Yu, the sound effects team member who was mentioned, grinned with her blue-gray hair, revealing eight healthy teeth.

"No way, boss, we work hard every day, okay?"

Ji Wenjie from the sound effects team answered.

"Yes, didn't you see that I replaced all the dead pothos plants in the company? I also have to water them every day."

Xue Meng from the art team said.

"Please remember to reimburse me for the money I spent on the pothos plant."

"Okay, okay, go get reimbursed by Susie after your meeting."

Lu Chen was both amused and exasperated.

These employees are all such lively characters.

"By the way, I saw a lot of netizens discussing our game on the forum."

Jiang Chang from the programming team finally brought up a useful topic.

"Oh? Netizens are discussing our game? What are they saying?" Lu Chen became interested.

"They say our game is called Evil Bird."

"Huh? Why?"

Lu Chen carefully recalled that there were no scenes in Angry Birds that were unsuitable for children.

"Because playing Angry Birds makes an entire afternoon vanish in an instant, it's so evil!"

"Hahaha……"

These words drew a burst of laughter from everyone.

"This forum seems quite interesting," Lu Chen said.

"Yeah, all the netizens there are so talented and speak so nicely. I love being there."

The employees chatted and laughed, creating a harmonious atmosphere.

"Alright, let's get back to the main topic!"

Seeing that the conversation was heading in an uncertain direction, Lu Chen quickly took the initiative.

"Angry Birds has been online for a month, and although it has achieved excellent results, we can't rely on one game for the rest of our lives."

So, I've decided to make a new game!

Hearing the boss bring up serious matters, everyone stopped joking and their expressions became serious.

What are everyone's thoughts on the new game?

Lu Chen did not directly reveal his thoughts this time.

After all, the company doesn't just belong to Lu Chen alone; it's important to learn how to motivate employees.

The employees below immediately fell into deep thought.

They can manage to make products according to the boss's ideas, but it's too difficult to come up with their own creative ideas.

Because the most difficult part of game development is always game innovation.

Gameplay, mechanics, art, music—everything that predecessors could do, has been done. Successors can only keep combining and rearranging them to create a new game.

Seeing that no one spoke, Lu Chen encouraged them.

"Does nobody have any ideas? We're developing a game on a new platform, which should be like drawing on a blank canvas—it should be easy."

After a moment, if no one volunteered, then Lu Chen would call out names directly.

"Jiang Chang, you tell us."

Jiang Chang, who was mentioned, is 26 or 27 years old. He was recruited by Lu Chen from another company and has participated in the production of several games. He is considered an industry insider in game production.

So he had some ideas about the new game.

Jiang Chang then said:

"Boss, our top priority is to come up with a game that will allow us to establish a foothold in the market."

I think it would be better to invest more in a new game and directly develop a large-scale 3D game.

I recently saw a game called "Super Monkey Ball" that's very popular while browsing the App Store.

Their sales are in no way inferior to our Angry Birds!

So we made a racing game that makes full use of Apple's gyroscope.

Imagine, this game lets players feel like they're actually holding a steering wheel and experiencing the thrill of racing.

Jiang Chang's idea was very comprehensive.

Moreover, the plan is quite radical.

This certainly aligns with the company's development needs.

However, Lu Chen was not satisfied with Jiang Chang's answer.