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

The video has ended.

The number of views has exceeded 300,000.

There are over five thousand comments.

Lu Chen opened the comments section, and the top comment read:

"After watching this video, all my doubts have been completely dispelled. I'm eagerly awaiting June 10th!"

"The blogger's test was very detailed."

Especially the section on system smoothness,

It's obvious that ZUI's optimization is indeed very good.

As a digital enthusiast,

I have to say,

The arrival of Conquer Online 1 will change the game.

Other manufacturers either lowered their prices.

Either come up with a better product.

There is no third way!

Lu Chen nodded in satisfaction.

This is genuine user feedback.

More convincing than any other GG.

Just then, there was a knock on the office door.

"Please come in."

Susie pushed open the door and entered.

He was holding a laptop.

His expression was a little strange.

"Mr. Lu, there is an email that I would like you to take a look at."

"What email?"

"Sent from America"

The sender was a man named Steve Hoffman.

He said he was a Minecraft player.

He is also the creator of a website.

Lu Chen took the computer and began reading the email.

The email was written in English, but it was very clear.

"Dear Journey Technology Team:"

First of all, congratulations on the great success of Minecraft!

I am a game enthusiast living in San Francisco.

He was also an early player of Minecraft.

About two months ago,

A few friends and I created a website called BlockChat.

initial,

This is just a small community where a few Minecraft players exchange building tips and share save files.

But as Minecraft becomes more and more popular, more and more players are joining us.

right now,

BlockChat has grown into a community with over half a million registered users.

Users are not only discussing Minecraft.

They also started discussing other games.

It has even expanded to various fields such as technology, life, and learning.

Every day, a large number of users ask questions.

Other users will share their knowledge and experience.

This was originally a good thing, but problems have arisen as a result.

User growth was too rapid, and server costs rose sharply.

We are all ordinary people.

They can no longer afford the monthly cost of several thousand dollars.

We know that Journey Technology is the developer of Minecraft.

Therefore, I am taking the liberty of contacting you.

Would you be interested in taking over this community?

Or do you have any suggestions to help us continue operating?

Looking forward to your reply!

Sincerely,

Steve Hoffman and the BlockChat team.

Lu Chen narrowed his eyes slightly after reading the email.

BlockChat, a chat platform using blocks?

The name is quite fitting for the game's content.

However, this kind of player community, and the form of user questions and answers.

Why does this sound so familiar?

A name suddenly popped into his mind.

Zhihu!

As a reborn person

He was all too familiar with this pattern of users asking questions and other users answering them.

What kind of energy will it unleash in the future?

Quora is hailed as the American version of Zhihu (a Chinese Q&A website).

It was officially founded in June 2009 by two former Facebook employees.

Its core concept is very simple.

Connect those who possess knowledge with those who need it.

Users can ask any questions on the platform.

Other users can share their expertise, experience, or insights.

Quora initially used an invitation-only system.

This ensured the quality of community content.

It quickly attracted engineers, academics, and industry experts from Silicon Valley to settle in.

It has become a hub for high-quality discussions.

By the end of 2010,

Quora's valuation has exceeded $8000 million.

But then came 2020.

It has become one of the world's most authoritative knowledge-sharing platforms.

The number of monthly active users is in the hundreds of millions.

In China,

Zhihu was launched in 2011.

It initially borrowed almost entirely from the Quora model.

It is an invitation-only system that emphasizes professionalism and depth.

Founder Zhou Yuan astutely recognized the demand for high-quality content on the Chinese internet.

In its early days, Zhihu attracted a group of internet elites, including Kai-Fu Lee, Zhang Xiaolong, and Wang Xiaochuan.

This established its high-end and professional tone.

As the time goes,

Zhihu is gradually opening up registration.

The user base is expanding.

The content has also evolved from purely technology and the internet.

Expanding into more diverse areas of life, culture, and entertainment.

Before Lu Chen's rebirth,

Zhihu has become the largest knowledge-sharing platform on the Chinese internet.

Daily active users have exceeded 30 million, and the company's valuation has surpassed 10 billion US dollars.

And now,

BlockChat was placed in front of Lu Chen.

Although it originated from the Minecraft player community.

However, it has a self-generated question-and-answer mechanism.

The potential of this model has already begun to emerge.

more importantly,

It appeared at least a month earlier than Quora!

This means a huge time window.

An opportunity that could redefine the landscape of global knowledge-sharing communities.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

Lu Chen muttered to himself.

He realized it immediately.

If Journey Technology can get ahead of the curve.

Transform and upgrade BlockChat.

To create a global knowledge-sharing platform.

That will be more than just a community product.

This will be a completely new direction for the ecosystem.

ZhengTu Technology is expanding into hardware, software, content platforms, and games.

If you add a high-quality knowledge community.

The entire ecosystem will be more complete.

High-quality content generated by knowledge communities.

It can increase user stickiness to hardware devices.

And the users of the hardware equipment.

It can also become a natural source of traffic for the community.

On the eve of the impending explosion of mobile internet.

An excellent Q&A community will have immeasurable value.

"Susie,"

Lu Chen raised his head, having already made up his mind.

Reply to this email immediately.

We expressed our great interest.

Tell them,

I will personally lead the team to San Francisco.

We will meet with them to discuss cooperation matters.

"Go to America in person?"

Susie was somewhat surprised.

"Boss Lu,

The domestic press conference has just ended.

The pre-sales, mass production, and channel development of Journey 1

And the development of Z-dimensional...

We all need your presence to oversee things.

Going abroad at this time,

Isn't the time too tight?

"With Lin Bing and Xu Yi here, I'm at ease."

Lu Chen stood up and walked to the window.

"But this BlockChat,"

I must go there in person.

It is not just a website,

It's more likely to be a completely new track.

He turned around and spoke faster.

"And next month is the E3 gaming expo,"

I was originally going to attend the exhibition in person anyway.

This is perfect, let's handle it all at once.

Preparations for E3

Jiang Chang is already in charge.

Susie reminded her.

"Let Jiang Chang come with us."

"But the famine hasn't been fully exploited yet."

"No problem."

Lu Chen responded:

Games showcased at E3

The vast majority are not finished products.

Some game developers even brought just a concept design to the exhibition.

All we need is a demo where we can experience the game.

Lu Chen thought for a moment.

"Also, invite Wu Zhixuan along."

"Wu Zhixuan?"

Susie was somewhat puzzled.

"Isn't he pushing hard to get the Conquer Online Z2 into mass production?"

"I brought him along for other reasons."

Lu Chen's gaze drifted into the distance.

"We need to set up a subsidiary in America."

He walked back to his desk and sat down.

"Some games are difficult to produce in the domestic environment."

We need a freer creative environment and a more mature game industry system.