My capital is quite large.

This seems to be a strong response to Haofeng Games' "undeclared war".

Less than 24 hours after the release of the PUBG trailer, Tencent Games announced in major financial and technology media outlets its full acquisition of North American game developer Daybreak Games.

According to Wall Street and multiple sources, if the acquisition goes through, the total amount involved will be at least $3 million.

When many ordinary netizens in China first saw this news, they were mostly confused, having no idea what this so-called "Daybreak" was that was worth Tencent spending more than 2 billion RMB on.

But soon, knowledgeable people and veteran game bloggers on the internet began to explain the facts on forums and online communities:

"Forget about the English name; Daybreak's most famous game is the wildly popular H1Z1!"

"It's that game where the Red Army is all over Bilibili and short video platforms, and foreigners tremble with fear whenever they hear Dongda's broken Mandarin!"

Upon hearing this, countless netizens suddenly realized the truth.

Just how popular H1Z1 is in China is something everyone can clearly see on various video platforms.

However, while the game is being sold normally on Steam in China, its arrogant North American developer recently unilaterally adopted a highly controversial "region-locked" policy, completely blocking the IP address of the University of Tokyo.

This has led to countless domestic players facing the frustrating predicament of spending money to buy the game but being unable to play it at all, sparking considerable protests on various forums.

Moreover, H1Z1 itself suffers from serious server disconnections, countless malicious bugs, and rampant cheating issues that are almost suffocating for normal players.

Tencent's announcement that it will acquire the developer in its entirety has undoubtedly given domestic gamers a strong boost.

Everyone is starting to look forward to Tencent's ability to localize the game's distribution and optimize the servers after the acquisition.

After all, in the online gaming community at Dongda University, there's a rather ironic yet undeniably true consensus among players:

Unlike those games from the neighboring NetEase, where you can spend hundreds of thousands of yuan and still be a nobody.

In Tencent Games, if you spend money, you can actually become a father.

At the very least, once Tencent completes the acquisition, everyone will no longer have to worry about being disgusted by region locking and server disconnections caused by malicious individuals.

......

While the battle between Tencent and Haofeng, two leading domestic internet companies, was raging, the atmosphere inside the headquarters building of Jinling Haofeng Games was rather subtle.

Inside a low-key yet luxurious conference room, the two giants of Haofeng Games sat facing each other.

Sitting in the main seat was Lao Chen, the head of the game department.

He controls two major money-printing machines, "League of Legends" and "Honor of Kings," and is currently in charge of the global release and promotion of the hit game "Honkai Impact 3."

Sitting opposite him was Feng Ji, the head of Haofeng Mobile Games division.

Feng Ji's achievements in the mobile game industry over the years are equally impressive. He spearheaded several phenomenal hits, including "Naruto Mobile" and "FGO," which ignited a craze for gacha games in the anime and manga community.

This time, the PC version of "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" was launched without any prior publicity, and it is a flagship project that Feng Ji personally led and incubated.

Although the two were nominally superior and subordinate, anyone with eyes could see that beneath the seemingly calm meeting room, undercurrents were surging.

"Brother Feng, the trailer for PUBG is getting a great response online."

Old Chen held his teacup, a kind smile on his face, his words full of an elder's concern for a younger generation:

"I looked at the data curve in the backend, and the upward trend is very strong."

"You've been staying up late and eating instant noodles every day on the project team lately, you need to take care of your health."

"There's a lot going on with the mobile game business, but don't overwork yourself."

"After all, as a great man once said, health is the foundation of revolution."

"Thank you for your concern, Mr. Chen. I'm just a rough guy, I'm used to it."

Feng Ji smiled, his tone equally gentle, but a sharp glint appeared in his eyes:

"Mainly because Mr. Li is very interested in this survival competition category, I can only be on my best."

"Fortunately, the public test is scheduled for March 1st. All aspects of technical optimization and anti-cheat systems have already undergone overload testing, so there shouldn't be any problems."

......

The conversation between the two sounded amicable, but in reality, the underlying power struggle was quite dangerous.

If PUBG achieves phenomenal success on PC, then Feng Ji, who has made another significant contribution, will have a power and status within Haofeng Games that rivals that of Lao Chen, who holds the dual trump cards of LOL and Honor of Kings.

This was certainly not the situation that Lao Chen, as the head of the game department, hoped to see.

"Having confidence is a good thing," Old Chen sighed.

"However, Brother Feng, although the group's net profit was high last year, you know how tightly Director Gao controlled the budget."

"Currently, the promotion of the spring season for both LOL and Honor of Kings requires massive financial support."

"PUBG is a new IP. Before we see the actual revenue and retention data for the first quarter, I can only approve 40% of the budget for subsequent server expansion and global tournament promotion."

"After all, we are responsible for the safety of the group's funds, you understand?"

When Feng Ji heard Lao Chen cut his subsequent budget by 60% in one go, citing "overall situation" and "seniority," his fingers, which were resting on his knees, clenched slightly.

But he was, after all, a smart man who had been honed in the group, and he knew that Lao Chen was highly experienced, and that LOL and King of Glory were indeed the group's current profit pillars. If he went head-to-head at this time, he would not gain any advantage.

"I understand. Mr. Chen's consideration is very thorough. We'll discuss the subsequent budget after the first quarter's financial report is released."

Feng Ji smiled knowingly and took a step back.

Seeing his opponent back down, Old Chen smiled with satisfaction and offered a few words of encouragement, trying to smooth things over.

......

A few minutes later, Feng Ji, with a calm expression, opened the door and strode out of the president's office.

However, the moment the door to the private room closed, the gentle smile on his face gradually disappeared.

Old Chen is a veteran player of League of Legends and Honor of Kings.

But Feng Ji saw further than anyone else.

"Mr. Feng, the budget for the subsequent servers for the PC game has been cut. Should we still proceed as planned?" The trusted assistant, who was waiting in the corridor, stepped forward anxiously and asked in a low voice.

"Proceed as planned. Even if I have to use my personal funds to cover the costs for the PC game, we must keep the anti-cheat system and servers running!"

Feng Ji walked firmly toward the elevator:

"In addition, notify a team of R&D members to immediately perform a proportional migration of all the core data and underlying architecture of the PC game."

"Starting today, we will fully launch Haofeng Mobile Games Department's new projects for the second quarter of this year—"

"The mobile game based on the popular game 'PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds'!"