Rebirth is fine, but I get eight hundred dollars right from the start?

Lin Shu walked to the top of the long table, but didn't sit down immediately. He looked around at the people present.

Xiaocang, Miss, Xiaozhi, Xiaomo, Teacher Xu, PDD, Ruofeng, Wuwukai, Mingkai, Miller, Wawa, Su Xiaoyan, Bella.

Five video creators, four professional players, and four commentators.

Including the four official representatives from Huya and Tencent, there are a total of seventeen people.

First of all, thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to come today.

Lin Shu sat down, crossed his arms and rested his elbows on the edge of the table, and got straight to the point, "I know everyone is busy. Sister Cang has to record a video, Teacher Miss has to do a live stream, and Mingkai, you guys need to get ready for training—"

"The reason I've called everyone here today is to discuss something."

After speaking, Lin Shu straightened up, walked to the projection screen, and pressed a button on the remote control.

The screen lit up, displaying only one line of text: [How big is the esports market, really?]

"Let's look at a few numbers first."

Lin Shu picked up the remote and flipped through the pages. A bar chart popped up on the screen. "I won't go into detail about my personal premiere data on the Huya platform. I believe everyone here is already aware of it. The data in front of you is the final premiere data for 'Next Stop, Pro'!"

"The peak number of concurrent online users approached several hundred thousand, and the number of interactive bullet comments exceeded five million."

"In other words, our first e-sports program in China has already entered the million-dollar club in the program production field."

"hiss!"

Someone below unconsciously gasped.

PDD leaned forward, squinting at the numbers on the screen.

"Let's look at the others." Lin Shu turned to the next page. "From 2012 to the first half of this year, global esports events have covered more than 200 cities, with over 200,000 participants offline alone. This year's highest prize is $2.8 million, and the total prize pool is initially estimated to reach $2281.8 million. Oh... a representative from Tencent is here too. How much money have you invested in your 'esports' strategy? I think a Tencent representative will talk about that later."

"This is just the figure for this year." Lin Shu put down the remote control and walked back to the table. "By next year, which is the S4 season of our League of Legends, the prize pool is expected to double again. The total prize money for the World Championship will definitely exceed two million US dollars by then."

"After all that rambling, it all boils down to one thing... money is pouring in, money is pouring into our esports market, and it's pouring in faster and faster."

"The era of instant noodles, internet cafes, and basements is over. A whole new world awaits us now."

He paused, letting the numbers go through everyone's minds.

"But that's not what I want to talk about." Lin Shu pulled up a chair and sat down, crossing his arms on the table. His gaze swept from left to right. "What I want to talk about is, who will earn this money, and who can earn it?"

No one responded.

"Sister Cang, could you tell me briefly how much your Taobao store has made this year?" Lin Shu suddenly called on her.

Ogura paused for a moment, then smiled and gave a roughly accurate number.

Lin Shu nodded, then asked Miller and Wawa, "You two, as commentators, are also practitioners in this market. Would you mind telling us your rates per commentary session?"

The two Miller dolls hesitated for two seconds, but seeing that the officials were also there, they simply spoke up.

"The cheapest sessions cost a few hundred, while the most expensive can cost over a thousand!"

The people below exchanged glances.

Even Mingkai and others couldn't help but frown.

The gap is too big.

"Yes, the difference is too big, isn't it?"

"The combined salaries of the two of you, plus those of Piao Laoshi, Wu Wukai, Mingkai, and all the other people involved in esports, and even the money some clubs made from fans last year, I reckon it doesn't even compare to the combined revenue of Cang Jie and Miss."

Lin Shu spoke in a calm tone, but every word felt like a punch to the heart: "They both benefited from the popularity of League of Legends, so why is there such a big difference?"

"Does this money have anything to do with the LPL? Is it related to the tournament? Is it related to the professional sports ecosystem?"

The meeting room was so quiet you could hear the air conditioner humming.

Let me use myself as an example.

"I earn money from my fans. They get to know me through live streams and videos, and then buy things from my esports merchandise store on Taobao. But if I don't personally participate in the tournaments and transfer that traffic to them, the tournaments themselves, the clubs themselves, and the youth training programs themselves won't get much of a share."

Lin Shu stood up, walked to the whiteboard, picked up a marker and drew a circle, then drew several arrows outside the circle, pointing in different directions. "These are the fans. The fans are in the middle, and you are around them, each making your own money. The event organizers, clubs, players, commentators, streamers, video creators, Taobao shop owners—they all revolve in their own little circles, occasionally bumping into each other, but there's nothing that can connect these circles."

"This has led to a huge income gap among people in the industry, especially among commentators who have connections with the professional esports scene."

"What will happen if this situation continues?"

"Commentators will want to continue commentating, and professional players' goal is no longer to play matches, but to retire quickly and make money."

"If such a situation were to occur, everyone should understand that this stage, which has been painstakingly built, would be completely destroyed."

"Without tournaments, without players, just focusing on the game itself and the videos, I ask you all, how long can our community last?"

He put down the marker and turned to face everyone.

"HWG started making esports merchandise, extending player brands, producing variety shows, and conducting youth training selections last year. Some people said I was greedy and wanted to eat the whole cake by myself."

Lin Shu smiled, a hint of arrogance in his smile. "I invited everyone here today to make one thing clear—the HWG family can't finish this cake. Not only can't they finish it, but the cake is also too small. It's so small that if we all squeeze together to grab a few pieces of cream, no one will be full."

He walked back to the table, picked up the printed material, and turned to the first page.

"Let me give you a simple example. Xiaocang, for your Taobao store, you handle everything yourself: sourcing, logistics, customer service, quality control. If you had a platform behind you that standardized all of these things, and you only needed to select products and appear on camera, how much would your sales increase?"

Xiaocang blinked, not rushing to answer, her eyes full of anticipation.