Tokyo Video Game Tycoon.

Zhu Youxing will take good control of the company's overall direction, and then the remaining management details can be handled by professional company management personnel.

However, there was one right he never delegated to anyone else.

That is the right to decide on the licensing of derivative works.

As the company grows stronger, each of its games becomes a hidden IP treasure.

To this end, Youxing Electronic Entertainment has also established its own peripheral copyright department, which sometimes contacts others to produce some game-related peripherals, such as making Pokémon creatures into plush toys for sale, or making them into trading cards.

The licensing and independent development of such products have also provided considerable financial support for game development.

Sometimes, the sales of these peripheral products alone can generate hundreds of millions of dollars in profit, which is quite gratifying.

However, there are only a few IPs that generate hundreds of millions of dollars in profits, such as the Mario series, the Pokémon series, and the Tetris series.

Bamboo Star never expected that Tetris-themed merchandise would sell so well.

In its previous life, this game was the world's best-selling game, but its IP value was never particularly high.

The main reason is that Tetris consists of a bunch of blocks that are simply combined into shapes, and it doesn't have any particularly appealing features.

You could say it's unsuitable for making a movie, and it would also be strange to make an anthropomorphic animation.

Used for making merchandise? Merchandise made of a bunch of blocks doesn't seem particularly appealing.

Therefore, in its previous form, Tetris only had a significant influence in the gaming field and was almost unable to expand.

But people in this world have an extraordinary fondness for Tetris.

To date, Tetris sales have exceeded ten million.

First, there's the sheer number of installations for the GB series; the GB, GBC, and GBA all came with Tetris pre-installed.

Suitable for all ages, it can be visited anytime, anywhere.

Then, related peripheral products began trial production.

The departments that produced the product didn't have high hopes either, as they felt that this product definitely wouldn't be as appealing as the cute designs of Pokémon.

However, some Tetris-themed pillows and keychains are frequently out of stock as soon as they are released.

Everyone has games they don't like, and it's inevitable that some games will receive a lot of negative reviews because people don't like playing them.

But Tetris is the only game with almost zero negative reviews; there are very few people in the world who dislike it.

Tetris merchandise is also very popular.

Upon seeing this situation, the surrounding teams immediately increased the production of related merchandise.

From initially offering only simple peripherals like cushions, keychains, and fridge magnets, they've expanded to include trading cards, Tetris-like toys, and even Tetris products in collaboration with luxury brands.

Even cosmetic collaborations exist, which makes Tetris's derivative revenue incredibly impressive.

Zhu Youxing was somewhat surprised when he learned of this situation. In the end, he concluded that it was because people in different worlds have different views. Some things might not have been popular in his previous life, but they would have a different effect in this world.

This time, the merchandise production department brought in several new project proposals, all of which involved collaborations between some works and other toy manufacturers. Zhu Youxing took a quick look and, after making sure that it wouldn't involve anything related to the game content, nodded in agreement.

However, something that caught his attention soon appeared.

The company that granted the license to produce the Mario movie was a large film and television group in the United States.

This film and television group... Zhu Youxing remembers that they tried to target him back then.

At that time, the film and television group was mainly targeting the Russian businessman Tukarev, and he was just brought along as an afterthought.

However, once things calmed down, they acted as if nothing had happened, took the initiative to befriend them, and expressed their desire to make a Mario movie.

Their business team clearly saw the potential in the Mario series.

The Pokémon series is mainly suited for animation. You definitely can't make a live-action Pokémon movie without high-quality special effects. But if Mario wanted to make a movie, the cost wouldn't be too high.

This company has a very clever plan.

And the price they offered was quite reasonable.

One hundred million US dollars was licensed to produce three Mario movies.

Zhu Youxing clicked his tongue in amazement, realizing that the development cost of his own Mario game was at most ten million US dollars, but the potential IP value of the series was over one hundred million.

If this were a typical company, they would probably sign the agreement without hesitation.

Once the deal is signed, they'll get $100 million, and the other party only wants the production rights to three films—it's a guaranteed steal.

However, Zhu Youxing simply drew a big X on this page.

Forget about Mario movies. I won't grant any licenses unless it's a matter of life and death.

Zhu Youxing remembered that in his previous life, the film industry had produced several Mario movies that could be considered cult classics.

That became a painful stain on Nintendo's reputation.

Zhu Youxing didn't want to die over this little bit of money. Even if this person was a former rival, or even a current partner who wanted to make a movie with Mario, he would at most refuse in a slightly gentler tone.

Sometimes there are a lot of pitfalls when switching between movies and games. If you're not short of money, there's really no need to risk your most precious asset.

One hundred million dollars seems like a lot now, but its value will only increase in the future.

If it were to be used to make a film or television series, he would have to be personally involved in the entire process.

He doesn't want the Mario series' reputation to be ruined by a bad movie.

Building a good reputation is not easy.

After canceling this authorization application, several new project proposals came up.

These proposals all had some very eye-catching markings added on them.

An application from a Japanese government agency.

It is called the Japan Culture and Arts Promotion Committee, which was jointly established by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and several Japanese cultural industry companies.

They want to apply for some game characters to be used in official Japanese promotional materials. At the same time, they also hope that Yusei Electronic Entertainment can help produce some currently popular games, and they cordially invite Yusei Electronic Entertainment to join the Japan Cultural Industries Promotion Committee.

Chapter 334 A Building of My Own

Am I... being targeted by the authorities?

That makes sense.

Now, Youxing Electronic Entertainment has an increasingly significant influence on society.

Internal estimates suggest that Youxing Electronic Entertainment already has over 70 million users, and this number continues to expand rapidly.

The sales of the FC game console alone have exceeded 60 million to date, and are still growing rapidly, with sales regions covering North America, South America, Asia, and Europe.

Other game consoles didn't have such a big influence because the Famicom (FC) was really cheap. Pirates were unwilling to touch the FC because they could hardly make any money from it.

Such a large user base is enough for any company to develop in the long term.

Its influence is, of course, terrifying.

The Japanese government was certainly aware of this long ago.

The Council for the Promotion of Culture and Arts is a brand-new initiative launched by the Japanese government.

The aim is to leverage its well-known cultural industries to expand its influence to other countries.

Japan did the same thing in the previous life of Zhu Youxing, which happened just in the last two years.

The first step is to promote cultural products in countries such as South Korea, Southeast Asia, and even China.

For example, Japanese anime, dramas, novels, and so on, which were part of many people's childhood memories.

Currently, thanks to Yusei Electronics Entertainment and several game development companies from Japan, Japan truly reigns supreme in the video game industry.

Knowing that no other country has any hope of surpassing Japan in the short term.

This excellent channel for cultural promotion should certainly be given due attention.

As the most powerful company in the current gaming industry, Youxing Electronic Entertainment will certainly not be ignored by the government.

The Cultural Arts Promotion Committee has only just been established, and Yuxing Electronic Entertainment has already been included in the list, and it is even among the top priorities.

This proposal is more like an invitation from the Japanese government, and a group meeting will be held in about a month.

The meeting was organized by the Japanese government, with representatives from other organizations attending to discuss matters related to cultural revitalization.

Prior to the meeting, the Japanese government hoped to receive some responses from Yusei Electronics Entertainment, such as official licensing of well-known character images and assistance in developing game versions of some well-known cultural works.

In return, the Japanese government will provide conveniences in areas such as taxation.

Furthermore, among these conveniences, there is one that the government will allocate a piece of land in the port area free of charge for Yuxing Electronic Entertainment to build their own building.

However, it's only free for fifty years. After that, you'll have to pay again, or the system will re-evaluate the situation after fifty years.

If the company develops steadily, then Youxing Electronic Entertainment probably won't be short of rent money at all.

The idea of ​​having a large plot of land for free for fifty years is really attractive, as it can significantly reduce one's cash flow.

To date, Yuxing Electronic Entertainment does not have its own company building.

Actually, Zhu Youxing had been thinking about this for a while.

However, building a large building is much more expensive than you might imagine.

To build a decent one, the building alone costs hundreds of millions of dollars, not to mention the land use fees for a large area of ​​land in a popular district.

This will consume a huge amount of cash flow.

To date, Yuxing Electronic Entertainment has over one billion US dollars in reserves, making it a top performer among other companies.

But if he wanted to use that money to build a skyscraper, he estimated he would be penniless on the spot.

This is not what Zhu Youxing wanted to see.

However, the Japanese government has now given away a piece of land for free, and even listed some construction suppliers below it.

If you make purchases from these construction suppliers, you will receive additional discounts and reductions, with the Japanese government covering the costs.

The government's willingness to help with these things is contingent on joining the Cultural and Arts Promotion Committee, granting authorization, and providing more collaborative games.

This was a piece of cake for Zhuyouxing.

If he were just going through the motions and casually commissioned someone to make a few perfunctory games for the Japanese government, they probably wouldn't have much to say.

However, that would be a bit unethical, since it's a request from the government, so we should take it more seriously.