Game development begins with destroying Girls' Frontline.

Qiao Zhen held a high official position, but if you were alone with him, you wouldn't feel much of his official authority.

Of course, as a leader in power, one must be careful with what one says.

In addition, Lin Li was unsure whether the call was for something or not, so he was careful with his words.

Qiao Zhen sensed the atmosphere and said with a smile, "Why didn't I see you being this cautious back in Qiongzhou?"

His words clearly showed that he didn't consider Lin Li an outsider.

Lin Li exchanged pleasantries with a smile, but still didn't dare to relax too much.

Qiao Zhen shook his head and casually asked a few questions about the company's development.

The two exchanged questions and answers, and before long, the doorbell rang again.

"You know the people outside, please open the door for them."

Qiao Zhen said with a smile.

Lin stood up, already guessing who was outside.

The door opened, and sure enough, it was Xiong Rui, whom I had met at the meeting not long ago.

"Brother Rui." Lin Li said with a smile.

As they entered the courtyard, a sense of dread washed over them; Su Shanshan was right.

The old leader must have something to say; it would be awkward if he brought a gift today.

Xiong Rui was usually rather taciturn and aloof when they met before, but this time he was unusually friendly and greeted her warmly, then inquired about the development of Xinghuo.

This made Lin Li even more curious about what these two were going to talk about today.

We can't really just have a conversation.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, the three entered a private room. As they sat down, Qiao Zhen said with a smile, "President Lin, you can't call Deputy Team Leader Xiong anymore; you have to call him Team Leader Xiong."

"We're all just doing the work; whether you're in charge or deputy doesn't matter, it doesn't matter at all," Xiong Rui said with a slight smile.

Lin Li naturally couldn't possibly think that this matter was unimportant.

Xiong Rui was originally the second-in-command of the State Administration of Press and Publication in charge of reviewing publication licenses. Now that he has become the team leader, wouldn't he have become the person in charge of reviewing publication licenses?

This position is not a high-ranking official post.

However, their power is considerable.

The two leaders chatted and laughed, occasionally inquiring about the development of Xinghuo. Their words were not distant, and they did not deliberately avoid Lin Li.

They ate and chatted at the same time.

Ultimately, the conversation turned to the topic of censorship.

Neither of the leaders were laymen in the traditional sense, especially Xiong Rui.

Therefore, Lin Li did not hide anything and directly expressed his opinion.

"We can't throw the baby out with the bathwater. We can't prevent Spark from listing games overseas just because of the individual actions of a few players. If that rule applies, how can Spark surpass Steam?"

The first part of this statement is about avoiding risks.

Regardless of whether players' behavior of circumventing IP regulations is legal or not, it's worth noting that this behavior is problematic.

Ultimately, it's an individual's behavior, and it's really hard to say whether the Xinghuo platform should bear any responsibility.

Moreover, Steam is not currently blocked.

Therefore, Lin Li's statement is reasonable and well-founded.

However, the two leaders weren't interested in the first half of Lin Li's sentence, but the last sentence piqued their interest.

"Your goal is to surpass STEAM?"

Lin Li nodded naturally.

"Spark has currently established four major regions: China, Japan, the United States, and Europe. Regarding the China region, we are willing and should accept copyright review."

"But for other regions, I think we should implement the strategy of issuing game licenses for overseas markets."

The overseas game license strategy that Lin Li mentioned is actually the rule issued by the State Administration of Press and Publication after the Girls' Frontline incident, which is aimed at reviewing domestic games going overseas.

However, due to the current suspension of game license issuance, this review adopts a pre-review model where manufacturers submit their versions.

The review process usually takes only about a week, which is very fast.

Although the State Administration of Press and Publication will not issue an overseas publication number after reviewing the application, it will provide review comments.

Overall, the overseas review process is very streamlined.

Since it's aimed at overseas players, as long as it doesn't involve butt-related issues, everything else is fine. Even common censorship such as blood and gore is no longer within the scope of review.

After all, it's an overseas game, targeting players abroad.

However, this review process actually has a loophole.

This refers to the current spark that appears.

The Spark platform has launched a foreign game for overseas markets, but domestic players can purchase it through some means.

How should this situation be regulated?

"It was already difficult to fight, and now we have to cut off our own arm. How can we fight like this? We might as well go home and grow potatoes."

"Boss, you know me, we have a set of rules for doing things."

"The opportunity to go to sea is fleeting; we can't afford to lose sight of the bigger picture."

Lin Li jumped around like Sun Wukong in front of him.

Qiao Zhen said with a smile.

“Look, we haven’t even said anything yet, and he’s already in such a hurry.”

Xiong Rui smiled as well.

"Alright, I know it's not easy for you guys at Xinghuo. Tomorrow the State Administration of Press and Publication will issue a document stating that overseas games published on domestic platforms will also be subject to the same review process as games going global. You, keep moving forward."

Got a positive answer.

Lin Li immediately stood up and toasted the two leaders.

The two accepted it calmly.

Spark's circling behavior is inherently ambiguous.

They didn't point it out, so this was Xinghuo's spontaneous action.

The State Administration of Press and Publication claimed to be "unaware" of the matter. Since they were unaware, whether to punish them or not remains uncertain.

But now, the two have agreed.

And it's not just a private agreement.

It also allows Spark to list its games overseas after passing the overseas review process.

This is tantamount to endorsing Lin Li's actions.

This is tantamount to acknowledging the existence of a backdoor.

Of course, the State Administration of Press and Publication tacitly approves of this.

The reason is that even though this backdoor exists, most players don't pay attention to it. Those who really care and take action are the original Steam players.

For the State Administration of Press and Publication, Xinghuo's approach does not completely bypass the publishing license mechanism.

At least for mobile games, which have a larger user base and greater influence, the Spark platform does not cover them.

Games without a license in China cannot be operated as mobile games.

This is enough.

As for more, Xiong Rui was well aware that he couldn't have it all.

Since the goal is to expand the game overseas, it's natural to create a more flexible path.

Just like in the previous life, 18 years later, the State Administration of Press and Publication almost completely opened up the two foreign platforms, STEAM and EPIC, to China.

EPIC and STEAM can even be publicly promoted on domestic video websites and gaming websites.

EPIC has millions of followers on its social media accounts in China.

This was almost unimaginable in the era of broadcasting.

The strict regulations of the broadcasting era had led Steam to seek out Perfect World in China to create a domestic version of Steam, but the tide later turned.

This plan was thus terminated.

Of course, the two leaders turned Lin Li around, giving him their endorsement and chatting with him.

Besides encouraging Lin Li to move forward, he also has his own needs.

Chapter 480 One Must Be Strong to Forge Iron

At nine o'clock in the evening, Lin Li said goodbye and left.

On the way back to the hotel after leaving the house.

Lin Li was still thinking.

Qiao Zhen's last sentence

"To reach international advanced levels as soon as possible and become a globally influential enterprise..."

This made him feel somewhat emotional.

Reaching advanced levels and having influence...

Can be a problem.

What constitutes an advanced level?

Will it surpass Steam? Or beat Epic?

What exactly constitutes global influence?

They probably hadn't figured out these two questions themselves. In general, they just pointed out a direction and hoped that Xinghuo would run in that direction.

This direction is indeed the direction of Xinghuo, and Lin Li repeatedly agreed.

While we can't expect any commercial assistance from above, nor do we expect these two to actually implement a rating system in the future.

But it would be good if we could loosen the reins on Xinghuo.

Building a platform in the country is no easy task.

Of course, this was in the presence of these two former leaders.

Lin Li still felt that the two questions they raised were too abstract.

Aside from these abstract concepts, it's best to make them more concrete.

He might have to make some more noise at this year's E3, not only in gaming, but also in the industry, specifically the Spark platform.

Thinking of this, Lin Li returned to the hotel, closed the door, and made a phone call to Su Shanshan.

A person you can absolutely trust.

Not only can it help him organize his thoughts, but it can also help him review the information during the communication process.

The call is connected.

Lin Li first gave a brief account of the situation.

"That's great! This means we have the official certification from the State Administration of Press and Publication, and we can start promoting our work domestically..."

Su Shanshan was overjoyed.

After all, Lin Li looked worried when he went to the capital.

Unexpectedly, this trip brought not bad news, but good news instead.

This means that Spark has at least solved the domestic game license issue on the PC platform.

Lin Li shook his head at Su Shanshan's proposal.

"No, even if we open the door, we can't actively promote it domestically. This is something we can do but can't talk about."