On the return flight the next day, Chen Pingjiang yawned repeatedly, looking dispirited.
Shen Nanpeng, sitting in the first-class seat next to him, chuckled and teased,
"Young people should still exercise some restraint."
Chen Pingjiang stopped his half-yawn abruptly, explaining calmly,
"I just attended a celebration party hosted by Neople last night and came back a bit late. It's not what you think."
Shen Nanpeng smiled ambiguously,
"I understand, I understand."
As the plane soared at thirty thousand feet.
Korean company Neople unilaterally released an announcement:
"Our company's 2D fighting online game 'Dungeon & Fighter' has been successfully licensed by China's Renren Network Group."
At Chen Pingjiang's request, both parties skipped any elaborate signing ceremony.
A simple statement, yet it caused a huge uproar among the people of both countries.
Major financial news outlets relayed this announcement, raising significant questions.
"The immense success in Korea made the competition for DNF's agency in mainland China exceptionally fierce.
The four most powerful internet companies in mainland China battled to the very end for the agency rights, yet the rights ultimately fell into Renren Network's hands, which was truly surprising.
Rumor has it that Shanda, The9, Tencent, and NetEase all wanted the DNF agency rights and fought until the final stage."
"Neople assessed these four companies based on four criteria: company strength, currently licensed products, hardware quality, and operational plan. Among them, Shanda had the strongest overall strength, with The9 closely following..."
"But no one expected Renren Network to come from behind and quietly seize the high ground."
A Shanda executive said,
"I highly question the professionalism displayed by Neople in the selection process for the agency rights. I don't believe Renren Network can compare with Shanda in any dimension."
A NetEase executive said,
"It was a complete waste of our time and a blatant backroom deal. Neople's operations were highly opaque."
A Tencent executive said,
"I received news from certain channels that Renren Network used its connections with Samsung. This competition was very unfair."
Neople responded,
"Renren Network was the most sincere among the many companies competing for the agency rights. The finalization of the cooperation represents the unanimous consensus of the company's entire management."
"..."
Renren Network was not to be underestimated.
Chen Pingjiang had prepared a publicity blitz before getting on the plane, releasing dazzling news across multiple financial media.
"Shanda's internal department specifically responsible for game evaluation believed DNF was a 2D game, and also an arcade type, holding a pessimistic view of DNF's future. This directly led to Shanda continuously pushing down agency terms in subsequent negotiations, which greatly dissatisfied the Korean side."
"The9 had the best hardware, but unfortunately, it was like a philandering scumbag, simultaneously vying for the agency rights of eleven games, making it impossible to dedicate itself fully to DNF's operation."
"NetEase's internal discussions regarding whether to compete for DNF agency rights were highly contentious, which also made their actions very hesitant. Their proposed revenue-sharing model was highly unsatisfactory.
NetEase proposed operating first and then sharing revenue based on operational performance, meaning that if operations were poor, the Koreans wouldn't receive a single penny."
For a time, all sorts of true and false news flew around, and netizens had a blast watching the drama unfold.
Soon after, Shanda, The9, and NetEase all fell silent, reportedly rushing back to investigate internal moles.
Because the information released by Renren Network was damn accurate!
No matter what news was flying online, many enthusiastic netizens only cared about DNF itself.
"This game's graphics don't look that great. Everyone is talking about 3D games now, but DNF is still 2D."
"I've seen videos; the combat feel and PVP system are very well done. Don't speak without playing it."
"Anyone planning to play together when the server opens? You can add QQ group: XXXXX."
"Does anyone know if this game allows 'brick moving' (earning money)?"
"Renren Network has never made games before, can they really manage the agency well?"
"..."
When Chen Pingjiang got off the plane and returned to the company, various news reports intensified, and the discussion popularity on DNF topics online also surged.
Chen Pingjiang's confidentiality work was very good; even many high-level executives within Renren Network only learned the news at the very end, and that was through posts on their own forum.
When he saw his boss grinning mischievously and saying he was going to add more responsibilities, Miao Bingwei was expressionless, already numb to it.
Having such a demanding boss, he didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing.
It hadn't been long since the meeting where he was asked to launch the Renren Group Buy project, and now, good heavens, he's stirring up another big commotion.
"Hey, Old Miao, aren't you happy at all? Why the long face?"
"Don't worry, this matter isn't very troublesome. It's just about building a data center and forming an online game operations department. You just need to oversee it; you don't need to take the lead."
Miao Bingwei became even more numb.
Good heavens, also need to build an IDC!
Meanwhile, Wan Yuqian also couldn't stand it anymore.
"You're making quite a fuss, and most importantly, you didn't inform us beforehand."
Chen Pingjiang smiled and said,
"What's the point of telling you in advance if it didn't work out? For the establishment of the new department, we'll poach some people, recruit some, and transfer some from Renren Network. Three-pronged approach, striving to build it up in the shortest possible time. Sequoia will introduce people to us."
"Easier said than done... Front-end and operations are simple, we have plenty of people. The main challenge is planning and operations, data analysis, and customer service."
Chen Pingjiang waved his hand,
"Can't calculate it that way, otherwise the company would have to set up several teams. Renren Network itself has operations and maintenance personnel, who can be directly transferred to the data center department.
The ground promotion team can be handed over to Gao Songbin; he's already organizing people to scout ahead for the Renren Group Buy project anyway. Chasing one sheep is chasing, chasing two sheep is also chasing."
"Tsk tsk, just thinking about it gives me goosebumps. Unconsciously, our company already has so many people. This time, establishing the data center department and the online game department will mean at least several hundred more people. The most frightening part is the ground promotion team, which will require setting up offices and resident staff nationwide."
"Perhaps after these people join, our office space won't be enough again..."
Listening to Chen Pingjiang muttering to himself, Miao Bingwei thought for a moment and asked,
"Did we get the game modification rights this time?"
Chen Pingjiang nodded,
"Of course we did. This was also a key point of contention for both sides during negotiations."
How important are game modification rights?
Let's put it this way.
After Chen Pingjiang obtained the game modification rights, he could modify anything related to top-ups.
He could even add some equipment and other items he created himself.
Only by obtaining game modification rights could one have a certain degree of initiative.
Otherwise, like NetEase, guarding the golden mountain of "World of Warcraft" but unable to exploit it, would be unbearable.
The top-ups and items Blizzard made were really bad; if NetEase had done it, doubling or tripling "World of Warcraft's" revenue would have been a piece of cake.
The secret to DNF's success lay in allowing wealthy "leeks" to spend money to become stronger, while also allowing zero-cost players to continue playing through randomness and sheer dedication.
Chen Pingjiang didn't intend to be too greedy.
Things like lowering equipment drop rates, adding gacha systems, mall systems, global announcement systems, fashion systems, equipment enhancement systems...
Hmm, President Chen doesn't plan to use nuclear weapons first.
If friendly competitors have them, then we'll follow suit.
............
At the same time, the Tencent conference room was deadly silent.
Eventually, Liu Chiping, who was responsible for the agency negotiations, stepped forward to take the blame:
"I personally take full responsibility for the failure of these negotiations. It was indeed a lack of understanding that allowed Renren Network to pull off this trick."
Seeing Liu Chiping voluntarily taking responsibility, others chimed in:
"Actually, it's not your fault. After all, no one expected them to come from behind."
"Yeah, I would have thought the same, that they couldn't get the agency rights. We can only say Neople was too blind."
"Chen Pingjiang's methods are also dirty. My contacts at Samsung said they pressured them through their American shareholders. Samsung was almost ours."
Xiao Mage also said at this point,
"Old Liu, don't take it to heart. Renren Network has no operational experience. Neople will regret their decision today someday. Right now, we need to accelerate the development of the QQ Speed project to block Chen Pingjiang in the market when the time comes."
Everyone present wondered why they always felt things were so unfavorable lately whenever Chen Pingjiang was involved, feeling constrained everywhere.
First, Chen Pingjiang and Renren Network tearfully accused them of "plagiarism," then both sides fought back and forth in court, and unexpectedly, the agency project they had long coveted was also snatched away recently.
"Let them win one round; we will definitely get it back next time and let Renren Network and Chen Pingjiang know that online games are not something just anyone can succeed at."
"I suggest, 'not returning a courtesy is rude.' Let's continue negotiations with Cheng Binghao of Kaixin Network. We must severely strike Renren Network in the SNS field."
For a time, Tencent was filled with righteous indignation, calling for Chen Pingjiang's head.
However, Chen Pingjiang probably didn't care.
After all, if there are many lice, one doesn't fear being bitten.
There were already enough opponents anyway, one more Tencent wouldn't make a difference.
To do internet business in China in this era, one would inevitably be targeted by Tencent; it was an unavoidable hurdle.
(End of Chapter)