Losing Money to Be a Tycoon
chapter-1266

October 23rd, Tuesday…

At the entrance of Sun Strike Studios, everyone said goodbye to Boss Pei.

Of course, this reluctance to part was not entirely due to friendship but mainly because of the game.

We were not done discussing the game, Boss Pei, how could you leave!

However, Boss Pei did not seem to care about this at all. It was as if the game had been completed.

After the meeting yesterday, Boss Pei returned to the hotel to rest. At night, he brought Min Jingchao, Zhou Muyan, and the others for a meal. This morning, he packed up slightly and immediately flew back to Jingzhou.

In fact, during the meeting yesterday, Zhou Muyan and the other designers had wanted to ask Boss Pei more about the details of this game.

However, Min Jingchao was the chief designer after all. If he said that it was about time, the others would not ask further. Secondly, Zhou Muyan and the other designers wanted to go back and figure out Boss Pei's deeper intentions. They wanted to see the gap between themselves and the top designers.

In the end, everyone had dark eye circles after trying for the entire night. Obviously, they had been trying so hard to figure out life.

They were still not able to understand!

If it was someone else saying this, no one would think about it even if they could not figure it out. At most, they would just laugh it off.

However, this was Boss Pei, the God of Game Design!

If they could not figure it out, they would naturally continue thinking about it. In the end, it would be akin to going down a dead end.

He might still have no idea about the game but it did not seem appropriate to stay and ask questions since Boss Pei was leaving.

Everyone wanted to speak up, but no one dared to.

Thus, everyone looked inexplicably conflicted. It was as if they wanted to sneeze but forced them back. It was very uncomfortable.

"I'll make a move first, then. If fate allows it, we'll meet again." Pei Qian smiled, looking indescribably confident.

At that moment, Min Jingchao said, "Boss Pei, I sorted it out after the meeting yesterday. I came up with a few questions. Can I ask you some more questions?"

Sun Strike Studios perked up the moment they heard that.

Great!

It looked like Min Jingchao could not take the pressure anymore and asked anyway!

Should they return to the conference room and discuss it further?

That would make the atmosphere more normal.

How could he design something with such a broad requirement?

He had to refine it.

Everyone was waiting for Pei Qian and Min Jingchao to go to the conference room. However, they did not seem to have such thoughts and remained where they were.

Pei Qian nodded. "Alright, ask away."

Min Jingchao hesitated for a moment. "Boss Pei, should Bullet Hole 2 have a story mode like Ocean Stronghold?"

Pei Qian immediately shook his head. "No!"

Ocean Stronghold's success was a very important story mode.

On one hand, the outstanding story mode had the effect of guiding a newbie. On the other hand, it had also improved the reputation of the game. It could be said to be the finishing touch for Ocean Stronghold.

What's more, Pei Qian's original intention for Ocean Stronghold to create a story mode was to spend more money. However, Huang Sibo and Bao Xu had cleverly used the scenes and simplified the supporting roles to save money. They did not spend much money.

Pei Qian did not intend to do something like that a second time.

Min Jingchao nodded slightly. "Then… there will be more budget that were supposed to be from the original plot. We can't possibly cut it off."

Pei Qian sniggered. "Spend it somewhere else. Don't save the money."

"For example… yes, we can make more maps."

"If there isn't enough funds, Tengda can make up for it. This is not a big deal."

Zhou Muyan quickly said, "Don't worry, Boss Pei. The budget will definitely be enough."

Sun Strike Studios and Long Yu Corporation had agreed to fork out money. How could they let Tengda fork out money again?

If news of this were to spread, where would Sun Strike Studios and Long Yu Corporation put their faces?

Pei Qian did not argue with Zhou Muyan.

The reason why he said that he wanted to spend the money on the map was because it was not appropriate to spend it on other places.

Spend more money on firearms? Make character clothes? Make skins?

Those were all purchase options!

Don't turn it into Bullet Hole Warmth. That would be a tragedy.

Spend more money on the gameplay?

That wouldn't do either. It would directly affect the game experience.

Only the game's setting and map were alright. No one could not tell if they were slightly better or worse. They were not related to purchase options. It was not dangerous to spend more money there.

Min Jingchao asked again, "In that case, we definitely cannot learn from Ocean Stronghold in terms of gameplay."

Pei Qian pondered for a moment and said, "Hmm… I think we can get rid of the apparition mode and biochemical mode."

"If the conditions allow, we can remove the explosive mode."

At that time, Ocean Stronghold became popular. It was also because these novel models attracted many ordinary gamers. If their shooting skills were not good, they could jump into biochemical mode and fight zombies. That was why it was very popular.

As for the explosive mode, it was the most experienced and professional mode in shooting games. It was deeply loved by hardcore gamers.

The hand sensitivity of Bullet Hole 2 was more towards hardcore gamers. They would definitely like the explosive mode.

Min Jingchao pondered for a moment. "Wouldn't that leave us with the basic gunfight mode? The content would be too little."

"Or can I come up with some original modes?"

Pei Qian hesitated, and then said, "Er… sure."

Pei Qian instinctively panicked when he heard the word 'original'.

However, on further thought, he realized that his panic made no sense.

Compared to these mature modes that had been tested many times, the chances of Min Jingchao failing to develop a mode by himself were obviously higher.

In any case, this was not his own project. He did not have to worry about losing money or earning money. It would not be a big deal to let Min Jingchao play freely.

Min Jingchao nodded. "Okay, I have no other questions."

Zhou Muyan and the others from Sun Strike Studios were even more stumped.

Everyone had been very happy when they heard that Min Jingchao wanted to consult him. They had thought that they could ask Boss Pei to stay for a meeting.

After all, "asking a few questions" was usually a humble way of asking. It was not strange to ask for a couple of hours.

In the end, Min Jingchao only asked him a couple of questions!

Even though the conversation between the two of them had gone back and forth several times, it was mainly focused on two issues. First, the game did not have a plot. Second, the game had cut off many successful game modes that had been verified by Ocean Stronghold. It had to create an original game mode.

Moreover, the whole idea was still foggy after the discussion!

Min Jingchao had indeed raised the question, but had Boss Pei answered it?

What's more, why was Min Jingchao so satisfied?

Pei Qian looked at his watch. "Alright, I should be leaving soon. The timing is just right."

"You can call me if you have any questions later on."

Min Jingchao nodded. "Alright, Boss Pei. Leave this to me."

Zhou Muyan could not say anything else, seeing the two of them complementing each other perfectly.

He might have many questions but Min Jingchao was the chief designer of Bullet Hole 2 after all.

He would ask Min Jingchao to consult Boss Pei when the development was in trouble. There was no better way.

At that thought, Zhou Muyan boarded the commercial car with Pei Qian, intending to send him to the airport personally.

After watching the commercial car drive away, Sun Xi tried asking, "Brother Min, are you really going to let Boss Pei leave just like that?"

"Many matters can be explained face-to-face, not necessarily over the phone."

"Shouldn't we take this opportunity to ask more?"

Min Jingchao looked at the notes in his notebook. "Actually, it's about there."

"Even if I call and ask again, it would only take a few sentences. It would not affect me at all."

Sun Xi fell silent.

Good lord, everyone in Tengda was indeed not normal.

Actually, it was understandable for Boss Pei to be unique as a boss.

The key was that the designers under Boss Pei were all so unique. That was very ridiculous…

Since that was the case, he had to prepare himself and see how Min Jingchao would perform!

…

On the commercial car, Pei Qian looked at the scenery outside the window. He was in a good mood.

Ah, it had been a long trip.

He had to hurry back to Jingzhou and have a good sleep.

Zhou Muyan suddenly thought of something and leaned over slightly. "By the way, Boss Pei, I forgot to mention something."

"Previously, we simply confirmed that after the game is completed, the net profit of the game will be divided into 35%, 35%, and 30%. Even if the follow-up adjustments are done slightly, the range will not exceed 5%."

Pei Qian nodded nonchalantly.

Long Yu Corporation and Sun Strike Studios had already discussed this ratio from the beginning.

These two 35% were the split between Long Yu Corporation and Sun Strike Studios while the 30% was Tengda Corporation's split.

Logically speaking, Tengda's share should not be so high.

On one hand, the research and development budget and publicity funds were all from Sun Strike Studios and Long Yu Corporation. Tengda did not need to take any risks. On the other hand, the cooperation this time was to exchange for Zhao Xuming. Tengda should have taken less.

However, after a discussion between Long Yu Corporation and Sun Strike Studios, they decided to give more. There were three main reasons.

First, they were worried that if they gave Tengda too little a share of the profits, Boss Pei would not be concerned. That would cause the game to not be able to make money after it was created.

If they could not earn money, how could they think about splitting the profits?

Give Tengda a bit more of a share of the profits so that Boss Pei would pay more attention. Then, the more he earned, the more he would get. There was not much point in worrying about the specific ratio.

Second, ideas were the essence of a game. Finding the right direction was sometimes more important than executing.

Third, the game had to be publicized with Boss Pei and Tengda's reputation.

When this game was released, it would definitely be under the guise of 'Tengda and Sun Strike Studios jointly developing'. It would also be slightly promoted that this was a game design by Boss Pei.

This was not fake publicity. It was completely true.

Using Boss Pei's reputation alone would be able to generate a lot of popularity. This would save a lot of publicity funds.

This was just like many companies buying copyrights. They would either give a huge sum of copyright money at the beginning or give a high share of the profits. In any case, they had to show some gratitude.

Thus, all in all, Sun Strike Studios and Long Yu Corporation felt that giving 30% of the revenue would slightly increase Boss Pei's importance and make him pay more attention to this project.

However, Pei Qian did not feel anything.

He did not care about how much the game would be split. In any case, it would be in the System Funds and not in his pockets…

Zhou Muyan continued, "However, other than that, Sun Strike Studios should do something as well."

"After every game makes money, the project team would get a commission. Bullet Hole 2 is no exception."

"At the moment, the project team's bonus is 15% of the profits after splitting the profits with other companies. I'm a designer myself, so I respect talents. To put it bluntly, this bonus is higher than most other games companies."

"Of course, it can't be compared to Tengda."

"Amongst them, the most important chief designer, chief art designer, and other core positions would get about 2%. They would basically be leading in the industry."

Pei Qian nodded. He roughly knew these numbers, but he did not understand why Zhou Muyan was telling him these.

Generally speaking, gaming companies did not have overtime pay. Most employees could only hope that projects would be released to make money, become popular, and obtain bonuses.

The more popular a project became, the more bonuses they would get based on proportion. Many newbies were lucky to enter the right project. They would be able to get more than ten thousand yuan or even higher bonuses every month for a year or two. That was very normal.

Of course, the exact internal distribution also depended on the importance of the position. A core employee like the chief designer would definitely get the most.

Many bosses of games companies were not designers themselves. They often did not pay much attention to their employees. The median bonus was about 5% to 8%. There were even stingy bosses who did not give a single cent after making huge profits.

Zhou Muyan was a designer himself and valued talents more. To give a bonus of 15% was already very competitive in the industry. It was no wonder that his reputation in the industry was not bad.

When gamers evaluated a company, they mainly looked at how messed up its game was. However, when insiders evaluated a company, they mainly looked at its benefits for employees.

As long as the salary was sufficient, it was a good company for employees.

Zhou Muyan continued, "Therefore, as the chief designer, Brother Min will definitely follow the rules for the bonus. Not a single cent less."

"Boss Pei, you are the inspiration and producer of this project. Of course, you should have a bonus."

"According to our ratio, Brother Min should get 2%. Boss Pei, you get 4%."

In general, the project bonus was 15%. The producer would get 4%, the chief designer, the chief art designer, and three or four core members would get about 2%. The rest of the money would be split between 4% and 5%.

Don't think that 2% was too little. If a game could earn 10 million yuan a month, 2% would be more than 200,000 yuan.

As a worker, being able to get two hundred thousand yuan a month was already a dream.

What's more, a lot of money would be distributed as year-end bonuses. As long as they could create a successful game and the company was not stingy, the reward would be relatively generous.

Of course, this was based on the extremely low success rate of the game.

As for Zhou Muyan and the company's leaders… their bonuses were naturally distributed from the company's overall profits.

Only 15% of the profits of a game would be distributed as bonuses. The remaining 85% would obviously be used for the company's various expenses, daily operating expenses, additional performance prizes, and so on.

Pei Qian's expression turned serious.

4%?

Holy sh * t, that's a lot!

If the game earned ten million yuan a month, wouldn't he be able to earn four hundred thousand a month?

Based on six months, wouldn't that be 2.4 million yuan?

Of course, he also had to consider tax deductions. However, no matter what, it was equivalent to losing 24 million yuan or earning 24 billion yuan during settlement?

Ah, this…

Pei Qian was confused.

Zhou Muyan quickly added, "Of course, this money is definitely not important to you, Boss Pei. It's just a gesture. We have to follow the process."

Putting aside the fact that Tengda had so many profitable games, Tengda could also get 30% profits of Bullet Hole 2. It was actually about the same as Sun Strike Studios' share of the profits.

Boss Pei could split Tengda's income with a single word.

Thus, this matter was a little superfluous. If it was someone like Lin Chang, they would not mention this.

However, Zhou Muyan was a designer himself so he looked at the problem from a different angle.

He felt that he actually had two identities. One was a management level and the other was a producer.

As a game designer, obtaining a project bonus was a form of affirmation of his labor and design. It was not a lot of money, but he could not save this segment.

He would earn from two different areas but the characteristics were different.

Since Boss Pei was a designer as well, this additional sum of money was a form of affirmation for his work. It should be considered icing on the cake.

Of course, Zhou Muyan did not think that this was very important. The meeting yesterday was in a public place. There were so many people watching. It was not appropriate to discuss this openly. Thus, he only seized the opportunity to say a word when he sent Boss Pei to the airport today.

Pei Qian froze on the spot.

That was because he realized that the System had not given him a warning. In other words, the System's attitude towards whether Pei Qian was qualified to take the commission as a producer was rather vague. At the very least, it did not prohibit or oppose it.

The sudden happiness made Pei Qian dizzy.

However, there was only one thought in his mind.

Why the f*ck didn't you say so earlier!

Tell me before the meeting, I don't mind spending more effort to help you design the game seriously and come up with some fun ideas!

It's impossible for me to turn back now!

From Zhou Muyan's point of view, Boss Pei had already decided to go to the airport. Yet, when he heard that there would be a 4% project bonus, he decided to turn back for a meeting and redesign the game?

How could this be?!

He had already finished showing off and was prepared to go to the airport freely. Now, he could only continue to show off with tears in his eyes…

Pei Qian felt melancholic. His mood suddenly changed 180 degrees.

At first, he did not want the game to make money. After all, there was a 30% share of the profits. What's more, this was an experiment to incur losses. After succeeding, he could learn from his experience and continue incurring losses.

However, when he heard that he could get a share of the profits from Sun Strike Studios, Pei Qian lost his cool.

If the game incurred losses, the bonus would be gone. Even though he could obtain experience when he failed, it was still hard to say if he would be able to profit from the experience of failure!

Pei Qian sat on the seat of the commercial car and looked at the scenery passing by outside the window. He suddenly choked silently.

What the f*ck… Life was unpredictable…