Episode 208

Faced with Ginguo’s surprise, Wei Dongsheng smiled and said, “Are there any media people with conscience? There must be. Are there media people who risk their lives for the people? There must be, and there are many. But, more media. People are also people, people want to eat, and companies want to make money. The so-called poor bones are always a joke in the face of money, capital, and power."

Ginguo was depressed: "They want to blackmail the Spring and Autumn Network?"

Wei Dongsheng shook his head: "It's not about extortion."

Wei Dongsheng added an explanation: "If you watch the video again, you will notice that the media only said that "World of Warcraft" was bad, but did not name Chunqiu Network. Public condemnation generally pointed to all online game companies. If Chunqiu Network sued the program group, The program team definitely argued that the purpose of this report is aimed at the entire online game market and the current status of the entire online game market, rather than deliberately attacking how Chunqiu Network is."

Ginguo didn't understand: "World of Warcraft is operated by the Spring and Autumn Network?"

Wei Dongsheng: "Not everyone knows. Three years ago, when I participated in Ma Yun's West Lake Discussion on the Sword, I remembered the "Legend" for Shanda. The group that is extremely resistant to online games, in fact, most of them have nothing to do with online game operations. I know, I can’t distinguish the difference between the studio and the company, and which game is operated by which company. Therefore, it is effective if the other party does not name the criticism. Maybe many groups who are extremely resistant to online games will subconsciously put " "World of Warcraft" blames Shanda."

Ginkgo became more and more confused: "Why did they do this?"

Wei Dongsheng laughed and said: "Because Chunqiu Network did not renew the fee for "World of Warcraft"."

Ginkgo: "Huh?"

Wei Dongsheng explained: “A country as large as a company as small as a company needs to have a sound and complete financial budget system. The Wenchuan earthquake is an unexpected accident that is not planned. In order to ensure the fastest delivery of materials to the disaster area, the total amount The approximately 2.34 billion donations came from the temporary realization of stocks, the temporary embezzlement of funds from other projects, and the temporary inter-company lending. Before the Sapientia_2 smartphone was paid back, companies such as Chunqiu, Zhiyu, and Zhuwei all encountered a cash crisis. Therefore, several companies Companies’ advertising expenses from July 2008 to June 2009 have been negotiated and negotiated to postpone the transfer to the third or fourth quarter of this year."

"Zhiyu Sapientia_2 continues the brilliance of Sapientia_3G, with sales of 1.7 million units in the first week of the world, and timely access to a working capital. The other party may be worried that we will cut advertising expenses, or they may want to take the money quickly. "Become a Warcraft" program threatened us once with a small warning."

Ginguo: "I still don't understand why the other party is aiming at "World of Warcraft". Is it because "World of Warcraft" is not a work of Spring Software?"

Wei Dongsheng: "Chunqiu Network only signed a four-year contract for "World of Warcraft", and it operated from March 21, 2005 to March 21, 2009. Before Chunqiu Network, it worked with Vivendi, Activision_Blizzard, and Blizzard. Entertainment and others have intermittently negotiated on the issue of contract renewal for many rounds, but have never reached an opinion. Therefore, after March 21, 2009, "World of Warcraft" will be operated by other companies. Chunqiu Network is unwilling to pay for products that are about to be released. As a result, the protection fee for "World of Warcraft" has been stopped one after another. Chunqiu Network no longer renews "World of Warcraft", and Blizzard Entertainment and other online game operators are reluctant to fill in the vacancy in advance. "World of Warcraft" has naturally become the opponent's target."

Ginguo asked in surprise: "World of Warcraft is very profitable, why not renew the contract?"

Wei Dongsheng explained the historical background in detail: "World of Warcraft is indeed very profitable. Taking the performance of the second quarter of this year as an example, the four games operated by Chunqiu Network, "Ten Kingdoms" ranked first, with quarterly revenue of 1.6 billion. Yuan; "Legend of Survival" ranked second, with quarterly revenue of 780 million yuan; "World of Warcraft" ranked third, with quarterly revenue of 660 million yuan; "Lich Clash" ranked fourth, with quarterly revenue of 290 million yuan Yuan. In any case, "World of Warcraft" is also a masterpiece with an average monthly sales of more than 200 million. Even if Blizzard takes a large share of sales, the profit is very substantial."

"If possible, Chunqiu Network definitely hopes to renew the contract. However, the copyright is in the hands of Blizzard Entertainment, and the initiative is in the hands of Blizzard Entertainment. Chunqiu Network's willingness or unwillingness has nothing to do with the overall situation."

"The divergence stems from the problem of profit distribution."

"Enterprises are all seeking to maximize profits. After the sale of "World of Warcraft", Vivendi and Blizzard Entertainment hope to gain more revenue and come to China to negotiate with Spring and Autumn Network. In general, Blizzard hopes to register a new joint venture company to operate "Warcraft". "World", the condition is that Blizzard Entertainment is responsible for game development costs and the Battle.net system, and Chunqiu Network is responsible for the rest of the publicity costs and server and other operating costs. The profits of "World of Warcraft" are divided by half."

"Such conditions are quite harsh. Especially the Battle.net system outside the independent existing system. If Chunqiu Network accepts it, it is equivalent to giving up the only initiative. Although the conditions are harsh, the "World of Warcraft" project can continue to make money. It's nothing more than less."

"Why do you think that Chunqiu Network is preparing to sign new contracts with Weiwangdi and Blizzard Entertainment, killing Electronic_Arts halfway through. Electronic_Arts has developed an attractive cooperation plan, and promises to help Chunqiu Network to build an international team. "Legend of Survival" and "Lich Clash" are brought to the world market. Compared with Vivendi and Blizzard Entertainment, EA’s cooperation program is obviously more worth looking forward to."

"However, Electronic Arts also has its black spots. When EA acquires studios, it often gives them greater interference, such as the "Command and Conquer" series; EA's malicious acquisition of Take_Two at the beginning of the year attracted unanimous criticism. ; During the negotiations between Electronic Arts and Chunqiu Network, it was also arrogantly hostile to acquire Chunqiu Network. Until the beginning of the year, when the Rose Fund was headed, EA gave up the hostile acquisition and sat down to continue negotiations with Chunqiu Network. In general, Electronic Arts is not credible. ."

"From the beginning of 2007 to the present, Chunqiu.com has lingered between Electronic Arts and Vivendi, hesitating with whom to cooperate."

"However, this world is worse."

"At the end of 2007, Activision and Vivendi Games merged, which is now Activision Blizzard. Only Wangdi, Activision Blizzard, and Blizzard Entertainment have their own opinions and appeals for their own interests. It seems that they have three heads. Exploring the stalemate between Spring and Autumn Network and Vivendi, Activision Blizzard, and Blizzard Entertainment, other game operators have come to pry the corner. In January 2008, NetEase established its affiliated company NetEase; in April 2008, Blizzard injected capital NetEase initiated negotiations on the authorization of "StarCraft 2" to put pressure on Chunqiu Network."

"At the same time, perhaps hesitated the criticism that was drawn from the hostile takeover of Take_Two. Electronic Arts’ management recently expressed introspection and promised to adjust the acquisition and cooperation strategy. Electronic Arts has drastically reduced the requirements and gave the joint venture more autonomy. Vivendi, Activision Blizzard and Blizzard Entertainment have their own interests. The only consistent goal is to share the profits of "World of Warcraft". Chunqiu cannot establish a longer-term cooperative relationship with them. Electronic Arts is willing to exchange resources with Chunqiu Network. Chunqiu Network helps EA’s games enter the Chinese market, and EA helps Chunqiu Network’s games enter the world market."

"Comparing the two, Chunqiu Network definitely favors the latter."

“The threat of Blizzard’s capital injection into NetEase and the goodwill signal released by Electronic Arts became the last straw to overwhelm Camel. Chunqiu Network has agreed in principle to EA’s acquisition of a 20% stake in Chunqiu Network for US$3.9 billion and jointly funded the formation. A North American joint venture company. Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts are a pair of old foes. Chunqiu Network and Electronic Arts have joined hands with Electronic Arts. They will certainly offend Activision Blizzard and it is absolutely difficult to renew the contract for "World of Warcraft."

Ginguo suddenly realized: "So so."

Staring at "World of Warcraft"'s revenue of 660 million yuan in the second quarter of this year, thinking that it will no longer belong to the Spring and Autumn Network next year, Bai Guo couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "It's a pity."

Wei Dongsheng smiled and said, "It's nothing to be a pity. "World of Warcraft" is a good game, but it doesn't fit the concept of Chunqiu. Chunqiu is a search engine company after all. I hope that the online games launched by Chunqiu Network will be all It is branded with distinctive spring and autumn characteristics like "Spring and Autumn of the Ten Kingdoms", "Road to Survival", and "Lich Clash". "World of Warcraft" is excellent and excellent, but it is like a duck in a pile of eggs, a little out of the ordinary, a little nondescript. "

Having said that, Wei Dongsheng sighed: "I signed a contract for "World of Warcraft" a few years ago, more to pave the way for Spring and Autumn Network to go public in the United States. In this respect, "World of Warcraft" has completed it. The mission of Chunqiu Network is artificial intelligence, which is increasingly incompatible with World of Warcraft. The handover of World of Warcraft to other online game operators may not be the best outcome for each other."

Ginguo does not reject online games, nor is she keen on online games. She supports "World of Warcraft" because "World of Warcraft" is operated by Chunqiu Network. Confirming that Chunqiu Network is about to lose "World of Warcraft", Bai Guo immediately thought from the standpoint of Chunqiu Network: "Does Chunqiu Network have countermeasures?"

Wei Dongsheng: "Of course. Chunqiu Network learned that Blizzard is about to inject capital into NetEase. It speeded up the progress and released "Lich Clash" in March, which is a gesture. , Almost equal to half of the quarterly revenue of "World of Warcraft", and can completely supplement the loss of "World of Warcraft" in the future. Moreover, considering the uncertainty of "World of Warcraft", Spring Software also established a project in early 2007 A role-playing game tentatively named "Xianxia World", hoping that it can fill the gap in the field of time-based payment."

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