socalfunplaces Chapter 14: You won't lose out if you buy this!
Chapter 14: You won't lose out if you buy this!
During this period, the employees' enthusiasm for their work increased rather than decreased, and they took Lin Lang's arrangements very seriously.
Lin Lang paced back and forth in his office, lost in thought.
He has many concerns, one of which is putting the company's profitability on the agenda, as the number of users has now reached 50+.
The convertible space is very large.
If each person spends 10 yuan, that's over 500 million yuan in revenue.
Of course, the platform's commission still needs to be deducted.
The game "Three Kingdoms Kill" is available on Tencent's PlayGame platform, or PLG for short.
Commissions are as high as 60%!
This was the final change made after several adjustments following Da Xia's intervention; previously, the percentage had even reached 91%.
As a game platform that occupies half of the market in DaXia, it has a very high market share.
The remaining platforms were built by other major companies, but they are not large in scale.
Therefore, many independent studios have chosen this platform for game publishing.
Unfortunately, the cost of self-publishing is too high!
You need to build and manage your own CDN server to distribute the installation package; otherwise, with a large number of players, the download speed will become extremely slow.
Server costs and security, payment channel setup, user data maintenance…
And the biggest problem.
If players leave the platform's traffic pool, how can they attract more players?
The current Langyu Studio is too small, so we had no choice but to choose it.
If I have the opportunity in the future, I will definitely build my own gaming platform.
There are no garbage deals or outrageous profit sharing schemes.
To create a game platform and community that game enthusiasts and developers can own.
Of course, that's all for later; let's make money first!
The current version of "Three Kingdoms Kill" is still too primitive. The gameplay only has a standard five-player mode, and there are only 25 generals.
Many of the unique features and essence of "Three Kingdoms Kill" have not been reproduced.
Without official ranks, players lack long-term motivation and are drawn by the novel gameplay.
Game modes such as eight-player battles and nation wars have not yet been released.
There isn't even a skin option; all the generals have their original skins!
The game needs another upgrade!
But with just the few people we have now, it's not enough. We couldn't finish even if we worked ourselves to death!
We need to recruit more soldiers!
On the other hand, there's offline!
For offline promotion, Lin Lang plans to start with board game stores near the campus, since it is ultimately a board game.
Experiencing the game offline with friends will maximize its fun.
It's also more fun to play!
Because face-to-face games have their own unique skills.
[Prodigy: If no one is watching, there is no range limit to using the strategy card.]
[Roar: During your turn, if no one is paying attention, you may use your second "Kill" card.]
[A clever suggestion: If you are good at verification, you can have your lord kill loyal ministers.]
[Tianbian: When people don't understand the skill, you can explain it however you like and activate it.]
...
And so on, there's much more, all of which are Lin Lang's personal experiences!
Besides, some people don't play computer games. Even if "Three Kingdoms Kill" is popular online, what can they do if they don't play computer games?
It's not just these people; some students don't even have access to computers or internet cafes, so how can they play "Three Kingdoms Kill"?
Lin Lang didn't want to lose these customers, so offline promotion was a good way to do it.
Furthermore, various Three Kingdoms-themed products can be launched later to create diverse profit points. As long as a version is updated online, new generals for that version can be launched offline.
There are standard editions, flagship editions, collector's editions...
Even later on, these can be linked to commercial value. What if a rare card with a probability of only 0.3 is released later?
What if there were only 20 copies of some of these cards in the entire world?
We can do everything from opening cards to blind boxes!
Another point is that when Lin Lang saw Zita organizing a friendly match, the initial idea of creating a competition slowly began to take shape in his mind!
Therefore, the offline market has a vast blue ocean potential!
Besides these two aspects, Lin Lang was also worried about another issue: plagiarism.
Although this method is novel, it is very easy to replicate and imitate.
If they wanted to, they could quickly create a game with the same gameplay as his.
Although Lin Lang has registered the copyright, what if someone changes the characters, and instead of characters from the Three Kingdoms period, they use characters from other dynasties?
Or even, what if we replaced them with American superheroes?
You can't do anything about it. The lawsuit can drag on for years, and by the time the game is over, it's already dead!
By then, where will the game "Three Kingdoms Kill" be on the market?
Therefore, we must always stay ahead of them and make more people remember "Three Kingdoms Kill" in order to have a stronger competitive edge.
Gameplay, generals, official ranks, skins... all need updating!
At that time, both online and offline methods will be combined!
Only then can you forge your own path!
"Knock knock knock, Mr. Lin!"
As Lin Lang was thinking, Chen Nan and Shen Qi stood at the office door, seemingly having something to report.
So he invited the two of them in.
"President Lin, these are the 25 newly designed generals and the currency system. For the skins, we adopted some elements from the previous 'Three Kingdoms Dress-up Simulator'. Please take a look."
Chen Nan handed over the documents in his hand.
Lin Lang carefully flipped through the pages, his brows furrowing deeply as he read.
"The first two are fine, but not the skins! You must always remember, this is a historical game! All skins will be designed in an ancient Chinese style!"
Chen Nan nodded, understanding his meaning.
"Yes, Mr. Lin, I'll have them redesign these black and white stockings maid outfits right now!"
"Wait a minute! Don't be so rigid in your thinking! Black stockings and white stockings are fine!"
"Ah... isn't this modern clothing too..."
"Have you been to ancient times? People there couldn't wear white silk on their legs!"
Chen Nan: ....
"The probabilities of drawing skins and generals should be made public and transparent. The probabilities of drawing common and rare skins should be disclosed to players, and some should also be available for direct purchase in the store! Plus, there should be a pity system!"
When the topic came up, Lin Lang's tone became a few decibels louder.
These two points are crucial issues, something Lin Lang deeply understood when he was drawing generals and skins in his previous life.
The prize pool odds are opaque, and the chances of winning are extremely low!
Moreover, the skin's quality becomes questionable in the later stages!
Some high-priced skins don't even have the same special effects as a regular skin, and they don't deserve the price at all!
Therefore, Lin Lang was very careful about these two points, not wanting to repeat the old mistakes.
"Furthermore, we hold events during some of the Great Xia's traditional festivals. The next National Day will be a great start, with generals available for free for a limited time! Discounts should also be offered!"
Lin Lang suddenly remembered something and added a few more lines to the document, writing down various traditional festivals.
Chen Nan was somewhat puzzled by this: "President Lin, are these holidays really necessary? And what about Christmas and Valentine's Day?"
Is it necessary? Of course it is!
He had a deep feeling about this during his last shopping trip!
How come young people these days have forgotten all these traditional festivals!
"These are all part of our culture. If we want to promote history, then festivals are essential. Since there must be activities, why are they held during festivals?"
As for Christmas and Valentine's Day, I'm sorry, we don't celebrate them!
Lin Lang knew that such a move would not have a big impact, and that people would definitely buy into it if he held some activities for Christmas and Valentine's Day, the most popular holidays!
But Lin Lang just wanted to promote traditional festivals; some things don't need to be reciprocated.
While it won't make players fall in love with traditional festivals again, it's good to let them know about them!
After addressing these issues, Lin Lang did not forget to expand the company's scale.
"Go online and find some more employees—artists, programmers, planners, etc.—hire anyone with talent!"
"Huh? So many people... Our company is so small, do you think they'd be willing to come? Besides, we don't have much money left in the company account..." Chen Nan hesitated.
He also knows that he needs to expand the company's scale now.
However, the game hasn't made any money yet, and hiring so many people means that just paying their salaries is a huge cost.
"You're so stubborn! Show them the data for 'Three Kingdoms Kill' and tell them that the game's future valuation is over 100 million!"
"The salary is lower during the first three months of internship, but it will increase afterward! Why don't you just use all your initial salary as company benefits later on?!"
Lin Lang said with a relaxed expression, "This is a very simple problem on their Earth."
Besides, when the next version is released, skins and weapons will cost money!
Are you worried about not being able to pay salaries?
Once the company is on the right track, we won't have to worry about these funding issues anymore!
After some thought, Chen Nan came to a conclusion.
It's just empty promises!
Indeed, this is Lin Lang's forte!
With Chen Nan's problem resolved, the next step was to address Shen Qi.
Shen Qi held two boxes of cards in her hand and placed them on the table.
"These are the collector's edition and the standard edition you requested!"
The two boxes are very different in both size and packaging.
The standard version of "Three Kingdoms Kill" is about the size of a small tin can, and it features the image of the general Cao Cao.
Add the words "Three Kingdoms Kill - Langyu Studio" and it's over.
In contrast, the collector's edition packaging is very grand, with a Guan Yu image depicted in ink painting style on the cover, and a lifelike green dragon on the back.
The main color scheme is black and white, and it also features silkscreen printing and hot stamping.
Once both are opened, the standard version contains cards, including 25 general cards and 165 game cards. I won't go into detail about the identity cards and health cards.
The collector's edition features a velvet design and includes story cards and skin cards in addition to the regular game cards!
One is suitable for collection, and the other is very portable.
"Not bad, not bad. The online price for the collector's edition is set at 159, and the regular edition at 29.9! How much stock do you have now?" Lin Lang said with satisfaction after hearing this.
"Currently, we have 10,000 limited edition items in stock, and 50,000 regular edition items in stock," Shen Qi answered truthfully.
The current inventory is not much, but it is enough.
We can first release it to the market and see how the feedback is before making any changes.
"Okay, then we can start selling! We can also start promoting it offline!"
Lin Lang nodded in satisfaction and began to carefully examine the cards on the table.
Each card has a faint watermark of "Langyu Studio" on the back.
The packaging also includes a unique QR code for easy identification of genuine products!
Scanning the QR code will also give you a certain number of gold ingots, which can be used to draw general skins!
These are all designed specifically to prevent piracy. Can you scan the code if you buy a pirated copy?
Moreover, the price of the regular version is very low; at 29.9, you won't lose out or be cheated!
Lin Lang wasn't afraid even if players bought pirated copies at a cheap price.
Consider it helping to promote the game "Three Kingdoms Kill"!