Chapter 121 Fork in the Road (Part 2)

After hearing the empty question, Qiu Yu thought about it for a while, and then said: "There are quite a lot of problems, office politics, blame culture, all kinds of conflicts..."

"Get to the point."

"Well...that's you. To be more specific, it's you producers."

Kong Kong shook his head lightly, although he was annoyed in his heart, he had to admit that the other party was right.

To be old and not die is to be a thief, and Tianyi is a large game company, but it also inevitably brings various historical problems.

The biggest historical problem is those producers who have made achievements.

The golden age of most game producers is before the age of 50, and cognitive problems will occur at the age of 50.

Technology is innovating and the times are advancing. The experience they have accumulated in the past will become useless or even become a stumbling block. Letting these people act as producers will ensure the lower limit of the game, but the upper limit will definitely not be high.

And what's even more frightening is that sometimes, past experience will have side effects. This is a problem that every producer must face.

They should be like Teacher Shen, obediently pass on their knowledge to the next generation, and then go home to take care of their hair.

Nodding his head, Kong Kong said to Qiu Yu: "Do you want to stay here, or find another way out?"

"I must stay here, I haven't got my grades yet."

"All right."

After thinking sideways for a moment, Kongkong continued: "Don't leave after get off work, come here every day. I'm going to retire at the end of the month, and I'll make up for you during this time."

"……why me?"

"You are pleasing to the eye."

"……Thanks."

"Go."

Watching Qiu Yu leave, he leaned back on the chair empty-handedly, feeling his body was hollowed out, but he felt some comfort.

He has to take full responsibility for this loss, and his retirement at the end of the year is already a certainty.

Looking back on his own experience, he found that he had left almost nothing to the game industry. The only game that could be used as a talking point was the first client game he made when he joined Tianyi.

That game imitated "A Chinese Journey to the West", which included functions such as team formation, catching pets, running around, and digging treasures. It was a game that players had to go online and spend four to five hours a day.

All kinds of traditional settings are found in his games, and various innovations have been made in addition to imitation.

Although immature, that game is the product of his most dedication. It is still in operation today, and some people play it online every day.

Thinking of this, he suddenly lost interest in "Dark Guardian", and suddenly wanted to play his own game.

Turning on the computer, he skillfully opened the client, logged in the account, and saw that his friend half a year ago sent a message immediately:

[Why have you been offline for so long and remembered your account? 】

The other party didn't know that he was the producer of this game, and Kong Kong didn't reveal his identity.

Finding that the other party was still playing, Kong Kong also immediately responded: 【Yes. 】

[Let's go, just catch ghost 4 and wait 1, you come together. Fortunately, you have enough equipment and your level is not bad, let's go together. 】

【good. 】

In this way, Kong Kong abandoned a lot of work, immersed in the old days, and played games.

After that, just as Kong Kong and Qiu Yu expected, the data of "Dark Guardian" went from bad to worse.

Players said that "Dark Guardian" is indeed good everywhere, but it is not fun enough. Krypton gold can indeed be refreshing, but it will soon become boring.

On the other hand, the popularity of "Dark Builder" is steadily rising.

As a free-to-play game, Dark Builder's spread is mythical.

There is no operation to fuel the flames, the team has no purchases, and the only download entrance is an official website, although the official website is quite cool.

But even so, it still becomes a word-of-mouth miracle with 200,000 downloads per day. Its slight social attributes make it easy for players to promote it to their four friends every time, thus making up five. Let's play games together.

Cooperation is the basis for its fission. Excellent quality and highly random gameplay are the conditions for proliferation. Different genres make it socially active, and various destructive magic weapon combinations make it end every time Finally, players love to have the motivation to continue playing.

Moreover, the rhythm of the game can be accelerated, and the final time of each round can be compressed to half an hour, which is especially suitable for tired young people who take time to play a round.

Someone once jokingly said that if a living immortal is willing to charge, he can become a multi-millionaire immediately.

However, the fairy doesn't care.

He only cares about whether the player is having fun.

Due to the reproducibility of its gameplay, besides Tianyi, a large number of game manufacturers began to imitate it.

For a while, games like "Dark Builder" sprung up like mushrooms, and one appeared almost every day, and even a large number of references appeared abroad.

But the one-to-one replicas are basically dead, and those who can survive are manufacturers who have built new gameplays on the original basis, and the new gameplays have filled some vacancies.

Although it is only a small category, "Dark Builder" has created a new branch of games, and allowed some manufacturers to find a development direction that saves money but is easy to achieve results.

After gaining surviving capital through initial imitation, some of them will continue to imitate, while others will embark on the path of originality, and then add some brilliance to the game business.

However, compared with the achievements of "Dark Constructor", Tianyi is very down and out.

In order to quickly iterate out competing products, Tianyi Rongcheng Branch invested a lot of manpower, and iterated frantically afterwards, but in the end nothing splashed out.

High-resolution art doesn't seem compatible with the genre, at least not until there's a breakthrough in the performance of existing consoles.

In the end, before the arrival of the new year, Kongkong's newly established studio was disbanded again.

The once bustling office was empty, and the seconded employees returned to the previous project team and continued to work hard in Tianyi.

President Zhang Ping originally wanted to send Kong Kong down, but Kong Kong refused.

I came back full of ambition, and now I left like a bereaved dog. This process looks too embarrassing, so it's better not to be seen by others.

However, in the empty office, he still called his last student, Qiu Yu, and gave him his last class here.

"What do you think is the most important thing for a game studio?" Kong Kong asked looking at the gloomy sky in the distance.

"Do the game well?"

"No, it's alive. Making a good game is the ultimate goal of the studio. A game that can last forever, even be talked about decades later, and even have someone help you make MOD is the obsession of every gamer. But Before you achieve this goal, your most important goal is to stay alive."

Finding that Qiu Yu was still a little confused, Kong Kong continued to explain: "A good game may not necessarily make you money, but a bad game may not necessarily make you lose money. Every game producer must learn to stop losses in time and cut sunk costs in time. And look for every opportunity to make money and keep yourself alive."

"When the idle game becomes popular, make an idle game; when the card becomes popular, make a card; the second dimension... don't touch that one, the second dimension is very popular, wait for them to kill a batch, and then invite a batch at a low price Let’s talk about the original painting.”

"If the domestic environment is not good, we will do it abroad; if foreign countries like it, we will do it; even if they want to see pictures, let them do it in the game."

At this moment, Qiu Yu couldn't help shouting: "This is bottomless!"

"But you can survive! For game companies, the bottom line is not important, but being alive is important. Only by surviving can you have the right to speak, someone can speak to you, and everything before you can be washed away. If you die No matter how good your game is, others will only remember your dead body."

"People often say that I am realistic, but I can keep you alive, so I have been successful before. Until... forget it, let's not mention this. In short, survive. Don't send me away, I drove the car .”

He patted Qiu Yu's shoulder, left Qiu Yu who was in deep thought, and left the office.

He has already arranged for Qiu Yu's retreat. Although he is already out of business, he still has some contacts who can help Qiu Yu arrange a master plan job.

Of course, he is the main planner of a small game, but I believe that with Qiu Yu's strength, he will soon be able to take the lead in Tianyi.

When he went downstairs, he was about to drive to the parking lot not far away, when he realized that it was snowing.

This year's Rongcheng has sufficient water, and the temperature occasionally becomes very low. There have been several snowfalls since the beginning of winter.

After standing in the snow for a while, he lowered his head and was about to leave, only to find that there was an extra person coming out from the opposite side.

It's Huang Ping.

Since the previous conflict, they have no contact with each other, but the dynamics between each other can still be inquired through some channels.

Seeing Huang Ping's figure, Kong Kong knew that the other party should have come to wait for him specially, so he sneered: "You came to see my joke?"

"...No, after all, everyone has worked together before, and I'm not that boring. What are you going to do next?"

"Retired, ready to write teaching materials. Several publishing houses are still very interested in my past experience, and plan to go back and write."

"That's good."

After being silent for a while, Kongkong suddenly asked: "The living immortal...is Fangcheng?"

Huang Ping didn't answer, but his silent attitude proved a lot.

Appreciating Huang Ping's attitude, feeling relieved, he patted his chest and said, "As expected, that's really great."

Now Kong Kong has become very thin, his hair is half white, and he looks more energetic and wise.

Pointing to the coffee shop on one side, he said, "Anyway, I'm fine, and your studio doesn't work overtime at night, so come and talk to me?"

"Let's go." Huang Ping smiled and nodded.

They talked for a long time in the dim light of the cafe.

They chatted about the first game they cooperated with each other, talked about some wonderful things about former colleagues who left the company, talked about cutting down on the development prospects of the game, and talked about the future development plan.

The two who used to cooperate, then became hostile, and now finally sat down and chatted together, exchanging words that they hadn't said because of identity issues in the past.

Talking until eleven o'clock at night, they finally needed to go back.

Putting on a windbreaker and a scarf, he took out his car keys and asked, "Do you still live in the old place? I'll drive you off."

"No, I bought a house nearby and moved here a long time ago."

"Loan? How much is the down payment?"

"Full payment."

Kong Kong was stunned for a moment, then looked at Huang Ping.

The exhaustion caused by working overtime before was no longer visible, and the thick dark circles under his eyes also disappeared. The Huang Ping in front of him seemed to be the boy he used to be, overlapping with the figure when he first joined Tianyi.

Nodding his head slightly, Kong Kong said softly: "That's good, you guys did a good job, and you left pretty well back then."

The two walked towards the parking lot together, preparing to part at the fork in the road there.

The snow has stopped, and a layer of white snow has rarely appeared on the ground. Although it will melt in a short time, it still gives people a white and clean feeling.

The orange lights lit up like torches, only to part abruptly as they approached the parking lot, branching off into a completely different path.

At the fork in the road, Huang Ping hesitated for a moment, but still said: "I joined Tianyi in the first place because of you."

"I?"

"Well. The first game I played back then was a client game made by you. At that time, I never thought that a client game could be so fun. Since then, I have been aiming at Tianyi. Before I joined the company, I always felt that you He is the best producer in the country. I wrote you a letter back then, including my various views and revisions on the game, as well as my vision for you, but you should have forgotten it."

"...Indeed, what do you think of me now?"

"hehe."

"...Okay, it's getting late, goodbye."

"goodbye."

After a friendly handshake, the two parted ways.

Huang Ping walked towards the distance along the street lights, slowly merged into the orange light, and walked towards his warm home.

Kong Kong stepped on the snow and stepped into the parking lot where there were no people there.

His pace was getting slower and slower, and when he got to his car, he was almost unable to stand.

How could he not remember!

How could he forget such an immature and enthusiastic letter!

I finally remembered my original intention for the game, and the ideals and ambitions of the past pierced into his chest like spikes, and he suddenly realized that he had become the person he hated the most.

Kneeling beside his car, he cried silently like a stray dog ​​in mourning.

The next day, the news of the suspension of "Dark Guardian" came out, but it didn't attract much attention.

There are already many games similar to "Dark Builder". Every day, new types of games appear and new types of games leave.

Except for a simple report by the game information up master on station B, and the news of Kong Kong's resignation, no one paid attention to it anymore.

Before you know it, the new year has arrived.

As for Fang Cheng, he felt that he could do it.

The third watch and the correction are in the rush. I'm really busy today, so I'm sorry.