Chapter 108
Chapter 105: Call-Of-Duty
Chapter 105 Call of Duty
…
BlackRock Group, also known as Black Rock, has become one of the top three asset management giants in the world since it merged with Merrill Lynch’s asset management department. –For it, Guo Shouyun, who has already set foot in the financial circle, can be described as thunderous.
“What is the return on this part of the funds managed by BlackRock?”
“The annual income is generally maintained at around 8%!”
“It’s too low, get out!”
Petty Madil frowned slightly, “Boss, the 8% annual return is actually not low. After all, we must first ensure the safety of funds, and the second is the rate of return!”
“I understand, but I still feel that the 8% yield is too low. In addition, I plan to wait for this part of the funds to be withdrawn, add the funds in the account, and leave enough expenses to maintain the company’s operations and R&D, and then choose another company. Do a new asset plan!” Guo Shouyun said.
“Boss, most of the funds on the books have not yet been taxed. If they are directly invested, will it be too risky!” Gabe Newell said.
The United States pays taxes on an annual basis, and the tax is ‘paid’ in mid-April every year, so the ‘gross’ profit after deducting costs from the revenue of Counter-Strike Elite is still on the books. If this part is deducted, the book value of nearly 80 million will shrink by nearly half.
“There is still nearly half a year before April next year, and we have enough time to move. Moreover, the CD sales of “Counter-Strike’ Elite” are just right, and funding is not a problem. In addition, I am also a graduate of Stanford Economics. You always have to have some confidence in my investment plan!” Guo Shouyun said with a smile.
After hearing this, Gabe Newell and Petty Madill looked at each other, and the two did not object. After all, the one sitting in front of them now is the company’s major shareholder and holds the absolute controlling stake in the company.
“Boss, I agree that the company’s funds are run by you, but if there is a loss in this part of the funds, then I hope you can terminate it in time!” Gabe Newell euphemistically said.
“Can!”
Guo Shouyun nodded. He also did not intend to use this part of the funds for ultra-high-risk financial leverage, so it is very simple to ensure that there is no loss.
“By the way, I have a game development plan here for you to take a look at!”
After greeting Wendy and asking her to take out the documents he had prepared in advance this time, Guo Shouyun handed it to Gabe Newell beside him.
“”call-of-duty”?”
Looking at the text on the cover of the document, Gabe Newell read a sentence softly, then curiously opened it and read the contents.
“How about it?”
After waiting patiently for him to finish reading, Guo Shouyun asked.
“A first-person ‘shooting’ game with World War II as the background, the background is very grand. But the same type of game already has EA’s “Medal of Honor”, if we launch it again, the results may not be very good!”
“There were many famous wars during World War II. The background of Medal of Honor is mainly the Normandy D-Day and Operation Market ‘Garden’, focusing on the Western Front battlefield. In that case, why can’t we develop a game with the Soviet-German war as the main background What about the same type of games? Moreover, I believe that the Battle of Stalingrad, the Battle of Moscow, and the Battle of Kursk are definitely not less influential than the Normandy landings. If we develop a game based on this background, I believe many people will be interested! “Guo Shouyun said.
Gabe Newell pondered for a moment, “If we really want to develop it, I’m afraid we will invest a lot of money, after all, there are too many scenes involved.”
“It doesn’t matter, from today, all the company’s revenue will be used for the development of “Call of Duty”.”
Looking at Guo Shouyun’s firm expression, Gabe Newell hesitated and nodded. Seeing this, Guo Shouyun also relaxed. Although he is the chairman of the company, he has absolute control. But Gabe Newell is the CEO of the company after all. If he does not agree, although he can use his power to force the proposal, but this is not conducive to the development of new games.
You know, he has high hopes for “Call of Duty”. Since the birth of the video game industry, there have been only thirteen games with sales of over 100 million worldwide, including “Call of Duty”.
And in later generations, it has also generated an astonishing revenue of over 10 billion US dollars with sales of nearly 200 million in the whole series. It is no less than a super cash cow of “World of Warcraft” and an absolute pillar of Activision Blizzard. Now that there is a chance, Guo Shouyun certainly doesn’t want to miss this gold mine. More importantly, Valve Game Studio has laid a certain foundation for the development of “Call of Duty”, which is also a first-person “shooting” shooting game, by developing “Half-Life” and “Counter-Strike “Elite”. There is also no copyright constraints. It can be said that this is the most suitable masterpiece for matrix games at present.
“That’s right. It’s better to use the raw than the familiar. Tomorrow, let the people from the company contact the 2015 studio and try to acquire it. It doesn’t matter what the price is!”
“Then M&A funds…?”
“Transfer from the company’s existing account!” Guo Shouyun said.
In 2015, the studio was only developing the peripheral expansion for the “Medal of Honor” game, and even the overall acquisition would not ‘spend’ much money.
“If the merger is successful, will the 2015 studio be included in Matrix Games or under Valve management?” Gabe Newell continued.
“Changed to the “Fourth Game Development Team” directly managed by Valve Game Studio!”
In Guo Shouyun’s plan, the game development category of Valve Game Studio is ‘first-person ‘shooting’ shooting game’. Whether it’s Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Lifesaving, or Call of Duty, it’s all in this category, so there’s no need to re-create a separate subsidiary.
“Understood!” Gabe Newell said happily. He has shares in Valve Studios, but no shares in Matrix Pictures.
“By the way, which company publishes our company’s games now?”
“Electronic Arts!”
“Are there many large game companies with publishing capabilities?” Guo Shouyun continued.
“Not much. Except for Electronic Arts, Vidione, Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony are considered to be on the same level, while Activision, Sega, Capcom, and Kelome are relatively weaker.”
Guo Shouyun nodded, and after a little silence, “If we want to acquire, which one do you think is best for us?”
“Acquisition?”
Looking at Gabe Newell’s surprised expression, Guo Shouyun smiled and said, “Yeah, we can’t always be satisfied with being a game development company, and downstream distribution and channels will be involved sooner or later!”
Looking at the calm and confident young man sitting across from him, Gabe Newell was surprised by the other party’s ambitions in the game industry, but this was also good news for him. This means that the resources in the opponent’s hands will be more inclined to Valve Studio. As the company grows, as a leader, his industry influence will naturally increase, and he also has a 5% stake in Valve Studios, which is all money.
“If we must acquire, I think Activision is the best fit for us?” Gabe Newell replied after a moment of silence.
“Oh why?”
“EA, Vidione, Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony are too big for us to swallow. And even if we have enough money they are not necessarily willing to sell their game division ‘door’. Sega, Konami, Capcom Both are located in Japan, and they’re better at fighting and turn-based games. Only Activision, not only good at developing first-person ‘shooter’ shooters, has extensive publishing experience, but also the all-important ‘Quake’ game engine!”
Guo Shouyun raised his eyebrows, is the game engine important? Of course it matters! The quality of the engine directly determines the success or failure of a game. And engine commercial licensing is also a lucrative industry. For example, the ‘Quake 2’ game engine rented by Valve Studio for the development of “Half-Life” and “Counter-Strike ‘Elite’” costs 500,000 US dollars for the basic license fee alone, and each subsequent game disc is sold. There is a royalty fee of $6 to the engine provider. Totally lying down and counting money.
However, although the ‘Quake’ engine is N’forced’, it was soon replaced by Unreal, which can support both OpenGL and DX due to the dual reasons of leader Carmack’s paranoia on the OpenGL standard and Microsoft’s promotion of the DX standard. The engine took its place and gradually became marginalized.
Therefore, the ‘Quake’ game engine is not enough to prompt Guo Shouyun to make a decision to acquire Activision. Also, Activision without Call of Duty has limited appeal to him. In contrast, he is more willing to acquire the “door” of Vidiwang’s game department. You must know that it was Blizzard, and it was the “World of Warcraft” that he was thinking about even if he was reborn!
After sorting out his thoughts, looking at Gabe Newell who was looking at himself, Guo Shouyun said, “After I go back, I will ask someone to do a detailed investigation about Activision~www.readwn. com~ If it is indeed suitable, we will pick another suitable time to seek acquisitions!”
Having said that, he never thought of acquiring Activision!
Guo Shouyun’s repeated inquiries and answers did not satisfy Gabe Newell. But since the other party said so, he didn’t say anything more.
Later, after the three chatted about the company’s development for a while, Guo Shouyun walked around the company in the company of the other party and left.
Back at the hotel where I stayed, it was inevitable to have a phone conversation with Molly Bevin who was far away in Greece at night! Since the relationship between the two has taken a step further in New York, this kind of essential communication between couples has become a daily repertoire. However, both of them are sane people, and even a phone call at night will not exceed an hour.
The night passed quickly. The next day, after Guo Shouyun exercised, had breakfast, checked his mailbox, and dealt with some official business, Wendy Solo handed over the suit after it was close to 9 o’clock.
………………………………………………