After being teased by her boss, Nancy Brill could only roll her eyes. Thinking about this kind of thing, after all, it involved too much, and it was really impossible for a man to confess to her, so she could only say: "Okay, boss, we still Let’s talk business.”
Simon nodded and did not continue to joke. He lowered his head again and glanced at the "Diablo" sales report in his hand, and said: "The sales volume in the first month was 2.1 million copies. This is a very amazing result. It is expected that the total sales volume will reach 10 million. However, you must have paid attention. This time, of the 2.1 million, online sales accounted for 1.4 million, leaving only 700,000 offline. So, what I want to say is that Daenerys Entertainment can start building its own online game It’s a mall.”
When Nancy Brill heard this, her eyes widened again: "Boss, I have asked you this question a million times, why did you agree today?"
"In the past, the timing was wrong. We needed to focus our resources on Yigrit in the embryonic stage, so as to cultivate users' online consumption habits to the greatest extent. Now, both the network environment and consumption habits have passed the initial growth period. , even if we don’t do it, other manufacturers will definitely appear. Rather than doing this, it is better for us to compete with ourselves.”
Nancy nodded her head several times like a chicken pecking rice, as if she was worried that Simon would regret it, but then asked: "Boss, have you discussed it with Igret?"
"certainly."
Nancy thought of something, but still did not discuss this topic in depth. Instead, she couldn't help but asked: "Boss, does this mean that this antitrust investigation, um, you plan to take the initiative to dismantle Ygrit?" point?"
Simon looked at Nancy's childish face opposite him as before: "Don't you think your curiosity is too strong?"
Nancy curled her lips: "It seems that I guessed it right."
"No, you guessed wrong," Simon shook his head: "Igret's advantage is so strong now, I will not make any concessions."
Nancy pouted slightly: "Boss, has anyone ever said that you are hypocritical?"
“Well, Jenny said that to me a few days ago.”
“…”
"Okay, don't go off topic," Simon returned to the topic and said: "You have to understand, Nancy, this is not an easy thing. I will give you two years to do this well. For EA Mall, we Just decide on this name. EA Mall will not only release self-produced games under Daenerys Entertainment, but also introduce games from other manufacturers to our platform. In addition, I don’t want to see you and Yi Gretel's game mall engages in malicious price competition, because this will not only affect the interests of the two companies, but even damage the foundation of the entire game industry."
Nancy immediately grimaced: "Boss, you are making things too difficult for me."
Simon ignored the bitter look of the small female executive and said: "Daenerys also has an advantage, doesn't she? The online battle platform starting from the "Dune" series has this technology that Igrit does not have. .”
The online battle platform actually refers to the Battle.net system launched by Blizzard in 1997.
However, this time, Ygritte started launching the "Dune" series of games in previous years. After acquiring Blizzard's predecessor Silicon and Synapse Studios, two "Warcraft" and "Diablo" released last month 》, all directly connected to the online battle platform.
In fact, Simon originally hoped to develop a complete online game, but his attempts in recent years, if not counting the two phenomenal casual games "Happy Ranch" and "Happy Ranch" launched on the Yigrit platform, have not been successful. Although it is too successful, it is an online battle platform that is becoming more and more popular among users.
Up to now, not only real-time strategy games such as the "Dune" series and the "Warcraft" series, but also sports games that EA was best at before, as well as some role-playing games, have launched online networking modes.
This is also the most advantageous technology for Daenerys Entertainment’s game business.
Of course, Nancy understood the advantages of her own game department. After hearing this, she said: "So, boss, can we do this? Our online battle platform client will be directly transformed into the EA Mall instead of using the web page mode in the IE browser ecosystem. ?”
The IE browser ecosystem can be said to be the foundation of Igret's monopoly on Internet interfaces.
In recent years, in order to ensure the uniqueness of the IE interface and the IE browser ecosystem, Igret has been tit-for-tat with many technology companies.
When Nancy said this, she basically didn't have much hope.
However, what surprised her again was that Simon nodded directly: "This is a good idea, but the website still needs to be opened."
Nancy was stunned for a moment and couldn't help but said: "Boss, have you... been stimulated by anything recently?"
Simon shook his head calmly: "No, but there are indeed a lot of women. It's too tiring in bed."
“…”
"Okay, what's the problem?"
"There are a lot of questions."
"Then don't ask," Simon refused decisively and said, "In short, your goal is to launch the EA mall within two years. In addition to Daenerys Entertainment's own games, you also need to attract external customers. Ygritte They will provide us with the necessary technology and Ypay payment interface and other authorizations. My request is also very simple. We must compete with Yigret, but we cannot compete viciously. Your goals must be in other lines besides us. Go to the game store."
Nancy nodded seriously to take note.
Simon glanced at the memo next to him and added: "Also, next, we will continue to expand our acquisition efforts. As long as it is a studio with potential, we can initiate acquisitions."
Nancy immediately had another objection: "Boss, there's no need to be like this. As a film director, you must know that it is very rare for a creator to create one or two classics. They cannot last forever. In fact, game studios are more That’s right.”
"You can change the acquisition model appropriately, but the strategy of expanding acquisitions remains unchanged," Simon insisted: "Nancy, of course I understand the problems you mentioned, but our acquisition targets are not fundamentally those teams, but It’s a game idea.”
"Boss, I remember you said before that creativity is the cheapest."
"Of course ideas are cheap, but the problem is that turning ideas into games is not cheap, and the chance of turning ideas into popular games is even smaller. Nancy, games at this stage are still mainly 2D, but you We must have discovered that the trend of 3D games is becoming more and more obvious. Compared with 2D, if you think about the cost of Pixar animation production, you will know that the production cost of 3D games will increase rapidly in the future. When the time comes, ideas will be transformed into games. The cost will be very high. The most guaranteed strategy is to make sequels. Unlike movies, it is often difficult to escape the curse of a trilogy due to actors and other factors. Games can continue to be produced, and even a series can reach the tenth or even the end. The twentieth movie is not impossible, just like Japan's "Super Mario". Therefore, now is the last time for us to collect popular ideas at a relatively low price, or it should not be called ideas, but Intellectual Property, IP, just like Dan Nelis Entertainment owns all kinds of copyrights, so do you understand?"
Nancy stopped refuting and nodded: "Understood."
"This is the first thing," Simon looked down at his memo again, then looked up again and said, "The second thing, regarding Blockbuster, as expected, Sony, Toshiba and other manufacturers will officially launch DVDs by the end of the year. Players, Blockbuster's online operations have been very successful in recent years, but with the advent of the DVD era, if Blockbuster does not want to be eliminated, its online operations strategy also needs to change."
"Boss, I've also noticed this problem. However, compared to videotapes, the emergence of DVDs will definitely make it easier to promote piracy."
Simon remembered that the VCD industry in China was actually based on the piracy industry chain. Of course, he had a deeper understanding of it than Nancy, and said: "This is inevitable. However, just like the video tapes back then, some people initially questioned whether the video tapes could It will lead to widespread piracy. As a result, video tapes have now more than doubled the size of the Hollywood film industry. As for DVDs, the same is true. We cannot make the mistake of the record industry resolutely resisting the Internet in recent years, so we must actively embrace and even control this a trend.”
"In this case, boss, what should Blockbuster do?"
"It's very simple. Increase the layout of online business and increase the construction of Blockbuster's logistics system. The ultimate goal is to abandon physical stores and achieve complete network operations."
Nancy felt out of breath for some reason: "Boss, is this too radical?"
"You can conduct some tests now," Simon did not answer directly, but said: "Regarding the mail-in test of DVDs, it is different from Blockbuster's current semi-online model where you have to go to a designated store to collect video tapes when ordering online. It can be done in one step, delivered directly to the user's home, and recycled through the mail. You know, compared to video tapes, the mailing cost of DVD discs is enough to support this operating model."
"But, boss, I think Blockbuster's current business model is already very good. Otherwise, Blockbuster's current market value would not be as high as US$37 billion."
"If we don't eliminate ourselves, Nancy, we will only be eliminated by others."
The little female executive, who has always been a strong woman, finally showed some confusion on her expression: "This is very painful."
Simon said seriously: "It hurts in the beginning, but it will be very comfortable later."
Nancy blushed immediately and glared at Simon: "Boss, you will be sued for harassment sooner or later."
"Are you going to sue?"
Nancy paused, then nodded vigorously in a threatening manner: "Yeah."
"Okay, no kidding," Simon continued: "In fact, DVD and even the high-definition DVD that Sony is developing are still just a transition. Blockbuster's ultimate form should be streaming media. Completely abandon physical models such as video tapes and DVDs. Purely online streaming, so one day in the future, according to you, Blockbuster will have to suffer again if it does not want to be eliminated."
Nancy did not cooperate with the driving this time, but said: "In this case, boss, should we buy out all Blockbuster?"
"The stock price is a bit high now and it's not appropriate."
"I understand, but what I mean is, start preparing now for when the dot-com bubble bursts."
The former Blockbuster quickly declined with the advent of the Internet era.
And this time, it is precisely because the successful semi-online model fits the new technology concept that is currently the most popular in the capital market that its market value is as high as US$37 billion. However, Daenerys Entertainment’s shareholding in Blockbuster has dropped from the initial 35% to 28% due to some mergers and acquisitions and equity incentives over the years.
Although as the largest shareholder, Daenerys Entertainment still maintains strong control over Blockbuster, but after all, it does not even have absolute control. Since her boss valued this company so much, Nancy felt that buying it all and taking full control of the company was undoubtedly the best choice.
Simon thought for a moment and said: "As the largest shareholder of Blockbuster, we have been frequently questioned about our monopoly. Next, if there is an opportunity, we only need to buy more shares to achieve an absolute control of 51%. This is better than a complete control." There is much less resistance to eating.”
Nancy thought about it and found that it was the same, and nodded in agreement.
The two chatted in some more details until lunch time, then ended the morning's work.
Actually, there are some music-related things.
As one of the two presidents of Daenerys Entertainment Group after Amy Pascal, after many adjustments, Nancy is now mainly responsible for the three major sectors of games, music and home entertainment. Speaking of which, if you want to seek breakthroughs for the continued growth of Daenerys Entertainment, these three major businesses are all good directions.
Of course, there is actually another cable TV business in charge of Robert Iger.
In general, in addition to the core movies, Daenerys Entertainment's TV, games, music and other aspects still have great potential to be tapped.
Especially games.
This is a top priority that Simon has been paying close attention to. After all, if this part is done well, according to what was once said, it will be more profitable than drug trafficking. Moreover, the most important point is that the game industry is no less big than the movie. This In fact, this is also the reason why Simon suddenly relented and decided that Daenerys Entertainment could build its own online game mall to compete with Ygritte.
The plate is big enough to accommodate two of the top online publishers.
It can also promote competition.
Simon has always attached great importance to maintaining competition. Born from worry and died from comfort, any industry, if there is a lack of competition, not to mention high-sounding reasons such as affecting consumer experience, the industry itself will definitely stagnate. Not forward.
Let’s talk about music.
In recent years, due to the rise of the Internet, the recording industry has been declining at an almost collapse rate. Especially after the launch of iPlayer, the decline became even more rapid.
Simon is certainly aware that the recording industry is the foundation of hardware products.
However, due to the stubborn resistance of the record industry, Simon's attitude was to allow the industry to decline on its own in a short period of time, even if it severely damaged Daenerys Entertainment's own music business, until the major record giants took the initiative to make the due Compromise and cooperation. Moreover, by then, Daenerys Entertainment will be able to further expand its recording business through acquisitions.