China Entertainment 1997.

Chapter 437 Farewell to "Legend of Blood", the new favorite "World of Warcraft"

On April 2005, 4, after more than half a year of negotiations, Box Games finally reached a consensus with Shanda Group.

Box Games transferred a series of agents, copyrights and all the shares of the South Korean parent company behind it to Shanda at a price of US$5 million.

In 2005, the exchange rate between USD and RMB was slightly higher than that of the previous two years, rising from about 8.27 to about 8.31.

In other words, this transaction will bring about 41.55 billion yuan to Box Games.

This is undoubtedly a sky-high price!
However, considering the "Ten-figure" net profit of the "Legend of Blood" series in the past, as well as the increase in the company's overall market value, as well as the acquisition of shares in the Korean parent company, the initiative to seize the next step to represent new games, etc.

Although it was a lot of money, at least in many people's minds, they felt that it was worth the money!
Of course, Shanda didn't have $5 million in cash. They could only withdraw $3.5 million at most, and asked to pay it in three installments within a year.

As for the remaining 1.5 million US dollars, it will be converted into Shanda's shares and transferred to Box Games.

In the original time and space, Shanda had actually been listed last year, but now, Shanda is just a tool for box games.

Although it is also planning to go public, but the capital is not enough, it is difficult to get the favor of the financial market.

It was also at this time that Box Games released the news to the outside world, intending to package and sell copyright shares such as "Legend of Hot Blood".

Chen Tianqiao keenly sensed that this was a good opportunity.

As long as the box game gets the agency rights of "Legend of Hot Blood" and the shares of the parent company, Shanda's momentum and market value will be greatly improved. If it goes public at that time, it will be a monster stock.

It was also because of this that in this battle, Shanda was so bold that he paid a sky-high price.

In the end, the company that surpassed NetEase and Ninetowns with a bid of US$5 million won the final victory.

This price even greatly exceeded the expectations of Cao Xuan and box game executives, which is why they agreed to convert 1.5 million US dollars into Shanda shares.

Although in this way, the time to cash out the $1.5 million will be greatly extended.

But everyone is very optimistic about the prospect of Shanda's listing. Before Shanda has done a lot of preparations for the listing, including the time to build up momentum after acquiring the ownership of "Legend", it is expected to be listed in the second half of 2005, or by the end of the year at the latest.

After the listing, Shanda's stock will definitely increase in value. After a year or two, the 1.5 million US dollars will be cashed out one after another. I dare not say that it will double, but it is still possible to increase by a few percent.

The most critical issue is that NetEase bid up to 4 million U.S. dollars, Ninetowns lower, barely 3 million U.S. dollars, but also a lot of additional conditions.

In comparison, Cao Xuan will definitely choose the one with the most money...

This news once caused a great sensation in China. After all, such a large number of transactions involved two large Internet companies and the phenomenon-level game IP "Legend of Blood", which aroused great interest in the game circle, financial circle, Internet and other fields. large-scale discussions.

Many people were shocked by Shanda's courage, and felt that the box game was unwise.

After all, the popularity of "Legend of Hot Blood" is still at its peak, and it is still the number one online game in China, and its monthly turnover is astonishing.

It's too reckless for the box game to give up if it says give up!
Some insiders even broke the news, saying that the box game internally did not agree with this matter, and the big boss behind it strongly advocated the promotion.

Although Cao has never directly responded that he is the boss of Box Game, Box Game also avoids talking about it, and even relevant information is irrelevant.

But for a company as big as Boxgame, with thousands of employees alone, and more companies cooperating with all parties, it is difficult to think that there is no leak.

At least in related fields such as games, the Internet, and even finance, this has long been an open secret.

However, Cao Xuan and Box Game just don't talk to each other, and Box Game is extremely low-key in terms of running the game.

Like the "Legend of Blood" series, Shanda plays the game, and other games are run by Penguin and other agents. Cooperative games focus on profit and do not duplicate names, and they hide behind and count money.

If it weren't for the amazing deal this time, Box Games would probably make a fortune silently as usual.

And even though this transaction went viral, Box Games didn't speak out to the outside world, and Shanda immediately took over and drew all the attention to himself.

Strong exposure and publicity are of great benefit to Shanda's listing, and Box Games is also happy to continue stealth.

Moreover, Shanda became popular, went public to collect money, and also had a share of the box game.

As for the outside world's suspicion that Box Game sold "Legend of Hot Blood" recklessly and stupidly, and the boss's playing with female stars out of his mind, Cao Xuan didn't bother to bother.

From the current point of view, selling "Legend of Blood" for US$5 million is indeed a "cheap sale", especially selling the shares of the Korean parent company together.

You know, after "Legend of Blood", the Korean game production company has accumulated some loyal players, and the follow-up game development is still very profitable.

However, the outside world only knows one thing, but not the other. Because of the blood enrichment of "Legend of Hot Blood", the Korean parent company has long been no longer the small company it used to be.

Since the past two years, his ambitions have grown. He not only wants to regain the control of the game in China, but also wants to reverse the acquisition of the shares of the box game.

Even before that, she had contact with Shanda, and wanted to play the game of chasing wolves and tigers.

Cao Xuan has long been too lazy to compete with these people. His game layout in South Korea has long been more focused on NEXON, which is the parent company of "BNB".

By the way, this company also developed games such as "Dungeon and Warriors", "Running Kart" and "Counter-Strike".

As early as when BOX Game was acting as the agent of "Bubble Hall", Cao Xuan began to buy shares in NEXON.

Relying on a large amount of funds and connections in South Korea, Cao Xuan has now won 45% of NEXON's shares and has become the company's first shareholder, and Cao Xuan is still planning to continue to increase his holdings in the future.

It is precisely because of this that he doesn't care about the parent company of "Legend of Blood", even if Shanda doesn't want it, he will sell it to others in the future.

However, this share is in the hands of Shanda, and it plays the most important role in cooperation. This is why Shanda still pays a lot of money to buy it, knowing that the Korean parent company is dishonest.

Of course Cao Xuan knew that "Legend of Hot Blood" made money, and he knew more about how profitable this game was than those people. Few people could see the accounts of the box game.

But at the same time, Cao Xuan also knew that the "Legend of Blood" series, which had been running for several years, had now begun to decline.

In the past two years, Cao Xuan and Box Games have closely monitored the parent company's mischief, and vigorously cracked down on cheating and private servers. Shanda has continued to exaggerate the influence of the game and develop new gameplay.

With the joint efforts of the two parties, the game life of "Legend of Hot Blood" has been consolidated, and it has barely stayed at its peak.

Otherwise, it would have been as messy as the original time and space "Legend of Hot Blood"...

At this time, it is the most suitable time to leave. In a year or two, it will definitely not sell for 5 million US dollars, and there may not even be someone to take over a declining game.

Shanda is also aware of the decline in the game, but is still willing to pay a sky-high price to take over. On the one hand, it is because "Legend of Blood" is still at its peak, and they are confident that they will continue to extend the peak period of the game.

More importantly, if they want to go public, they need to win the ownership of "Legend of Blood" as a breaking point.

Cao Xuan only spent a few million when he got the agency rights of "Legend of Hot Blood". There were also some subsequent expenditures, but they were far from the rewards given to him.

Cao Xuan made a rough estimate. Regardless of the illusory market value of the box game, only in terms of real assets, even if the cumulative sum is not tens of billions, it is not far behind.

With a profit nearly a thousand times higher, Cao Xuan simply earned it.

Therefore, even if he knew that "Legend of Hot Blood" still had money to squeeze, he didn't want to continue haggling over pennies and bucks, and just accepted it when it was good.

What's more, Cao Xuan has already found the next golden mountain - "World of Warcraft".

In the same April, just a few days after the box game reached a deal, "World of Warcraft" was launched in China for a period of two months.

This is actually an important reason why Cao Xuan is eager to sell "Legend of Hot Blood". When a new online game king is born, it will be difficult for the old king.

Fortunately, "World of Warcraft" will not directly grab the market of "Legend of Blood", and it will take at least one or two years to complete the succession.

At this time, it is estimated that Box Games can almost cash out from the stock market and leave.

Also because of "World of Warcraft", Cao Xuan even once expected that the 1.5 million US dollars in Shanda's shares would shrink.

But this is just a prediction, and Shanda is not just for nothing.

Not only does he have "Legend of Blood" and the game business in his hands, but he also has other capital means. In the short term, Cao Xuan still prefers the benefits of a grand listing.

But no matter what, the deal has been concluded, and Cao Xuan doesn't worry about it. The follow-up box game will cooperate with Shanda to complete the listing. Now, Cao Xuan cares more about how to distribute the 3 million US dollars in cash.

Cao Xuan originally meant to take half of it, but the top management of Box Games refused.

President Chen Guowei even went to the set of "Xiu Chun Knife 2" to find Cao Xuan, and made fun of him, complaining about his misery, in a word.

At most $1 million to Cao Xuan!
The box game is bitter, nearly 60~70% of the money earned in the past few years has been donated to Cao Xuan's blood transfusions.

Fanxing Film City and Fanxing Cinemas, a large part of the share is paid by box games.

A stake in Warner Music Group, Box Games also contributed.

Sunshine Ventures is now barely self-sufficient, but basically a large amount of expenditure in the early stage is based on box games.

The charitable funds of the Tomorrow Charity Fund are also mostly from box games.

Let's put it this way, most of the old Cao family's Jiangshan Sheji were made by box games.

If we anthropomorphize Cao Xuan's business, Box Game is the diligent and generous elder brother of the family.

The whole family relied on his hard work to make money, and finally brought up each of the brothers and sisters, but in the end they still had to supply blood to them for a long time. After a long time, who the hell could bear it.

"Legend of Hot Blood" is the pillar of the box game, and now it is sold by Cao Xuan.

Right now, when "World of Warcraft" has not made any achievements, the box game is a little bit guilty.

At this time, Cao Xuan, the boss, still wants to "add fuel to the fire". Honest people also have times when they are in a hurry.

Chen Guowei was in Cao Xuan's room, counting Cao Xuan's eccentricity and the grievances suffered by the box game over the years.

When the love was strong, the voice of the head of the top game company in China even choked up slightly.

"You agreed at the time that part of the money will be used to build our headquarters later. Now that we have selected the land in Zhongguancun, you think it is too expensive and want to save costs. How do you explain it to the employees below.

Boss, it's true that you are the boss, but you can't be too partial. I know that Fan Xing is your own son, but we are not raised by stepmothers.

I'm going all out today, even if you are angry, I will say, if you go on like this, the thousands of employees of Box Game will be really chilled..."

Chen Guowei was originally Fanxing's vice president of administration. In Cao Xuan's impression, he was not particularly capable, but he was diligent and dedicated in his work.

Cao Xuan also valued his character and loyalty, so he let him take charge of the money bag of the box game.

But today, Cao Xuan couldn't hide his embarrassment when he was able to force this honest, young man to speak in a tearful tone, reflecting that he had gone too far from time to time.

"Ahem, old Chen, don't worry. If the company is really in trouble, can we discuss it again?"

Chen Guowei is Cao Xuan's confidant general, and he would like to invite him to get together at home from time to time.

Zeng Li was no stranger to him, so he poured a glass of water for Chen Guowei and helped Cao Xuan smooth things over.

"Mr. Chen, you misunderstood. Your Mr. Cao is really not biased. He attaches great importance to box games. He often tells me that it is not easy for you at home, and that you have sacrificed a lot for the overall situation."

Chen Guowei got up halfway to take the water glass with both hands, and then smiled wryly: "Mr. Zeng, I also know that the boss is considering the overall situation and is not limited to our company. I am also from Fanxing, and I also have feelings for my old club.

But then again, I understand the boss, but the executives and employees below will inevitably complain.

Especially this time, with the $3 million project teams all over the company staring at each other and taking half of it at once, I really have no way to explain it to the company. "

Chen Guowei gave Zeng Li a lot of face, and immediately followed her words, but he also talked about his own difficulties, and the meaning was the same inside and outside the words.

Cao Xuan is eccentric, he spends too much money!
Pressing his slightly swollen temples, Cao Xuan said a little tiredly as he watched Chen Guowei and Zeng Li go around Tai Chi continuously.

"Forget it, this time we will draw 1 million U.S. dollars, and the Zhongguancun headquarters plan has also been approved, but you can run wherever you want."

Chen Guowei was overjoyed when he heard the words, and immediately replied: "Don't worry, we are a high-tech Internet company, especially we are a big company in the industry. The capital city doesn't want us to move to Shanghai and Shenzhen. The government will provide some policy support."

"That's fine."

Cao Xuan nodded. Although the land in Zhongguancun is expensive, it will definitely preserve its value.

Thinking of this, Cao Xuan's mood improved a lot, and he chatted with Chen Guowei for half an hour before sending him away.

As soon as Chen Guowei left, Zeng Li couldn't help but sigh: "It's not easy for Lao Chen, I almost cried just now."

"Cry ass."

Cao Xuan said unhappily: "This guy is acting for me, and I don't even think about what I do. At the beginning, I was also blind, and I didn't realize that such a person is an actor."

"Act?"

Nishigong Niangniang was surprised: "I think what Lao Chen said is very sincere, and his tone doesn't seem fake."

"Half-truth, half-false, acting and acting, he really thinks so in his heart, so the emotion is in place."

Speaking of this, Cao Xuan couldn't help complaining: "At Fanxing, what an honest person, and now he's playing tricks. It seems that the internal executives of the box game are not good at it. He has been trained."

"Then you can see that he is playing tricks, why do you still agree?"

The corners of Cao Xuan's mouth twitched slightly, and he said unnaturally: "Didn't I also realize that I did something wrong?"

In front of Chen Guowei, Cao Xuan did not admit his mistake, but borrowed the donkey at the request of the other party, but in front of Empress Xigong, there was no need for him to hide his thoughts.

"It's Lao Chen and the others who made a fuss, and I do feel that I'm a bit biased, and I've ignored their ideas. At least I have to wait until "World of Warcraft" improves and everyone feels at ease."

Why is the box game noisy?

Feeling aggrieved is part of it, but it's more because "Legend of Hot Blood" is gone, and I feel guilty.

In the past, when "Legend of Blood" was in existence, box games were making a lot of money every day, making money faster than robbing banks. Even if I felt bad about foreign blood transfusions, I made too much money, so I didn't particularly care.

But now, during the empty period when "Legend of Hot Blood" is sold out, although other games are still making money, without the biggest cash cow, box games as a whole have a negative attitude, for fear that the future development will not be as good as before.

Therefore, the 3 million US dollars left by the sale of "Legend of Hot Blood" is extremely important.

Whether it is building a headquarters, or starting a new project after "World of Warcraft" hits the street.

With this amount of money under pressure, Box Games knew that there was still a chance of a comeback, but if the money was not enough, it would definitely shake the morale of the company.

This is the important reason why Cao Xuan regressed.

And solving this problem is also very simple, as long as "World of Warcraft" shows the prospect of profitability, let Box Games realize that this is another new cash cow.

At that time, the morale of the army was stable, and the money was advancing day by day, and Cao Xuan could continue to draw blood from the box game.

what?
Eccentric?
This is called overall consideration, who made the title of this book "China Entertainment 1997" instead of "Game Tycoon Begins in 1997"...

……

Cao Xuan didn't use the 1 million US dollars he received from the box game project for his own enjoyment, but continued to invest the money in Fanxing Film and Television City and Fanxing Cinemas.

In the past two years, the film market has become more and more prosperous. Last year alone, there were five Chinese-language blockbuster films that exceeded 5 million yuan, which inspired the entire industry.

This has also led to the accelerated development of the theater industry in the past two years.

In 2003, there were no more than 600 theaters in the domestic theater chain, and the screens were only about 2000 yuan.

By 2004, there were 750+ theaters in the domestic theater chain, and the total number of screens was close to 2500, an increase of more than 25% compared to last year.

There is one thing to say, this is not only due to market development, but Fanxing Cinemas also definitely helped a lot.

By 2005, Fanxing was still developing at the same pace as several other large theater chains, and it was even faintly the fastest growing one.

According to the latest statistics as of early April, there are 4 theaters under Fanxing, with a total of 49 screens, accounting for almost 232/1 of the total screens in domestic theaters.

Its scale and market value are already comparable to Beijing New Film Federation, second only to Magic City United, the number one theater chain in China.

This is the result of Cao Xuan's deliberate suppression of boutique theaters that focus on second-tier cities. If the expansion is not considered cost, it will be almost the same, even if it does not surpass the Magic City United.

But there is really no need for that, the film market is not yet saturated to this extent, otherwise Cao Xuan really wouldn't mind experiencing the feeling of China's No. [-] cinema in advance.

In the next few years, Fanxing Cinemas will basically not make too much progress, just keep the same tone as the other cinemas.

After 2010, when the film market began to flourish, the box office exploded, and a large number of foreign companies entered the market, then was the time to really spend money.

Not only to consolidate the market above the second-tier cities, but also to grab land in cities and towns below the third-tier.

At that time, it was the stage of crazy money burning, and I was afraid that he would have to fight head-to-head with Lao Wang and other capitals. Cao Xuan felt that he could bear it.

He even considered spinning off Fanxing Cinemas, introducing foreign capital, or going public to organize funds to grab the market.

The strategy of Fanxing Cinemas in recent years has been a steady rise, while Fanxing Film and Television City on the other side has made a lot of moves.

In 2005 alone, in addition to [Chaoge City] and [Millennium Street], which were already in the final stage, Fanxing Film and Television City launched three new projects——

[Prosperous Tang City]: Mainly Tang Dynasty towers, palaces, mansions, market blocks, temples and other buildings, covering an estimated area of ​​more than 5000 mu, with an investment of more than 3 million yuan.

This is also the largest building complex in Fanxing Film and Television City so far, and it is also a key project of the future film and television base.

The reason why Tangcheng was built is because there are already Ming, Qing, Song, and Qin buildings in Hengdian. Fanxing Film and Television City is currently trying to grab the market, so it needs to attract people with projects that Hengdian does not have. There is no need to compete with Hengdian now.

In fact, there are other film and television bases in the Tang Dynasty, but the scale is not large. Fanxing has built the [Prosperous Tang City], which can attract a large number of Tang Dynasty and ancient theme crews.

It is worth mentioning that Cao Xuan has already reached an agreement with the crew of Lao Mouzi's "The Golden Flower".

Now Fanxing Film and Television City is rushing to work, giving priority to the construction of the scenes that Lao Mouzi needs. Around the end of the year, the crew of "The Golden Flower in the City" will be stationed in the filming.

【Spring and Autumn Warring States City】

The film and television base mainly focuses on the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods. It is adjacent to [Chaoge City] and can accommodate all production crews from the pre-Qin period. It can also be used during the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period.

Cao Xuan also found new crews to settle in, such as the TV series "Lying Hard and Taste the Bravery" starring Chen Daoming, and the TV series "Mythology" produced by Fanxing.

【Digital Studio】

This project focuses on indoor panoramic special effects & special effects shooting, and occupies the smallest area, but the amount of investment is not inferior to several other large projects.

A lot of technology and equipment were obtained by Cao Xuan from Hollywood through his connections, and they are among the top in China and even in Asia.

Fanxing Film and Television City started a little late. If it wants to compete with Hengdian, which has been developing for several years, besides the construction of film and television bases, it has to find another way.

[Digital studio] is the core competitiveness brought out by Cao Xuan. When film and television cities such as Hengdian Xiangshan have not begun to pay attention to digital virtual shooting with special effects, they will be the first to upgrade the industry and seize the market.

After a few years, when everyone realized that special effects had become a part of domestic films that could not be ignored, Fanxing Film and Television City had already left other film and television cities behind.

After the construction of the [Digital Studio] is completed, part of Cao Xuan's foreign light and shadow special effects company will move back to build a domestic film and television special effects center in Fanxing Film and Television City.

By then, Cao Xuan's "Feng Shen Bang", which has been dragged on for several years, should also start shooting, and Fan Xing can also try a blockbuster with special effects...

----

ps: I can't finish writing before midnight, and I will post it on time at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning
(End of this chapter)