Top of the Great Era

Chapter 2193 Invisible backhand

The so-called Ship of Theseus describes a ship that can sail at sea for hundreds of years thanks to constant repairs and replacement parts.As soon as a board rots, it is replaced, and so on, until all the functional parts are no longer the original ones.

So the question is, is the resulting ship still the original Ship of Theseus, or is it a completely different ship?If not the original ship, at what point is it no longer the original ship?

In the past 2000 years, this has been a very classic philosophical thinking.

Boss Zhou put forward this thought at this time, which immediately made Ren Yuxin dumbfounded.

This kind of smart person knows everything.

In an instant, Ren Yuxin's cold sweat was about to break down, and he felt the fear of the big boss.

It's not that he's deeply thoughtful.

But the means are vicious!

The name of "Pro Evolution Soccer" is "PES".However, football cannot be called Soccer, so it has to be changed to Football, and because it has obtained the "FIFA" trademark and the sports game "2K" brand, it needs to be further combined.

Therefore, as long as Konami and Changyou reach a cooperation, the game will have to be renamed.

Constantly changing names.

From "PES", changed to "FIFA2KPES", then changed to "FIFA2KFootball", then changed to "2KFIFAFootball", and finally gave up paying huge trademark fees to FIFA, and changed its name to "2KFootball".

At the beginning, it was called "PES", and after some operations by Changyou, it became "2KFootball".

Then the problem is coming.

Are "PES" and "2KFootball" still the same game?

It's like the ship of Theseus, where all the decks have been replaced and everything is different from the original ship.

So is this still the Ship of Theseus?
This is very critical!
The copyright of "Pro Evolution Soccer" is in the hands of Konami, and Changyou only has the right to use it on computers, tablets, and mobile phones.If there are other forms of game modes in the future, it is also necessary for both parties to cooperate.

As far as the strength of the company is concerned, Changyou can crush Konami.

But if the copyright is in the hands of Konami, they will have the initiative.

No matter how substantial the contract signed by the two parties is now, this is an unavoidable hurdle, and Changyou will always be in a relatively passive position.

Once an uncontrollable event occurs in the future, Konami will be disobedient, and the money will be opened, and it will be a moth behind the scenes, what should I do?
"The Ship of Theseus" is the solution!

The copyright of "Pro Evolution Soccer" belongs to Konami.

But is "2K Football" equal to "Pro Evolution Soccer"?Is this a game?If not, Changyou will own all the copyrights of "2K Football", which will be an original game of Changyou.

Ren Yuxin was already stunned, a little dazed, a little unbelievable, "Do you want to tear up the contract?"

Zhou Buqi laughed and said, "Tear up the contract? This is just the last resort for self-protection!"

"Self-protection?"

Ren Yuxin couldn't believe it.

It was then that he suddenly remembered the scene when he signed the contract just now.

Boss Zhou talked about the name change. At that time, Shangyue Jingzheng and Shangyue Tuoya felt that it was irresponsible to temporarily increase the terms.Then Boss Zhou took a step back, saying that he would not add the name change to the contract, but just talk about it verbally.

The other party also agreed.

Looking back now, it tasted pretty good.

At that time, if the father and son agreed, Boss Zhou himself might not even agree!
The clause of changing the name cannot be added.

The copyright contracts signed by Konami and Changyou are all based on the game "Pro Evolution Soccer", which has certain loopholes.So will this contract be binding on "2K Football"?
Maybe there will still be.

But at least there will be a lot of controversy, and you can file a lawsuit and make trouble.

Because this request was rejected, when Boss Zhou later proposed to buy the mobile game copyrights of the two games "Contra" and "Red Fortress", the other party was embarrassed to refuse.

Really don't give the world's richest man any face?

Rejected once, but also rejected a second time?
Coupled with internal and external difficulties, Yue Jingzheng had no choice but to agree to sell the mobile game copyrights of these two games, and the asking price was only 300 million US dollars.

It feels like there is a foreshadowing before and after.

Zhou Buqi said frankly: "It is self-protection, just in case. "Pro Evolution Soccer" is in our hands. If it succeeds and makes a lot of money, who can guarantee that Konami will not be jealous? Once they are jealous, think about it. They're making trouble behind their backs...it's really going to make a big fuss, at least Changyou reserves the right to overturn the table."

Ren Yuxin took a deep breath, "If it's really a lawsuit, it's hard to say."

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "That's right, so Konami must not want to go to court, and will obediently cooperate with Changyou. In recent years, let's quietly remove the name of PES when the Chinese New Year matures. Speak directly to Konami."

"Speak straight?"

Ren Yuxin twitched the corner of his mouth, the big boss does things, but this is straightforward.

Zhou Buqi said indifferently: "There's nothing to cover up, just brighten up your muscles properly, so that the other party will die as soon as possible! By cooperating with Changyou in a down-to-earth manner, they can continue to earn part of the money surrounding "Pro Evolution Soccer" If you dare to have any other ideas, then let’s break it up.”

Ren Yuxin said: "Konami cannot afford such a loss."

Zhou Buqi said with a smile: "So, this is not only a warning, but also an opportunity to deepen the cooperation between the two parties. Didn't you say that they still have many good games, and you can win them all."

Ren Yuxin was a little terrified, "Go and threaten them..."

Zhou Buqi said disapprovingly: "How can it be called a threat? Look at the 'Black Ship Incident' in Japanese history. Back then, American warships threatened Japan to open the country. But this incident started Japan's Meiji Restoration and Japan's modernization path. Without this incident, how could Japan be the opponent of the Qing Dynasty? This is a good thing, and we are also doing this for Konami, helping Konami open A door to a new world."

Ren Yuxin pondered for a long time, and then slowly said: "Well, Konami really doesn't dare to break the skin with us. If there is a Sanda lawsuit, I guess we will lose. But even if we lose, It will also be a very favorable result for Changyou. Even if Konami wins, they cannot afford the price.”

"Oh?"

"If you lose, at most, Changyou will compensate Konami for some economic losses. Then the penalty will be imposed. The copyright of "Pro Evolution Soccer" belongs to Konami, and the copyright of "2K Soccer" belongs to Changyou. After the two parties separate, there will be no copyright anymore. At that time, the influence of "Pro Evolution Soccer" had long been transferred to "2K Football", and the transfer of intangible assets had already been completed."

"almost."

Zhou Buqi nodded, similar to what he had previously consulted.

Regarding the copyright of games, there have been too many controversies around the world, the most typical being "Tetris".Because this game was developed by an engineer in the Soviet Union back then, but the Soviet Union was not a civilized country, and there were no legal restrictions or intellectual property rights, so many foreign companies bought many repetitive copyrights.

So much so that the copyright of this game is very chaotic now. It is in the hands of more than a dozen companies. Basically, they will pay each other some money to compensate each other, and then they will do their own things.

Ren Yuxin said: "With this backup, we have Konami's biggest handle."

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "That's right, Konami doesn't seem to be interested in the mobile game market. It doesn't matter, they don't want to do it, we help them do it. Cooperation, the more the better, the better. Still make money with peace.”

Like FIFA.

In the previous life, EA's "FIFA Soccer" made a lot of money, and FIFA became jealous immediately, and then made troubles. EA was unwilling to pay a large amount of money, so FIFA set up a game studio by itself to develop "FIFA Football"...and EA's can only be called "EA Football".

Konami is definitely better than FIFA.

But also take precautions.

Ren Yuxin finally understood what the big boss meant. This ambition is really big. He said in a deep voice, "I want to tie Konami to Changyou."

Zhou Buqi said: "To be precise, it is nibbling step by step, just like boiling frogs in warm water, making Konami a vassal of Changyou without knowing it. Not only Konami, but Capcom should also be like this! If you can’t buy big game companies from Japan, then control them from the business level!”

(End of this chapter)