Top of the Great Era

Hearing what he said, Zhou Buqi understood what it meant.

Changyou is a game giant. Not only has it acquired many game companies outside, but it also has many game studios and self-developed games.

Covers almost all game categories.

Once the category is repeated, it is easy to cause "infighting".

For example, Changyou currently has three tower defense mobile games that have been successful in the market.

One is "The Avengers". With the popularity of the movie, this game has become the most popular tower defense mobile game in North America, and it has squeezed into the top ten in the list of free games for both ios and android. .

One is "Three Kingdoms War", which is a tower defense game developed based on the elements of the Three Kingdoms. The gameplay is basically similar to "Avengers", and it recruits heroes from the Three Kingdoms to defend.This was developed by Changyou's domestic team. Due to the subject matter, this game is mainly aimed at the domestic and Japanese markets.

The last one is the famous "Plants vs. Zombies", which is PopCap's flagship game.

They are also tower defense games, but they are developed and operated by different product teams.

Even if everyone belongs to the same company, for the benefit of their respective teams, there will inevitably be some friction between different teams, and they are trying to find ways to compete for more company resources and get better promotion and publicity.

There is internal competition, which is actually a good thing.

Each other can grow and improve in the competition, and they will become more competitive in the market.

But this is all idealized.

No matter how good Zhou Buqi is, he has to admit that his control over Changyou's overseas business is far less than his influence over Changyou's domestic business.

Those foreigners are used to being loose, they are extremely individualistic, and they are often not very obedient.

Just like Zhou Buqi can do whatever he wants in Ziwei Star, but he can't be too presumptuous in Ziwei Star International. Many important decisions must be handled carefully and fully communicated with senior management.

Therefore, when competing within an enterprise, it is easy to fail to grasp the heat.

When competing, there are two strategies to stand out.

You are stronger, I am stronger, so I stand out;

I am weak, you are weaker, and I can stand out.

This is a hidden danger.

My level is bad...that's okay, as long as your level is worse.As long as you have a bad life, I can live a good life.The company's resources are limited. If you can't get the resources, the resources will naturally fall on me.

This has become an infighting in the enterprise.

EA is a lesson from the past.

"Three Kingdoms War" is better, it is a regional game.

"Avengers" and "Plants vs. Zombies" had similar frictions, and Zhou Buqi directly intervened to settle the matter.

This is how the movie "Avengers" was released and became popular all over the world; and then the mobile game "Avengers" followed suit and became popular in North America.

At that time, people from Baokai Studio protested internally, thinking that the mobile game "Avengers" imitated some elements and designs of "Plants vs. Zombies", and asked them to stop immediately.

The mobile game "Avengers" was developed by a newly established game studio called "Inheritance". They have little say in the company, and they are all newcomers. Without authority and status, it is difficult to speak up.

Baokai Game Studio is the studio that Changyou relies on most, and it has a very important voice.Once it is targeted, the release time of the game "Avengers" will definitely be delayed, or even aborted.

Later, Zhou Buqi hurriedly stepped forward, convened a board of directors, and reorganized Changyou's organizational structure, changing from a vertical model to a flat model.

The vertical model requires layer-by-layer management.

For example, Inheritance Game Studio, because it has just been established, is relatively low-level, and belongs to the Second Casual Game Division of the Mobile Games Department. There are several layers of leaders, including directors, senior directors, business department presidents, group vice presidents, and the big boss CEO Tang. Mattrick.

Baokai game studio is too senior, so the level is high, and the studio president is the level of the business department president.

Between the same level, it is easy to talk.

I beg you today, maybe you beg me tomorrow.

This can easily lead to the collusion of power.

The president of Baokai said a few words to the president of the mobile game department, and the mobile game department might order Inheritance Game Studio to revise the design of "Avengers".

Internal competition has turned into infighting.

Flat management is to reduce the middle levels. The more levels there are, the more prone to corruption of power and rigidity of the system.Everyone is on an equal footing.

Whether it is a large studio or a small studio, it is the same level.

They all report directly to the vice president of the group in charge.

Some key games can even report directly to CEO Mattrick.

If everyone is equal, the situation of this studio being bullied by another studio can be reduced.Rely on the game to compete, rely on the market to speak, not internal power.

Today's technology companies are basically transforming towards a flat organizational structure.

Changyou can be regarded as following the trend.

good results.

The self-developed game "Avengers" jumped out immediately and achieved excellent market performance.It is also easier to do foreign mergers and acquisitions.

Those game studios that have been acquired don’t have to worry too much about being suppressed by the inherent forces in the company after being bought over.

Just like EA.

In the past few decades, it has become the grave of the game industry. Too many excellent game studios have been acquired. After the purchase...these studios are miserable, and their development is hindered everywhere, until they finally lay off employees and close their doors.

Hearing what Don Mattrick said, Zhou Buqi frowned slightly, "Isn't everything resolved? There will still be internal fighting?"

"It's not considered internal fighting, but there are some disputes." Mattrick's reaction was relatively calm, "I think it's reasonable, we can't learn EA."

Zhou Buqi paid attention to it, "Oh? Tell me."

Mattrick said: "Games are a creative industry, especially mobile games. The technical content is generally not high, and the biggest selling point is creativity. "The Avengers" stole some of the ideas from "Plants vs. Zombies", and there will be sequelae . If the Plants vs. Zombies team came up with an idea that was good for the game but better for The Avengers, they would probably drop that idea because of that."

Zhou Buqi was a little angry, "The game market is so big, why?"

Mattrick sighed, "The player's time is always limited. They are all tower defense games with similar audiences. This includes the "Clash of Clans" we are going to acquire this time, and a Uruguayan company I am looking at. It is also a tower defense game studio. Their game is "Kingdom Rush", which was launched last year, and the market performance is not bad. These games are similar in form. They are all competitors."

Zhang Chaoyang said with a smile: "Normally, there are two main strategies for competition in the market. One is to please users, and the other is to suppress competitors. Compared to pleasing users, suppressing competitors is an easier method."

Zhou Buqi looked at Mattrick, "What are your plans?"

Mattrick said: "Changyou already has "Plants vs Zombies" and "Avengers Alliance", if you buy "Clash of Clans" and "Kingdom Defense"... By the way, Heritage Studio is still adapting " Star Wars, want to develop a tower defense mobile game with related themes. This internal competition is too fierce. Putting so many games under the account may lead to more and more homogeneous products, lack of Relatively independent creative design."

"Well, that makes sense!"

Zhou Buqi was convinced by his last sentence.

Groups are homogeneous.

Put a good person among the bad ones, and he will gradually become bad; put a bad person among the good ones, and he will gradually become good.

Once converged, individuality will degenerate and creativity will be lost.

If you want to be creative and imaginative, you must maintain the independence of the individual, instead of allowing a large group to include every individual.

This collective may be an organization, a company, or a society.

If Changyou bought all these excellent game studios, it would be equivalent to integrating those independent individuals into its own collective.

The lack of individual independence will inevitably lead to a lack of creativity.

Zhang Chaoyang also became serious about the matter, realizing the seriousness of the matter, "There really should be such a change of mind! The development threshold of mobile games is very low, and the greatest competitiveness is creativity. We must ensure that every mobile game is The creative source of the game team. This is not the same as those large-scale 3A games, such as "2KNBA" and "2K Pro Evolution Football". In fact, there is no creativity, and the more important thing is to make the game exquisite enough. Traveling is a completely different logic."

Mattrick smiled and said: "It is indeed the case. EA's lesson is too profound, and we must avoid it."

Zhou Buqi asked: "How to avoid it?"

Mattrick said: "Keep the independence of some good studios."

Zhou Buqi took a deep breath, "It should be!"

Mattrick said: "Actually, Changyou also had the same idea in the past. For example, "Angry Birds" and "Talking Cat" were all operated independently. But I gradually found that it was still not possible, and would still be subject to great pressure from the company. The impact. Fortunately, these games have no competing products within the company, and will not cause internal creative suppression, and the status quo can be maintained. However, tower defense games are not good. There are too many similar games, and we must consider the tendency of convergence. Hidden danger."

"So..." Zhou Buqi squinted his eyes, "We must ensure the independence of the studio at the source, starting from the equity and voting rights. Changyou has to show posture and take the initiative to back down."

Zhang Chaoyang nodded repeatedly, "Well, it should be!"

Mattrick was very happy, with a smile on his face.

Both big bosses agreed.

This pattern is really unusual.

If he agrees to this, it will be easier for him to carry out his work in the future, and it will be much easier when he is managing the company.