Is it not a galgame?

Chapter 538 442 What? ! Invest in Microsoft

After reaching a cooperation intention with George Martin, Qing Zhiyuan left the remaining matters to Satoru Iwata to make arrangements, and then Qing Zhiyuan continued to go to Microsoft without stopping.

……

In the early days of the Internet era, Microsoft was a hurdle that could not be circumvented.

Bill Gates, the current president of Microsoft, has assets of US$900 billion, making him the richest man in the world.

Compared with Microsoft, whether it is Rentian, Pokeni, or even Sony, they are not enough.

When Qing Zhiyuan went to Microsoft, his most important task was to persuade Bill Gates not to participate in the console war.

……

Before visiting Microsoft, Qing Zhiyuan had already made an appointment.

After making an announcement at Microsoft's front desk, the lady at the front desk asked Qing Zhiyuan, Satoru Iwata, and Sega America President Peter Moore to wait for a while in the reception room. Not long after, she led Qing Zhiyuan and the others to sit down together. elevator.

When we arrived at the conference room on the top floor, several people were already sitting in it.

In addition to Microsoft President Bill Gates, there is also Ed Fries, the head of Microsoft's gaming division.

In the conference room, Bill Gates was wearing a white shirt. When he saw Qing Zhiyuan and others, they immediately stood up and shook hands with each other happily.

Although it was the first time to meet Bill Gates in person, Qing Zhiyuan seemed to be very familiar with this middle-aged man. He had seen many photos and videos of him in his previous life.

Bill Gates wears a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. He looks elegant but also reveals a hint of cunning. Generally speaking, he can be described as unattractive.

If you didn't know his true identity, you would think that this guy should be teaching in a university or doing scientific research. It would be difficult to connect him with a shrewd businessman.

Not to mention the richest man in the world.

Bill Gates actually likes to play games personally. In the early days when there were no visual game interfaces, Bill Gates often played naval battle games with his friends.

In the early days of computers, information and codes were read through a punch machine. For example, on a piece of punched paper, the punched paper represented 1, and the unpunched paper represented 0.

A naval battle punch type game has a table-shaped naval battle map between each other, and you can place your fleet at certain locations on this map.

For example, aircraft carriers occupy the largest number of grids and have the largest firepower range that they can attack. Then cruisers, battleships, etc. all have their own grids and firepower ranges.

They attack each other's grid to see if they can hit the other's deployed warships.

Then after formulating a strategy, he put the punched form into the computer for reading and verification. Although the equipment looked quite old, Bill Gates had fun playing this game back then.

It has a strong game character, and it is also a huge test of wisdom and strategic deployment.

In addition to playing this kind of punch-and-punch naval battle game, Bill Gates actually also likes board and card games.

But I don’t know exactly how much Qing Zhiyuan has played.

……

Compared with Bill Gates, Ed Fleiss has a more typical Western appearance. He has blond curly hair, a high nose bridge, and thin lips. He looks like a warrior from the ancient Roman period.

……

At today's meeting, it can be seen from the people present that Bill Gates still attaches great importance to pokeni, a gaming company.

Now pokeni is not only the largest game developer in the world, but also a strong competitor in the console market after acquiring Sega.

Microsoft played a very important role in the development of Sega DC, helping Sega develop and design the Windows ce operating system.

So they are not strangers to each other, and there is even some close cooperation. In the past, it was led by President Hayao Nakayama, but now Qing Zhiyuan has also inherited this.

Bill Gates is actually very happy to see Sega DC achieve results, and Microsoft has also made a lot of profits from it.

The real-time strategy game "Age of Empires 2" published by Microsoft Game Studios will be launched on the PC game platform and Sega DC in the second half of this year.

It is precisely because of the good results achieved by Sega DC that Microsoft is still hesitant to develop its own new console.

At this time, there are actually differences within Microsoft on future game strategies.

Bill Gates believes that the company now has ample cash flow, and can probably spend more than 300 billion US dollars to conduct large-scale mergers and acquisitions, and directly occupy the market through purchases, such as directly buying Rentiantian or directly buying EA. He even had the idea of ​​buying pokeni directly.

I just asked a professional to evaluate it. After Pokeni completed the acquisition of Sega, its current market value is probably more than 600 billion US dollars. It seems that P's annual net profit is not as much as Rentendo's, but its business is extensive, and Basically, it can reach the top of the industry, and the market feedback is quite good, so the valuation of Pokeni by investment institutions is quite high.

Especially now it is still 1999, when the Internet is booming.

A major Internet company like P Agency wears an invisible halo above its head.

So although Bill Gates has this intention, it seems a bit too reluctant to swallow pokeni.

……

Although Microsoft's PC game business has developed smoothly under the leadership of Fries, it is far from being comparable to giants such as Sony, POKENI, EA, and Rentian.

Before the advent of Sega DC, Microsoft developers preferred PS,

Microsoft also considered joining the PS camp and expanding its game division's business to consoles, but gave up because the contract details were not settled.

At this time, Microsoft and Sony are not allies, but they are not rivals either.

In fact, before Qing Zhiyuan's visit, Bill Gates had already approached Sony President Nobuyuki Dei several times.

Bill Gates wanted PS2 to use Microsoft's game development tools, but Sony President Nobuyuki Idei rejected it. This is not the first time Nobuyuki Idei has rejected Gates.

Later, the PS3 was officially unveiled at this year's E2 electronics show. Sony talked up the non-game features of the PS2 at the press conference and even said that the PS2 could replace the PC. This response made Gates very angry.

Ed Fleiss, the head of Microsoft's gaming department, has different opinions from Gates's idea of ​​"defeating Sony through "money power"". He prefers to take the path of self-research, that is, to develop a game. Game consoles with more advanced performance compete head-on with Sony.

Rather than joining the game market as a third party, it is better to be the first party directly.

Moreover, in addition to considering the company's grand strategy, Ed Fleiss actually has some selfish motives in it——

If Microsoft really succeeds in acquiring a major game company, his position is likely to be replaced.

He himself is not a particularly well-known game producer or the boss of a certain game company. He has just joined Microsoft for a long time, and with his love for games, he made games in college, so he was appointed Head of the gaming department.

When Microsoft established a gaming department, it actually didn't pay much attention to it. Fryce's superiors felt that Microsoft's gaming department was a corner that had no future and no one cared about.

However, this is what Fleiss likes. Without the dictates of his superiors, he can plan the future according to his own ideas.

The early members of Microsoft's game department all had similar ideas. In order to join the game industry they loved, they would rather downgrade themselves and choose a game department with lower income.

Microsoft's game department initially had only 20 people, responsible for small games such as Minesweeper and Solitaire built into Windows.

It was only after the release of "Age of Empires" two years ago that Microsoft's game department made some progress. Coupled with the continuous expansion of the global game market, it gradually became a star industry with broad prospects, which attracted Gates' attention. .

With such a work experience, Fleiss's biggest advantage is actually his relatively senior experience at Microsoft, plus he is the first veteran to enter the game studio.

But compared to other major game companies, Fleiss is really inconspicuous.

If Microsoft really acquires a large company such as EA, then Fleiss's supervisory position is likely to be taken away by EA executives.

Therefore, even from Fleiss's personal perspective, he hopes to take the independent research and development route rather than the banknote capability route.

……

So the arrival of Qing Zhiyuan today made Fleiss and others feel like they were facing a formidable enemy.

He himself did not expect that the boss of pokeni would actually visit in person and seemed to want to talk about very important issues.

It's obvious that Fleiss doesn't have much affection for Qing Zhiyuan.

Qing Zhiyuan is such a dazzling guy. His good looks are secondary. The most important thing is that pokeni can become the world's largest game manufacturer. The quality of the games it develops is really obvious to all, with one milestone after another.

In contrast, Fleiss is really inconspicuous, like the contrast between an ant and an elephant.

Qing Zhiyuan also noticed this.

His actually very important historical mission this time is to convince Microsoft.

It doesn’t mean that we have to prevent the birth of Xbox, but we just want to use the power of Microsoft to pursue our own development and follow the path of win-win cooperation.

The current game console market itself is already fierce enough. If Microsoft continues to fail, the competition for game consoles will become even more intense in the future.

Therefore, Qing Zhiyuan explained as much as possible at the meeting about Sega DC's future cooperative development with Microsoft. He hoped that Microsoft would use Sega DC as an extension of their game field, rather than starting a new game to develop a new game console. When it comes out, it will become even more fragmented.

"We are now using the operating system developed by Microsoft and will continue to use it in the future. In this way, games independently developed by Microsoft can be seamlessly connected. Whether they are released on PC or on Sega DC, they can actually play. It has a very good channel effect. Moreover, the continuous expansion of Sega DC is equivalent to extending the windows platform. As long as Microsoft can make PCs and Sega DC series game consoles compatible with each other in the design of the operating system, then with the development of game consoles Sales continue to expand, and Microsoft is equivalent to expanding its territory.

This is a win-win process for both of us. "

After Qing Zhiyuan finished speaking, Fleiss and others looked at each other, but neither of them made a clear statement.

But in Qing Zhiyuan's sight, Fleiss was whispering to Bill Gates:

"But even if this is the case, we are just a third party. How much benefit can we bring to Microsoft with a little royalty share and our game sales?"

Fleiss doesn’t quite agree with Qing Zhiyuan’s view, but his intention is actually very clear, “Instead of being a third party, we might as well develop game consoles directly. We can talk about compatibility with pokeni and make our Microsoft game consoles compatible with DC. This way It is equivalent to introducing DC games into the Microsoft market."

After all, the operating systems are designed by Microsoft. If they are compatible, they can complete it themselves, without even requiring the participation of pokeni.

However, due to the cooperation agreement, it is still necessary to obtain Qing Zhiyuan’s consent in advance.

……

The whole meeting lasted for an hour or two. Everyone at Microsoft listened to Qing Zhiyuan's explanation while discussing in low voices. The whole meeting was boring and frustrating.

Qing Zhiyuan seemed to have guessed something, so he asked to take a rest.

Looking at the time, it was indeed almost lunch time.

Bill Gates agrees.

So Gates took a group of people to the restaurant that had already been booked.

During the break, Qing Zhiyuan pulled Bill Gates aside alone.

"Mr. Gates, do you really agree to independently develop a new game console?"

Bill Gates hesitated for a moment and then laughed. Although he didn't explicitly say what he was going to do, the expression on his face actually showed that he had doubts about it.

“Developing a new game console costs a lot of money, and the later you enter, the higher the cost. We have invested over US$5 million in R&D expenses alone for the development of the Sega DC game console.

If Microsoft does it itself, there should be more. "

Qing Zhiyuan calculated the account for Gates with his fingers, "And this is only the research and development costs. The future promotion costs and the amount of money needed to enter the market will be huge. I estimate it will be at least more than 20 billion US dollars." The above can make a slight improvement.

More importantly, Mr. Gates, the console war has never just been about the performance of the console. It is actually about how many games are worth buying by players, especially exclusive games.

Joining forces with a third party in the game and proposing a profit transfer... This subsequent process takes an astronomical amount of time and money. "

Listening to Qing Zhiyuan's confession, Bill Gates' brows slowly furrowed.

"However, there is a ready-made game platform now, and that is Sega DC. It also uses Microsoft's operating system, why not extend along this road?"

“In the future, our consoles will all use Windows operating systems, and Sega DC can definitely provide more non-game functions.

For example, DC can surf the Internet, send emails, and make work reports, but the focus is only on gameplay. "

To a certain extent, this is equivalent to computerizing the game console. In the future, not only can you play games through the game console, but you can also surf the Internet and use various software through the game console. If it is equipped with an external keyboard, the Sega DC2 will be a complete system. .

A small box computer, but a unified standard, focusing more on gaming performance and performance.

Bill Gates smiled bitterly and did not immediately respond to Qing Zhiyuan.

In fact, it is all a question of making more and less.

The profits that DC now provides to Microsoft cannot satisfy them, that's probably it.

That's why Microsoft's game department wants to be the first party itself.

The idea is very good, but as Qing Zhiyuan analyzed, in fact, no one has any confidence in whether the new console can occupy the market. After all, these people have never made a game console before, and even if they make games, they are not particularly successful. .

Qing Zhiyuan said that it seems quite interesting to use DC game consoles and subsequent series as an extension of Microsoft's platform.

At least Gates himself agrees with this strategic concept.

But how much benefit can Microsoft get from it?

In fact, he is not sure yet. Although Microsoft develops operating systems for game consoles, although it can enjoy part of the share, this also depends on the sales of game consoles, and Microsoft cannot get a lot.

But developing a console seems like a lot of investment in the early stages, but the returns in the later stages may be good.

"Mr. Qing, let me tell you the truth," Bill Gates laughed, "I would rather buy a large gaming company directly. Our dream is to beat Sony in the gaming field.

If you said you would sell Sega to me directly, or even sell Pokeni to us, then I would be very interested. "

Ah this...

Qing Zhiyuan was completely stunned.

Good guy, it turns out you have such a big appetite that you just want to take advantage of other people’s bodies?

In the flash of lightning, Qing Zhiyuan's brain was thinking rapidly.

After some calculations and a short weighing, Qing Zhiyuan made a bold decision:

"How about this, Mr. Gates," Qing Zhiyuan said with a smile, "My suggestion is to transfer part of Sega's equity to Microsoft, which is equivalent to Sega becoming half of Microsoft's game department.

Our cooperation with Microsoft will be closer in the future.

You don't have to reinvent the wheel. It's equivalent to the division of labor between pokeni and Microsoft, and the benefits will be maximized. "

This is Qing Zhiyuan's proposal.

It is equivalent to using Masayoshi Son's method to win over Microsoft.

Bill Gates was all smiles.

This young man Qing Zhiyuan is really on the right track.

"If that's the case, why not use the method of exchanging equity." Bill Gates said with a smile, "Exchange part of pokeni's equity with Microsoft."

"Huh?" Qing Zhiyuan was suddenly stunned.

Swapping equity is a very common method in corporate mergers and acquisitions. For example, in 2006, after Disney acquired Pixar, 7.3% of Disney's shares were directly given to Steve Jobs, making him the largest individual in Disney. shareholder.

The relationship was mutually beneficial, with Jobs helping to strengthen Disney's retail business and Disney becoming the first company to sell its TV and movie properties in Apple's iTunes store.

Since Qing Zhiyuan proposed to transfer Sega's equity to Microsoft, Bill Gates simply proposed to drag Qing Zhiyuan to join Microsoft and exchange part of Microsoft's equity with Pokeni's.

It is equivalent to Microsoft owning part of pokeni's equity, and pokeni also holds part of Microsoft's equity.

The plan Bill Gates mentioned does not involve changes in controlling shares or board seats, and is a pure bundle of interests.

The purpose of equity swap is usually to introduce strategic investors or partners to achieve cross-shareholding between the company's controlling shareholders and strategic partners to establish interest relationships.

In a sense, Microsoft and pokeni have complementary advantages.

Microsoft has strong operating system design and R&D capabilities, while Pokeni has game console hardware and game R&D capabilities. Once everyone becomes a community of destiny, the business will expand exponentially.

Qing Zhiyuan only thought for a moment and couldn't help but laugh.

"If that's the case, I believe pokeni and Microsoft can become the best strategic partners in the world."

The two people laughed meaningfully at each other, shook each other's hands, and reached an agreement.

In this way, Gates can rest assured that he no longer has to engage in the research and development of new consoles. He only needs to fully promote the Sega DC and Windows operating systems.

Once the intention to cooperate is reached, the rest to discuss is actually very simple——

Use how much to replace how much.

……

……

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No updates tonight

Thanks everyone

See you tomorrow (end of chapter)

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