Reboot 2003

Chapter 238 017: Porter’s Five Forces Model (Three in One)

If an ordinary person said this, there would be no credibility, but after all, A Yue had a special status and seemed to be very determined.

Not only did she take out the money carefully - the three envelopes contained the signature fee and the contract. The content of the contract was what she thought of casually during class. The content was of course a bit rough and imitated Chen Qin's 'confidentiality agreement'. Written, but the money is real.

And came up with a plan.

"I don't know anything else, but I saw my father studying games since I was a child, and I know something about it myself." A Yue said, "Now among the few of us, Guo Yang is good at writing compositions and can be a copywriter. Song Ziyun often If you are playing games, why not do the planning? Chen Qin feels like he knows everything. I would like to ask you to be the producer. As for me..."

A Yue said, taking out the album from her bag: "Actually, I'm pretty good at drawing. Although it's not very accurate to say that I'm drawing, and I don't have experience in playing games, but I can learn. I've been doing it since I was a child. I like to make scenery paintings into pixel paintings, and I can design things like game buttons and menus.”

Guo Yang was impressed by her professionalism: "But can the four of us do it alone? For example, games must draw characters, and music is also needed."

Song Ziyun also said: "The game must be programmed, right? Can Chen Qin do it alone?"

A Yue said: "Let's recruit people separately. Although I don't know how to recruit people, I can pay. In addition, there are people in our company. I can make a framework first and then invite people from the company to come." help."

The two nodded, seemingly convinced by her, and then looked at Chen Qin.

Chen Qin took a deep breath.

He didn't know where to start, so he could only ask: "Do you have a plan to make money? It's just a plan to spend money."

Ah Yue touched his arm with her elbow: "This money was donated by the uncles and aunts that day. Not counting the company's money, it's actually quite a lot!"

"Does your mother know that you spend money so randomly?" Chen Qin felt that he had high blood pressure. "Forget it, even if you put this aside, you want to play games now. Do you know what game you want to make?"

"Of course it is an independent game. Nowadays, many individual producers can make a game by themselves. There are four of us. I think it is not impossible for us to make an independent game even if we are junior high school students."

"Okay," Chen Qin asked her, "then how can you be sure that independent games can make the company money and help your family's company get out of trouble?"

"I don't know, but I can give it a try anyway. I will try my best." A Yue said, "Besides, there are many independent games that can make a lot of money, such as popcap company, and Flash Empire..."

Chen Qin hesitated to speak and organized his words.

Then asked her: "First of all, you are playing this game to make money, are you sure?"

A Yue nodded: "Yes, of course."

"The second thing is to make the company make a lot of money. Although it may not be achieved, this is your goal, right?"

"Yes."

Chen Qindao: "I also know that you are right. There are indeed many examples of making a lot of money from games in recent years."

The three of them nodded.

"Since you are willing to pay and you are our friend, I can help you with this." Chen Qin said, "But you want to make a lot of money. As a friend, I have to introduce you to some industry knowledge."

"Yeah, tell me."

"I am also a member of the game industry now. Our business is a game gold earning studio." Chen Qin asked, "Since you are here to make money, why don't you follow my example of a game gold earning studio, and instead make an independent game?" Woolen cloth?"

A Yue thought seriously: "Because if you want to make a lot of money, the gold mining studio will be suppressed by the game company, right?"

Chen Qin shook his head: "Indeed, but even so, it is more promising than your independent game. Have you heard of a theory called the 'Porter's Five Forces Model'?"

A Yue shook her head, and Chen Qin said to her: "This is a theory summed up by car sellers in the last century. When entering a new industry, they evaluate the possibility of success in the competition."

"They are: the bargaining power of suppliers, the bargaining power of buyers, the entry ability of potential competitors, the substitution ability of substitutes and the current competitiveness of competitors in the industry."

"First of all, the bargaining power of suppliers. Independent games are a software industry that basically only requires labor costs. In contrast, our game studio needs to deal with a domineering supplier who conflicts with our interests. They only need If it is discovered, the goods and production tools in our hands will be directly destroyed, which is why the studio's business cannot grow."

"Secondly, the bargaining power of buyers... You know, today's computer games are already a very mature industry. If our works are sold too expensive, many users will buy games from big companies, and Gold Studio's User demand is difficult to satisfy. As soon as the price is lowered, demand will increase significantly, so this is the winner of Dajin Studio.”

"Then there is the ability of potential competitors to enter. Both industries are industries that individuals engage in, but the thresholds are different. Although the gold-making studio is simple, it requires a large initial investment to reduce labor costs. Games are one of the few pure-play industries. In an industry that relies on software development to achieve results, it can be said that every software engineer is a potential independent game developer, so at this point, gold-making studios obviously have an advantage."

"The fourth is the substitution ability of substitutes... Although the gold-making studio does not produce necessities, users' demand for game gold coins exists objectively, and gamers do not know whether a game is what they need, so Developers also need additional market persuasion, and Goldsmith Studio is better in this regard.”

"The last thing is the current competitiveness in the industry... There are actually a lot of gold-making studios now, but we rely on our cost advantage to compete in foreign servers, and the profits are quite stable; on the other hand, independent games have just emerged, but the game industry itself is It’s a highly competitive industry, why do you think we can stand out from so many games?”

Chen Qin said he was tired, opened the milk tea and drank it. The three of them listened attentively as if they were reading a book from heaven. Guo Yang tried to summarize: "So to sum up..."

"It is better to be a gold farming studio than to make a game." Chen Qin said, "Since you want to make money, this is your best choice."

Of course, this sentence was meant for A Yue. A Yue nodded seriously and said depressedly: "Actually, I don't expect to make a lot of money. I just feel that I will do my best to do some small business. If I fail, I won't be able to do it." Complaining.”

"But you are definitely not rushing to fail. I am just telling you that it is difficult to succeed." Chen Qin said, "Besides, if you are running a small business, you should open a goldsmithing studio. The problem is that the supplier is not good enough." Certainty, if it is a low-cost operation, on the one hand it is less likely to be discovered, and on the other hand the ship is small and easy to turn around, and this only problem disappears."

"All right……"

A Yue had nothing to say and couldn't speak to him anymore. The other two people felt that what Chen Qin said was reasonable, so they gave her the envelope and asked her to go back.

Of course, Chen Qin's envelope was also taken back. After the four friends finished their drinks at the milk tea shop, Guo Yang forced Song Ziyun to hold him back, saying that we were all friends and it was necessary to help in the future, but there was no need to pay directly.

After going out, the boys took A Yue to a nearby cash machine and watched her deposit the money back. Today's activities ended here...

When he finally left, Chen Qin breathed a sigh of relief.

A Yue's plan just now surprised him, but actually if he had to tell it, this was probably the best way to do it.

But what to say.

Several students formed a club of their own.

Then each took advantage of their strengths and developed an independent game...

It sounds very good. In a few years, this will probably become a very fashionable literary and artistic creation theme, such as an otaku and a group of beautiful girls, or beautiful girls without otakus getting together to develop video games for their ideals. In his job, after going through some difficulties, he finally made the game a hit and reached the pinnacle of his life. This story is indeed quite interesting. After all, in a sense, this is reality——

In reality, in the next few years, the game industry will appear on the cusp of the times. At that time, there will be a large group of flying pigs. In fact, they have no experience in game development. They rely solely on their own gaming experience on the C-side and some specious games. After working hard for several months on their coding skills with enthusiasm, some of them disappeared quietly, and some of them didn’t know why. In short, they made a lot of money after the product was launched. There are not many such examples. To be fair, Those stories about beautiful girls playing games are actually not entirely unfounded.

In a few years, by 2023, the trend will of course have passed, but the number of people who like game development will not decrease, and there will even be game engines specifically for primary and secondary school students. Although these engines have disabled functions and worrying performance, It will still be very popular in the market. A large number of new entrants who do not particularly pursue game development efficiency, but pursue street reputation such as 'game development' will crowd this track. As a personal hobby, its practical basis also says Quite strong.

However, no matter what, this industry is actually not that casual. A Yue can make games, but she wants to make independent games. This word is a bit too strong...

Nowadays, independent games are not actually a systematic concept, but I have to say that her vision is quite forward-looking.This year is 2007. A series of commercially successful masterpieces such as "Braid", "World of Goo" and even "Plants vs. Zombies" will appear within a year or two. Microsoft has also recently made a lot of bets on the independent game route. Few resources.

As for the reason why this road is not recommended...

Of course, people in 2023 know that the combined monthly sales of all independent games on Steam may not be as good as the monthly revenue of Genshin Impact. Although the content industry has its own internal logic, the niece next door has to go to such a fiercely competitive world. , working in an industry where there is not much profit and water, Chen Qin, as an elder, still needs to say clearly what needs to be said.

Thinking like this, I have reached the crossroads of breaking up.

Chen Qin took one last look back and saw that A-Yue seemed to have gone back to school.

As for Song Ziyun and Guo Yang, they met Chen Qin at the crossroads. When they separated, Song Ziyun was still muttering about his Taiqing Divine Seal, but he had to go home on time because of the midterm exam.

Chen Qinze came to the third floor of the New Era as usual.

The weather is already very cold in November and the days are short.

It was a cloudy day today. When I entered the studio, the man with high heels was repairing a damaged computer, and the woman stood on the other side looking at her mobile phone.

Chen Qin walked through the dim computer room alone and turned on the computer next to the counter.The humming machine warmed the damp and cold room a little.

Then open the game and start clearing up wasteland and completing daily tasks.After regaining his strength, he played another mission. After that, he had nothing to do. Chen Qin hung up in the new house of the union. The nurse from the army was jumping around next to him. She seemed to be bored too.

"Ah……"

Chen Qin yawned and raised his head. It was already dark. There was no one in the computer room. The room was dark. Xiao Gao and his woman were hugging and kissing at the door, but no one turned on the lights in the room. Chen Qin was too lazy to get up. Just as he was thinking about whether to shout, the two people at the door suddenly let go of their hands, and a girl with short hair appeared at the door. Xiao Gao waved his hand and let her in.

The girl walked in. The only light in the dark studio was the display screen. She took two steps and made an "ouch" sound, as if she touched the leg of the chair.

"The light is over there!"

Chen Qin, who was at the back, pointed at the switch. Ah Yue turned on the light, and then squeezed into the back of the room. Chen Qin asked her, "What are you doing here again?"

A Yue pulled out the chair next to her and placed the lunch box on Chen Qin's table.

"Well, you haven't eaten yet?"

"I'm such a big person, I won't starve to death if I'm hungry."

Ah Yue sat next to Song Ziyun: "Don't you think the darkness is scary when you are sitting here alone in the dark? I thought you weren't coming either."

Chen Qin did not explain: "Then your student union can't run around outside the school. Aren't you afraid of being seen by the teacher..."

"Who cares about them!" A Yue said depressedly, "My family's company is about to go bankrupt because of me. At this time, who has the mood to care about teachers and schools..."

"Then you are still in school?" Chen Qin said with a smile, "Besides, your family's assets are not limited to just this one, so why are you worrying so much?"

"You don't understand!" A-Yue said seriously, lying in front of the dark screen, "This company has special significance. It is the first company started by my father."

Chen Qin said nothing, but Ah Yue added: "Actually, I thought about it carefully just now, and the studio is actually very good."

Chen Qin couldn't laugh or cry: "You want to open a goldsmithing studio again?"

Ah Yue shook her head: "No, I'm actually embarrassed to say it when there are many people, but Chen Qin, don't you really want to play games?"

"what?"

"It's what you said last time." Ah Yue sat upright in the big chair and said seriously, "You said you like playing games, so you helped me. This time I just have a chance, so I thought, If everyone gets together to play a game, then Chen Qin can realize your dream, my family's business can be saved, Song Ziyun can probably prove himself to his father and mother, Guo Yang can also make money, and his family can The conditions are not good, but he doesn’t like help from others. If he can make money by himself, everyone will benefit.”

She said a lot of things in one breath, and under the dim light, something dim seemed to be shining in her eyes.

Of course, Chen Qin felt more and more unreliable the more he listened, but after listening to it, he scratched his head and didn't know what to say...

When he told A Yue that he wanted to play games, he approached her for this reason... Of course, he made it up casually.

The reason...he can't tell A Yue that I am also your father's friend.

But I didn't expect that she remembered it so clearly.Chen Qin said sarcastically: "If you want to revitalize your family's company, just think of a way on your own. It doesn't matter what we do. We are just a group of junior high school students. We don't need you to help us figure out a way."

A Yue said with embarrassment: "Because that's what I thought. I thought about it that day. I hope bad people will be punished and good people will be rewarded. I think Chen Qin and you are all good people, and you are all in my difficulties." So if there is a company, I hope it can let us make an independent game together, but if it is just such a deserted gold-making studio, then I don’t want to do it.”

Chen Qin looked outside the door, shook his head, and asked, "What about yourself?"

"what?"

"did you eat?"

"I've eaten. By the way, hurry up and eat. Don't talk about this."

Gollum...

At this time, Ah Yue's stomach suddenly started to growl. Chen Qin didn't ask any questions, got up and went to get a box of instant noodles, and then brought a hot water bottle over.

"Actually, I'm not hungry. Chen Qin, please eat..."

"That's not what I'm talking about." Chen Qin made some noodles, returned to his chair, and opened the lunch box A Yue brought. "Actually, I didn't tell you the whole reason this afternoon. Although you said it's okay if you can't make money, I won't let you." What’s the main reason why you make games, do you know?”

"What is it?"

"It's because you are unqualified. Business is a very serious matter. Although you seem to be working hard, the core of business is not how complicated your connections are to achieve your goals, nor how firm your stance is when fighting against your enemies. , not to mention how well you study and how hard you work when participating in management..." Chen Qin said, dividing the rice into two portions, "Do you know what the real core is?"

A Yue asked: "What is it?"

"You are not greedy enough." Chen Qin said, "The core of business is greed. Although we will improve efficiency and make connections for the sake of greed, we will also take the initiative to do something beneficial to society while satisfying greed, but we are not greedy enough. It is impossible for a businessman to be successful, and there is no such thing as a businessman who doesn’t eat for himself and only thinks about others.”

With that said, Chen Qin divided the lunch box into two portions and pushed the extra portion in front of A Yue.

"Then if I really want to make money, what should I do?" A Yue thought for a while, took the lunch box, and asked.

"This is your own business. In fact, you can try it." Chen Qin said, "But no matter what, since you want to do a project, you must first consider how to complete it and how to make it recover the cost. How to make further profits instead of immediately wanting to take care of your classmates in the class, or even using money donated to your family by others to generate income for the company, which fundamentally violates business logic."

A Yue took a handful of rice, ate it in small bites, and nodded slowly.

As Chen Qin spoke, he opened the lid of the instant noodles and used a small plastic fork to roll a circle of noodles full of soup.

"Every known business in the world is difficult to do. It is even more difficult to support a listed company with one business. This means that you have to become an irreplaceable role in today's global market. But you You're still just a junior high school student, so it's too early for you."

As he spoke, Chen Qin placed the rolled noodles on the rice in A Yue's lunch box, and some soup dripped from the edge of the lunch box onto the table.

“That being the case, the question now is not what you can do to make a lot of money, but what you can do.”

As Chen Qin spoke, he picked up his plate and asked her: "What resources do you have at hand? What kind of business does your knowledge base support you? What kind of business is your company suitable for? And...what do you want you to do in your interests?" cause?"

A Yue's eyes started to sparkle: "Actually, I still want to play games."

"What price can you pay?"

"I can pay." A Yue said.

"You are here to make money, not to be taken advantage of." Chen Qin reminded her.

"I...I can draw, and I can also learn other things."

"This is collective creation, and players don't care how hard you work."

"My Kuaiwan company actually has a license, a website, and even a distribution channel under its name."

“There are a lot of companies in the market that have these things.”

Chen Qin was chatting with her while twiddling the noodles. Ah Yue was inexplicably nervous and didn't have time to eat. But when she briefly talked about this issue, the things under her hands seemed to be inaccessible to ordinary people of the same age. Suddenly became worthless.

But she knew that it all made sense - when she had this idea before, those impulsive ideas were actually immature, but after being rejected by Chen Qin like this, the outline of the vague plan seemed to become clear - It's difficult, but not far off.

She finally thought for a long time and said with some embarrassment: "Actually, I have thought about making games by myself before, and I have also visited game companies. My father also taught me to write a planning proposal. Of course, I know that my level is very good. Damn, I can only see that you are much better than me. If you want to see it, I can show it to you when I go to school tomorrow."

"Then let's do it." Chen Qin took a mouthful of rice and suddenly said, "In that case, let's do it first, but let me make it clear first, I'm very busy and I don't have time to be your producer. I can only give you a beating."

"Then...what else do I need?"

"You need to focus on the game. The game is a program, and people are the tools you use to make this program. Let's do this. I will give you a lesson in self-study tomorrow morning. The topic of the first lesson is tentatively decided as 'Agile Development' is here."

(End of this chapter)