Reborn: Billionaire in College

Also appearing with Feng Ji is Yang Qi, the soul of Youke.

Tian Hongrui focused more attention on Yang Qi with a little interest, which made Yang Qi feel puzzled.

"Mr. Tian knows me?"

Tian Hongrui smiled and shook his head, then asked, "Does Mr. Yang know Mr. Chen Pingjiang, the chairman of our group?"

Yang Qi was stunned and shook his head repeatedly: "I don't know him, I've never seen him. Although I'm from Dongjiang, I've been working in Shenzhen since graduation. Mr. Chen is famous all over the world, and I've known him for a long time."

Tian Hongrui felt a little strange.

If that’s the case, how did Mr. Chen know Yang Qi’s name? Even he himself is not familiar with this name.

He still remembers that before leaving, Chen Pingjiang asked him to pay more attention to Yang Qi's movements and thoughts.

Who is Yang Qi?

He is the soul of Youke and one of the main creators of "Black Myth: Wukong". He was also the one who proposed to make "Black Myth: Wukong". He graduated from the China Academy of Art.

"Tian, ​​please sit down!" Feng Ji greeted him with a smile. "The last time we met was 10 years ago, right? In the blink of an eye, you have become a core figure in a large group and well-known in the industry, while I have nothing."

Tian Hongrui waved his hands and said humbly, "You can't say that. I know your strength, brother. It's just that I'm luckier than you. I followed the right person and joined a good company. I'm in charge of the core game of the group. It's not an exaggeration to say that I won without doing anything."

Tian Hongrui won without any effort, but Feng Ji was in a miserable situation. It is not an exaggeration to say that he accomplished nothing.

Feng Ji, who had just joined Tencent in 08, was promoted to project leader because he proposed a very avant-garde plan, and received strong support from Tencent in terms of funds, technology, and manpower. He was responsible for Tencent's self-developed flagship product at the time, "Douluo Dalu", a game with a very "dark" gameplay and an even darker plot. It successfully created a unique, violent and ghostly world of Journey to the West. With its solid and interesting gameplay, "Douluo Dalu" received rave reviews at the beginning of its launch, earning Tencent a good reputation.

However, problems soon emerged. The huge investment in "God of War" was extremely restrained in terms of krypton gold, resulting in poor returns. From the perspective of capital, no matter how good a game is, it is equal to zero if it does not make money. Therefore, "God of War" was drastically changed after the story of "White Bone Lady", and the content that forced players to play and krypton gold suddenly increased sharply, and the reputation collapsed instantly. Since then, there has been a saying that "after White Bone Lady, there is no more Journey to the West". Feng Ji was also very helpless about this. After shooting a "violent self-deprecating" short film to apologize, he left Tencent some time ago and turned to create the Game Science Studio.

Yang Qi and several other colleagues also left with him.

Feng Ji looked at Tian Hongrui, who had the same status as him back then and now has become a big shot in the industry. It would be a lie to say he was not envious.

When facing Tian Hongrui, he still had a kind of inferior attitude.

"What are your plans for the future?" Tian Hongrui asked casually after taking a sip of tea.

Feng Ji said: "We have just rented an office space. We have no idea about the new game at the moment. We are still looking for the direction."

Finding direction and planning for making games is the foundation and also the most difficult part. The people at Youke currently have no idea.

Tian Hongrui nodded, he seemed to have forgotten this feeling a long time ago.

There is no way. After following Mr. Chen, I was led astray the whole time.

Game planning?

Game direction?

nonexistent!

Just do whatever Mr. Chen says and you will become famous. It’s that easy and simple.

Old Tian is an honest man after all, and he does not become arrogant because of Feng Ji's current predicament.

"How have you considered the matter I told you last time?" Tian Hongrui asked tentatively, "The gaming industry is now monopolized by giants. It's hard to make a name for yourself without resources behind you. You, Old Feng, have come to Renren.com. I dare not say much, but I will definitely give you a good project. Just go for it."

Feng Ji shook his head without hesitation: "Old Tian, ​​thank you for your kindness. It's not just me who doesn't want to go back to the big company. Yang Qi and several other colleagues who started the business together don't have this idea either. You know, we just want to make pure games seriously and don't want our reputation to be ruined or our hard work to be wasted. We need absolute control over our own games, which you can't give me, and neither can Mr. Chen."

The failure of "Douluo Dalu" became a source of worry for Feng Ji and others.

Tian Hongrui smiled in understanding: "That being said, you have no one, no money, and no direction now. It's hard to survive, right? You started a business to prove yourself, but the current situation is definitely not what you want."

Feng Ji smiled awkwardly.

"You're right. Although we've seen how powerful capital is, even if we like stand-alone games, Youke Studio must survive before we can dream about it. So we plan to make two pay-to-win mobile games first to accumulate capital."

"Haha!" Tian Hongrui laughed with a hint of regret: "You obviously don't like pay-to-win games, but you have to do it for your life dream. It's really hard for you to do the thing you dislike the most, Lao Feng."

"It's okay. Life is all about accepting what comes your way and not being able to do anything about it. As long as the dream and the original intention are still there, there is still a chance."

It seems that Feng Ji and others are determined to start their own business, which makes Tian Hongrui a little regretful.

Although Director Chen has already said that financial investment is possible, Tian Hongrui still wants to try to pull Feng Ji and others into his team to strengthen Renren Games. "Since I can't persuade you, then I will bring Director Chen's highest instructions to make a financial investment in Youke."

After hearing this, Feng Ji and Yang Qi were stunned. Why did the style change so quickly?

"Are you kidding me? Brother, you didn't reveal any information about this before, and I didn't prepare myself mentally." Feng Ji was stunned.

Right now, Game Science Studio only has a signboard and nothing else. It hasn't even found the direction of new games. It's not an exaggeration to say that it's a shell company. What investment value does such a studio have?
"Why am I teasing you? It's enough that I believe in you. I tried to recommend you to Mr. Chen, but he was surprisingly interested in you. I can only say, Old Feng, your luck is about to change." Tian Hongrui laughed, "Don't look at me like that. You know miHoYo, right? It was unknown before, but after being spotted by our big boss, it took off and is currently preparing for a big production."

Yang Qi interrupted at this time: "I know miHoYo, their "Honkai Gakuen" is pretty good, I've played it too. I was curious about their background before, so I looked up their information and found out that your company invested in it."

Tian Hongrui nodded: "To be exact, it was invested by Mr. Chen's private investment company, but that's not important. You just need to know that there is no project that Mr. Chen likes that won't sell well."

Tian Hongrui thought that he was so sincere, and a mere Youke would be easy to get. But what he didn't expect was that Feng Ji and Yang Qi looked at each other and shook their heads at the same time: "Old Tian, ​​thank you for your kindness, and please tell Mr. Chen that Feng Ji appreciates his appreciation. It's just that we are not short of money for the time being and don't need financing. I still have some savings, which is enough to support us for a while."

"Huh?" Tian Hongrui thought he had misheard. "Don't you know how much money it costs to make games? How long can your little money last? Such a good opportunity is right in front of you, but you don't grab it, Lao Feng?"

It's really crazy!

However, Tian Hongrui immediately thought about it and roughly guessed the reason why Feng Ji refused, which was still because of fear.

They are wary of Renren's wealth and Chen Pingjiang's fame and reputation, and are afraid that one day they will repeat the same mistakes and lose control of the game or the right to speak in the company, and end up being no different from before.

After smacking his lips, Tian Hongrui said, "Don't be impatient. Listen to me first. Our company promises not to interfere with business decisions, not to take the lead in projects, not to seek distribution and operation, and fully respect the business decisions of entrepreneurs. Before I came, Mr. Chen also specifically instructed that the R&D team should be given a high degree of autonomy."

This made Feng Ji slightly stunned. When did Renren, the overlord of the Internet circle and the largest giant in China, become so easy to talk to?
Tian Hongrui saw the doubt in Feng Ji's eyes and explained, "The main purpose is to help you successfully complete the project, and we will not deliberately pursue any commercial returns. To put it bluntly, Renren's business version is already big enough. Currently, several games have an annual revenue of over 10 billion. There are two PC games and two revenue-generating games under intensive development. Even the "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" that was just tested a while ago is going to be a big hit. Do you think they will really be interested in a small studio like yours? Instead of wasting energy on controlling you, it's better to let you do whatever you want."

Feng Ji and Yang Qi thought about it and it made sense.

Game science right now is useless, what can Renren see in us?

Is it really angel investment?

Seeing that Tian Hongrui didn't seem to be joking, Feng Ji, the CEO of Youke who currently holds 100% of the shares, also became serious and they began new tests with each other.

"So you really want to invest this time?"

Tian Hongrui raised his eyebrows and said firmly: "Yes!"

"You, Old Tian, ​​are also an old hand in the gaming industry. You should know that our interests are all in single-player games. Even if this game is made, it will definitely not make much money. We may even lose money."

"I understand. It's not the first day we've known each other. You don't know how to make money even if I ask you to. We just want to do something with long-term value together." Tian Hongrui nodded.

Feng Ji was amused: "Wow! Long-term value? It's not the first day we've known each other."

Tian Hongrui spread his hands and said, "Renren has a good reputation in the industry, right? We are not your old employer Tencent. Mr. Chen, we have always hoped to do something more beneficial to the industry ecosystem."

"Hey, Lao Tian, ​​don't say nice things. I just want to ask you, after investing, will you interfere with product decisions and the company's daily operations?"

"Absolutely not. I've said it before. What I said is responsible and can be put into documents."

"What about after it's done? Will you try to steal it away? For example, relying on your status as an investor, will you try to take over the distribution and operation rights of Black Myth: Wukong or other Youke products?"

Tian Hongrui was a little unhappy after being questioned again and again. He said with a dark face, "I have made it very clear before that I will not interfere with business decisions, take the lead in projects, or seek distribution and operation. You are so annoying, aren't you, Old Feng? Don't you think your studio is really a great one? There are at least dozens of such jobs in the country. If I didn't have this relationship with you, why would I come to you?"

Seeing that Tian Hongrui was a little angry, Feng Ji quickly begged for mercy: "Don't be angry, we are doing business now. You want to invest, so it is understandable that I, as a founding team, have some concerns, right?"

Tian Hongrui: "I understand. It's just an angel investment. How much money can you ask for? How much money do you dare to ask for? The money you want to invest is not enough to take the lead. You are still the ones who make the decisions."

"If I'm not short of money, what else can you, Old Tian, ​​do for me besides money?"

“Everything you can think of.”

"Then can you help even if you don't accept investment?"

Tian Hongrui rolled his eyes and ignored it.

Isn't Feng Ji too cautious?

If he wasn't an acquaintance and Mr. Chen wasn't on a mission, he would have turned around and left long ago. (End of this chapter)