Restart the Gaming Era

"Strange, Zhou Sen, are you a programmer chasing the stars so enthusiastically? Seeing you happy is like eating bee shit. I don't know that you made this virtual idol. WWW.SUIMENG.lā" Dahui Brother teased a few words and continued to write his own code.

Zhou Sen was in no mood to explain this to him, and quickly opened a three-person chat group: "Zhong Ming hurry up to wake me up! We got the first prize, got 2 million, did it! Is this true !!!! "

He also stood up a bit and looked at Zhong Ming from the design team, and saw Zhong Ming sitting calmly in his seat. He couldn't see how excited he was.

Zhong Ming replied: "It's not true for the time being. The final award will have to be confirmed by the jury. It will be determined by a combination of factors. However, from the current situation, Chanel is basically the first prize this time. "

Zhou Sen was even more hilarious: "Let's hurry up and plan how to spend this 2 million! No, it is 4 million. As long as we hand over the copyright of Chanel to Xinghua Mutual Entertainment Development, the subsequent income will definitely be more!"

"It's really a lot of money! What do you think of Zhong Ming, how do we use this money? You are the main creator, you have the final say."

Jiang Wanna is not on the same floor in the "Mecha Age" project, so Zhou Sen and Zhong Ming can't see her expression, but from her reply, it should be very happy.

After all, the image of Chanel was created by the joint efforts of three people. Although Zhong Ming contributed the most, the work of Jiang Wanna and Zhou Sen was also essential.

Zhou Sen was happy to imagine the future: "If the copyright is handed over to Xinghua Mutual Entertainment Development, it will be 4 million. In this way, Zhong Ming, you can take the big head 2 million, or 2.5 million. Take some, maybe six or seven hundred thousand. With this money, I can resign and go out and play for a while. "

Jiang Wanna also agreed: "I have no opinion. The two of us actually did not contribute much, mainly because of Zhong Ming's design and creativity, and the music was also made by Zhong Ming."

Zhong Ming didn't make a statement immediately, but replied after a while: "My idea is not to sell copyrights, and don't spend 2 million bonuses, let's do something meaningful."

Zhou Sen didn't quite understand: "Ah? Meaningful things? Further education? That would be fine."

Zhong Ming: "It's not for further studies. I want to use this money to develop independent games. Indeed, two of us, three of us, can each get six or seven hundred thousand, and it can cost a few to spend a month. Years, but thinking of another way, such a large sum of money is hard to come by, and I want to use it as a starting capital to make more money. "

Zhou Sen was startled: "Do indie games? Zhong Ming, you think about it, your behavior is basically equivalent to putting a big bag of money on the edge of the cliff, and you will lose everything when you let go! You are a designer You know the risks of making indie games, right? "

"Of course I know, but think about it, are you willing to continue working for others?" Zhong Ming asked, "Do you want to be forced to work overtime every day, scolded by the airborne leader, and earn a lot of money for a project?" , But you can only get a bonus of 23%? "

"... reason I know, uh, I think about it again."

Zhou Sen stopped talking, probably doing inner struggles.

Jiang Wanna said: "To be honest, I feel very risky. However, if Zhong Ming insists, I will not resolutely oppose it. What I worry about is whether our ability is sufficient, and the 2 million funds are indeed enough to develop an independent game. But the premise is that the cost control of the entire project is in place, and if it exceeds the budget, it may ruin itself. "

Zhou Sen and Jiang Wanna both hesitated.

Hesitation is normal, because everyone knows that indie games sound beautiful, in fact, they are stepping on the wooden bridge. Several successful examples are indeed glorious, but the abyss under the wooden bridge is full of bones.

There are many studios with ambitions to be excellent independent games, but many of them are dragged down by themselves.

Simply put, there are three thresholds to making a good indie game.

The first is project management and cost control.

The second is the promotion of the game.

The third is the profit of the game and the development of the next game.

Every threshold can make a large number of studios run into blood.

To be an independent game, the founding members must basically be full-time. After all, making games is not cooking. It is very hard. The development cycle of a game is as short as several weeks and as long as several months. All of them are busy becoming dogs, and it is impossible to get a high salary. After all, this is considered to be working for themselves.

With limited funds, various places have to spend money, and how to do a good job of cost control is a big problem.

For example, is the work place renting an office building or just a private house? How to solve utility bills, meals, etc.? Can you recruit people if you don't have enough staff? If you can't recruit people, it will be money to process resources and find headhunters. What should I do if the art resources of the project are not up to standard? Is it better to spend money on better art design, or to directly find outsourcing companies to buy art resources?

The cost of any link beyond the plan may cause the funding chain to break. At that time, the game is only half done, and it is not profitable at this time. At this time, either you continue to throw money into it or you can only give up helplessly. No matter which way you choose, it will be very difficult.

Even if the cost control is okay and the game is successfully made, how to promote it is still a problem. There is no special promotion channel, and only ordinary game platforms can be put on the shelves. The recommended position cannot be bought, and the hot search is not available ... There are few people playing, the game cannot be profitable, and the cost cannot be recovered, which is still equal to blood loss.

Even if the game is promoted, whether it can be profitable is still a problem. The game is profitable and the cost is recovered, but what about the next game? I really don't have such good luck.

Therefore, there are many independent studios in this world, but there are very few truly successful ones. It can be said that there are no ten. Most of the studios are either annexed by large companies or they are bankrupted and dissolved. Speaking of developing independent games, many The first reaction of a person is hard work.

However, indie games are already the game with the lowest threshold.

Zhong Ming would like to have some more secure options, such as making a bracelet game similar to "Mech Age", but that investment is much greater than the independent game. Not to mention anything else, it's just the number of employees in "Mecha Age". Based on the average salary of 10,000 yuan, it will burn more than 300,000 a month, not to mention all kinds of expenses such as office space and other expenses.

If Zhong Ming explodes, one person can do the work of three people, then it should be able to be developed, but then there will be no money for publicity and the like, and once some conditions appear midway, there are too many uncontrollable factors.

Not to mention Zhong Ming's current qualifications, even if he hangs up in a studio, he can't recruit anyone at all.

Therefore, Zhong Ming is not in a hurry, and there is no need to take such a big step, and take indie games as his first small goal first.

The group remained silent for more than half an hour.

Zhou Sen seems to have made up his mind: "Okay, I have also decided, if Zhong Ming thinks that you have a good idea ~ www.readwn.com ~ I think it is feasible to do independent games, then I believe you! Doing independent games is indeed possible. No return, but I am also willing to try it, it is better than to drift away from project to project and look stronger! "

Zhou Sen is indeed exuberant, and every project is awkward.

The earliest was Project No. 52, which has been working overtime, then disbanded, and laid off a large number of employees.

Then came "Mecha Age", which just got better and was yellowed by Liu Yuxin.

It's "Learning the World Without Limits", although it is still hot now, but it is very bad from the next trend ...

Moreover, although Zhou Sen and Zhong Ming have not been working together for a long time, they also know each other a lot.

From the Xinghai battlefield to the million dollar coin, and then the virtual idol Chanel, Zhong Ming's personal ability is undoubtedly the absolute best designer that Zhou Sen has ever seen, and he is an all-rounder. Regular games are no problem The answer game is no problem, even virtual idols can be made!

Therefore, although Zhou Sen was full of worries about the independent game, he was finally moved by Zhong Ming's statement and agreed.