""GamePro": 87 points. The addictive game process and super cute picture style make Penguin's first game a good start..."
""PC Gamer": "Plants vs. Zombies" saved my electronic penis in September and drove away the boring life."
"..."
A week after the game was launched, major North American mainstream game media and magazines have reviewed and rated it, all of which are in the category of good products with a score of over 80 points. The affected players scoffed at it if they didn’t like it, and couldn’t put it down if they liked it.
Even in order to be the first to play it, many foreigners set up tents outside the store and lined up a day or two in advance. It is hard to imagine that a domestic self-developed interrupt casual game is so popular, sweeping the United States in a short period of time, and becoming a phenomenon-level hit. .
The cumulative number of copies sold through Steam, XGP and other sales channels on PC has exceeded 500,000. The number of downloads continues to grow and cannot stop at all!
"Crack."
Lu Fei threw aside the ign game magazine in his hand. On the title page, he gave "Plants vs. Zombies" a high score of 9.0. The overall rating was "amazing". In short, it was ridiculously high. "Resident Evil 4" was just like this. Just level.
"Mr. Lu, according to this trend, sales will definitely exceed one million!"
Lu Huateng stared closely at the background. Every time it was refreshed, the sales figures would jump up, sometimes by dozens, sometimes by hundreds.
While excited, he couldn't help but said helplessly: "It's a pity that domestic piracy is so bad that we can't make any money at all."
"Isn't this what we expected a long time ago? We have never thought about making money from Chinese people. If we want to make money, we will make money from foreigners!"
Lu Fei smacked his lips. The game development cost was only over 3 million. Even if he acquired Baokai Studio, he would still make a lot of money.
Not to mention that the IP of "Plants vs. Zombies" is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and the sales volume alone is one million. Because Steam has just started, there are no middlemen to earn commissions. (Baokai sold itself to EA for 650 million with the IP of "Plants vs. Zombies")
It only signed a distribution agreement with Microsoft as an agent, and its revenue exceeded US$50 million. The distribution ratio dropped to 15%, and it could earn at least US$100 million on the computer side.
"Too."
Lu Huateng then thought about it, and he couldn't help but feel happy when he thought that Microsoft was preparing to sign a cooperation agreement with Penguin for the next game, and that Hasbro, Fisher-Price, McDonald's, KFC, etc. were vying for the linkage authorization.
"The next step is to strike while the iron is hot, step up the development of the second Chinese version, and launch a Facebook-specific social online game version."
Lu Fei touched his chin. In fact, what he cared about the most was "League of Legends". This was the foundation of Penguin Swordsman's gaming industry.
At this time, Peter Seale called on behalf of Sequoia. The popularity of "Plants vs. Zombies" caused Penguin's stock price to rise slightly by 2%. Wall Street recognized the game's research and development capabilities and was concerned about the next capital operation plan.
Lu Fei said without hesitation: "We have submitted a letter of intent to acquire a video website..."
"Is it a pipeline?" Petersill asked.
"Oh, you also pay attention to YouTube?"
Lu Fei felt a sudden thought and became very cautious.
"No, in fact, the founders of YouTube are all former employees of Paypal. The vice president of Paypal approached us on their behalf. Sequoia originally did not intend to invest, but after seeing such good advertising effects of "Plants vs. Zombies", it changed I had an idea, but I didn’t expect that you would beat me to it.”
Petersill did not realize what he had lost by missing the oil pipeline. He assured with a smile: "Don't worry, we will not sabotage Penguin's first acquisition after it went public."
"Thanks."
Lu Fei hung up the phone and looked solemn: "Where is the acquisition now?"
"We have sent two certified public accountants to investigate."
Lu Huateng said: "Because it is only a company that has been in business for half a year, the assets, finance, personnel, and administration are all clear, and there is nothing to check on the books. It is completely penniless. If the funds are not in place, the oil pipeline will definitely not be able to sustain itself."
"The process needs to be accelerated! It will be bad when someone discovers the value of the oil pipeline, raises the price to cause trouble, or even cuts it off."
Lu Fei licked his lips. The reason why the investment in Facebook and the acquisition of YouTube have gone smoothly until now is because the two parties have not noticed that the Internet is the future public opinion battlefield.
It will take until Lucian runs on YouTube and King Dong uses Twitter to govern the country, that the donkey and elephant parties will wake up, otherwise Musk will buy Mao's Twitter...
"I'll tell Li Qing soon."
Lu Huateng winked at the employee who controlled the computer.
I saw him immediately log in to the YouTube website. The page was redesigned at this time, which was very different. It had opened up 8 channels such as living area, game area, music area, dance area, film and television area. Not only the content was vertically subdivided, but also the key The account you log in to is the same as Google in the previous life, with hidden secrets and private information——
You must register for the Penguin overseas version’s email address, foxmail!
With the blessing of Facebook, Line and other bindings in the past, and the blessing of the logical Android ecosystem later, it has surpassed Google and firmly occupied the third position in the world, second only to Yahoo and Microsoft.
If you include China, it is truly the number one in the world!
Lu Fei looked sideways, his eyes falling on the video hot list.
James Rover's "Angry Video Game Otaku" is on the list. The New Jersey accent, irritable and "dirty" style, combined with excellent writing and meticulous editing, are impressive.
The number of views has exceeded 200,000, and the newly opened comment area is full of countless messages. The popularity is almost explosive, and the audience is extremely enthusiastic——
[Waibi Babu, Waibi Waibi]
[fuxk, you made a loss by selling it for US$19.9! 】
[The full name of the game is "Plants vs. Zombies", which can be found in the official game store. No need to thank me, I'm just so helpful! "
[Upstairs, take me with you! 】
[Shut up and take my money! 】
【……】
"Youtube now has the traffic diversion from Facebook and Line, as well as the popularity of "Plants vs. Zombies". The number of visits and the total number of videos have increased dramatically, but bandwidth is a big problem."
Lu Huateng is not without difficulties. With the growth of massive users around the world, the broadband cost of oil pipelines is bound to rise. Calculated based on traditional models, it is an astronomical figure.
It will make the financial report of Penguin, which is already listed, very ugly!
"What are your ideas?"
Lu Fei pouted, as if his hands and feet were tied up after going public, and he could no longer do whatever he wanted.
Lu Huateng said: "I discussed with Li Qing that the bandwidth pricing model is not suitable for YouTube. We can, we can..."
Lu Fei waved his hand: "If you have any ideas, just tell me."
Lu Huateng said: "Can we use the method of Singularity International Station, where we buy some dark optical fiber from the telecommunications company?"
Lu Fei listened carefully. The so-called "dark optical fiber" is an optical fiber invested in construction but not put into use. Not only can it be used to transmit data to all parts of the world, but it can also be used to sign broadband exchange agreements with other ISPs through these dark optical fibers.
Lu Huateng said with a smile: "In this way, our broadband cost on the oil pipeline is almost zero, and all expenses are just the depreciation of optical fibers and routers."
“This is a great idea!”
Lu Fei snapped his fingers, "It's best to develop or simply buy video compression technology to further reduce broadband costs."
The two expressed their opinions on the strategic development of YouTube, and various inspirations emerged one after another, from algorithm logic, subscription logic, to sharing logic, and they unanimously agreed to develop a customized recommendation algorithm.
That is to turn YouTube into the PC version of Douyin!
"Mr. Lu, although YouTube is now in a growth period and commercial advertising is prohibited, the majority of profits in the future will definitely depend on advertising. We need to think carefully about this aspect."
Lu Huateng holds Chinese cigarettes in his mouth and puffs out smoke.
Lu Fei blew out a smoke ring: "It's not that I haven't thought about it, you can do search engine bidding advertising rankings, but Baidu and Sogou's models are only suitable for China. If you want to learn, learn from Google. Google's adwords system is an efficient printing system." Money machine!”
"What do you mean, we poach people from Google?"
Lu Huateng's eyes lit up and he put out his cigarette in the ashtray.
…………
San Francisco, Google headquarters.
The coffee shop was filled with a strong aroma. Sergey Brin and Larry Page were waiting quietly. From time to time, they could hear employees discussing "Plants vs. Zombies" eagerly.
"Hey, Larry, did you hear what they said?"
Sergey Brin sipped his coffee.
"Of course, this is a game recommended by Lu himself in a video. It is normal for it to be popular. If it is not popular, it would be a shame for his reputation."
Larry Page raised his eyebrows, "But what I care more about is the website where he uploaded the video."
"You mean the oil pipeline?" Sergey Brin asked.
"Yep!"
Larry Page said: "I asked someone to use Google's search capabilities to peek at the real data of YouTube. Since the launch of "Plants vs. Zombies", nearly 10,000 users have been added every day. Not surprisingly, it will exceed 1 million by the end of the year. , this data is too scary, isn’t it?”
Sergey Brin was keenly aware that the video sharing website would be a hot topic, "Wow! I wonder if we can invest in YouTube? If they have plans to raise funds..."
"I have asked Gai Yin and others to contact them."
Larry Page said seriously: "But investment is investment, and we can't just sit back and wait. Google must also follow the video trend and make its own Google Video."
"Youtube is taking the UCG route. Why don't Google do the opposite? The direction is PGC. Let's get those professional content copyrights and build a Google Video Store like Spotify..."
Sergey Brin became more and more excited as he thought about it, and the coffee in his cup almost spilled. "It's very possible to succeed! It's completely possible! Isn't it, Larry? Just put the link on the search homepage to guide traffic."
"You're right, Brynn."
Larry Page smiled. It just so happened that Google and Apple had hooked up and it was already the default search engine for Apple's Safari browser.
Sergey Brin joked: "It would be great if the two companies could merge in some way, just with our software and Apple's hardware..."
Larry Page reminded: "I think it's better to separate. Don't forget Motorola Rockr. Our cooperation with Apple is not ideal."
Sergey Brin was speechless. Indeed, the music-focused iTunes mobile phone launched by Apple this year had a mediocre response in the market and did not cause much turmoil at all.
Larry Page smiled and said: "I heard that China Continental also announced the release of a logic phone at this new phone launch conference."
"Really? Is Lu going to compete with Steve Jobs?"
Sergey Brin got excited.
"I don't know." Larry Page threw the paper cup into the trash can, "But I know we have to go to this conference."
"Why?"
Sergey Brin was startled. Google is now considered half of Apple's ally, so why is it praising logic?
Larry Page said seriously: "Google will soon enter the Chinese market. Don't forget that Li, who was poached from Microsoft, said that no matter who enters China, it is best to say hello to Lu in advance."
……………………
Meanwhile, Masconi Exhibition Center.
"Plants vs. Zombies" was a huge success, so Lu Fei handed over the finishing work to Lu Huateng and Zeng Liqing, and came to San Francisco non-stop. Logic's new machine launch conference was indispensable for him as the soul figure.
The rehearsal was heavily guarded, and an electronics laboratory was set up backstage to place and test logicx mobile phones, beat1 headphones, kindle2 tablets, and the mainstay lmusic fourth generation.
In addition, a dedicated lounge is separated next to it. There are guards on duty 24 hours a day in front of the door and even at all entrances of the exhibition center. Anyone who enters or exits must go through electronic identity authentication to maintain confidentiality to the extreme.
Yin Fanka revealed his identity and Wang Ben opened the door politely.
"What's up?"
Lu Fei had been rehearsing all morning and was resting on the back of his chair.
"The house you want in the 220 New York Park Building." Yin Fanka put the collected real estate agency information in front of him.
"Are they all above 40 floors?"
Lu Fei browsed briefly and found that there were not many properties for sale in the entire 69-story building, but they were really expensive. A large flat with one floor and one unit cost more than 20 million US dollars.
This is enough to buy seven or eight luxury houses on the Gold Coast!
"This is the building in the best location in Manhattan." Yin Fanka said, "Columbus Circle is on the west side...it's within walking distance of the Museum of Art and Design, Carnegie Hall, and Lincoln Performance Center..."
"Okay, then buy 2 sets."
Lu Fei was thinking about whether to get through the two sets.
"2, 2 sets?"
Yin Fanka's eyes widened. He bought a house faster than expected and with a lot of money, even more lavish than his father.
Lu Fei said: "What, is there a problem?"
"No, then when are we going to take a look? The real estate agent is waiting at any time." Yin Fanka said with a smile.
"When the press conference is over, you come with me."
Lu Fei twisted the bridge of his nose: "Is there anything else?"
"Xu faxed the flight information you requested."
Yin Fanka's eyes sparkled. Men are most handsome when they are holding out their wallets, especially when they are holding out their wallets for women.
Boeing 767, Boeing 767-300…
At a glance, Lu Fei skipped Boeing and focused on Airbus. He immediately fell in love with the A318 Elite business jet, but it was a pity that it was only delivered for use in May 2007, so he had to wait for almost two years.
"Might as well buy this."
Yin Fanka sat on his lap and pulled out a photo of the Airbus A380, "It was written in the magazine that this is the last word in a rich man's toy."
"What I bought is not a toy."
Lu Fei took a closer look, darling, it's 120 million US dollars for one knife!
Although not all of the money was paid by him, Penguin bought it at full price. He then spent his own money to buy the rights to the business jet from Penguin. When not using it for private purposes, he leased it back to Penguin for free.
"Then it's the Boeing 757. My dad has this one."
Yin Fanka pointed out and pointed out that King Dong spent 100 million US dollars to build the "Ace Army No. 1". The interior decoration was all gold, from seat belts to sinks, gold accessories were everywhere, and the level of luxury even surpassed that of "Air Force No. 1". Number One".
“It says it’s going to be discontinued this year.”
Lu Fei spotted the Gulfstream G550 business jet at a glance among a bunch of pictures. It can fly directly from New York to Tokyo.
"That's a shame, the 757 is really comfortable."
Yin Fanka flipped up her blond hair and pursed her red lips.
"How comfortable is it?"
Lu Fei touched the hem of her clothes...
Before the two of them could take any further action, there was a knock on the door of the lounge, and Guo Xing's voice was heard from outside the room:
"Mr. Lu, Edgar Bronfman Jr., the president of Warner Music, is here."
