game trailblazer

Chapter 234 Zhang Lexing's Response
Thinking that Square Enix might jump into the embrace of Sega like the original PS game camp, Kutaragi Ken felt shuddering, because that means super masterpieces such as "Final Fantasy" and "Dragon Quest" The change of owner not only seriously affects the players' choice intention, but also may promote many small and medium game companies to make new choices, and even some big game manufacturers may have moved their minds, which is unacceptable to SCE and Sony.

Thinking of this, Kutaragi Ken's face became serious: "Miyamoto-kun, is the acquisition of Square's stock that you mentioned just now reliable? Will there be any variables..."

"Kudaragi-kun, please rest assured that this is my idea after careful consideration, and it is also the best opportunity to implement it now, because as far as I know, major shareholders may further reduce their holdings in the near future, which is very beneficial to us, as long as you agree If so, Square will be ours from now on!" Miyamoto Masashi said with a sinister smile.

"Yes, it's ours!" Ken Kutaragi nodded in satisfaction, and also laughed, very happily...

Not long after Miyamoto Masashi made a small report to Kutaragi Ken, a report on the relevant situation was placed on Zhang Lexing's desk, detailing Miyamoto Masashi's recent main activities, although there was no communication between Miyamoto Masashi and Kutaragi Ken The content of the conversation, but the possible purpose can be guessed from his recent main actions.

After Zhang Lexing read it carefully, he was not angry, but smiled happily. Unlike Capcom and Konami, Square has been listed a few years earlier, and the largest shareholder KF-Panda has also reduced its holdings from the peak The 70% of the company’s shareholding has gradually decreased by about 40%, and Miyamoto’s shareholding has also been diluted from 30% to the current 18%. In fact, this is also to give confidence to other small and medium shareholders and prevent them from worrying about major shareholders arbitrarily.

This time KF-Panda reduced its shareholding again, mainly to promote the stock flow of Square Co. The company has absorbed about 23% of the equity, but because none of them exceed 5%, it is not eye-catching. Unexpectedly, Masashi Miyamoto, who has always been low-key, really thinks that his spring is coming again, and jumps out immediately Move around.However, relying on Zhang Lexing's direct or indirect control of the equity, Miyamoto Masashi's various actions are destined to be nothing more than clown-like performances.

Although it is impossible for Miyamoto Masashi to make too many waves, Sony's meddling made Zhang Lexing very unhappy. People would have a temper if someone pried the corner of the wall and pried it so clearly.Zhang Lexing knew that according to his plan, sooner or later he would have to fight Sony head-on in the game field, but the time has not come, and it has not yet reached the point of tearing faces with Sony, but he still intends to teach SCE a lesson in this matter, At least let Ken Kutaragi know that there are some things he can't touch.

After Zhang Lexing thought it through carefully, he picked up the phone and called Hua Shao, who was in charge of absorbing Square's stock in the early stage, and explained on the phone: "Hua Shao, you arrange someone to continue to absorb Square's stock, don't act It’s too fast, you need to hide it, but you must win at least 10% of the outstanding shares, and once it exceeds 10%, you must stop. For the time being, it is still scattered under the names of many companies. Don’t exceed that amount, and wait for the need I'll let you know when..."

After arranging Hua Shao's actions, Zhang Lexing contacted Yang Xinxin through ICQ, an internal enterprise of the group, and asked her to continue to push KF-Panda to continue to reduce the holdings of Square's shares in the board of directors, so as to lure Miyamoto Masashi and others hands on.After all the arrangements were made, Zhang Lexing just had to wait quietly for the latest news. However, before Miyamoto Masashi and others started to make a move, Wang Mengyao brought some good news first.

On this day, Zhang Lexing stayed in his office as usual, waiting for news, while discussing Christmas and New Year's arrangements with Chen Zishan through ICQ on the computer.At this moment, Wang Mengyao knocked on the open door of the office and walked in.Zhang Lexing looked up and saw that Wang Mengyao was wearing a black professional skirt with a narrow waist and a printed silk scarf around her neck today, which made people's eyes shine.

Holding the file folder, Wang Mengyao walked to Zhang Lexing's desk and said, "Boss, some things you ordered before have made progress. Let me report to you."

"Oh, let's see." Zhang Lexing leaned back, looked at Wang Mengyao and said.

"You said some time ago that you wanted to introduce "Online Genesis" into China, and this is the report on the contact with Electronic Arts and related situations," Wang Mengyao took out a document from the folder and put it on the desk, and then said : "Currently, the signing work with Electronic Arts has been completed..."

After listening to Wang Mengyao's narration, plus the addition of the document in front of him, Zhang Lexing has already figured out the current situation of "Online Genesis".The signing of the contract with Electronic Arts was relatively smooth, and there was no trouble. The related fee was only 50 US dollars, and it was a one-time payment without other follow-up fees. got it.

The work of Sinicization has also started now. After two years of preparation, Fengyun Interactive has cultivated a group of people who are good at Sinicization of games, and established several exclusive Sinicization teams of its own, including the game translation department directly under Fengyun Interactive. As well as the localization assistants temporarily recruited from the outside when the task was heavy, this time "Online Genesis" was taken care of by Xiao Yuetuan, who is good at translation of European and American role-playing games in the game translation department.At present, the Chineseization progress of "Online Genesis" has reached 78%, and it is expected to be completed in February next year.

However, in order for the game to be launched, it has to pass the hurdle of the board of directors. Fortunately, the review process is still relatively fast at this time, and online games are new creatures, which have not yet attracted the attention of ministries and commissions such as the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. , Many relevant management regulations have not yet been issued. According to Chen Jingyi's estimation, after passing the approval and getting the version number, the game discs should be released in May next year.

This is good news, especially because Zhang Lexing didn't even think about how much money he would make in the process of introducing "Online Genesis". He only hoped to train his team and train a group of qualified online game practitioners personnel.For example, in the process of setting up game servers, let game developers intuitively understand the working characteristics of online games, let technicians master server setting skills and actual game load data, let customer service personnel understand how to communicate with players more reasonably, and let Marketers know how to promote and develop channels for online games.In short, Zhang Lexing hoped that his employees would be ready before the real wave of online games came.

"...According to your request, through the transfer of personnel from various companies and external recruitment, in addition to the localization team of the game, a total of 60 people are currently participating in the "Online Genesis" project. At present, they are mainly using the original "Network Genesis" to do small-scale server testing , Evaluate the demand for game servers. When the game is officially launched next year, it is planned to set up game servers in BJ, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan and other places for local users to access. The specific number will be adjusted according to the test situation.” Wang Mengyao Finally concluded.

"Very well, please inform Fengyun Interactive, so that the Sinicization team must not lower the quality of translation in a hurry. Our consistent tradition is that quality comes first. Even though this is an imported game, we must not be careless. In addition , please communicate more with the publishing department to see if we can speed up the approval process, if our intervention is not effective, we can consider asking the game association to do so." Zhang Lexing ordered.

"Yes, boss." Wang Mengyao nodded, and wrote down the few things Zhang Lexing said with a pen, and then she continued: "Boss, the 35-person team for South Korea has been formed and will go to South Korea soon. ..."

This team is also formed by recruiting personnel from various companies and external hires, but the personnel structure is more complicated than those participating in "Network Genesis". In addition to programmers, artists, planners, marketing personnel, etc., there are even mathematics majors graduates, they will temporarily join NCSoft.Not only participate in the current game development of "Paradise", but also participate in the promotion and operation of the game in the later stage, including the research on the virtual financial system in the game.

Zhang Lexing sent this team out because he hoped to use NCSoft as a platform to cultivate talents related to online games. After all, South Korea has a small land area, and its network infrastructure is better than that in China, and Internet cafes are developing very fast. Both have created good conditions for the development of online games.If it is in China, large-scale online games may not develop until 2000. At least in Zhang Lexing's memory, "King of Kings" that appeared in that year can be regarded as the first domestic MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) beginning.In this case, only by using South Korea, a place where online games are one step ahead, can we cultivate and train talents.

"...At present, the domestic game industry is only prosperous on the surface, but in fact there are many hidden dangers..." After finishing the two previous news, Wang Mengyao changed the topic to the domestic game industry: "...Because there are many game products on the market, it is not Few game companies can’t guarantee the quality of their games, and their sales are generally poor. Many companies’ sales of a game can’t exceed 3000, or even hundreds of sets. In addition to the problems of the game companies themselves, piracy is also a problem. A very important factor, the speed of cracking is getting faster and faster now, if you don’t pay attention, it is very likely that the pirated version of the game will come out only two days after it was launched, and even our own company’s game sales have been affected a lot. According to the analysis of our company's experts, if there is no further funding supplement, it is very likely that many game companies will not be able to persist next year..."

Zhang Lexing also knows a little bit about the situation Wang Mengyao mentioned. He remembers that some game companies should have launched the game industry next year when they have no follow-up funds, but now that there is a dream fund, it should be better, so he The plan is to wait until the Spring Festival is over, and then look at the situation to find a solution.

A few days later, under the repeated instigation of Miyamoto Masashi, Kutaragi Ken finally arranged for someone to take action, but he was also clever and did not directly appear in the name of Sony. After all, Square is now considered a member of the PS game camp.Square's stock price began to fluctuate slowly, and the trading volume also began to increase. In the afternoon of the same day, the stock price suddenly plummeted like a high platform, and there was a rumor unfavorable to Square in the market. Then, many retail investors who bought stocks panicked and began to call their stockbrokers desperately.Let him sell the Square shares in his hands as soon as possible, which dragged down Square's share price again.But the strange thing is that KF-Panda, the major shareholder who should come out to protect the market, is still calmly reducing its holdings of stocks just like a few days ago.

"Mr. Miyamoto, we have already obtained 4.9% of the stock, and with the 18% in your hand, it has reached 22.9% now!" The stock market commander Jun Watanabe reported to Miyamoto Masashi.

Masashi Miyamoto was very happy in his heart. He felt that he was one step closer to victory. He turned to Takahashi Takatoshi, who was in charge of collecting information about negotiations with small and medium shareholders, and asked, "What is the result of the negotiations now?"

"Three companies have already agreed, and they have a total of 11.3% of the shares in their hands, and several companies are in negotiation..." Takahashi Takatoshi replied.

"This should add up to 34.2%," Miyamoto Masashi calculated in his mind. There is still a distance from the target. The key lies in the negotiating team. As long as there are enough bargaining chips here, the stock market can make a sudden move.Thinking of this, he waved his hand and ordered: "Mr. Watanabe, you must control the bargaining chips in your hands reasonably, and don't cross the warning line for the time being. Mr. Takahashi, you must work harder, at least you must win 12%. This way we will be more proactive.”

"Yes, Mr. Miyamoto." Watanabe Jun and Takahashi Takatoshi bowed to Miyamoto Masashi together, and replied respectfully.

Miyamoto Masashi sat down on the sofa, but his eyes were watching the beating stock price of Square on the large-screen monitor. Under the intentional control of Jun Watanabe, coupled with the inaction of major shareholders, the stock price of Square has been falling The decline is just conducive to sweeping goods from the stock market.

Suddenly the stock price, which had been diving downwards, stopped moving. Miyamoto Masashi stood up and asked, "Watanabe-kun, what's going on?"

"Mr. Miyamoto, we are investigating!" Watanabe Jun was a little panicked. Just now, several traders reported that the number of tradable shares in the market was too low, approaching the delisting red line, and could no longer be purchased. Then Square Co. The stock price does not move, as if trading has been suspended.

"Dinglingling" The work phone of the stock market trading team suddenly rang. Watanabe Jun reached out to pick up the phone, put it to his ear and listened for less than a minute, and then his hand slipped down.

"Mr. Miyamoto, Square's trading has been temporarily suspended for an hour due to a major shareholding change," Watanabe Jun said anxiously to Miyamoto Masashi.

At the same time, Takahashi Takatoshi also received a call, and hung up without saying a word.Masashi Miyamoto couldn't help feeling uneasy again, and asked, "Takahashi-kun, what's going on with you?"

"Those small and medium-sized shareholders who verbally agreed to transfer the equity before have backed out, and we only won 2.01% of the equity." Takahashi Takashi said with a sigh.

"What!" Masashi Miyamoto became angry at once. What are these people doing? Just now there were 11.2% left, and this turn around left only 2.01%. If these people were not invited by SCE President Takeshi Taragi Yes, he already fired the bunch of trash.

"Mr. Miyamoto, watch TV quickly, there is an introduction about this major equity change." Jun Watanabe shouted, pointing to the TV that was turned on.

Masashi Miyamoto turned his head to look at a financial program that was playing on TV. After the host said a few words, the screen switched to the scene of a press conference.On the rostrum, a man stood there announcing: "...After several months of arduous negotiations, Dongfang Holdings has successfully acquired enough shares from a number of small and medium shareholders of Square Co., Ltd. At present, Dongfang Holdings has mastered 33.5% of the shares and has become Square's largest shareholder..."

These words seemed to hit Masashi Miyamoto's heart like a heavy hammer. Unexpectedly, he tried his best, but in the end he let others take the lead. Now the stock trading is suspended, and there is no more progress in the negotiation work, which means that they are temporarily There is no chance to increase the equity in his hand to more than 33.4%. When the stock resumes trading, at least it will be tomorrow. Who knows what will happen in the middle, but he has nothing to do about it, and he still thinks Maybe worse things are yet to come.

Sure enough, what happened afterwards confirmed Masashi Miyamoto's conjecture. I don't know what tricks Orient Holdings did. Not only did the second largest shareholder, KF-Panda, stand on his side, but also wooed several small and medium shareholders, making Orient Holdings The number of shares here exceeds 66.7%, which means that they have the right to directly issue motions.At the new general meeting of shareholders after announcing a major change in equity, Dongfang Holdings announced that in order to enhance Square’s technical strength, it will raise a sum of money from shareholders through additional stock issuance to update game development equipment, which means If any shareholder is unwilling to pay for the newly issued shares, his equity will be diluted.

Masashi Miyamoto felt that this decision was made solely to deal with him. He is currently short of funds, otherwise he would not need to ask SCE to help him. At present, the issue of additional shares, whether he can raise funds as soon as possible If he gets a sum of money, he can't even keep the current 18%.As for Sony, it is still not possible to directly attack Square Enix. After all, it is still a major pillar in the PS game camp. If it fails, maybe they will really change jobs again.

"Hey..." Miyamoto Masashi understood that he had failed this time, and he might not have any chances in the future...

(End of Volume Three)
(End of this chapter)