"How much do you want?" President Li asked. Sponsoring two games simultaneously wasn't a significant pressure for him, and gaining international recognition was also beneficial.
"Three million!" Ou Minghan gritted his teeth.
*That's not much!* President Li thought to himself. He had sponsored Taoxun for five million.
Just as President Li was about to agree, Ou Minghan added, "US dollars."
President Li: Heh.
Ou Minghan continued expectantly, "President Li, if it's convenient, could you also sponsor a few thousand keyboards? This would better promote your keyboards."
President Li: ...
He had money and could sponsor, but he didn't want to be treated like a fool.
"Let's forget it, President Ou," President Li said dispiritedly. "My product's market is domestic, so there's no need for overseas advertising. I haven't considered exporting yet."
Ou Minghan hurriedly advised, "President Li, in business, one must have a long-term vision..."
Before he could finish, President Li hung up.
Ou Minghan, furious, cursed him as short-sighted! He had offered the man a great opportunity to gain international fame, and the man hadn't cherished it!
Three million US dollars, was that so much? He had only intended to skim a few hundred thousand dollars from it, but this stingy man refused to pay!
Ou Minghan made several other calls, but they either had already sponsored the Universe Heroes competition or had no interest in game sponsorship upon hearing the competition was abroad.
He then thought of the advertisers for variety shows, but unfortunately, due to a previous incident, they had a very unpleasant relationship with Feilong Live and had no intention of sponsoring.
By late night, Ou Minghan was both annoyed and helpless. He hadn't secured any sponsorships despite working all day.
Just as he was contemplating what to do, Ivan from yd called him.
"President Ou, I heard that the world championship prize for Taoxun's new game, Universe Heroes, is five million US dollars?" Ivan asked.
Ou Minghan's heart skipped a beat. "How did you know?"
Ivan replied unhappily, "Taoxun launched this game globally. During the launch, Taoxun did some promotion, and the game's popularity was very high. Now, many professional teams from various countries are preparing to form new rosters to participate in Taoxun's game's world championship."
Ou Minghan was both shocked and angry. Ye Zhi had actually promoted it on foreign networks? And their game was also very popular on foreign networks?
Even foreign professional teams, just like domestic teams, were preparing to switch to Universe Heroes?
"Mr. Ivan, Ye Zhi is cunning and very good at spending money. If we don't respond seriously, the situation will become increasingly unfavorable!" Ou Minghan said gravely.
"You are absolutely right," Ivan agreed. "I really didn't expect Ye Zhi to acquire the Phoenix studio and exploit my past issues with Daniel... Never mind that. To win against Taoxun this time, we must surpass them in prize money. President Ou, could you sponsor another five million US dollars?"
Ou Minghan was so angry he felt like spitting blood!
Did Ivan really treat him like an ATM? No, this was treating him like a money printer!
Demanding five million US dollars outright, he really had the nerve to ask!
Ou Minghan was both furious and aggrieved. He thought he had snatched a cash cow from Ye Zhi, but it turned out he had invited a vampire!
He put aside his reservations and quickly said, "Mr. Ivan, this won't do. We at Feilong Live have already spent a lot of money promoting Star Conqueror, and our funds are very tight right now. We can't afford that much..."
Ivan reluctantly replied, "If you can't afford that much, then a smaller amount will do."
After much negotiation, they finally agreed that Ou Minghan would provide another two million US dollars in sponsorship.
Both were dissatisfied with the outcome. Ou Minghan found Ivan insatiable, while Ivan found Ou Minghan stingy.
After hanging up, Ou Minghan was so furious that he almost smashed everything in his office.
He was supposed to make money by acting as an agent for games, not by channeling funds to yd!
Since Ivan was being ungentlemanly, he wouldn't be polite either!
He walked out of his office in frustration. Seeing that other departments still had their lights on somewhat improved his mood.
Afterward, Ou Minghan went directly to the game department.
The staff in the game department were all trembling, regretting their choice to join Feilong Live for the high salary.
The salaries were high, but the overtime was constant! What was most frustrating was that sometimes, even when the work was done, they weren't allowed to leave and were forced to continue working overtime.
Therefore, they preferred to dawdle and slack off at the beginning of their shifts, only starting their work in the evening. Even though this resulted in very low efficiency, it made them appear diligent!
Especially today, with Ou Minghan still present, they dared not leave!
Ou Minghan walked around and called the head of the game agency department to his office.
"I ask you, how does Star Conqueror currently generate revenue?" Ou Minghan asked with a frown.
The负责人 replied, "Currently, it mainly relies on the sale of skins and characters, President Ou. This is the revenue since we started acting as agents for the game. Recently, Star Conqueror released new characters, and the revenue is quite considerable."
Ou Minghan glanced at it and impatiently slammed the revenue report onto the desk. "No, this is far behind the revenue of Taoxun's game!"
The负责人 smiled obsequiously and explained, "President Ou, Taoxun's games are all gacha games, which is a different model from Star Conqueror..."
"Then change our model! Those skins and characters cannot be bought from the store; they can only be drawn from the gacha pool! Also, put more junk currency and items in the gacha pool. And characters cannot be drawn directly; instead, character or skin fragments will be obtained, and ten character fragments are needed to synthesize one character.
In addition, the skins should be divided into several tiers, such as Legendary, Epic, Ultimate, Normal, etc. Different tiers will require different numbers of fragments, with higher tiers requiring more fragments.
Furthermore, strictly control the drop rates of the gacha pool. Ten draws can only yield one skin fragment, and the rarer it is, the harder it is to obtain. It takes about fifty draws to get a character fragment, and there is no pity system."
The负责人 was stunned. "President Ou, wouldn't changing it like this be problematic..."
"What's problematic about it!" Ou Minghan interrupted him impatiently. "Release more monthly cards, small monthly cards, and Star Orders, and give them more items and gacha draws. Make those players feel like their money was well spent!"
"But..." the负责人 couldn't help but say, "President Ou, this will affect the game's lifespan!"