Chapter 171 International Invitation Tournament

June 17th, Friday.

Shang Yang Games.

Pei Qian had barely stepped into the meeting room when he sensed that something was off.

Everyone looked so dispirited!

Even more so than when he'd come last week.

Pei Qian couldn't help but feel worried.

Come on, comrades, cheer up!

If you all think you can't win, isn't that the end of *ioi*?

What's more, things haven't reached that point yet, have they? The game is still being constantly updated, its development momentum abroad is pretty good, and although it hasn't beaten *gog* in domestic internet cafes, it has at least grabbed some market share!

Pei Qian sat down at the head of the conference table, feeling that he had to say something to boost morale.

To be afraid before the battle, how can you fight this war?

Pei Qian cleared his throat. "Why is everyone so down? Cheer up, the battle isn't over yet!"

Wang Xiaobin looked at Ye Zhizhou, and Ye Zhizhou looked at Lin Wan.

Lin Wan sighed softly. "President Pei, we all know your intentions are good, to let *gog* and *ioi* compete fully, and to support whichever one wins. The group has even given *ioi* more than enough funding. But… it's just too difficult!"

"Now the gap between the two games isn't just not shrinking, it's actually widening rapidly. In just one week, the ground promotion strategy has been completely caught up with and even surpassed by *gog*."

"All I can say is that *gog* is better prepared and has better coordination. And when we try to give *ioi* some advice, they won't accept it…"

Wang Xiaobin nodded, saying with a lot of dissatisfaction, "Yeah, and the Finger Company is also blaming us for being so ineffective in promoting it domestically, even though the development momentum is good in other regions overseas."

"But the problem is, does *gog* exist in other regions overseas? I wanted to say 'youcanyouup' on the spot, you come try to compete with *gog*, and see if you don't die!"

Ye Zhizhou nodded in agreement. "Exactly, it's bad enough to have a pig teammate dragging you down, but they're also constantly passing the buck and making sarcastic remarks, who can stand that!"

Wang Xiaobin looked at Pei Qian. "President Pei, since it's all Gu farming anyway, why doesn't Tengda just buy all the shares of Finger Company! Then we can make them change whatever we want, or we can just take over *ioi*, instead of being so restricted and resentful all the time."

Pei Qian was shocked.

Buy all the shares of Finger Company?

Are you afraid I won't die fast enough?

Pei Qian was about to speak when Lin Wan spoke first. "That won't work. Do you think President Pei hasn't thought about this?"

Pei Qian: "?"

Lin Wan continued, "Do you think Finger Company is still valued the same as before? Before, being able to buy 20% of the shares for more than 20 million was because President Pei had a sharp eye and got a great deal, which is equivalent to picking up a bargain."

"Do you think this kind of good thing is like cabbage on the street, available whenever you want?"

"Now that *ioi* is developing well, the valuation of Finger Company is changing every day. To gain control of Finger Company, even with the premise of already having more than 20% of the shares, you would have to spend at least another 100 million dollars or even 150 million dollars."

"Although Tengda Group's cash flow is healthy, President Pei has always invested the funds at hand as quickly as possible in order to maximize their use."

"What's more, even if there is spare money, it is impossible to have one billion."

Wang Xiaobin had nothing to say, because he was also very clear that even if Tengda sold everything it had, it would be difficult to raise one billion. This wasn't a question of whether they wanted to, but whether they could.

Since they couldn't buy it, then what was the point of saying anything?

Pei Qian was silently shocked.

Damn, Finger Company is already so valuable?

Then… according to this valuation, the 20% of the shares bought for 20 million back then… should now be worth at least…

40 million… dollars???

It has more than doubled in a short period of time?

Pei Qian felt a dizziness, and at the same time, he made another note about Ma Yang in his mind.

If it were anyone else, they would definitely be laughing and crying, but for Pei Qian, 40 million dollars is only 40,000 dollars according to the conversion ratio, which is about 280,000 income.

It's still not as cost-effective as losing…

Even if he wasn't careful, the profits and losses could offset each other, and that would be spitting blood.

But then again, this is just a valuation, and it's not certain that someone would be willing to pay this price, and if Tengda doesn't sell, there shouldn't be a big problem…

The discussion fell into a stalemate again.

It's impossible to buy Finger Company, it's already too valuable.

It's also impossible to command Finger Company, they won't listen, and they even want to command in the opposite direction.

It's no wonder the people at Shang Yang Games are so discouraged, after all, everyone used to make their own games and promote them themselves, and they would change any part of the game that they thought was problematic.

But now, they know where the problem is, but the production team won't change it, and instead blames the agent for the operation and promotion problems. Who would be willing to put up with this?

Pei Qian cleared his throat. "Everyone doesn't need to be so anxious, there will always be a proper solution to things. What's more, things are far from being that bad now."

"Actually, although *gog* started early, *ioi* has also seized a certain market share in the previous competition. A small part of this market share comes from the old users of *Shen Qi*, and the vast majority comes from players of other types of games."

"This shows that in the competition between *gog* and *ioi*, new players are constantly being attracted to join the game, which is a good phenomenon. As long as we can gain a firm foothold, there is still a chance to turn the tables."

"Now compared with *gog*, in addition to those that we can't change, such as the starting advantage, game mechanism, etc., the *ioi* national server is still missing the last piece of the puzzle, and that is esports."

"In the next stage, I will continue to allocate money to everyone to hold a large-scale competition for *ioi*, with full publicity funding, to completely reverse the wrong impression that 'Tengda does not value *ioi* esports projects'!"

However, after saying this, everyone didn't light up as usual, and there was no applause in the audience.

Wang Xiaobin pondered for a moment and said, "But President Pei, esports activities need to have enough heat, and the premise is that there must be enough soil. Not to mention the players, where do the teams come from? You can't just pull people from the ladder to form a temporary team, right?"

The others nodded in agreement.

Pei Qian: "…"

A little awkward.

Just as Pei Qian was trying hard to think about this question, Lin Wan spoke first.

"No, you didn't understand President Pei's deep meaning."

"In fact, it is entirely possible for us to contact the larger esports clubs in China now and ask them to form *ioi* divisions."

Wang Xiaobin was stunned. "That's unlikely, right? With the current market share of *ioi*, if people want to form a team, they will also form a *gog* team. Giving money is a little useful, but the clubs also have to weigh long-term interests. If you give less money, people won't be happy, and if you give more money, we will suffer."

Give more money and we will suffer?

Isn't that just right?

Pei Qian's eyes lit up, and he was about to speak when Lin Wan spoke again.

"You don't need to give a lot of money."

Pei Qian: "…"

Lin Wan continued, "I understand what President Pei means. In the field of esports, although we started late, we have advantages over *gog* in some aspects."

"Because *ioi* is more popular abroad!"

"Indeed, clubs will pay more attention to long-term interests when forming teams, and for clubs, international competitions are obviously the biggest long-term interest!"

"An esports project must be popular all over the world to have enough attention. Although *ioi* is not as popular as *gog* in China, considering the potential for future international events, forming an *ioi* team now is a very promising choice."

"We can definitely make a big deal out of this and convince the major domestic clubs!"

"I think this is President Pei's deep meaning, right?"

Pei Qian cleared his throat. "Well…more or less."

Everyone suddenly understood.

That's right, this seems to be an advantage!

Ye Zhizhou was also inspired: "That's right, we can also invite two teams with average skills from abroad, and provide them with accommodation and round-trip tickets. If we put up the gimmick, directly hang the title of an international invitational tournament, there will definitely be a lot of attention!"

When Pei Qian heard "accommodation and round-trip tickets," his face lit up instantly.

Seeing the relieved expression of President Pei looking at Ye Zhizhou, everyone became more certain that this was President Pei's complete idea.

"Okay, let's start preparing immediately according to what President Pei said!"

"I'll contact the domestic clubs."

"I'll invite foreign clubs."

"Remember to choose weak teams, otherwise if the domestic teams are crushed, it will be over!"

"I'll inspect the venue and make the schedule."

Everyone quickly finished their work, and the originally lifeless meeting room instantly became full of vitality again.

Pei Qian was very satisfied.

Although everyone has once again over-interpreted my words, it seems to have a positive effect this time!

Okay, the meeting was a great success!

…

…

June 18th, Saturday.

Trainee meeting.

After settling Shang Yang Games yesterday, Pei Qian felt that the burden on his shoulders was much lighter, and his steps were much lighter on the way to the meeting today.

"Everyone, start reporting." Tang Yishu saw that everyone was there and signaled the report to begin. At the same time, she took out a small notebook to record and organize it into a report after the meeting.

The trainees began to speak in turn.

"The members of Managed Fitness have already used the new app and the feedback is good; the opening ceremony of Moyu Internet Cafe Esports Life Hall has greatly increased the popularity of Managed Fitness, and many customers have come to inquire recently; new fitness meals have been delivered…"

"Since the opening of Moyu Internet Cafe Esports Life Hall, it has been a great success. Although the fees are higher than the previous two versions of Moyu Internet Cafe, the popularity has not diminished, and more and more people are forming teams. It is estimated that the first Internet cafe competition can be organized after a while…"

"The DGE esports club has returned to regular training, but the feeling of being sought after by fans at the opening ceremony of Moyu Internet Cafe has greatly inspired the team members' fighting spirit, and everyone is training harder…"

Listening to the reports of the trainees, Pei Qian was silent, and his previous good mood disappeared.

Isn't this the Brocade Guard meeting?

How did it become a bereavement conference?

It's fine if you're talking about things I already know, but they're all bad news!

I spent so much effort to get a trainee meeting, but in the end, I just got a double backstab effect???

Get stabbed on the spot, and then get stabbed again at the trainee meeting?

Very angry, but I still have to listen.

Because he doesn't know if there will be any useful information hidden in it, and the trainees can't be sure which information President Pei knows and which information President Pei doesn't know, so there's no way to distinguish.

They can only report like this indiscriminately.

Pei Qian couldn't help but fall into deep thought, feeling that something was wrong…