Chapter 207 Annual Meeting
Although he only communicated briefly with Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Roland was as excited as these two fledgling young men.
It's not how valuable Google is, nor how much benefit Roland can get from investing in them. With 10 million shares of Microsoft shares and the ambition to swallow one-tenth of Apple, isn't money just paper?
Just like the happy wind man, as long as my E is fast enough, the question marks of my teammates can't catch up with me.
As long as Roland donates a little slower, all the guys on the Forbes list in the future will not be as rich as him alone.
But to be honest, after buying 20,000 shares of Berkshire Hathaway, continuing to make money is one of Roland's goals, but it is definitely not his primary goal. What he is trying to do is to make himself comfortable. All round comfort.
Now he gives profits to those film companies, in exchange for the media giants behind the film companies to raise their hands.
Roland doesn't want to be in the headlines every day, but those media giants can realize his wish.
But with the advent of the Internet age, the Internet of Everything has brought people into the information age, and the rise of the mobile Internet has made news sources extremely complicated. At that time, the media group that controlled the cable media network could no longer block it. The news is that everyone will be the center of the world, and what people pay attention to is the headlines, and they want to live a clean life in this situation—
Then I have to become the father of those Internet giants...
Next hot search? Withdraw the headline? Qi ban? Close account?
These methods are far more useful than suppressing the news from the source!
Compared with the terrifying market value, what Roland cares about is the control of information.
If he doesn't want the public to know the news about him, the people don't need to know it.
I don't want to make it public, so no one can check me!
It is true that whoever controls oil controls all countries; whoever controls food controls mankind; whoever controls the right to issue currency controls the world; I have to add -
Whoever controls the information controls the mind.
No one sees that, when News Corporation is at risk of being accused, Comrade Chuan Jianguo, who has lost his propaganda channel, can only be angry with the air, facing CNN who refuses to obey orders and FOX who suddenly turned against him on Facebook, incompetent and furious ; and the Voice of America, which was born to serve the United Front, was angered by the White House because it released news that was contrary to the will of the general.
Traditional media channels are too late to intervene now. If you want to enter the market, you can buy a Disney at most, but the Internet—Roland would be a fool if he gave up.
It is the great goal of enjoying life without worry and tinkering with hobbies freely. After meeting with Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the smile on Roland's face has not restrained.
Because he can clearly feel that his strength is growing every second.
It feels good to be able to defend life with my own fists.
...
After greeting all the employees at close range, under the leadership of Mike Mohamy, Roland and the others came to the stage on the second floor of the company. After two months of preparation, although there was no way to change the overall situation of the building. The layout, but the layout of the venue is like that. Compared with the premiere ceremony that Roland has seen, it is indeed simple, but the conference attended by his own people is warm.
After calling everyone to sit down, Mike Mohamy also came to the stage with a hand card. There were no suits and leather shoes, and the casual attire of short-sleeved jeans represented the R&D attitude of the entire company, and his speech was also very casual.
"...Last year, "Warcraft 2: The Dark Portal" was launched and sold a total of 1.2 million copies, becoming the best-selling PC game. In the same year, PCGame Magazine named it the best multiplayer online game, C|Net Voted it the best online game."
"However, shortly after the launch of "Dark Gate", "Diablo" also came out. Due to the promotion of the E3 exhibition, this game sold 1 million sets in just 18 days, and then successfully surpassed "Dark Destroyer". Gate, the best-selling PC game of all time, we...beat ourselves..."
When Mike Mohamy on the stage proudly uttered the words that he defeated himself, the employees sitting below all burst into laughter, and as the photos of the Big Four of Northern Blizzard appeared on the screen, the scene There was even more enthusiastic applause, and the Big Four who had received this honor turned around and waved their hands, and the hymns of heroes echoed in their ears, making them smile excitedly.
In the previous life, there was indeed a conflict between Northern Blizzard and Blizzard headquarters, and the root cause, they themselves disclosed—
money.
Because the research and development funds given by Blizzard headquarters were not enough when developing "Diablo", so Blizzard North could only embezzle funds from other projects to complete the development.
After it went public, "Diablo" defeated the flagship product "Warcraft" of Blizzard headquarters, so the two sides formed a bridge. Northern Blizzard felt that its research and development strength was higher than that of the headquarters, and the headquarters felt that this kind of The act of misappropriating funds seriously violated the company regulations, so the two sides quarreled.
Now...
Backed by Roland, Blizzard is not short of money and channels. Even if "Diablo" is a big success, it is because of the insight of the big three of Blizzard, and Northern Blizzard also developed the explosion with the full support of Blizzard headquarters. If Bole is satisfied and Maxima is more comfortable, if the two families can quarrel, there will be ghosts.
Of course, even though Warcraft II: Dark Portal broke the PC game sales record, and Diablo broke it a few months later, they weren't the company's brightest products.
After the venue was quiet again, Mike Mohamy continued: "However, the best game we sold last year was the 4 million copies of "Spider-Man". A large part of the reason for the success has to be attributed to the charm of our boss, since he is on the scene, so... let him say what he thinks, okay?"
"good!"
"Papa..."
"咻(↗↘↗
Before the words fell, there were mixed sounds on the scene, including melodious whistles, friendly cheers, and welcome applause, and some guys even called Roland's name.
In the anticipation of everyone, Roland, whose buttocks were still hot, walked onto the stage. While taking the microphone, Roland, who was standing casually, also looked around the venue, taking everyone's current state into his eyes; With a smiling face, Roland said, "I'm just here to attend an annual meeting, just to have fun, why do you want me to speak on stage?"
"The point is that they didn't prepare a speech for me at all, and I don't know how to brag about you."
"The three of them didn't do their jobs well, so deduct their money."
"The year-end bonus is gone, and whoever applauds me later will be awarded the money."
As soon as the casual words appeared, the guys below were all happy.
Some guys played games with Roland last year, so they are no strangers to Roland's attitude of saying what they think and say, but those newcomers are happy with Roland's openness.
As for the Blizzard Big Three?
The three of them smiled wryly and fell on the chair and shook their heads again and again!
After everyone laughed, Roland continued: "Okay, since I'm here, I'll just say a few words."
"A large part of the success of the game "Spider-Man" is due to the careful design of the project team. If the game is not fun, then it is impossible for people to keep buying it."
"The reason why it can sell four million copies is also related to the loyal fans that Marvel has cultivated over the years, the fans who support me, and Sony's marketing methods, but these are all success factors that can be slowly cultivated and realized. "
"Our goal at Blizzard Entertainment is to provide players with the best gaming experience. As a nascent game company, we may not have the history of Marvel, nor a huge fan base, nor Sony's classic marketing strategy, but we only want to With the goal of 'working hard to develop a game that players can enjoy playing', one day, we will also gain a bunch of loyal fans."
"The series of "Warcraft" is a good start, and the development of the sequel of "Diablo" is also a loyal continuation. I believe that with your love for games, one day in the future, I will film the story of our own family. "
"At that time, it's not that Blizzard Entertainment has developed an adaptation game with the theme of "Spiderman" starring Roland Allen, so the financial statements are extremely eye-catching, but that Blizzard Entertainment and Roland Allen have brought their games to the screen. screen, touched countless gamers."
"Today you make games based on the movies I shot, and tomorrow I will make movies based on the world you created. This is not mutual achievement, let alone mutual benefit, but creating the world with heart."
"I hope that in ten years, you can tell me that "Warcraft" with 100 million players can try to be made into a movie."
"When you don't let me act, I have to act."
"I believe that you can create a world that will amaze and fascinate players, and I look forward to that day."
"Thanks…"
Huh huh huh...
When Roland smiled and waved his hands and jumped off the stage, there was enthusiastic applause in the venue of nearly a hundred people.
Blizzard Entertainment now has three blockbuster products, but the combined sales of "Warcraft" and "Diablo" are not as much as that of "Spider-Man". Everyone knows that this is an old IP and a nascent product It is not a shame to lose, but—the members of Blizzard Entertainment are all young people. They gather together because they love games. They can accept the facts, but they will always be unwilling.
But now that Roland said this, they felt much more at ease.
yes! No matter how well "Spider-Man" sells, isn't that the product of your own boss?
This game is not adapted because of a good comic foundation, but because the boss wants to shoot related movies, so there is a gamified strategic arrangement!
What they lost to was not Marvel, but their own boss!
And in this case, the boss expects the games they make to be filmed?
Isn't this a disguised recognition of their achievements!
This kind of recognition is easier to inspire people than sending money and welfare!
Because these guys are not old-fashioned people with families to support, since they are gathered together because of the goal of loving games, what can impress them is the recognition from inside and outside the industry.
Although Roland doesn't make games and can't make up programs, he is a big copyright collector in Hollywood!
The copyrights that he can fancy are the first in the industry!
And he believes that Blizzard's games can be filmed by him, that is to tell everyone—
I believe in you and can make the best game in the world!
For young people who just entered the industry and want to prove themselves, this is already the best encouragement!
"Their company atmosphere is really good." Larry Page, who has been sitting in the back watching, felt the excitement from the Blizzard employees beside him, and there was a trace of envy on his face, "Maybe this is the company's Culture, right?"
“Company culture? Should it be?”
Sergey Brin nodded, and said in agreement: "I asked them before, Blizzard Entertainment's first criterion for recruiting is to love games, and they came together because of the same dream, so there will be A strong sense of identity, although everyone has different preferences, but the company standard is five years of employment, after participating in the development of two or more game projects, you can submit an application to the company, and use your own creative ideas to develop projects, During this period, the company does not interfere with their thinking, they only need to set a price and sell it to the company after research and development. This kind of loose conditions and generous treatment are only opened by a Hollywood superstar like Roland who is not short of money. Come out, after all, his annual film and television copyright income is enough to support all the team expenses of the entire company, not to mention, Blizzard Entertainment has already started to make a profit..."
"Ha... Then it seems that Roland is really a good investor!" Larry Page said with a smile.
"Yes, it can be seen from the interoperability between Blizzard Entertainment and IMDb." Sergey Brin said with emotion: "It's unimaginable for such a random mutual promotion project within the group company..."
While speaking, they also instinctively touched the check in their pockets.
When the two hands touched each other, they leaned on the seats, all showing knowing smiles.
No entrepreneur likes to listen to investors and himself.
No.
Isn’t angel investment the investment dream?
Entrepreneurs have dreams, and they also hope that investors have good expectations.
And if Roland were to know their thoughts, he would definitely be speechless.
Blizzard is a game company?
Shit!
Isn’t his full name the Blizzard Film Studio of “CG with your heart, games with your feet”?
I'm just stating a fact, how can I have good expectations?
Of course, the speech at the Blizzard annual meeting didn’t last long. Everyone wanted to relax. Who would listen to your beep?
This year's battle, Roland also participated in the whole process, but unlike last year's LAN battle, Blizzard has already researched Battle.net, which allows everyone to be online throughout the entire process.
And then...
The whole company becomes an Internet cafe.
Different from last year when everyone watched in front of the big screen, this year they all watched the battle with their computers in twos and threes.
This also made Roland have no secrets, and all advanced tactics were stolen by them.
At the beginning, he was able to catch him by surprise and win a few hands, but then—
If you use tactics in front of the developers, isn’t that courting death?
So, in the first two days, Roland's points were far ahead, but after that...
His hand speed couldn't keep up with the developer, and his body was hollowed out, so he played GG directly.
"Stop playing! Stop playing! You guys are cheating!"
Annoyed and furious, Roland watched everyone laugh, but after the battle of "Warcraft 2: Gate of Darkness", he couldn't climb to the top of "Spider-Man" even though he was blocked by a group of people.
It’s like ‘Don’t force me to deduct your salary! ’, ‘Your annual leave is gone! ’, ‘I will clean the toilet for a year next year! Under the threat of ', Roland made it into the top ten, and after he cursingly presented awards to the top three and personally announced the annual leave, emphasizing that he could bring his family members to participate, joyful laughter suddenly resounded in the company headquarters, and a group of people shouted even more—
"thank you boss!"
Roland was startled by the wave of thanks like a tide. If it was a moving female voice, he would even wonder if he had entered a large venue, but when he found that those guys were all staring at him with excited eyes Finally, he came back to his senses and waved his hand vigorously, "Don't say these things are useless!"
"After you come back from playing, you must pay close attention to the research and development of "StarCraft"!"
"And a Diablo sequel!"
"Of course, if you find a game company with a good atmosphere and technology, you can also report it. As long as it is a group of people who love games, we can propose acquisitions! You know, Mike's goal is a thousand people!"
When Roland left Irvine physically and mentally, and was on his way home, Kate, who had been with him at Blizzard headquarters for a week, was turning her head and looking at Roland curiously, "Do you like games?"
"I love games." Roland corrected her statement.
"Same as the movie?"
"certainly!"
"Is this what you mean by enjoying life?"
Upon hearing this, Roland shook his head again and again, denying: "No, no, no matter whether it's movies or games, they are all part of life. I will spend time enjoying them. They are an integral part of my life, but never would be all…”
"Really? What else is there in your life?" Kate asked with a smile, looking at Roland's chicken coop-like hair.
"besides…"
Roland paused for a moment, then looked into the other person's eyes and said, "Help the guy you like realize his dream."
"Hey..." Kate pursed her lips, turned her head, and ignored Roland.
Looking at the situation, Roland also leaned there with a smile, took out his mobile phone, and found Spielberg's number...
Note: ①In the field of PC games in those years, Blizzard played against itself, broke its own records, and all the results were played. ②Battle.net already existed in 1997, but "Warcraft 2" did not log into Battle.net at the beginning. The emergence of Battle.net was to serve "Diablo". The first real-time strategy game to hit Battle.net was StarCraft.
(end of this chapter)
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