Based on current revenue, Honkai Impact 3rd's target annual revenue was 3 billion, while Genshin Impact's future target was 7 billion a year.
Of course, in a normal company, not much of that would actually remain in one's hands, considering the enormous operating costs.
But Ye Ming's games were made with black technology borrowed from the system, along with the girls' all-out performances.
With the major expenses saved, no matter how the remaining scraps were spent, there would still be quite a lot left in the end.
Considering that his business layout was not yet complete, as well as his future goals...
"If it's double, then please set my annual salary at 8 billion. Thanks."
"????"
At that number, veins suddenly bulged across La Signora's fair skin.
"So you never intended to negotiate with me at all?"
"Huh? I am negotiating with you."
"Enough! You've achieved a little success and now you dare talk so arrogantly? Just you wait!"
After hanging up, La Signora tossed her phone aside and stormed into the main office. The enormous treasures on her chest swayed up and down with her anger.
"I want the first public beta version of the game delivered by the end of the month!"
"B-but what about the technology?"
"Forget it! Just crank the visuals to the max as a selling point. As for the character models..."
La Signora was, after all, an old hand in the industry, and she quickly came up with a solution:
"Use a distant top-down perspective, then lock the camera. As long as players can't zoom in, it won't be exposed."
"If they want to see what the characters they pulled look like, they can enter the character screen. We'll use exquisite illustrations there instead."
"As long as the waifus are pretty, the nerds will pay."
Tencent's Honkai Impact 3rd competitor had not just begun development. A great deal had already been completed, but work had been halted due to technical issues.
So once La Signora found a way around that problem, the delayed progress was quickly caught up.
That very night, Tencent released a promotional PV for the game, "Chronicles of the Last Age Girl."
"Ye Ming! This is bad!"
Early the next morning, A-Tzu ran over to Ye Ming with news on her phone.
"Tencent has already launched a competing game. Its public beta is at the end of the month, and the PV has been released."
"Oh, I watched it last night. It was pretty good."
The promotional PV used 2D animation. The visuals were exquisite, the frame rate was high, and the camerawork was solid. It really did leave a good impression.
After all, none of those things required any particularly advanced technology. They required... money.
"I can see the person in charge's capabilities from this animated PV. She really is one of this era's finest."
Ye Ming had even specifically glanced at the staff list at the end of the animation. The chief person in charge was named Rosalind.
He felt like he had seen that name somewhere before, but since it did not seem important, he forgot about it.
"Although I know that learning to appreciate an opponent's strengths is a quality every wise person needs..."
A-Tzu understood Ye Ming's broad-mindedness well, but she was still worried.
"But public opinion has already become completely one-sided. A large number of players are taking Tencent's new game's side."
"A large number of players? Including our players?"
"That's the most troublesome part..."
A-Tzu frowned.
"Our diehard players have all gone over to cheer for the competitor. They're even saying that whether this event's rewards are good depends entirely on how capable the competitor is."
Standing on the Same Side as the Players
"These traitors..."
Hearing that players of his own game had gone to cheer for the competitor, Ye Ming was both annoyed and amused.
They clearly were not truly cheering for the competitor. They were trying to put pressure on Honkai's operator.
No matter whether the competing game was good or bad, as long as it made MiHoYo feel pressured, the operator would naturally hand out more benefits in order to retain players.
"So the players have already abandoned us?"
"Haha, don't underestimate the players, A-Tzu. They're playing mind games with us."
Having once been a player himself, Ye Ming understood this behavior all too well.
"Still, this does remind me of something."
If a game was merely a game, then once the day came when it was no longer fun, players would naturally abandon it and eventually forget it.
It was rare to have the chance to tell everyone Honkai's story. Treating it as nothing more than a game would be far too wasteful.
"Starting today, aside from game operations and development, we also need to strengthen the players' sense of belonging."
"A sense of belonging? How should we do that?"
"The most important thing is to form a game culture circle."
Ye Ming said confidently:
"Griseo being willing to paint for us is a perfect start. After that, we'll enter the music industry as well."
"The animated shorts for every main story chapter must be the best they can be. We could even release our own animated series."
"..."
A-Tzu was left stunned by those words. Being intelligent, she could understand the logic behind them.
What dazed her was that she had never expected their studio, which once could only run on love and friendship, to be shaped by Ye Ming into a giant of the cultural entertainment industry.
It felt like Liu Bei hearing Zhuge Liang's Longzhong Plan for the first time.
"Oh, right. From now on, I'll make the game's story a little more 'sweet,' and we'll uniformly promote it as a lighthearted daily life story about cute girls being affectionate."
"Why?"
A-Tzu glanced at Himeko, looking a little guilty.
"Th-that would be lying, wouldn't it?"
Ye Ming really wanted to complain that she did not need to look at Himeko. Her own blade was no less deadly.
But since it was not time for spoilers yet, he patiently explained:
"After someone gets tricked by our advertising, what's their first reaction?"
"To curse us out?"
"To trick someone else."
Ye Ming smiled.
"The moment they deceive someone into joining and make them cry their eyes out, the player doing the tricking is already standing on the same side as us."
"Once this trend catches on, not only will it increase our player base, it'll also maximize the players' sense of belonging."
Kind and gentle A-Tzu had no idea the internet had such a culture. She could only say worriedly:
"It feels like... we're man-eating tigers, and the players helping us lure newcomers into the game are Kanchou..."
"Haha, that's such an accurate description. From now on, players shouldn't call themselves Captains either. They should be called Kanchou."
"No, wait, I almost got led astray by you..."
A-Tzu shook her head.
"We got so caught up talking about the future that the competitor problem right in front of us still hasn't been solved, has it?"
"Why does it need to be solved?"
Ye Ming pointed at the date beneath the PV.
"Chronicles of the Last Age Girl enters public beta at the end of the month, and that just happens to be when our new version goes live."
"You're very confident in the new version?"
"I'm not confident in the new version."
Perhaps recalling certain memories, Ye Ming smiled with relief.
"I'm confident in Kiana."
With that, Ye Ming walked out of the office and addressed everyone present.
"The countdown to the new version's release has begun. Meeting!"
After arriving in the conference room, before Ye Ming could assign any tasks, Durandal suggested:
"Since we have a competitor, we should work even harder."
"No matter what task Ye Ming assigns me, I will complete it."
"Whether that means overtime or living at the company, every task must be thoroughly completed."
Durandal spoke expressionlessly, as though she were stating something entirely natural.
Meanwhile, Ganyu beside her was staring at her with a deathly pale face, trembling all over as tears welled in her eyes.
"Stop talking, Dey E."
"D-Dey E?"
The serious Durandal finally showed a hint of expression beyond sternness.
"This studio prohibits toxic competition. If you do this again, I'll make a game called Goose Goose Duck and turn you into a white goose in it."
"Wuu..."
After being criticized, Durandal began seriously reflecting on what she had done wrong, while Rita beside her covered her mouth and kept giggling.
"Just keep the work progressing normally."
At that, Ye Ming looked toward Kiana and asked:
"Before, you said you wanted to stand on your own. This time, I want to see how much you've grown."
"I understand! Leave it to me!"
Kiana did not sound as confident as before. Instead, there was now more resolve to face difficulties without fear.
"Was that just my imagination?"
Ye Ming rubbed his eyes, doubts surfacing in his heart.
Just now, did I see a flash of golden light in Kiana's eyes?
Can blue eyes emit golden light?
"Waaah... Himeko... she actually had such a story..."
Elsewhere, in the small villa rented by the Elysian Realm employees, Eden held her phone and kept wiping away tears.
"Now you understand, right? Griseo definitely wasn't made to cry by me. It was all that little fool's fault."
Elysia explained as she used a handkerchief to wipe Eden's tears.
"That little fool?"
"The game producer, of course."
Elysia looked utterly helpless.
"I can no longer guess how he's going to write the story from here on."
"Wuu... I... I'm going to call Himeko..."
Before you continue