Lin Lixin had lost count of how many times he had said this.
California is truly teeming with talent!
California, San Francisco, Lucasfilm.
Sitting opposite Lin Lixin were the two producers of " Raiders of the Lost Ark," Spielberg and George Lucas.
To obtain the rights to this film, one would naturally need to negotiate with Lucasfilm, the IP owner.
However, Spielberg and Lucas held differing opinions on this deal.
Lucas remains very optimistic about the matter.
At least based on his confidence in Gamenova's development capabilities and the recent terrifying Quake, Lucas had little reason to object.
But Spielberg's attitude was much more ambiguous.
As for the reason— Lin Lixin knew exactly what was going on.
He turned to look at Warshaw, who was sitting next to him.
At this moment, Warshaw sat there somewhat awkwardly, avoiding eye contact with Spielberg.
It's no wonder, considering that they turned that masterpiece " E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial " which grossed $792 million worldwide into a synonym for "trash," it's really embarrassing.
It's worth noting that when Warner Bros. was discussing this collaboration with Spielberg, he was a big fan of video games.
At least Warshaw's adaptation of " Raiders of the Lost Ark " was indeed very good.
Spielberg and Warshaw had a long-standing friendship.
He was often there behind the scenes to help Atari with its problems.
But it wasn't until "E. T." was buried in a New Mexico landfill that he finally gave up on the industry.
Indeed, GAMENOVA is now at the top of the industry, much like Atari was back in its day.
But PTSD is not so easy to cure.
Before the E. T. incident officially broke out, wasn't Atari the world's number one company it is today?
I watched him build a tall building, I watched him entertain guests, and I watched his building collapse.
Even if Atari falls, Gamenova will rise; and even if Gamenova falls, new game developers may emerge.
But I can't gamble.
At the very least, we can no longer gamble with such popular IPs.
It's only been a little over two years since Raiders of the Lost Ark 2 was released, and a sequel is already in the works.
It's not worth taking such a risk for tens of millions of dollars at this time.
"Look what you've done to him! It's hilarious!"
Lin Lixin nudged Warshaw, who seemed the most restless among them, and teased him.
She acted like a resentful woman because of that famous director.
"Cough cough----"
After the banter, it's time to get back to business. "Mr. Spielberg, you can rest assured about the game's quality. GAMENOVA's products have always been top-notch."
"Snort----"
"This new project is being Activision by our wholly-owned subsidiary, Activision. You should know the project manager; he's also a former star producer at Atari, David Klein."
As if the word " Atari " had triggered him, Spielberg suddenly shuddered, and his gaze toward Lin Lixin became even more incredulous.
Damn it, Lin Lixin himself was still a bit uneasy about handling it, and now he suddenly jumps out and says that a subsidiary company is in charge. Isn't that just adding fuel to the fire?
"Hey, Steven, I think this is a good opportunity."
Lucas finally couldn't help but speak up.
Unlike Spielberg, he was actually laughing heartily.
Ever since CES, Lucas has been looking for a suitable opportunity to get in touch with Lin Lixin.
Unexpectedly, before he could even pay a personal visit, Lin Lixin arrived first.
"Mr. Lin, I wholeheartedly support this collaboration."
With his statement, the deal was practically finalized.
Although Spielberg was also an important producer of the Raiders of the Lost Ark series, the intellectual property ultimately remained in Lucas's hands.
If Lucas is determined to push through this collaboration, then no matter how much Spielberg opposes it, the outcome will not change.
But both Lucas and Lin Lixin were well aware of this.
It's really unnecessary to ruin things over this cooperation.
The sequel is still in the works, and they're counting on someone else to direct it.
"Hmm... how about this, Mr. Lucas? We at GAMENOVA will develop the game based on this theme first. If Mr. Spielberg still doesn't approve, then we'll just abandon the project and find another theme."
Lin Lixin naturally has confidence in this regard.
Even after the turn of the millennium, Temple Run and Subway Surfers remained phenomenal parkour games that dominated mobile devices.
In an era when most players were still quite naive, this was nothing short of a game-changer.
"Hey, that's a good idea, don't you think, Steven?"
In the end, a preliminary agreement was reached verbally.
Lin Lixin had Warshaw send Spielberg away, while he stayed behind to be alone with Lucas.
There were clearly other things between the two of them.
Both Lucas and Lin Lixin were tacitly aware of this.
"Hmm—I'm sure GAMENOVA's product quality will convince Steven. How about we discuss the licensing fee now?"
Lucas spoke first, but he still brought up the copyright deal from earlier.
"What price do you think is appropriate, Mr. Lucas?"
During the E. T. era, Atari spent a staggering $21 million in licensing fees to secure this deal.
The budget for " Raiders of the Lost Ark " was also in the tens of millions of dollars.
However, Lin Lixin could guess that the other party definitely didn't intend to talk about these unimportant numbers.
Lucas was truly interested in was probably something else entirely.
"Graphic site - what does Mr. Lin think?"
Lucasfilm's business scope is very broad, encompassing film and television production, special effects technology, sound effects production, and more.
With just its two popular IPs, Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark, Lucasfilm is already a financial giant.
For Lucas, tens of millions in licensing fees are really nothing.
But Nova Radeon is a different story.
Industrial Light & Magic, one of their studios, needs such a top-of-the-line graphics workstation to further refine their CGI technology.
This matter actually has something to do with another old acquaintance of Lin Lixin.
Last year, Steve Jobs personally spent $10 million to buy Industrial Light & Magic's entire CGI division from Lucas.
The company has now officially changed its Pixar and has become an independent production company.
Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) currently has a significant gap in its CGI capabilities and urgently needs to find ways to fill this void to prevent a decline in visual effects for future Star Wars films.
The appearance of "DOOM" at CES, and later "QUAKE," gave Lucas an opportunity.
Perhaps I can get some help from the field of video games.