RBCT Chapter 125 Huge Year-End Bonus, the Best Boss!
Chapter 125 Huge Year-End Bonus, the Best Boss!
Chapter 125 Huge Year-End Bonus, the Best Boss Ever! (5k)
After its official launch in China, Fruit Ninja became an instant hit, sparking a nationwide frenzy and achieving widespread popularity.
The gaming world is in an uproar.
The tech world is in an uproar.
Then mass media, social media, QQ Space, Tieba, Weibo—everything exploded.
Many media editors got up overnight to rush their articles, their keyboards clattering loudly as various analyses and reports poured in.
Commentary articles flooded in like a tidal wave:
"40 Copies in 35 Days: 'Fruit Ninja' Finally Makes its Comeback in China!", "A Revolution on Your Fingers: 'Fruit Ninja' Redefines Mobile Games", "Slicing Fruit Us Ushered in a New Era for Mobile Games"
The mass media was not to be outdone, with headlines becoming increasingly exaggerated and outrageous:
"No cards this Spring Festival, the whole family cuts fruit," "I finally know why they're called 'Ninjas'," "One slice, and a future unfolds."
On social media platforms, the topic kept trending on social media:
#Clumsy hands beware, this fruit-cutting challenge tests your skills#, #My grandma cut 500 points yesterday#, #Cutting fruit cured my tendonitis# ————
QQ Space is filled with screenshots of the highest scores in Fruit Ninja. You post your 450, I post my 550, and after he posts his, someone else surpasses him, so he gets angry and plays again overnight.
The offline scenes are even more magical.
At some classmate reunions in certain cities, a single cell phone is passed around the entire table, with one person cutting the food and handing it to the next, much like a scene from childhood where a group of people would gather around a Tetris machine.
A nurse posted a photo online: in a hospital infusion room, a patient with an IV drip in his left hand was intently cutting fruit with his right. The caption read: "I can give up my life, but I must cut fruit."
The business owners in Yiwu have the best sense of smell.
On the third day after Fruit Ninja became a hit, some stalls were already displaying Fruit Ninja phone cases.
Stickers and other related merchandise are available, and some people have even started making custom fruit-themed T-shirts.
They don't care about copyright at all; their first priority is to make money.
The companies most shaken are actually the major game companies that are exploring mobile games.
Before this, most people's understanding of "mobile games" was very simple and narrow: shrinking PC games and stuffing them into a mobile phone screen.
Virtual directional keys, simplified controls, and ported gameplay. They believe that mobile games are merely appendages of PC games, limited to card games, puzzle games, and simulation games, and will never achieve significant success.
But the appearance of Fruit Ninja woke them up.
Many people then realized that "touchscreen interaction" itself was a completely new way to play. The swiping of fingers...
Swipe controls and multi-touch functionality—this WYSIWYG operation, an experience impossible to achieve on handheld consoles, is precisely the moat of mobile games.
It turns out that playing games doesn't necessarily require sitting in front of a computer for an hour or two. While waiting for the bus, going to the restroom, or queuing to buy tickets, you can casually pull out your phone and play a couple of rounds. This fragmented, fast-paced entertainment may be the core scenario for mobile games.
What game developers envy most is the paid download data.
In an era where "cracking before piracy" has become an industry norm, it's astonishing how many users are willing to pay to download Fruit Ninja.
What does this tell us?
This shows that as long as the game is good enough, users are willing to spend money. It shows that putting effort into making a product can lead to success. It shows that the mobile game market may indeed have great potential.
Just four days after Fruit Ninja became a hit, an article on a tech media outlet pushed it to a new peak.
The article's title is sensational: "Game publishers at home and abroad are scrambling to acquire 'Fruit Ninja,' which may be worth tens of millions of US dollars!"
The article made a seemingly serious claim: In the United States, well-known publishers such as Chillingo and ngmoco are fiercely bidding for the overseas distribution rights of "Fruit Ninja", with offers soaring to three to five million US dollars, plus a high share of the profits.
The article also states that, according to internal sources, several domestic game companies are actively contacting Avengers.
Game companies are vying for the distribution rights of "Fruit Ninja" in China.
The article's last sentence is quite meaningful: "A covert battle of capital surrounding 'fruit' has quietly begun."
""
Shenzhen, the headquarters of Tencent.
Le Aimin, head of the mobile game department, once again stood at the door of the office of Ren Yuxin, senior vice president of the interactive entertainment business unit.
This is the third time in the past two days that he has come for the game "Fruit Ninja".
"Mr. Ren, I need to take ten minutes of your time." He pushed open the door and went straight to the point, "We really can't wait any longer regarding the acquisition of 'Fruit Ninja'."
Ren Yuxin put down the documents in his hand, looked at the subordinate who had rushed in in a hurry, and frowned slightly: "Old Le, isn't your 'Fruit Ninja' already under development? Why are you still insisting on buying 'Fruit Ninja'?"
Le Aimin took a deep breath and tried to keep his speech steady: "President Ren, yes, we had already completed half of the development, but now the situation has changed. The other party has already launched it in China."
He placed his phone in front of Ren Yuxin, and the screen displayed the App Store's rankings.
"They topped the charts in North America as soon as they launched and stayed there for over a month. In China, they climbed to number one within four days of release. Now, Baidu Tieba, Weibo, and QQ Space are flooded with screenshots and discussions about Fruit Ninja. When I got home yesterday, even my wife, who never plays games, was playing it."
Le Aimin took a deep breath and apologized, "President Ren, this was my misjudgment—I originally thought they would cultivate the overseas market for at least six months before entering the domestic market, giving us a time advantage. I didn't expect them to choose the Spring Festival period; they understand the domestic market very well."
Ren Yuxin glanced at the time, his tone devoid of emotion: "I know all that you're saying, so what?"
What are you trying to say?
Le Aimin took another deep breath: "Our own 'Fruit Ninja' won't be available for at least another month. By then, we'll be facing a product that's already a nationwide sensation and has established brand recognition. We can only be followers, not pioneers."
As Le Aimin spoke, he opened his phone's notepad and continued, "I received reliable information that several top American mobile game publishers have indeed offered millions to acquire the overseas rights to 'Fruit Ninja.' Domestically, companies like iDreamSky are also in contact. But that's not the most crucial point—"
Ren Yuxin glanced at the time again, a little impatient with Le Aimin's suspense, and asked, "Old Le, stop beating around the bush, what's the most important thing?"
Le Aimin looked directly at Ren Yuxin: "Most importantly, NetEase and Shanda are also inquiring. They, like us, are looking for the first blockbuster game in the mobile game era."
In his last sentence, Lok Ai-min lied. To be precise, he told a story that had been reported in the news but had not been verified by him.
He had to do this in order to persuade Ren Yuxin.
"Mr. Ren, if we don't act now, and Fruit Ninja falls into the hands of NetEase and Shanda—"
Knowing people's hearts well, Yue Aimin deliberately paused again, letting Ren Yuxin imagine the scene himself, before continuing, "At the current rate of smartphone growth, by this time next year, they will have a mobile entry point with tens of millions of daily active users. They can use this entry point to drive traffic to their self-developed games—"
"At that time, we will be facing an opponent who has already established a firm foothold—we are spending money to buy strategic insurance to avoid being passively attacked in the future, Mr. Ren."
Ren Yuxin was silent for a few seconds, then tapped his fingers lightly on the table.
He knew that Le Aimin's words were somewhat exaggerated. It's common sense in the workplace that subordinates tend to exaggerate a bit when reporting to their superiors.
But he had to admit that the popularity of "Fruit Ninja" was real. When he got home yesterday, he saw his wife curled up on the sofa cutting fruit, so engrossed that she didn't even look up when he came in.
What Le Aimin said makes at least 60-70% sense.
Seeing that Ren Yuxin did not explicitly object again, Le Aimin pressed on, "President Ren, from a financial perspective, this is also a worthwhile deal. Based on the current revenue from selling 400,000 copies overseas and the soaring domestic sales, it's not difficult to generate over five or six million yuan in revenue domestically for the whole year."
"If we adopt a revenue-sharing model, the initial expenses will be lower, and the long-term returns will be higher. By leveraging our QQ social network for promotion, our income can at least double."
Ren Yuxin remained silent, his mind racing with calculations.
He had to admit that the reasons Le Aimin gave had convinced him, and those reasons were sufficient.
As long as Lok Oi-man's financial model is correct, and as long as Fruit Ninja isn't overpriced, this deal is a sure thing.
But he wasn't satisfied with that; he wanted to see if Le Aimin could come up with any more unexpected surprises.
"Do you have any other reasons to convince me?" he asked with a stern face.
Seeing this, Le Aimin was overjoyed, knowing that the matter had at least a 50% chance of being approved by the boss!
His mind raced for a few moments, and he blurted out, "Yes! Yes, yes, yes!"
"The fact that AvengersGame was able to create such a hit game, and that they initially chose to launch it in Australia and North America, proves that their company must be a top-notch development and operations team with an international perspective."
Le Aimin was speaking from the heart at that moment.
He hadn't done any real research; he only knew that AvengersGame was a game company in Hong Kong, but he hadn't paid much attention to the company's specific size.
But he trusted his professional judgment.
From the international naming of the "Fruit Ninja" game, its minimalist gameplay design, and meticulous attention to touchscreen interaction, to the ingenious operational rhythm of Australia—North America—Xiao Rizi—and China—this is definitely not something a small workshop could do.
He would never believe that AvengersGame was just a small company.
"Mr. Ren, spending a few million to buy an opportunity to align with international standards and deeply learn from their globalization experience will greatly benefit Tencent's future internationalization strategy!"
Ren Yuxin stood up and walked to the window.
With his back to Le Aimin, his brows relaxed for the first time, and a slight smile even appeared on his lips.
Le Aimin's final reason indeed exceeded his expectations.
Tencent's future plans in the mobile game industry are undoubtedly to expand overseas. Allowing Lao Le's team to learn and exchange ideas with AvengersGame's top-tier development team beforehand is indeed a rare and valuable opportunity.
He suddenly turned around and asked, "How much do you estimate it would cost to acquire the permanent distribution rights in China—I mean, including operation, distribution, and secondary development rights?"
Before Le Aimin came to report, he had already thought about this issue, but he still thought about it seriously for a few more seconds before speaking: "According to my estimate, if we adopt the revenue sharing model, we should be able to win the contract by paying only one or two million US dollars in pre-authorization fees in the early stage."
Le Aimin himself wasn't sure if NetEase and Shanda would actually get involved. If it's just competing with a small company like iDreamSky, Tencent's advantages are undoubtedly overwhelming.
Ren Yuxin nodded: "Call someone from the investment department over. I need to see a complete acquisition plan before the end of tomorrow's workday!"
Le Aimin was taken aback upon hearing this.
He hadn't expected his boss to be even faster than him, so he quickly nodded and agreed, "Okay, Mr. Ren, I'll go right now!"
As Le Aimin emerged from Ren Yuxin's office, his smile was barely concealed. He walked with a brisk pace, skipping the elevator and heading straight down the stairs.
"Brother Min, Brother Min!" Sun Binbin greeted him warmly as he returned, "How did it go? Did President Ren give in?"
"It's not a concession." Le Aimin plopped down in his chair, a smile playing on his lips. "It's that we've directly asked the investment department to come up with a proposal."
"Holy crap! Does that mean we can pause our development for now?"
"Bullshit!" Le Aimin glared at him. "Keep developing at full speed, walk on two legs!"
Sun Binbin was stunned for a moment: "Brother Min, are you saying—we might not even be able to beat Fruit Ninja?"
Le Aimin patted him on the shoulder, his tone softening: "We'll likely succeed, but we need to be prepared. However, Binbin, once we win, we need to work closely with them. You guys should learn from their professional team. At least in the mobile game field, they're more professional than us."
"Hmm!" Sun Binbin nodded thoughtfully.
Office 401, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Science and Technology Park.
The "development and operations team with a top-notch international perspective" that Le Aimin mentioned was currently huddled together, grinning foolishly.
Previously, the game was only popular overseas, and they certainly enjoyed it. But that enjoyment, how to put it, was like being separated by a membrane of two or three thousand micrometers; although it was very thin, there was always a feeling that something was missing.
It's different now.
The news, trending topics, and discussions across China are overwhelming, every single one mentioning "Fruit Ninja," every single word...
Everyone's talking about what they've done. That's the feeling of having your eyes and ears pregnant at the same time.
This is real, real fun!
"I haven't been able to sleep for several days in a row," said Sun Xiaoguang, sporting dark circles under his eyes. "I keep reading news about Fruit Ninja until two or three in the morning. After that, I have to play a couple of rounds, and then I get excited, which makes it even harder to fall asleep."
"I'm a bit better off than you," Hao Pengxiang said with a grin. "When we first released the first version in Australia, I was like this, but now I'm much calmer."
"Pengxiang," Xu Youqing looked earnestly at his roommate Hao Pengxiang, "thank you."
Why are you thanking me?
"Thank you for recommending me to Red Palm Studio," Xu Youqing said. "After studying art for so many years, this is the first time I've felt that my paintings have been seen and recognized by so many people. It's so damn awesome!"
"Don't thank me, thank Senior Geng instead. Without his introduction, we wouldn't have everything we have now!" Hao Pengxiang said.
"Yes, I have to thank Brother Zhi. He gave me this opportunity," Sun Xiaoguang added immediately.
After a few moments of reflection, Xu Youqing suddenly blurted out, "Do you think it would be much easier to get a job at Tencent Games if we included our experience working on 'Fruit Ninja' on our resumes?"
"I don't want to go to Penguin anymore." Hao Pengxiang shook his head seriously.
"No, why? Didn't you always want to work at Tencent?" Xu Youqing asked, puzzled. "You want to go to NetEase now?"
"No, I'll stick with Senior Geng from now on. Wherever he goes, I'll go," Hao Pengxiang said seriously. "Even if Tencent offered me a high salary, I wouldn't go."
Sun Xiaoguang hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Pengxiang, Brother Zhi said that the development of 'Fruit Ninja' might not be outsourced to our Red Palm Studio anymore. What are you going to do if there's no work left?"
"I'll listen to Senior Geng. Anyway, he still has Jiaotong University's matchmaking service. Oh wait, Jiaotong University's matchmaking service isn't his anymore, he has a new company and a new project. As long as he doesn't look down on me, I'll stick with him."
"But his new project isn't making games!" Xu Youqing said. "Isn't your expertise in game art a good fit?"
"Game art isn't suitable, but I can switch to UI! He's working on a mobile internet project, which still requires UI, so I'll just study UI properly," Hao Pengxiang said earnestly.
Xu Youqing opened his mouth, but swallowed the words back. He simply shook his head and didn't say anything more.
"Oh right," Sun Xiaoguang suddenly remembered something, "Shouldn't Brother Zhi have been here a while ago? Why isn't he here yet?"
If I don't come soon, I'll miss my train home—
'
As soon as Sun Xiaoguang finished speaking, the door was pushed open.
Geng Zhi walked in, carrying three ordinary-looking large packaging bags.
"Senior Geng!"
"Brother Zhi! You're here!"
"What's in here?" Hao Pengxiang asked curiously, leaning closer and staring at the large bags. He touched them with his hand. "This should be a cardboard box."
"Teacher Wang said this year is special because there are fewer people in our studio, so we won't have an annual meeting or a raffle. He just asked me to help you buy a 'Sunshine Award' for each of you as a token of appreciation."
As he spoke, he gently placed the three bags one by one on the table for the three of them.
"The Sunshine Award??" Sun Xiaoguang sighed softly. "I've heard that the Sunshine Award usually has pretty ordinary prizes."
"It's better than nothing!" Hao Pengxiang comforted him.
"Hmm, it looks like a nut gift box, not bad. Thanks, Brother Zhi, thanks, Teacher Wang." Sun Xiaoguang sent two more messages of thanks to Teacher Wang in the group.
He then said goodbye to Geng Zhi, Hao Pengxiang, and Xu Youqing one by one, and prepared to take Sunshine Sunshine to hail a taxi back to his hometown.
Just as Sun Xiaoguang opened the office door and was about to step out, Xu Youqing, who had already unpacked the package, exclaimed, "Holy crap! Holy crap!"
"What's wrong?" Sun Xiaoguang was startled and quickly turned around to ask.
Xu Youqing pointed at the suitcase Sun Xiaoguang was casually carrying and said, "Xiaoguang, is this how you treat your 20,000 yuan prize?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Just as Sun Xiaoguang was confused, Hao Pengxiang exclaimed again, "There's more in here! This isn't just worth 20,000! Holy crap!!"
"Holy crap! A brand new 17-inch MacBook Pro worth 20,000 yuan, plus a 30,000 yuan year-end bonus, and a free paid team-building trip to Hong Kong!"
Hao Pengxiang did a rough calculation and felt it was worth about 60,000 to 70,000 yuan.
Geng Zhi ignored the three of them, smiled and walked out of office 401 first, directing the two laborers at the door to walk towards the building where the Momo team was located.
P.S.: You can join the VIP QQ group; there are red envelopes to receive during the Spring Festival, and they might be quite large.
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