Game development begins with destroying Girls' Frontline.

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This is a pie in the sky that Ma Xiao painted for Ma Huateng.

But the problem is.

He himself didn't know how to realize this grand plan, since the Crazy Fun Festival had cost real money.

Server setup, personnel setup, the addition of a large number of IPs, plus marketing and promotion costs.

The Crazy Fun Festival hasn't even started yet, but hundreds of millions of dollars have already been invested.

This doesn't even include the money Chen Zhou spent on promoting Red Alert Online.

So many resources have been invested.

As a result, before the festival even officially started, it had already descended into complete chaos.

The atmosphere in the tea break room was unusually heavy.

Ma Xiao sat on the sofa, the teacup in her hand had long since gone cold, but she hesitated to bring it to her lips.

His thoughts, like this cup of tea, were cold and chaotic.

The other people in the meeting all had pretty much the same expression.

On weekdays.

As the head of the game studio.

Tianmei, Photon, and Aurora Borealis are all very prominent figures.

In the past few years, it's no exaggeration to say that the gaming industry can turn the tide at will.

But since the sparks began to ignite.

They also found that the penguin brand wasn't as well-known as before. In the past, if they saw any project, they could easily get it just by mentioning the penguin's name.

But now, for developers in China...

Penguins are no longer the optimal choice.

This is the fundamental reason why Penguin and Spark are irreconcilable enemies.

Normally, against an opponent like this, the penguin could easily sweep aside its opponent.

But ironically, it's facing a spark.

Every time I push forward, I end up getting covered in mud myself.

Just like Red Alert Online this time.

During the promotion and publicity, no one felt there was anything wrong with it; it was just a normal penguin-style marketing campaign.

But the result?

The counterattack from Spark directly silenced Red Alert Online.

For a game, especially one whose core design revolves around monetization, it's never a problem if players complain.

Because if people are criticizing it, it means there are still people playing it, and if people are playing it, there will be a paying rate.

But what if you get beaten into silence?

If no one dares to criticize anymore, then it's truly over.

Now, Red Alert Online has completed its entire journey from birth to death in one go.

Chen Zhou sat on the sofa without saying a word.

He was the main character of the entire meeting. To put it bluntly, today's meeting was his trial, and the other bigwigs were just there to watch the show.

If he doesn't speak, no one will speak up.

Even so, Ma Huateng was furious, and Ma Xiao was extremely anxious.

Chen Zhou was very clear about the core of this meeting.

A long time passed.

He took a deep breath.

"Brother Xiao, this is my fault. I'm applying for a transfer."

Chen Zhou's opening remarks were a powerful statement, drawing everyone's attention almost simultaneously.

"You're being transferred!?"

Ma Xiao's voice contained not only surprise but also a hint of anger.

Chen Zhou nodded, his voice low and deep.

"In any case, I agreed to the early release of Red Alert Online. My intention was to separate it from the later major releases to achieve better promotional results."

"But who knew that although our marketing was very effective, with pre-registrations exceeding ten million, things would turn out like this because of the game's quality and Spark's sneak attack..."

"I...I have failed Mr. Ma's trust, and even more so, I have failed the company! I have failed to live up to Ms. Xiao's expectations!"

As Chen Zhou spoke, he became more and more animated, and tears welled up in his eyes without warning.

With tears streaming down her face, her words seemed to carry a greater sense of sincerity.

But amidst her tears and lamentations...

His eyes, however, were constantly scanning his surroundings.

It's obvious to anyone that he doesn't want to be transferred. For someone in his position, being transferred now would basically ruin his entire career.

Look at Wang Guang. He used to be the supervisor of WEGAEM, but now he's been transferred to some obscure corner.

however.

Whether or not he wants a job transfer is not up to Chen Zhou to decide.

Whatever the reason, the mess Red Alert Online made won't disappear; someone has to take the blame.

Therefore, Chen Zhou came up with a strategy of retreating to advance.

Sure enough, Chen Zhou immediately requested a job transfer.

They really managed to stump Ma Xiao.

Chen Zhou's tearful outburst in just a few minutes can be described as a classic.

On the one hand, it shows that I do indeed bear responsibility.

On the other hand, they completely shifted the blame, saying that their original intentions were good, and they even achieved some success, but things turned out this way only because Hu Bing made a terrible game.

Is this my fault? No way!

to be frank.

Is there anything wrong with this statement? Actually, there is.

Because the decision-maker's responsibility is to coordinate all information and be accountable for their decisions.

Otherwise, why would we need decision-makers?

If this point is not recognized, the company will become a place where mistakes are always the employees' faults, and successes are always attributed to the boss's brilliance.

Chapter Fifty: The Penguins' Counterattack

Ma Xiaoneng was able to reach the position of President of Tencent Interactive Entertainment Group.

Of course, I'm not a fool.

On the contrary, he was well aware that the essence of the matter was caused by Chen Zhou taking credit for Chen Zhou's actions.

But at this critical juncture, changing generals at the last minute is definitely not an option.

Moreover, he tacitly approved of Chen Zhou taking credit for the job, and he was very optimistic about Red Alert Online at the time.

So even in the original plan.

At this meeting, Ma Xiao only wanted to give Chen Zhou a warning, but Chen Zhou was unaware of this.

So they took the initiative and used a strategy of retreating to advance.

This trick works very well.

However, this was not without cost, much like how Yamamoto Isoroku threatened to resign before the Battle of Midway to force the approval of the battle plan.

Ma Xiao did not intend to do anything to Chen Zhou at this meeting.

But now.

Chen Zhou's actions inevitably give the impression of a power grab.

So this trick is indeed effective, but it can only be used once.

After that, Ma Xiao did indeed abandon his plan to reprimand Chen Zhou, and instead offered Chen Zhou a few words of comfort.

"Victory and defeat are common occurrences in war. Chen Zhou, you are the general of our Crazy Fun Festival this time, so you have to cheer up."

Upon hearing this, Chen Zhou finally felt relieved.

Not only did his anxiety subside, but it also put his mind at ease.

The atmosphere in the entire conference room became much more relaxed.

The internal division of labor has ended.

The next step is to proceed.

At this point, Chen Zhou spoke first.

Just as Ma Xiao said, he is the commander on the front line.

Chen Zhou had actually thought about his future plans. He put down his coffee cup and began to share his thoughts.

"Actually, it's not that difficult. We still have our advantages."

"Don't let the sparks generalize. After the PR department quickly cut off Red Alert Online, our Crazy Play Festival was actually not greatly affected."

"Although the number of reservations has not increased as dramatically in the past few days, it is still on the rise."

"Moreover, strictly speaking, Red Alert Online is not part of the Crazy Fun Festival."

Before today, Red Alert Online was an important part of Tencent's Crazy Play Festival, but now it has been thrown aside like a dirty rag.

It's really sad.

Seeing Chen Zhou's confidence, it was as if the crushing defeat of Red Alert Online had nothing to do with him.

Tianmei's He Shen couldn't resist.

He made a sarcastic remark.

"So, according to Mr. Chen, Red Alert Online was just a minor defeat? Heroes of Might and Magic 3 and Legend of Sword and Fairy are nothing to worry about. Shall we just continue with the crazy fun festival as planned?"

Even with Chen Zhou's thick skin, he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed at this moment.

"Of course not. Before we officially start the Crazy Play Festival, we still need to use some kind of event to divert the players' attention."

Although it was to avoid embarrassment.

But Chen Zhou's words hit the nail on the head and were met with approval from the audience.

The situation is not complicated. Penguin has been heavily criticized in a short period of time because of the reputation of Red Alert Online.

Even though the public relations department has already completed the separation.

It has been stated multiple times that Red Alert Online is not a Tencent game; Tencent is merely the distributor.

But players don't care about any of that when they're angry.

Although there are fewer intense shouting matches now, the players' emotions are still there.

In this situation, they had to find a way to cover up the previous events with other events and a new penguin image.

This is easier said than done.

Fortunately, penguins are a large and powerful company.

After several rounds of discussion.

They actually came up with a solution.

"How about we follow Xinghuo's example and announce a remake of an old IP? I remember CrossFire HD has been in development for a while now, hasn't it?"