Game development begins with destroying Girls' Frontline.

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Zhang Ming, who has been seen as a "genius" since childhood, usually finds it difficult to understand how others perceive him.

Now he probably understands a little.

Like other kids, I really don't understand why he always gets 100 on tests.

Zhang Ming genuinely couldn't understand why Lin Li, the boss of a game company, would be so knowledgeable about the internet.

It's okay if he doesn't understand.

But Zhang Ming made a good friend from then on.

Especially during this period, after Douyin entered a period of rapid expansion, Zhang Ming communicated with Lin Li almost every month, either by phone or offline.

In fact.

Zhang Ming set a goal for himself to meet Lin Li once a month.

It's nothing more than to train my team and improve my own abilities.

He now considers Lin Li as the answer key to his workbook.

Reviewing the document once a month ensures that the overall direction is correct without causing oneself and the team to lose their way.

However, this matter...

Zhang Ming didn't tell anyone, after all, those who can become senior executives at ByteDance are all outstanding individuals.

Zhang Ming worried that if they kept looking at the answers every day, their Dao hearts would collapse.

In fact.

Zhang Ming's worldview collapsed many times before he finally accepted that there are people in this world who can find the path to the future from a wealth of information.

And the accuracy rate of their judgments is ridiculously high...

Although at present.

Zhang Ming only found Lin Li as a person like this.

"Coffee still needs some sugar."

This was the first thing Lin Li said after picking up his coffee.

In fact, Zhang Ming was not the only one familiar with Lin Li.

Lin Li also made some contact with Zhang Ming during the communication.

The two companies have no business conflicts, and Lin Li also has shares in Douyin. They can't be called close friends, but they can be said to be close business partners.

"Just like ByteDance still has to make games."

Zhang Ming added a sentence with a smile.

"Oh? You've made up your minds?"

Lin Li expressed his surprise, but in fact, he already knew about this before Zhang Ming invited him.

After all, he was specially invited by the owner of a game company.

That's all.

Furthermore, at the current point in time.

In China, all internet giants that pursue profits are involved in the gaming industry.

Even Alibaba, which once declared it would never make games, established a game division last September, 2017.

This department later became Lingxi Interactive Entertainment.

In its previous life, Douyin established its gaming division between the end of 18 and 19.

Through the acquisition of Shanghe Games and Mokun Games, and the formation of a new business model, the prototype of the game business, consisting of "8 game studios in 4 locations", was officially established, which is the later Chaoxi Guangnian.

Based on the timeline, the decision should be made within the next day or two.

~~~

Although both are giants making games.

ByteDance's journey in the gaming industry can be described as quite bumpy.

Among internet giants, Alibaba's Lingxi Interactive Entertainment endured several years of hardship before finally getting on the right track with "Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Strategy Edition".

ByteDance's Chaoxi Guangnian, on the other hand, announced its dissolution in early 2024, only to announce its revival in May.

Six years have passed, and we're starting all over again. The difference is truly lamentable.

There are many rumors in the industry about why ByteDance, or rather ByteDance Games, has had such a bumpy road, but in fact, the core logic is that it spends too much and earns too little.

Not to mention the high cost.

The root cause of low profits.

The truth is that ByteDance's top management simply couldn't find a leader capable of leading a game company.

Several consecutive CEOs of ByteDance Games have had no prior experience in the gaming industry.

ByteDance actually understood this problem from the beginning, but they didn't change it.

The reason is simple: they don't see the potential in appointing someone who does strategic investment to head the gaming business. ByteDance's development strategy for its gaming business can be summed up in one sentence: replicate "the next Tencent."

By leveraging its algorithm and traffic advantages, and further integrating substantial capital, it aims to repeat the successful path previously taken by Tencent.

In this path.

Whether the leaders understand games is not important to ByteDance.

It was precisely for this reason that ByteDance, in its previous life, adhered to the principle of "great effort brings miracles" after entering the game market.

They frequently acquire related game teams with hefty sums of money.

Unfortunately, it has become clear that after the period of unbridled growth, creating a hit product by relying on traffic is not as simple as it seems.

So after the dissolution turmoil, ByteDance eventually returned to the traditional model and brought in Zhang Fan, a veteran of the gaming industry, to restart ByteDance Games.

~~~

In fact, whether ByteDance games are successful or not.

Lin Li didn't really care, and he was also well aware that Zhang Ming's seemingly humble and eager-to-seek-talented person attitude was no substitute for reality.

Lin Lizhen wasn't sure how much of his advice on game-related matters would be heeded.

After all, Spark Games is technically a competitor of ByteDance Games.

However, when Zhang Ming asked this question a week ago, Lin Li still gave him advice.

"Don't copy Tencent. In the current Chinese market, there is no room for another Tencent to grow."

Lin Li gave Zhang Ming two suggestions.

One thing is that we definitely need to make a game, but we shouldn't copy Tencent's approach.

Another area is game development, which can be addressed through acquisitions.

However, game operation must be done by professionals, otherwise it will waste Douyin's huge traffic.

After giving this suggestion, Zhang Ming's next sentence was...

Who are the professionals?

At that moment, Lin Li pointed to his chest.

"We can jointly establish an operating company and operate it together."

"With Xinghuo's operational strength and Douyin's ability to attract traffic, this is something where 1+1 is far greater than 2."

After Lin Li proposed this plan, Zhang Ming, who was on the other end of the phone, remained silent for a long time.

But judging from today's invitation...

Lin Li guessed that the other party had such thoughts.

In fact, if Lin Li had proposed this plan a few months later, even if Zhang Ming had agreed, his subordinates would not have.

However, at this juncture, after discussing with the senior management, Zhang Ming felt that the plan was still quite good.

On the one hand, Lin Li himself is an investor in Douyin.

The revenue from Douyin is also his revenue. On the other hand, although Douyin's traffic is currently high and is increasing, people's imagination for things that have not happened always has its limits.

Who would have thought that in the future, TikTok's global monthly active users would exceed 15.82 billion?

What is this concept.

One in five people worldwide is a monthly active user of TikTok.

This traffic pool is frighteningly high, and Douyin itself is not only suitable for entertainment, but also very suitable for advertising and very easy to monetize.

However, at present, no one expects Douyin to become that powerful. Everyone thinks that achieving half the scale of Tencent's community, or even reaching the level of Tencent, would be the limit...

Chapter 446 Drinking Party Simulator?

Therefore, when Lin Li proposed the 1+1 plan.

Most of the executives agreed to the plan, as they all felt that Douyin currently had no experience in the gaming industry and it would be very difficult to get started directly.

Having a spark to lend a hand might not be a bad thing.

Come back to the present moment.

Zhang Ming said this while stirring the coffee stick.

"The Douyin account and the Xinghuo account are interconnected. Douyin will entrust the management of game-related advertising to the newly established game operation company. The operation company will profit from Xinghuo platform's 10% commission. In the future, as long as ByteDance Games launches a PC version of a game, it will be exclusively launched on the Xinghuo platform."

“We generally agree on these points, but we still have some concerns about the specific proportion of cooperation.”

"The main issue is that we still hope to discuss the matter of Xinghuo holding a 51% stake further."

Upon hearing this, Lin Li took a sip of coffee.

"The 51% share of Spark is to ensure the sustainability of the operational strategy."

Lin Li's expression was very serious.

But in his mind, he didn't really care that much about these details. As long as Xinghuo could maintain its say in the operating company, everything else was trivial.

In fact, from a later perspective, the best way for TikTok to monetize in the gaming industry is not to develop its own games.

Instead, it serves as a publicity and distribution platform.

Whoever pays the most gets the ads. That's actually the best way for Douyin to monetize its traffic pool. You, NetEase, want to challenge Tencent? Fine, pay up, and I'll put ads on your page.

You penguins need to defend? Okay, pay me and I'll put ads on your screen.

This is actually the true source of income for TikTok.

You'll never lose out.

However, Lin Li obviously wouldn't say these things.

For Xinghuo, all they need to do is for Douyin to grant them the game operation rights.

As for the games that help operate Douyin (TikTok), it's really just a gimmick by Lin Li.

Furthermore, Lin Li was well aware that ByteDance would not release the core of its gaming business, so initially, all Lin Li wanted was the operational rights to Douyin's game promotion and distribution section.

To put it bluntly.

They are advertising agents.

Lin Li will have the final say on game promotion and advertising on Douyin in the future.

This right is the most important thing, because once we get our hands on it, Spark Future will really have a chance to compete with Tencent.

~~~

Lin Li and Zhang Ming finished their private conversation.

It's already 4pm.

After the small meeting is over, it's time for the big meeting.

Before entering the meeting room.

Li Qi patted the folder on his chest.