chsdbacks Chapter 449 Preparations for the European Server
Chapter 449 Preparations for the European Server
Lu Ran arrived at the company almost an hour later than usual the next day.
He waited at the entrance of the residential area for almost twenty minutes before he could hail a taxi. It wasn't because he couldn't get a taxi, but because he hesitated for fifteen minutes about whether to drive to the company himself.
In the end, I decided to take a taxi.
Ever since Shen Yuege became pregnant, he always felt that the car at home might come in handy at any time. If she wanted to go to the hospital or suddenly wanted to eat something, it would be much more convenient to have the car downstairs than downstairs at the company.
When I pushed open the door to the technical department, it was already bustling with activity.
Three people were gathered around Zhao Yiming's workstation. The monitor displayed lines of dense code, and the group was arguing about something in one section.
Old Wang stood at the entrance of the tea room, holding a cup of hot tea in his hand, drinking it while watching the commotion.
He waved to Lu Ran as he entered.
Lu Ran walked over, and Lao Wang gestured towards Zhao Yiming with his chin: "The stress test for the biohazard mode is finished. The theoretical peak concurrency can reach 3.5 million, which is 400,000 higher than expected. Lao Wang said it can be optimized further to reach 4 million, but Zhao Yiming said that's enough and there's no need to waste manpower on it anymore. The two of them have been at odds since they arrived this morning."
Lu Ran didn't get involved in the argument and turned to go to his office.
After sitting down, I didn't rush to turn on the computer. Instead, I leaned back in my chair and went over my conversation with Chen Mo from last night in my mind.
Chen Mo's words were subtle, but the meaning was clear—it was only a matter of time before he left Tencent, and he hoped that Lu Ran could reserve a position for him.
This statement carried more weight than Chen Mo himself might have realized.
Chen Mo worked at Tencent East China for over a decade and has a very deep network of connections.
I know local internet cafe distributors, can talk to mid-to-high-level executives of live streaming platforms, and have connections with game media, hardware manufacturers, and offline venues.
This kind of network of relationships cannot be built in a day or two, nor can it be replaced by just poaching an operations director.
More importantly, Chen Mo is extremely familiar with Tencent's internal workings.
He knows the decision-making processes, approval processes, and key personnel of large companies.
If Tencent and Tutu Technology ever do collide head-on in the market, the intelligence Chen Mo can provide will be irreplaceable.
Lu Ran opened his computer and wrote a line in his notes: "Chen Mo - to be determined. We'll make a move when the time is right."
He stared at the line of text for a while, then added: "Can lead a team. Can establish a new department."
His relationship with Zhou Mingzhe is more about technical cooperation and daily management. Zhou Mingzhe can handle the internal affairs of the company, but it is not his forte to go out and discuss cooperation, channels, and resource integration.
Chen Mo is precisely the most suitable candidate to fill this gap.
However, this cannot be rushed.
Currently, Tutu Technology and Tencent are still allies. On the surface, the two sides are still cooperating on the internet cafe league in East China, and the competition plan is still under discussion.
If we poach Chen Mo now, it would be like stabbing our partner in the back, and we'd be unable to face anyone in this industry afterward.
They wait until Tencent makes its move first, until the relationship between the two sides shifts from cooperation to competition, then it will be a natural thing for Chen Mo to come over.
In these kinds of situations, whoever acts last gains the moral high ground.
Lu Ran closed the memo app and called Zhou Mingzhe: "Come to my office."
A few minutes later, Zhou Mingzhe pushed open the door and came in, still holding that cup of tea.
He glanced at Lu Ran as he sat down and said, "You look more energetic today than yesterday."
"I slept well last night." Lu Ran changed the subject to business. "Have you contacted the liaison at the Ministry of Culture regarding the procedures in Europe?"
Zhou Mingzhe put down his teacup, took out a message from his phone, and handed it to Lu Ran.
The message came from Zhou Deming's contact person. It was short and said that the materials had been submitted to the relevant departments and the first batch could be approved within two weeks if all goes well.
After Lu Ran finished reading, she returned the phone to Zhou Mingzhe, her mind already racing with timelines.
The issuance of the first batch of approvals within two weeks means that the European version of League of Legends can be launched for public beta testing within a month.
The server is ready, the multilingual translation is complete, and the UI and localized content have undergone two rounds of testing. It is ready for deployment at any time.
"Let's release League of Legends Europe first," Lu Ran said. "This is our most mature product. European players already have a basic understanding of MOBA games, so the learning curve is low. Once they get used to it, we'll release Minecraft and CrossFire."
Zhou Mingzhe nodded: "So where should the server be deployed? Frankfurt or London?"
"Frankfurt. Germany's network infrastructure is among the best in Europe, with high bandwidth and low latency. Moreover, Germany is located in the center of Europe, so the signal coverage from Frankfurt is relatively balanced across Western, Northern, and Southern Europe, avoiding the situation where the latency is low in the north and high in the south."
Zhou Mingzhe didn't object after listening, but simply asked, "Should we still go through PEGI for the game license?"
"Go through PEGI. It's a one-time process, saving time by not having to go to each country one by one."
Zhou Mingzhe took out his phone and immediately assigned the task. After sending the message, he looked up at Lu Ran, his expression becoming subtle: "By the way, what did you talk about with Chen Mo yesterday? You talked until so late."
Lu Ran leaned back in his chair and recounted the important parts of his dinner with Chen Mo.
When Chen Mo remarked that he "felt like the head of a maintenance committee," Zhou Mingzhe put down his teacup, his expression becoming much more serious. After Lu Ran finished speaking, Zhou Mingzhe remained silent for a moment before asking, "Do you really think he'll come?"
"He said it himself. He's not the type to say things like that easily."
"If he really comes, which area do you plan to put him in charge of?"
Lu Ran thought for a moment: "Externally. Channels, cooperation, resource integration, dealing with various platforms. You handle internal and technical aspects, he handles external and expansion aspects, there's no conflict."
Zhou Mingzhe nodded and didn't ask any more questions.
He sat in Lu Ran's office for a while longer, going over the key milestones of the European version's launch. After confirming that the timeline was correct, he took his teacup and went back.
After the office quieted down, Lu Ran spent the afternoon looking at the data report on the European game market.
The report wasn't thick, just a dozen pages long, and it was all data that the operations department had scraped from various public channels—European players' game preferences, payment habits, online time periods, and the user base of mainstream game genres.
He studied very carefully, even memorizing the most popular game genres among players from different countries.
The French prefer casual party games, Germans enjoy strategy and simulation games, British players are most receptive to competitive games, the Nordic countries play almost everything but have a low paying rate, and Italians and Spanish in Southern Europe prefer watching others play rather than playing themselves.
After reading it, he felt more confident. The competitive nature of League of Legends naturally suited the tastes of players in the UK and Germany. After these two countries established their core user base, the game could then expand to neighboring countries through tournaments and live streams. This approach was the right one.
As the sun set, he closed his laptop, packed his things, and prepared to go home.
As they passed the technical department, Zhao Yiming was still arguing with Lao Wang, and both of them were speaking much louder than before.
Lu Ran stood at the door and listened for a while. He found that their argument had changed from "Can it be optimized further?" to "Your last piece of code was rubbish." He turned around and left without getting involved.
When she got home, Shen Yuege was lying on the sofa watching a TV series. On the coffee table was a plate of cut fruit and a plate of empty fruit pits.
She didn't even look up when she saw Lu Ran return: "Mom made braised beef brisket with radish today. She said it won't taste good if it's left out for too long, so she wants you to come to the kitchen and get it quickly."
Lu Ran changed her shoes and went to the kitchen.
A clay pot sat on the stove, its lid slightly ajar, releasing steam carrying the aroma of radishes and beef.
He brought it to the dining table, filled two bowls with rice, and the two of them sat facing each other to eat.
Shen Yuege took a few bites and suddenly remembered something. She put down her chopsticks and said, "Oh right, someone from my studio contacted me today, asking if I'm still going to the Golden Melody Awards. I said I'd think about it later, but they told me to give them a definite answer as soon as possible."
Lu Ran thought about the date; there were less than two weeks until the Golden Melody Awards.
Shen Yuege's physical condition is much more stable than it was in the first few days after she found out she was pregnant. Her morning sickness has basically disappeared, and her appetite has returned.
If I'm in good shape by then, it wouldn't be a bad idea to go for a visit.
"Go if you want. We'll see how it goes. If you feel good, go out; if you don't, stay home. I'll go with you."
Shen Yuege glanced at him, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, and picked up her chopsticks again to continue eating.
But the corner of his mouth curled up slightly, a very small curve that was almost invisible under the warm yellow light of the dining table, but Lu Ran noticed it.
The sky outside the window had completely darkened.
A few barks came from afar, then quickly fell silent.
The streetlights downstairs were on, illuminating the empty sidewalk and a few cars parked on the side of the road.
Life was much quieter than before, but Lu Ran knew in his heart that this quietness wouldn't last long.
After the European version goes live, things will come one after another.
The preparation for the event, the subsequent overseas deployment of the game, and the possible changes in Tencent's attitude—everything needs to be prepared in advance.
He finished the last bite of rice in his bowl, leaned back in his chair, and looked at Shen Yuege across from him as she drank her soup with her head down.
She lowered her head slightly as she drank the soup, and the spoon made a crisp sound as it hit the rim of the bowl.
The light fell on her profile, illuminating her entire face softly.
Lu Ran suddenly remembered the first time he met Shen Yuege. At that time, she was wearing black clothes, her expression was cold as if someone owed her money, and she spoke rudely.
He thought to himself, "Why is this woman so difficult to deal with?"
Although she was his sugar daddy's mother, his first impression of her was that she was very aloof.
Now, seeing her looking down as she drinks her soup, I can't recall that feeling at all.
It's not that a person will completely become another person, but as time goes by, those sharp edges are gradually smoothed out, and the underlying nature revealed is much softer than he imagined.
"What are you looking at?" Shen Yuege put down her soup bowl and noticed that he was staring at her in a daze.
"Watching you drink soup."
"What's so interesting about me drinking soup?"
"It looks good, that's all. It has nothing to do with what you drink."
Shen Yuege rolled her eyes and took the bowl to the kitchen.
Lu Ran sat at the dining table without moving, and heard the sound of the faucet being turned on and off in the kitchen, as well as the sound of dishes being put into the sink.
He leaned back in his chair, stared at the ceiling for a while, his mind not on work, but on the Golden Melody Awards.
If Shen Yuege really wins Best Female Singer, her belly should just be showing when she goes on stage to accept the award, and she may need to choose a loose-fitting dress.
He needs to talk to the stylist beforehand, otherwise it would be embarrassing if she couldn't wear a tight-fitting dress that she couldn't wear on stage.
This kind of thing may seem trivial, but every detail needs to be thought out in advance.
Lu Ran took out his phone, wrote something in the notes app, then put his phone away and got up to go to the kitchen.
Shen Yuege was washing dishes, her sleeves rolled up to her forearms, her hands covered in white foam.
He stood there for a while, took the bowl from her hand, and said, "I'll wash it."
Shen Yuege didn't argue. She rinsed the foam off her hands, dried them, and turned back to the living room.
Lu Ran stood in front of the sink, turned on the tap, and listened to the sound of water washing the dishes and the distant sound of car engines coming from outside the window. He felt that this was probably how his life would be.
Not bad.
pretty good.
...