You were supposed to have a fake marriage with the diva, so how did you become her father?

Chapter 252 The Sucker

EA didn't expect that not only could they not reach an agreement with the large game companies in China, but even the medium-sized game companies that they looked down on were all putting on airs and refusing to budge an inch when negotiating.

"Mr. Morrison," Li Ming began cautiously, "I think we may have underestimated the strength of Dragon Country Games."

Morrison raised an eyebrow: "How so?"

"Take a look at this." Li Ming turned on the projector, and a set of data appeared on the screen. "This is the development of the Chinese game market over the past five years. Five years ago, Chinese domestic game companies basically survived by distributing overseas products. But now, their independent research and development capabilities have improved significantly."

"Tencent's Half-Life, although rushed out, has good gameplay innovation and a high level of completion. Several of NetEase's mobile games are performing well in the Southeast Asian market. Perfect World also has its own representative works. These companies are no longer the small workshops that could only work for us five years ago."

Morrison remained silent, staring at the data on the screen.

Li Ming continued, "Moreover, the Chinese market has another characteristic—extremely high user stickiness. The TUTU platform, through its combination of social networking, pets, and games, has firmly locked its users in its hands. WeChat also has its own user barriers. For foreign products to directly enter the market, the cost would be extremely high."

"So you mean we can only continue to partner with local companies?"

"Yes." Li Ming nodded. "At least for now, this is the most feasible path."

Morrison leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples.

He recalled the scene of the Tencent executive slamming the door and leaving, the ambiguous smile on the face of the NetEase director, and the enthusiastic yet empty gaze of the Perfect World president.

These Chinese are much more difficult to deal with than he imagined.

"Are there any other companies?" he asked. "Those smaller, startup companies might be more willing to accept our terms."

Li Ming thought for a moment and nodded, "Yes. There is a company we haven't contacted yet."

Which one?

"TuTu Technology." Li Ming pulled up some information. "They're the company that makes the TUTU platform. They recently released a game called 'Seven Heroes of Jianghu,' which is very popular in China and is going toe-to-toe with Tencent's 'Half-Life.'"

Morrison took the documents and quickly glanced through them.

Tutu Technology, founded by Lu Ran, has seen its flagship product TUTU achieve over 50 million daily active users in less than a year, while its game "Seven Heroes Jianghu" maintains a stable daily active user base of around 15 million. Recently, it also launched the animated series "Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit Seven Heroes," which is also very popular.

"This company..." Morrison mused, "It sounds small, but it has a pretty extensive product line."

"Yes." Li Ming nodded. "And their founder is very young. He's said to come from a content creation background, writing songs, screenplays, making animations, making games—he does everything. He's quite famous in China's entertainment and internet circles."

Morrison stared at the young face in the document and suddenly became interested.

"Contact them," he said. "Set a time; I want to meet this Lu Ran."

Li Ming hesitated for a moment: "Mr. Morrison, there's something I need to explain in advance."

"What is it?"

"This company isn't very big. Fifty million daily active users sounds like a lot, but compared to Tencent's WeChat with seven hundred million, it's two orders of magnitude smaller. And they only have one game, which can't compare to a gaming empire like Tencent. In our terms, they're a... nouveau riche. Although they've been doing well recently, their scale is ultimately limited. Would you like to reconsider?"

Morrison laughed: "Nouveau riche? That's perfect. Nouveau riche lack money, resources, and international market access. We have all of those things. Talking to them should be much easier than talking to Tencent."

Li Ming thought about it and felt that Morrison's words made sense.

They're nouveau riche, they're satisfied with a little sweetness.

Unlike Tencent, which is full of old hands with huge appetites.

"I'll contact them right away." He stood up. "Mr. Morrison, when do you plan to meet with them?"

Morrison glanced at his watch: "The sooner the better. Tomorrow would be best."

"clear."

The next afternoon, Lu Ran received a call from Zhou Mingzhe.

"Lu Ran, there's something I need to tell you." Zhou Mingzhe's voice sounded somewhat subtle. "People from EA want to see you."

Lu Ran was drinking coffee when he heard this and put down his cup: "EA? That American gaming giant?"

"Yes. It's the one that broke up with Tencent before," Zhou Mingzhe said. "They contacted our business email today and said they'd like to schedule a time to talk about cooperation."

Lu Ran raised an eyebrow, his expression somewhat playful.

It seems the other party still values ​​my company, even though the photo was taken from a relatively far back position.

Zhou Mingzhe continued, "What do you think? To see me or not to see me?"

Lu Ran leaned back in his chair, looked at the ceiling, and smiled.

Just a few days ago he said that EA should choose first, and then they could release the ones that were left over.

Now, sure enough, they've come to pick on him.

"I'll see you," he said. "Why not?"

"So, how do we negotiate?" Zhou Mingzhe asked. "What conditions should we offer?"

Lu Ran thought for a moment, then slowly said, "Conditions? No rush. Let them tell us first, and see what price they offer."

"So what's our bottom line?"

"A bottom line?" Lu Ran laughed. "Brother Zhou, what do you think we're lacking right now?"

Zhou Mingzhe paused for a moment, then thought about it seriously: "What we lack... doesn't seem to be anything. We have money, users, products, and a team. What we might lack is access to the international market."

"Yes." Lu Ran nodded. "What we lack is a springboard. EA can provide that springboard. But springboards aren't given away for free; you have to pay the price."

"What are tickets?"

"It's about letting them in and get a share," Lu Ran said. "We can discuss the specifics, but there's a bottom line—"

He paused, then his tone became serious: "We can't let them take control, we can't let them touch TUTU's core data, and we can't let them interfere with the operation of 'Seven Heroes'. Everything else is negotiable."

In the eyes of the other party, TuTu Technology was an easy target to manipulate; in Lu Ran's eyes, the other party was also a sucker.

...