Chapter 371 Please Accept the Investigation

The tricks in the UK are going very smoothly.

On the other side, the Switch is selling well as planned, and Naughty Cat is still very active, recruiting and investing non-stop.

It doesn't look like it has been targeted by several giants in the industry.

At the same time, in China, at the headquarters of Souni.

Ito Makoto's face was as gloomy as water, and his five fingers were tapping irregularly on the table, thinking carefully about the layout in the past year.

"Hey, I thought I had already looked up to Lin Mo enough, but I didn't expect that I still underestimated him."

He sighed.

The development of the game business has been very unsuccessful recently.

Quite unsuccessful!

Neither the sales of game consoles nor the sales of games are optimistic.

The game "Desperate Crisis 6" was not expected to be a big success, nor was it thought to be able to beat Breath of the Wild.

If the game of Potato Factory could easily beat the escort masterpiece of Switch, Naughty Cat would not have become the behemoth it is today.

But it was still a little unexpected that it died so cleanly.

Even the original task - to cause some trouble to Naughty Cat.

This strategic task has not been completed.

The dominance of Switch will probably continue for a long time, which can be seen from the official data.

According to this trend, the sales growth rate of Switch will slow down after breaking 15 million units.

Although, XGame and Playsquare have sold 115 million units in total, far ahead.

But if this continues, the pattern of two-way division of the world will definitely not be maintained.

He can't accept one more person to share the cake.

"It seems that we still can't rely on outsiders' games. But, Lin Mo, don't think this cake is so delicious!"

Ito Makoto snorted coldly.

Switch, not without shortcomings!

Today's rapid development and explosive sales are largely due to the popularity of the fitness ring and the huge sales of the first-party game "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild".

Putting aside these two first-party games, third-party games are actually far less popular on Switch than Soni and Juying.

A considerable part of this is due to insufficient installation.

Now, people who buy consoles basically still want to play Naughty Cat's first-party games.

As long as the exclusive games of Switch can be curbed, the sales growth of Switch can be slowed down.

As long as the new generation of consoles can be launched, the top spot of game consoles will still belong to Soni.

As for the giant hardware company, it seems that it is not a rival now.

Game consoles have a lifespan limit.

In this generation, it is basically certain that Soni has won.

It has long been reported that the giant hardware company has the idea of ​​transforming its game business.

Looking at the news that just came out, it is true.

Acquiring Baofeng Entertainment is a move that most people did not expect.

The biggest feature of Baofeng Entertainment is that it has a complete and mature community ecology.

Player stickiness is very high!

It can be said that it is second only to Naughty Cat.

Encountered "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare", which is a monster work in the eyes of industry insiders.

The latest work of "Warzone" can still reach tens of millions of copies.

And before that, "Warzone" was the king of this field.

Buy a set of "Warzone" every year and play it for a year.

This has almost become a habit for many European and American players.

We have to fight against the giant hard that wants to overtake in a curve by taking a different approach, and the Naughty Cat that wants to fight its way out with its first-party games.

Relying on third-party games is probably difficult.

"It seems that we have to rely on our own games after all."

"Don't think that only your first-party games of Naughty Cat have explosive quality, but don't forget what my Souni game console relies on to have the status it has today!"

Take a deep breath and sign your name on the application for increasing the marketing budget for the new game.

This game was originally planned to invite Naughty Cat to join in the production.

But unfortunately, not only did the cooperation fail to be achieved later, but Naughty Cat was also offended, and the two sides became enemies with blood on the bayonet.

Since the game is produced, it is to be sold and played by players.

As for its strategic significance to the company itself, it depends on the current environment.

Since Switch has hit it, use it to deal with Lin Mo!

A week of peaceful life has passed.

Early May.

As the time is getting closer to the release date of "Road to Heaven 4", Baofeng Entertainment is busy.

Not long ago, Baofeng Entertainment and Juying Company jointly issued a statement on the acquisition.

As the saying goes, an ugly daughter-in-law has to meet her parents-in-law, although the current situation of Baofeng Entertainment is not as good as before.

It has finally come to this step.

This century-long acquisition case that has shocked all peers and players has finally come to light.

Originally, Moreno was a little worried that Baofeng Entertainment has suffered repeated setbacks in the past year, and this news would not be so favorable to the company after it broke out.

Unexpectedly, after the news was announced, the stock price rose sharply.

This made him feel relieved.

It seems that although the project has been frustrated, the acquisition is still optimistic in the capital market.

There is only one problem.

In order to make the transaction smoothly, a decisive factor is needed.

The bet must be completed!

In other words, Baofeng Entertainment's revenue must meet the minimum revenue line required in the bet agreement.

Thinking of this, Moreno's face darkened again.

Originally, he wanted to make a profit by negotiating the renewal of the Chinese version of "Cosmic Rift", asking the agent to pay the fee in advance to fill the hole caused by various reasons before.

But unexpectedly, the renewal not only failed, but failed.

This made West, the head of the game business of Juying, furious.

The angry questioning was like tearing Moreno apart.

In the Chinese market, Juying had not developed well because of the direction problem before.

But it was not good before, but it did not mean that it was not taken seriously.

One of the reasons why Juying wanted to acquire Baofeng Entertainment was that Baofeng Entertainment had a very sticky and large number of fans in the Chinese market.

Now, before the acquisition, Baofeng Entertainment cut off one of its arms.

How could the client be happy?

Now, in addition to relying on "Cosmic Rift", a more than ten-year-old evergreen, this hole will rely on the upcoming "Road to Heaven 4".

Thinking of this, Moreno was a little angry.

"Lin Mo. It's all your fault!!! I want to see if you are still proud now!"

Although the difference in the console war of this generation is not particularly large, Souni has undoubtedly won.

In the console market, there is Souni.

Juying Company has also announced a plan to launch a subscription plan soon, eyeing cross-platform.

There are other old rivals, such as Electronic Arts.

A pack of wolves are around.

There is only one Lin Mo, I want to see how you can turn the tables.

However.

What we need to do now is to do a good job in antitrust review.

Don't worry about your daily life.

China has always been fair and just.

Now that the suspension of service has become a fact, from another perspective, it is conducive to passing the antitrust review of the Market Supervision Administration.

Soon, Baofeng Entertainment will not have any games launched in China, so the review will naturally not be as difficult to pass as in many countries.

As for other countries and regions, they have to rely on the power of Juying Company on the one hand, and Baofeng Entertainment on the other hand.

There must be no problems at this juncture!

Being rejected once, or failing an audit, means a lot of time has been wasted.

I thought about it over and over again.

Many peers, the antitrust agencies in the UK, the Lighthouse Country and the EU have also been arranged.

As for Souni, he must make trouble, so he simply ignored it.

"Logically, there shouldn't be any moths, right?"

After thinking about it for a while, he started to work.

An hour later.

Moreno was looking at a report in the office at this time.

In front of him was the latest report on "Road to Heaven 4".

Due to the previous holes, "Road to Heaven 4" has done some new things.

First of all, the price.

The regular version is $70.

The deluxe version is $90, which can unlock the game one week in advance, and also gives some in-game decorative props and the first season pass.

The ultimate version is $100. In addition to the above rewards, it also gives out-of-print skins and mounts, and 20 levels of passes.

The physical collector's edition is also $100.

There is a cloth map, an art book, a mouse pad, a pin, two art candles with bases, two paintings, and a beautiful packaging box.

Looks pretty good, right?

Well, there is no game.

Yes, it's just the peripherals, and there is no activation code.

The game itself needs to spend at least 70 dollars to buy a regular version of the game.

If you want to play a week in advance, you have to buy the deluxe version for 90 dollars.

Such a whole life can definitely increase income, and not just a little bit.

The side effect is overdrawing word of mouth.

So, this report is about the public opinion among the player group from the start of pre-sale to now.

After reading it, Moreno breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's okay, it's okay. Although there is a backlash of word of mouth, it is acceptable. Generally speaking, it is not a big problem."

If it goes down like this, the revenue deficit can be made up a lot.

The project leader was about to report some other problems, but his mobile phone rang first.

In the boss's office, naturally, he couldn't answer the phone, so he hung up without hesitation.

However, just a few seconds after hanging up, the phone rang again.

Looking at the embarrassed person in charge, Moreno nodded lightly, indicating that you can answer it, it doesn't matter.

"Hello? Do you know where I am? Damn it, don't call again. What? Wait, can you say it again?"

When he said the last sentence, his tone had already risen significantly.

Moreno suddenly felt something was wrong.

After hanging up the phone, he hurriedly asked: "What's going on? What's the problem?"

The project leader of "Road to Heaven 4" looked like he had seen a ghost, and said: "Boss, something bad has happened. I just received a notice that I need to attend and accept the antitrust investigation and questioning of the British Competition Market Administration."

There was silence in the office for two seconds.

"Ah?? !! Can you say it again?"

Moreno's eyes were shocked, and he stood up directly, looking incredible.

Antitrust review?

"Road to Heaven 4" production team?

Why? How could it be?

"What's going on, why is there an antitrust investigation on this project all of a sudden?"

The person in charge didn't look very good either, and said sullenly: "It is said that the CMA in the UK received a complaint that the acquisition of our Baofeng Entertainment by Juying Company will form a de facto monopoly in the field of top-down action RPG, which will damage the interests of game producers in their country and affect the rights of consumers."

Hearing this, Moreno felt it was funny and ridiculous.

Top-down perspective, action, RPG.

Is it appropriate for you to add so many adjectives? ?

As we all know, anyone can be the world's number one if they add too many adjectives.

Isn't this a false accusation?

"Who is the complaint?"

"It is a UK game company called North Star."

Moreno was even more confused when he heard it.

Because he didn't know this company at all!

No one knows how many game companies there are in the world.

Even the most experienced practitioners can't know all their peers.

It was still Google that put some information on the table.

"A strange little workshop??!! Why did it alarm CMA?"

The project leader said weakly: "Because... many of the games of this company have not been exported, but they are the childhood memories of many people in the UK, and they only make this type of game. In addition, his complaints on tiktok resonated with many people."

Moreno wanted to curse this damn Northern Star as a fraudulent company.

Even if there was no acquisition of the century, this small broken company would not be able to survive for a few years and disappear in the cruel competition without leaving its name.

And most of these small companies are fan-oriented.

In theory, even if Baofeng Entertainment was acquired, it would hardly have an impact on it.

He smelled the smell of conspiracy when he jumped out to make trouble like this.

But who is the other party?

I searched for related news, but there was nothing worth noting, and there were not even a few news.

I expected someone to make trouble, but I never expected it to come so early.

I thought that the opponent who did not want to see this acquisition case would focus on the big IP of "War Zone" for the New Year.

We have been prepared for this.

However, we were totally unexpected about the hidden arrows against "Road to Heaven 4".

We were caught off guard.

"Boss, what should we do?"

This question completely stumped Moreno.

What should we do?

Nothing worked.

If we ignore the release, it means we have given up on the huge game market in the UK.

If we do not accept the CMA investigation, it means we have acquiesced to the fact that there is a monopoly. If we are unlucky and similar games are released at the same time, it will be a bloody fact to other antitrust agencies.

What if we accept the inquiry?

How long will it take to delay?

Now there is less than half a month left before the release of the game, so we have to delay it.

After so long of full publicity, if it is delayed, a large amount of publicity and promotion costs will be wasted.

And if it is delayed, there will be changes. Who knows what new moths will appear after the delay.

The time on the gambling agreement does not wait for anyone.

The efficiency of the UK side is simply touching. What if the investigation takes a year or two.

By then, once the deadline for the gambling agreement has passed, the daylily will be cold!

"Damn, who is it? Don't let me know! Damn, what a sneak attack!"

"Then, then, boss, our game?"

The project manager met Moreno's murderous eyes.

But he knew that even if he was scolded, he had to let the boss come up with an idea.

The scheduled release date is not far away.

A decision must be made quickly.

This responsibility is not something he, a small person in charge, can bear. (End of this chapter)