Chapter 61: Chapter 61: Four Great Generals

"President Wu, as you requested, we’ve found four qualified candidates. After initial contact, they are all willing to leave their current jobs for your company. I’ve sent their files to your WeChat!"

Wu Yun reviewed the files. All four were experienced professionals in the field, and their previous employers were well-known major domestic corporations. However, tempted by Wu Yun’s generous salary offers and equity, they were all ready to make the jump.

The next day, Wu Yun met the four men in the chairman’s office at Kunpeng Games.

Ling Yi, age 35. Skills: Management (Master Level), Development Vision (Master Level).

Lu Changsheng, age 34. Skills: Game Creativity (Master Level), Game Development (Master Level).

Wang Chao, age 36. Skills: Management (Master Level), Game Creativity (Master Level).

Qi Fei, age 35. Skills: Game Development (Master Level), Development Vision (Master Level).

Based on their Skills, Wu Yun appointed Ling Yi as the General Manager of Kunpeng Games, while Lu Changsheng was made the Vice General Manager and Creative Director.

Wang Chao was assigned to Galaxy Network as its General Manager. As for Qi Fei—whose name happened to be a homophone of Qi Fei’s—he was appointed Technical Director.

All four of them were promised 2% of the company’s shares, under the same terms given to Li Qiuliang: for one year, they would have the right to dividends but not the right to sell, and Wu Yun would hold the right of first refusal.

The four men’s abilities were more than enough to support Kunpeng and Galaxy in becoming major game companies. Moreover, their skills were highly complementary. Whether it was due to the system or simply their compatible talents, the two pairs of partners hit it off immediately, feeling as if they were kindred spirits who should have met long ago.

In the chairman’s office at Kunpeng Games, Wu Yun sat in the host’s seat on the sofa, with Ling Yi and Lu Changsheng seated next to him.

Ever since seeing the game design document for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds that Wu Yun had produced, Lu Changsheng had been unable to calm his excitement.

After becoming the legal representative for both companies, the first thing Wu Yun did was have all employees sign non-disclosure and non-compete agreements. He’d been around the block enough to know that many companies in the future would end up in court over these issues. The agreements were an extra layer of protection, but he knew that if the profits were high enough, some people would still be willing to take desperate risks.

"President Wu, the model for this game of yours is truly innovative. It takes the concepts of ’escape’ and ’kill’ and pushes them to their absolute limits. Plus, I can see that we can continuously update the firearms, game modes, and maps. The replayability is far better than current games like CS or CrossFire. I have a feeling that as soon as we launch, it’s going to be a massive hit!" Lu Changsheng said after carefully studying the design document Wu Yun had presented.

Wu Yun observed Lu Changsheng with great interest as he quickly shared his thoughts.

"President Wu, it’s not like battle royale games don’t exist. Personally, I consider ’Arma 2’ to be the progenitor of the genre. I’ve studied it in detail, but in comparison, this design of yours is an absolutely genius idea!"

Lu Changsheng wasn’t just flattering Wu Yun. For someone like him, who had spent his career studying all types of PC games, the design document was a revelation. ’It’s a genuine epiphany!’

Lu Changsheng’s tone shifted as he continued, "However, President Wu, from what I understand, a foreign company is currently in closed beta for an apocalyptic battle royale game called H1Z1. I hear you ’spawn’ randomly somewhere on the map and then begin your journey exploring cities and wastelands. Once H1Z1 hits open beta, it will definitely become the undisputed king of all current battle royale games."

Lu Changsheng’s voice changed again. "But your PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds seems designed to completely crush them!

"The skydiving experience in PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is a breath of fresh air, and combined with the tense, exciting shrinking circle, the battle royale mode gets more and more thrilling the longer you survive.

You can make your route through the game different every single match. I think that’s where the real charm of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds lies."

"Exactly. So we’ll let them have their moment in the spotlight first, while we quietly build our strength in the background."

The game history Wu Yun had purchased showed that H1Z1 was an apocalyptic survival sandbox online game developed by the Daybreak Game Company and released on January 15, 2015, on the PS4 and Steam Platform.

The game history indicated that H1Z1’s biggest failure was its rampant cheating problem. It got so bad that hacks had practically become an indispensable piece of equipment in the game.

Although they eventually cracked down hard on cheaters, the game was inevitably surpassed by the more innovative PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.

Lu Changsheng grew more and more excited as he spoke. "And in your PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, players can freely choose where to skydive instead of H1Z1’s random spawn! The guns can be customized with attachments, unlike in H1Z1 where you just use what you find. I think these are the key features that will allow our game to conquer the market!"

Wu Yun nodded in satisfaction. ’He’s every bit the elite talent the headhunter recommended.’ His analysis of the gaming landscape was incredibly thorough.

"You’re absolutely right," Wu Yun said. "But the most crucial point is that we must invest heavily and be resolute in cracking down on cheaters. That’s the key to this game’s sustained popularity! If we increase R&D investment, I believe making money will be the easy part."

Of course, Wu Yun wouldn’t follow the same old path as Blue Cave. Blue Cave was a small company from Korea that was reluctant to give up the revenue from cheats. But Wu Yun wouldn’t make that mistake. He would pour capital into combating them.

In reality, the popularity of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds could have lasted much longer, but Blue Cave became the first game company to compromise on cheating, which completely broke the hearts of many domestic players.

With Wu Yun’s foresight, he could develop a whole host of valuable peripheral content around PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. Both online esports tournaments and offline competitions would serve to boost the game’s influence.

If a company like Blue Cave, which was so permissive with cheaters, could achieve a valuation of five billion USD, Wu Yun was confident he could do much better and make PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds even more popular.

"Oh, right. The most important thing is to register every single patent you possibly can. Don’t underestimate the copying ability of domestic companies!"

"Don’t worry, President Wu!" said Ling Yi, who had been silent until now. Having seen Wu Yun’s business plan, he was full of confidence in the company’s future. He was certain he would become a billionaire in the near future.

Afterward, the three of them briefly discussed the company’s development, personnel recruitment—including poaching talent with high salaries—and the game development plan. Wu Yun intended to be a semi-hands-off manager, just as he was with Nirvana Technology. Everyone always said college life was great, and Wu Yun wanted to experience a different kind of college life once more.

With matters concerning PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds settled for the time being at Kunpeng Games, Wu Yun joked with the two men, "I’m counting on you two for my future mansion!"

Ling Yi and Lu Changsheng just smiled, knowing full well that President Wu wasn’t short on cash.

Wu Yun left Kunpeng Games and took the elevator downstairs. At Galaxy Network, his other two future top generals were waiting excitedly for his arrival.

Wu Yun had already given Wang Chao and Qi Fei the mobile game plan in advance so they could familiarize themselves with it.