Chapter 452: Chapter 279: Divine Grace Animation Competition! (Part 2)

If just words aren’t convincing enough, then let’s show you fan arts and fan fiction to gradually make you believe that this is real; yes, the game "Star Emperor" indeed has these characters.

"Too abstract!"

Chen Ba shook his head, attributing it to the popularity of the GAL League, which led to such chaos in the community.

"Indeed, every team in the GAL League has quite a number of fans. It’s no surprise they get into arguments."

Yang Dong, thinking about something, suddenly said, "Speaking of the GAL League, I’ve just remembered something..."

It’s been more than three years since the release of the game "Divine Grace Continent."

During this period, Divine Grace Animation has rapidly developed, becoming a new star in the animation market over the past couple of years, occupying a significant market share and tapping into a great market size worth hundreds of billions.

Divine Grace animators have continuously emerged like bamboo shoots after spring rain, with one batch after another of quality Divine Grace animations being gradually released to the audience.

Based on this foundation, the Divine Grace Animation Association, an industry association with Chen Ba named as the president, widely invited Divine Grace animators domestically and abroad to jointly organize what is called the "First Divine Grace Animation Production Competition."

"I know about that..."

Though Chen Ba doesn’t handle matters, he is at least the titular president of the Divine Grace Animation Association, and the secretary-general had long sent the proposal to his email.

This matter was only able to progress and be organized following his signed approval.

"Did you also know about the organizing committee’s invitation for our company to have someone serve as a judge?"

"A judge?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Ba was momentarily taken aback, as he really wasn’t aware of this matter. After all, he was only responsible for signing, while specific execution was carried out by the vice president, secretary-general, and others.

But then he thought about it and realized that inviting a representative from Tianba Studio to serve as a judge at this competition is almost inevitable.

This is a Divine Grace Animation Competition, not some other competition!

Since it’s a Divine Grace Animation Competition, it would of course be reasonable and sensible to invite a representative from Tianba Studio to serve as a judge. Otherwise, without Tianba Studio’s participation, the fairness and authority of the competition would be questioned.

To put it bluntly...

It’s like inviting Da Liu as a judge for the "Three-Body" fan creation contest. Without Da Liu, what does this competition mean? Without Da Liu overseeing it, does it really have any authority?

The same applies to the First Divine Grace Animation Production Competition; the organizing committee must invite Tianba Studio, as other high-profile and professional judges would still make the competition seem low-tier if Tianba Studio did not attend.

"Just go if they invite you!"

"But...who should we send?"

Yang Dong was really troubled, as there was no more suitable candidate in Tianba Studio other than Ba.

But Ba, as the president of the Divine Grace Animation Association and the award presenter and organizer of this competition, certainly couldn’t go, leaving them to choose someone else.

"Zhong Shengwei is quite suitable."

Chen Ba suggested his choice, "He helped perfect many details of ’Divine Grace Continent’ back then, so it’s no problem to send him as a judge."

"Now that you mention it, that’s true!"

Yang Dong nodded in agreement. Considering the exclusion of Ba, Zhong Shengwei was indeed the only suitable person in the entire studio to serve as a judge.

No other choice!

He’s one of the few core production members of "Divine Grace Continent" besides Ba.

Speaking of the Divine Grace Animation Competition, the organizer’s requests to Tianba Studio extended beyond appointing a judge. There was also the matter of sponsorship.

"We can provide sponsorship!"

Chen Ba explained, "Although this competition doesn’t have much of a direct relationship with us, the Divine Grace Animation Association is intimately connected with us, and most importantly, hosting this competition benefits us as well."

The benefits aren’t trivial!

Fun fact, Tianba Studio’s main income has always remained unchanged, with "Divine Grace Continent" consistently ranking at the top by collecting tolls.

For every commercialized Divine Grace Animation piece released, Tianba Studio collects a certain percentage of the profits.

At first look, the money doesn’t seem like much!

But its value is comparable to Apple’s App Store. Looking at one or two apps individually may not be significant, but accumulated over thousands of apps on the platform, the total is no trivial number.

The same goes for "Divine Grace Continent" under Tianba Studio.

Profits from a single Divine Grace Animation may not amount to much, unless it’s a hit, but otherwise the earnings would only serve as mere entertainment.

However, there are lots of Divine Grace Animations!

And not only are they numerous, but their output is astonishing too! According to authoritative institutions, an average of a thousand Divine Grace Animations emerge daily, reaching hundreds of thousands each year...

With such colossal numbers, even if each piece earned only one yuan, it would be enough for Chen Ba to buy a three-bedroom apartment in a relatively remote third- or fourth-tier city.

Not to mention that the real earnings far exceed one or two yuan...

Fun fact!

The biggest advantage of Divine Grace Animation compared to traditional animations is "low cost"—so low that as long as your animation gets a platform to broadcast, it’s nearly impossible to lose money.

The costs are outrageously low, leading to only rare occurrences of loss-making projects, while Tianba Studio’s "toll" standards are set quite low, resulting in substantial earnings.

But let’s take a step back.

Over such a long operation and establishing an association like the Divine Grace Animation Association, Chen Ba finally understood.

Relying solely on typical Divine Grace Animation shares is akin to earning a base salary. For substantial profit or higher returns in this area, they must depend on those blockbuster hits.

"Indeed so!"

Yang Dong strongly agreed, "A hundred mediocre Divine Grace Animations together don’t even compare in value to one blockbuster Divine Grace Animation."

Those times are long gone!

At the beginning, when Divine Grace Animation had just emerged, audiences would eagerly watch anything, as being Divine Grace Animation was exciting enough—quality be damned, fast updates were what mattered.

But that doesn’t work anymore.

The animation market now is overly competitive, to say the least. Slightly subpar quality, animations that could have aired five or six years ago can’t even make it to online platforms in recent years because they’re deemed too poor and would only pollute their copyright libraries.

The rise and prevalence of Divine Grace Animation naturally prompted this competitiveness.

Divine Grace Animation has been a disaster for the animation industry; one must either join it if they can’t beat it or strive to produce better quality to triumph over Divine Grace Animation’s copious but satisfying supply.

Clearly, the traditional animation industry is feeling the pressure and is desperately enhancing product quality, making it increasingly hard for poor animations to survive.

Even traditional animations are seeking change, and naturally, Divine Grace Animation is no exception.

The pursuit of higher quality, better storylines, superior production is also what Divine Grace Animation creators collectively strive for. Their ambitions are huge—they want to keep the copious supply characteristic while pursuing the high quality of traditional animations.

It’s like trying to write works on par with the four great classical novels in online fiction.

Sound unrealistic?

Indeed! But that doesn’t stop everyone from working towards it, spawning more popular animated hits. As times progress, it’s not impossible that the future of Divine Grace Animation will see the birth of timeless classics like "Tom and Jerry".

This is the primary reason Chen Ba supports holding the "Divine Grace Animation Competition."

Divine Grace Animation can’t continue with low-quality productions indefinitely; there’s no future in that. They must strive and experiment, not seeking to reach the heights of "Tom and Jerry", but at least aiming for the caliber of Hutuluwa and Black Cat Detective.

Which is commonly known as classic masterpieces!

Currently, everywhere you look, Divine Grace Animation seems superior over traditional animations; they’re overwhelmingly advantageous except when it comes to "classic masterpieces", a topic on which everyone becomes silent.

Ultimately, it’s due to a shallow foundation, lack of heritage and accumulation, and the absence of commendable creators and works...