OBS Chapter 1209 Billion Valuation
Chapter 1209 Billion Valuation
Chapter 1209: Billions of Valuations
In May 2009, after two months of bug fixing and internal retesting, Rate of War announced the exact date of its public beta.
June 6th, the day after the college entrance examination.
Busy days always go by quickly. It is the early morning of June 6th, the night before the server launch.
The lights in Haoyi Games' office were bright. Zhou Haikuo stared at the backstage data and said in a trembling voice, "Haozi, the number of people who have made reservations for the public beta has exceeded 500 million!"
Qin Hao looked at the frantically updated posts on the forum and smiled: "Let the operation and maintenance team check the server again. It must not crash when it opens tomorrow."
At the same time, major game companies were also keeping an eye on the public beta data of Rate of Kingdoms the next day. After all, the internal beta is just an internal beta. Whether players will buy into it or not depends on the performance of the public beta.
At 10 o'clock in the morning, Ten Servers were opened at once.
In just five minutes, the world channels of all servers were instantly flooded with messages:
"Youzhou cavalry is here! Seeking allies!"
"Yangzhou farmers, assemble! Buy grain at a high price!"
"Jingzhou's 'Fenghuo Liancheng' is recruiting people. The first person to occupy Luoyang will receive a red envelope of 10,000 yuan!"
Server loads continued to soar, and the technical department urgently activated the backup node. Zhou Haikuo yelled at his technicians, "Dynamic capacity expansion! Divert players from zones one and three to the new server!"
"Haozi, we've done it. In just ten minutes, the number of people online at the same time has exceeded 50,000! The daily activity of the forum is three times that of 'Idle Legend' during the same period!"
After seeing the background data, Zhou Haikuo shouted excitedly.
Qin Hao shook his head and said calmly: "It's too early to say it's a success. Players haven't been exposed to card drawing yet. This is the key point to test the retention of zero-paying and micro-paying players."
Although he has balanced the card-drawing generals, the role of legendary generals must be much stronger than other generals. Otherwise, it would be too balanced. How can the rich players get the motivation to draw legendary generals? After all, the rich players just have a lot of money, not stupid.
Just as Qin Hao said, after players reached level five, the card drawing system was activated one after another, and a lot of abusive voices appeared in the game.
"Damn it, I used up all the 50 free draws, and there's only one purple Pang Tong left, and he doesn't have much combat power. Is this crappy game still playable?"
"You're not satisfied with getting a purple card after 50 draws? I only got two purple cards after 200 draws, and the rest were all blue sky and white clouds."
"Hehe, a hit, Ma Chao is an orange card legendary general, his attributes are much stronger than the purple card, and he also has the aura of charge and riding. Without further ado, I will just focus on developing cavalry."
There are also many players on the forum who criticize the card drawing system. Most of them are players who are unlucky and did not draw good cards.
Seeing more and more negative reviews on the forum, Zhou Haikuo couldn't help but feel a little panicked.
"Haozi, is the ratio of our purple cards to orange cards a bit too low? Should we raise it a bit?"
Qin Hao did not answer, but glanced at his watch and then called up the background data of each game server.
"Don't worry about those players on the forum. The server has been open for half an hour, and the player retention rate is still above 50%, which shows that players still approve of the gameplay of Rate of Land. As for the card drawing issue, ask the planning team to publish the characteristics and combination gameplay of each general on the forum."
When designing the generals, Qin Hao took the issue of balance into consideration. Although purple and orange cards have higher attributes, in a strategy game like Rate of War, generals are only one aspect, and the combination of soldiers and generals also accounts for a very important proportion.
For example, a blue general like Zhou Cang, although his attributes are not very good, has a skill to command infantry, which can increase the infantry's marching speed and combat effectiveness. If used properly, it may not be worse than a purple card.
Legendary orange generals like Ma Chao must be paired with cavalry. In Rate of War, the resources consumed to train a team of cavalry far exceed those of infantry. Even if ordinary players draw Ma Chao, they may not be able to afford him in the early stages. To put it bluntly, orange cards are designed specifically for the rich.
Just as Qin Hao expected, when more and more strategy information appeared on the forum, many players also combined the cards they drew and found that even if all they drew were blue and white cards, it would not hinder their progress in advancing the map, and their progress was only a little slower than that of the rich players.
Moreover, as players continued to advance maps and complete tasks, the system gave out a lot of card drawing rewards, and gradually, those players who had previously clamored to quit the game returned to the game.
Zhou Haikuo breathed a sigh of relief, but when he opened the background data, his eyes suddenly widened.
"Haozi, please take a look at the recharge flow."
Qin Hao checked the data and was a little surprised. After only one hour, the recharge turnover of Rate of Kingdoms exceeded five million. You should know that "Idle Legend" has such a huge number of players, but it only took two hours to break five million.
Of course, this is also related to the fact that "Idle Legend" did not invest such a large amount of publicity costs in the early stage. This time, Qin Hao spent a full three million on publicity for the public beta of "Routuzhibin".
On the first day of the public beta, the explosive data of Rate of Kingdoms was like a depth bomb, causing huge waves in the gaming industry.
That night, the top executives of major game companies held an emergency meeting, and the real-time data of Rate of Land was displayed on the projection screen: the recharge turnover exceeded 60 million in just one hour after the server was launched, the player retention rate exceeded %, and the daily activity on the forum crushed the competitors of the same period. But what shocked them most was the discussion on the forum by players who cursed the card drawing as "cheating" while spending a lot of money crazily.
"This card drawing system... is simply a money-printing machine!" Shengqu Games CEO slammed the table and stared at the card drawing probability analysis report crawled in the background. The orange card drop rate in Rate of the Land is only 0.5%, and the purple card is 5%, but players are willing to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars in pursuit of legendary generals. What's more terrifying is that the game uses a balanced design that "can be played without krypton", forcing non-African players to continue to grind after cursing, while the local tycoons spend money crazily to crush the combat power - both ends are taken.
Game companies such as Penguin, Zhuchang, and Perfect World are also researching Rate of War.
The most eye-catching one is naturally the card drawing system. For game companies, this is not only a way to play, but also a means to significantly increase revenue.
Although there have been many games with built-in lottery gameplay before, they have all been boycotted, criticized, and even abused by players without exception.
The destructiveness of the lottery gameplay to the game is even more terrible than directly spending gold. After all, without top-level equipment, players would not spend so much money to take such a small chance.
Therefore, there is a general consensus among game companies in the industry that once a game opens up the lottery gameplay, it is basically to reap the profits and then wait for death.
However, Rate of Kingdoms has created a completely new route - card drawing, and it offsets the negative impact of card drawing by balancing the generals, thus maintaining the player retention rate.
"Rate the Land's plan is simply genius!"
"Is there any way to dig him out?"
"This...I'm afraid it won't work."
"Everyone has a price. We must dig this person here at all costs!"
"But this person is Qin Hao, the CEO of Haoyi Games."
"..."
"Then can we also build a card drawing system into the game?"
"I'm afraid not."
"Ugh! Why?"
"First of all, the card drawing system of Rate of Land allows players to draw famous civil and military officials in history, so players naturally feel close to them. Secondly, the balance of Rate of Land is quite good, so even zero-krypton players can have a good gaming experience. They also designed a war alliance system, so anyone who tops up other players can get a certain amount of gold. Their ordinary players not only do not hate the local tyrant players, but instead flatter them in various ways, giving them a very good gaming experience. It is difficult for our games to achieve this."
In 2009, the popular games on the market were basically MMO online games. In these online games, ordinary players were just "humanoid NPCs" provided by game companies to rich players. This model made rich players and ordinary players naturally stand on opposite sides.
While other gaming peers were still racking their brains to update equipment, enchantments and other game systems to cheat players' money, Rate of War took a completely different path.
A week later, the turnover of Rate of Land exceeded 80 million.
It once again set off the entire gaming industry. The next day, the headlines of industry media were all "Rate of Kingdoms subverts tradition: card drawing + strategy = money printing mode".
Now, those investment institutions that had previously held a wait-and-see attitude towards "Haoyi Games" could no longer sit still. The people who came were generally two levels higher in position than before, and some were even bosses and founders themselves.
This time, Qin Hao did not refuse, but made "friendly contacts" with these investment institutions. Of course, the friendship was based on whether they respected "Haoyi Games".
We are all businessmen, so “respect” should naturally be reflected in the valuation.
After Qin Hao sent away a group of investors, Zhou Haikuo was a little puzzled: "Haozi, why did you seem to have no interest in these investment institutions before? Now that our company is not short of money, you are so actively seeking financing?"
"Money is only one part of financing. What's more important is resources. After all, our foundation is still too weak. Although we have made two popular games, our technical accumulation is almost zero. We don't even have the most basic game engine."
Qin Hao paused and continued, "These investment institutions are giants who have deeply rooted in various industries. The resources they control are beyond our imagination. To put it bluntly, it is to exchange shares for their resources. Only when our company is related to their interests, these giants will do their best to help us make our company bigger and stronger."
"So that's how it is. There are so many tricks involved." Zhou Haikuo scratched his head.
The explosive data of Rate of Land made the capital circle boil. Senior executives of top investment institutions such as Penguin, Sequoia, and Hillhouse flew to the headquarters of Haoyi Games one after another, and the conference room was filled with invisible smoke.
Li Ming, vice president of Penguin Games, took the lead in extending an olive branch: "Mr. Qin, Penguin can open up social channels to divert traffic and allow Rate of Land to connect to QQ's player relationship chain. The valuation is 20 billion, and we will hold a 30% stake."
Qin Hao chuckled: "Mr. Li, traffic diversion is a double-edged sword. If the user data belongs to you, Haoyi will only become a vassal of Penguin Games in the future."
Li Ming was speechless when he saw that his intention was discovered. After being stunned for two seconds, he immediately said: "Penguin Games has never thought of interfering with the operation of Haoyi Games..."
"I believe in Mr. Li's sincerity on this point. However, user data is our bottom line. Please understand, Mr. Li." Qin Hao said neither humbly nor arrogantly.
A partner of Sequoia Capital nearby immediately jumped in and said, "We don't have any additional conditions, and as long as Mr. Qin accepts our investment, Sequoia can give Yu Haoyi Games a lot of resources."
Afterwards, major investment institutions put forward their own conditions one after another. Generally speaking, these conditions were relatively generous, but Qin Hao could only select five of them. After all, he only took out 30% of the shares in this round of financing. For these large capitals, money is secondary. The important thing is to get enough chips.
A week later, Haoyi Games officially announced its financing plan:
Financing amount: RMB 30 billion in total (12 billion from Penguin + 10 billion from Sequoia + 8 million from Hillhouse)
Equity Distribution:
The founding team holds 62% of the shares (Class B shares, absolute control);
Penguin holds 12% of the shares (Class A shares + technical synergy clause);
Sequoia holds 10% of the shares (Class A shares + IPO bet exemption);
Hillhouse holds 8% of the shares (Class A shares + resource swap agreement);
The remaining 8% is reserved for the employee option pool.
After signing the financing agreement, Qin Hao arranged a celebration banquet as usual. In addition to inviting major investment institutions, he also invited the management of Haoyi Games.
As the host, Qin Hao received so much financing at one time, so naturally he couldn't avoid being forced to drink. Fortunately, he was an experienced drinker and was not afraid at all. As a result, he got those who forced him to drink drunk.
Ma Siyi wiped Qin Hao's face with some concern: "How do you feel? Do you want to go to the hospital?"
"Don't worry, this little bit of wine won't make me drunk." Qin Hao patted the back of Ma Siyi's hand.
"You're still trying to show off even though you're already drunk like this."
"I'm really fine. If you don't believe me, call Hai Kuo over. I just need to talk to him about something."
Ma Siyi called Zhou Haikuo over with doubt.
As soon as Zhou Haikuo sat down, Qin Hao asked Ma Siyi to take out a document from his bag.
"Here, this is your stock option reward. Although it's only 1%, it's enough for you to achieve financial freedom."
Zhou Haikuo was so overwhelmed by this unexpected wealth that he felt dizzy and dazed, just like he was drunk.
"No, I can't have this..."
Zhou Haikuo subconsciously refused, but Qin Hao directly stuffed the document into his hands.
"These shares are not deducted from my shares. They are allocated to you from the public option pool. Executives who perform well in the future will have a share. Besides, we are brothers and grew up together. It's impossible for me to be financially independent while you are still working hard for me. How can I face Uncle Zhou when I go back home for the New Year?"
Zhou Haikuo tightened the document in his hand: "Is it really from the public option pool?"
"Do you want love? If not, I'll give it to someone else..."
"Hey, if you don't want it, I won't be polite."
Qin Hao and Ma Siyi smiled at each other.
At the same time, Xie Wang and his friends also saw the news about the financing of "Haoyi Games".
"Oh my goodness, I remember Haoyi Games was founded only last year? This is close to a 10 billion valuation?"