enjoyebooks Chapter 247 Weibo: A Difficult Situation
Chapter 247 Weibo: A Difficult Situation
Half-Life was shut down for maintenance for two whole days.
The game was relaunched on the morning of the third day.
Lu Ran made a point of checking Weibo—the comment section was much more lively than before, and the sentiment had improved somewhat.
[User "Shooting Game Veteran"]: The feel has definitely improved a lot after the maintenance. At least there's recoil when you fire, and you get a reaction when you hit someone. Although it's still a bit different from what I imagined, at least it's playable.
[User "Internet Cafe Prince"]: The latency seems to have been optimized as well? I played a few online games with friends today and barely felt any lag. Tencent really seems to be fixing the bugs properly this time.
[User's "Rational Analysis"]: To be fair, there has been a noticeable improvement after this maintenance. Although it can't compare to the visceral, impactful feel of games like "Seven Heroes," shooting games offer a different kind of thrill. Those who enjoy shooting games should definitely give it a try.
[User "Wall Tree"]: I play both. When I get tired of playing Seven Heroes, I switch to Half-Life for a couple of rounds to change things up. Do I really have to choose one? Adults want both, of course.
Lu Ran carefully read through each item, nodding in approval.
Tencent, as a veteran game company, still has undeniable strength.
Zhou Mingzhe leaned closer: "How are you? Worried?"
"What are you worried about?" Lu Ran put down his phone. "It's normal that their game is well-made and players enjoy playing it. We can't expect Tencent to slack off forever, can we?"
"So what were you thinking about just now?"
"I'm thinking—" Lu Ran paused, "What should we do next?"
He stood up, walked to the whiteboard, and picked up a marker.
"The daily active users of 'Seven Heroes' are currently stable at around 12 million. After the maintenance, the daily active users of 'Half-Life' also surged to 8 million. Together, there are 20 million players playing two different games. And both are constantly growing."
What does this mean?
Zhou Mingzhe thought for a moment: "Does that mean the market is big enough?"
"That's right." Lu Ran nodded. "The market is big enough to accommodate two different types of hit games. We make martial arts games, and they make shooting games. The tracks are different. Although there is some overlap in users, it's not a life-or-death struggle."
He paused, then wrote another line: "But this is only temporary."
"Tencent won't be content with just shooting games. Once they've solidified this genre, they'll definitely move into martial arts, fighting, and RPG genres. At that point, it will be a question whether we can still hold our competitive advantage."
Zhou Mingzhe pushed up his glasses: "So what do you plan to do?"
"My idea is to hold things steady for now." Lu Ran put down his pen. "Seven Heroes Jianghu has just been launched, and the operational pressure is already immense. The tech department is constantly monitoring the servers, balancing, and bug fixes, and they're almost short-handed. Releasing a new game at this time would likely please neither side."
He looked out the window, his tone calm: "Let's hold on for now. Make 'Seven Heroes' a masterpiece and retain our users. Once the team is well-integrated, we can consider the next step."
Zhou Mingzhe nodded: "That makes sense. What if Tencent releases a new game during this time?"
"A new game?" Lu Ran laughed. "You think making games is like cabbage? You can just start doing it whenever you want? It took them at least three months from the initial planning to the release of Half-Life. The next project will take at least six months. Six months is enough time for us to do a lot more."
"for example?"
"For example—" Lu Ran thought for a moment, "Let's put the second season of 'Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit' on the agenda. Let's make the 'Super Girl' finale even more popular. Let's make TUTU's fan community even better. Games are only a part of us, not the whole thing."
Zhou Mingzhe nodded thoughtfully, then suddenly asked, "What about Weibo? They seem to be quite quiet lately."
"Weibo?" Lu Ran raised an eyebrow. "Of course they're quiet. You think they don't want to cause trouble? They just can't."
He opened Weibo and glanced at it: "Look, in the top ten trending topics, five are about Half-Life, three are about Seven Heroes of the Jianghu, and two are about the pre-show hype for the Super Girl finals. What about Weibo's own content? Gone. They're just a traffic channel now; the content is being filled in by Tencent and us."
"And—" Lu Ran paused, a hint of amusement in his voice, "Do you really think Tencent trusts Weibo?"
Zhou Mingzhe was taken aback: "What do you mean?"
"Tencent came in with money and games, while Weibo contributed users and traffic. But traffic can disappear, and users can get tired of it. What if one day Tencent feels that Weibo's traffic is insufficient, or finds a better partner? Do you think Weibo will still be as comfortable as it is now?"
Zhou Mingzhe nodded slowly: "So Weibo is now desperately promoting 'Half-Life' to prove its own worth?"
"That's right." Lu Ran smiled. "They can't stop. If they do, Tencent will have something to say. That's the price of cooperating with giants—you have to constantly prove you're useful, or you could be replaced at any time."
...
Meanwhile, at Weibo Technology headquarters.
Wang Huabing sat in his office, staring at the data on the screen, his brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly.
Half-Life daily active users: 821 million.
It increased by 300,000 compared to yesterday, but it's still far below expectations.
According to Tencent, the goal for this game was to reach 20 million daily active users within a month. It's been almost a week since its launch, and it hasn't even reached 10 million.
"Mr. Wang," the assistant asked cautiously, "Tencent just sent an email asking if we've made any adjustments to our promotional plan for next week."
Wang Huabing rubbed his temples: "Tell them the plan remains unchanged. Trending topics, splash screen ads, celebrity resources—everything will proceed as planned."
"But... we've already invested a lot of resources. If this continues, we won't have enough budget for other business operations."
"We have to invest even if it's not enough," Wang Huabing said in a deep voice. "Do you think I want to invest? If we don't, Tencent will think we're worthless. Then they'll switch to another platform, and we won't even have time to cry."
The assistant shrank back, not daring to say another word.
Looking out at the gray sky, Wang Huabing suddenly felt a pang of regret.
When we partnered with WeChat, we thought we had struck gold.
Only now do I realize that although I've managed to latch onto a powerful figure, they can kick me aside at any time.
If I had known this would happen, I would have been better off having a proper talk with Lu Ran.
He had even forgotten that he used to treat Zhou Zhixiong of Starlight Entertainment the same way, only now the roles had changed somewhat.
Tencent is a large and powerful company. Even if they lose this game, they can afford to lose. Besides, it seems that it will take a long time for the game to achieve widespread success.
Tencent is a company that can hold on if it really wants to.
Their Weibo account is no good; its business is too limited, and it has already been significantly impacted by TUTU.
If this year's financial report doesn't show continued growth, it's uncertain whether he can stay in this position.
...