was tricked by her own boss for a while, Nancy Brill could only roll her eyes, thinking about this kind of thing, after all, there were too many involved, and it was really unlikely that a man would confess to her, so he had to say: "Okay, boss, let's talk about business." ”

Simon nodded, did not continue to gag, looked down at the Diablo sales report in his hand again, and said: "The sales volume in the first month was 2.1 million copies, which is a very impressive result, and the total sales reached 10 million can be expected." However, you must also be concerned, this time 2.1 million, online sales accounted for 1.4 million, and only 700,000 offline remained, so, I want to say that Daenerys Entertainment can open up only an online game mall. ”

Hearing this, Nancy Brill's eyes widened again: "Boss, I have asked you this question a million times, how did you agree today?"

"In the past, the timing was wrong, and we needed to focus our resources on Igrete in the embryonic stage, so as to maximize the cultivation of users' online consumption habits. Now, both the network environment and consumption habits have passed the initial growth period, even if we don't do it, there will definitely be other manufacturers, rather than this, it is better for us to compete with ourselves. ”

Nancy Chick nodded her head a few times in succession, as if she was worried that Simon would regret it, but then asked, "Boss, have you discussed it with Igret?"

"Of course. ”

Nancy remembered something, and still didn't go deeper into this topic, but couldn't help but ask: "Boss, does this mean that this antitrust investigation, well, you plan to split the initiative against Igret?"

Simon looked at Nancy's childish face on the other side, "Don't you think your curiosity is too strong?"

Nancy curled the corners of her mouth: "It seems that I am right." ”

"No, you guessed it wrong," Simon shook his head, "Igritt has such a strong advantage right now, I won't make concessions." ”

Nancy pouted slightly: "Boss, has anyone said that you are hypocritical?"

"Well, Jenny said that about me the other day. ”

“......”

"Alright, don't digress," Simon said, turning back to the subject, "you see, Nancy, it's not going to be easy. I'll give you two years to do this well, for the EA Store, let's set this name, EA Store, not only to release only Daenerys Entertainment's self-produced games, but also to introduce games from other manufacturers into our platform, not only that, I don't want to see malicious price competition between you and Ygritt's game store, after all, this will only damage ourselves to the foundation of the entire industry. ”

Nancy suddenly grimaced: "Boss, then you will be too embarrassed for me." ”

Simon ignored the bitter look of the little child executive and said, "We also have an advantage, don't we, the online battle platform starting with the "Dune" series, this technology is not available on Igret's side. ”

The online battle platform is actually a reference to the Battle.net system launched by Blizzard in 1997.

However, this time, Igrett started with the Dune series of games in previous years, and after acquiring Blizzard's predecessor Silicon & Nerve Keys Studios, the two Warcraft and Diablo released last month are directly connected to the online battle platform.

In fact, Simon initially hoped to be able to develop a completely online game, but in recent years, if you don't count the two phenomenal casual games "Happy Farm" and "Happy Ranch" launched on the Igration platform, the others are not too successful, but the online battle platform is becoming more and more popular with users.

Up to now, not only the real-time strategy games such as the "Dune" series and the "Warcraft" series, but also the sports games that EA was already best at, as well as some role-playing games, have launched online networking modes.

This is also one of the most advantageous technologies of Daenerys Entertainment's game business.

Of course, Nancy understood the advantages of her game department, and said: "So, boss, can we do this, our online battle platform client is directly transformed into EA Mall, instead of using the web mode under the Internet Explorer ecosystem?"

The Internet Explorer ecosystem can be said to be the foundation of Igret's monopoly on Internet interfaces.

Over the years, in order to ensure the uniqueness of the IE interface and the Internet Explorer ecosystem, Igrete has been in a-for-tat confrontation with many technology companies.

When Nancy said this, she basically didn't give much hope.

However, to her surprise again, Simon nodded directly: "It's a good idea, but the website still needs to be opened." ”

Nancy was slightly stunned, and couldn't help but say, "Boss, you...... Have you been stimulated by anything lately?"

Simon shook his head calmly: "No, but there are indeed a lot of women, and the bed is too tired." ”

“......”

"Okay, what's the problem?"

"That's a lot of questions. ”

"Then don't ask," Simon decisively refused, saying, "All in all, your goal is to get the EA Store up and running within two years, and in addition to Daenerys Entertainment's own games, you also need to attract external customers." Igrete will provide us with the necessary technology and Ypay payment interface and other authorizations, and my request is very simple, you must compete with Igret, but not viciously, your goal should be placed on other online game stores other than ours. ”

Nancy nodded earnestly, indicating that she would take note.

Simon glanced at the memo beside him and said, "Also, next, continue to expand the acquisition efforts, as long as there are potential studios, you can initiate acquisitions." ”

Nancy suddenly objected: "Boss, there is no need to be like this, as a film director, you must know that it is already rare for a creator to be able to create one or two classics, and it is impossible to be evergreen, in fact, game studios are even more so." ”

"You can change the acquisition model appropriately, but the strategy of expanding the acquisition remains the same," Simon insisted: "Nancy, of course I know what you're talking about, but our acquisition target is not the teams at all, it's the game idea. ”

"Boss, I remember you used to say that creativity is the cheapest. ”

"Ideas are cheap, of course, but the problem is that it's not cheaper to turn ideas into games, but it's less likely to turn ideas into popular games. Nancy, the current stage of the game is still dominated by 2D, but you must have found that the trend of 3D games is becoming more and more obvious, compared to 2D, if you think about the cost of Pixar's animation, you can know that the production cost of 3D games will increase rapidly in the future. At that time, the cost of turning entrepreneurship into a game will be very high. The most guaranteed strategy is to make a sequel, unlike movies, because actors and other factors are often difficult to break out of the trilogy curse, games can be made forever, and it is not impossible for a series to make the tenth or even the twentieth part, just like Japan's "Super Mario". So, now is the last time for us to collect hot ideas at a relatively low price, or not called ideas, but Intellectual Property, IP, like all kinds of rights owned by Daenerys Entertainment, so, you get the idea?"

Nancy nodded seriously, "yes." ”

"This is the first thing," Simon looked down at his memo again, raised his head again, and said: "The second thing, about BesTV, it is not surprising that Sony, Toshiba and other manufacturers will officially launch DVD players at the end of the year, BesTV's online operation has been very successful in recent years, but with the advent of the DVD era, BesTV also needs to change its online operation strategy if it does not want to be eliminated." ”

"Boss, I've noticed this problem too, but compared to videotapes, you must also know that the emergence of DVDs will definitely promote the proliferation of piracy. ”

Simon remembered that China's VCD industry is actually based on the piracy industry chain, of course, he has a deeper understanding than Nancy, and said: "This is inevitable, but, just like the videotapes back then, there were people who initially questioned that the videotapes might cause piracy, and the result is that the videotapes have more than doubled the size of the Hollywood film industry." As for DVDs, the same is true, and we can't afford to make the mistake of the record industry's staunch resistance to the Internet in recent years, so we need to embrace and even control this trend. ”

"In that case, boss, what should Blockbuster do?"

"Quite simply, increase the layout of online business and increase the construction of BesTV's logistics system, and the ultimate goal is to abandon physical stores and achieve complete network operation. ”

Nancy inexplicably felt a little out of breath: "Boss, isn't it too aggressive?"

"You can do some tests now," Simon didn't answer directly, but said: "Regarding the DVD mailing test, unlike Blockbuster's current half-online mode where you have to go to a designated store to collect the videotape when placing an order online, this time it can be delivered directly to the user's home in one step, and it will also be collected by mail." You know, compared to videotapes, the mailing cost of DVD discs is more than enough to support this business model. ”

"But, boss, Blockbuster's current business model, I think it's already very good, otherwise Blockbuster's current market value would not be as high as $37 billion. ”

"If we don't eliminate ourselves, Nancy, then we will only be eliminated by others. ”

The expression of the little female executive, who has always been in the state of a strong woman, finally showed some entanglement: "This, it's very painful." ”

Simon was serious: "If it hurts in the early stage, it will be very comfortable later." ”

Nancy immediately blushed and glared at Simon: "Boss, sooner or later, you will be sued and harassed one day like this." ”

"Are you going to sue?"

Nancy paused, then nodded menacingly, "Hmm." ”

"Well, no kidding," Simon continued, "Actually, DVDs, and even the high-definition DVDs that Sony is developing, are still just an excess. The ultimate form of Blockbuster should be streaming media. Completely abandon the physical mode such as videotapes and DVDs, and purely carry out online streaming, so, one day in the future, according to you, if Blockbuster does not want to be eliminated, it will have to suffer again. ”

Nancy didn't cooperate with the drive this time, but said: "In that case, boss, should we buy out Blockbuster completely." ”

"The stock price is a bit high right now, it's not appropriate. ”

"I understand, though, I mean, start preparing now and wait for the dot-com bubble to burst next. ”

The former Blockbuster has rapidly declined with the advent of the Internet era. And this time, it is precisely because the successful semi-online model fits the new technology concept that is currently the most popular in the capital market, so the market value is as high as $37 billion. However, Daenerys Entertainment's shareholding in Blockbuster, due to some mergers and acquisitions and equity incentives over the years, has now dropped from the initial 35% to 28%.

Although Daenerys Entertainment, as the largest shareholder, still maintains strong control over Blockbuster, it does not even have absolute control after all. Since her boss has seen this company so far, Nancy feels that it is undoubtedly the best choice to buy it all and hold this company completely in her hands.

Simon thought for a moment and said: "Now that we are the largest shareholder of Blockbuster, we have been frequently questioned and monopolized, and then, if there is an opportunity, we only need to buy more shares to achieve 51% absolute control, which is much smaller than completely eating the boost." ”

Nancy pondered for a moment, and found that it was the same, and nodded in agreement.

The two chatted about some more details until lunchtime, when they finished their morning work.

Actually, there are some musical things.

As one of the two vice presidents of Daenerys Entertainment Group after Amy Pascal, Nancy is now mainly responsible for the three major sectors of gaming, music and home entertainment. Speaking of which, if you want to seek a breakthrough direction for Daenerys Entertainment's continued growth in the future, these three major businesses are all good directions.

Of course, there is another president, Robert Iger, who is in charge of the cable business.

In general, in addition to the core movies, Daenerys Entertainment's TV, games, music and other aspects still have great potential to be tapped.

Especially games.

This is the top priority that Simon has always paid great attention to, after all, this part is done, according to what was once said, but it is more profitable than drug trafficking, and, most importantly, the game industry is no less than movies, which is actually the reason why Simon suddenly relented and decided that Daenerys Entertainment could build its own online game store to compete with Igret.

The plate is large enough to accommodate two top online publishers.

At the same time, it can promote competition.

Simon has always attached great importance to promoting competition, born in sorrow, died in peace, any industry, if there is a lack of competition, not to mention the high-sounding impact on the consumer experience and other reasons, but the industry itself, will definitely stagnate.

Let's talk about music.

In recent years, due to the rise of the Internet, the record industry has been falling at a rapid rate almost like a collapse, especially after the launch of iPlayer, the decline has been even more rapid.

Simon, of course, is very clear, and the record industry is the foundation of hardware products.

However, because of the stubbornness of the record industry, Simon's attitude is to allow the industry to decline on its own in a short period of time, even if it hits Daenerys Entertainment's own music business hard, until the major record giants take the initiative to make due compromises and cooperation. And, at that time, through the acquisition, Daenerys Entertainment can also further expand its own record business.