Kaplan, the president of Blizzard, stomped his feet in his office, looking a little anxious and with a hint of helplessness.

A few months ago, when NetEase came to the door with a fat contract, Kaplan's mood could be described as sunny.

After the first meeting between the two companies, the shrewd Yankee positioned Yoyo as an unqualified agent, because of greed, arrogance, and no gentlemanliness, compared to NetEase's sincerity and attitude.

Here's what Kaplan said at the time: MR Lee, Blizzard is positive about the idea of changing agents during the contract period.

And Li Riqiang's reply: NetEase intends to pay this liquidated damages in exchange for your company's concessions in profit sharing.

But profit comes first, and the extremely shrewd Yankees are only willing to reduce the profit share from 50% to 45%.

Li Riqiang replied that he needed to report to Mr. Ding before making a decision.

It didn't take long for the photos of their meeting to be published on Sina.com, along with a righteous statement from Youyou.

Of course, the great Blizzard will not admit that this meeting involves the replacement of agents, and gives a resolute counterattack, and also accuses Yoyo of making a fuss and malicious attacks.

In the original concept of Mr. Kaplan, the president: Huaxia people love face, since the contradiction between Yoyo and Blizzard has been made public, or even amplified, the relationship between the two companies should have dropped to the freezing point, and then the two sides have a tacit understanding to wait for the end of the contract, and then part ways.

To his surprise, a few days ago, Yoyo officially sent a letter in the company's name, hoping to discuss with Blizzard about the renewal of the Warcraft contract.

At that time, Kaplan's first instinct was to rub his eyes and confirm the authenticity of the letter.

"The behavior of this young rich man is really a bit different from the traditional Chinese people. ”

He read the general contents of the letter, and his eyes widened in disbelief.

Oh my God, this yoyo boss is so shameless.

The letter roughly reads: In the three years of perfect cooperation, Yoyo and Blizzard have enhanced their understanding and formed a deep friendship. In line with the idea of carrying forward the past and forging ahead into the future, and also hoping to continue this precious friendship with Blizzard, Yoyo proposed to negotiate with your company to renew the contract.

Yesterday I was angry with you, but today I can act as if nothing happened, and laugh, and take the initiative to negotiate with you about renewing the contract.

The young boss of Yoyo can be said to have taken the sentence that there are no eternal friends, only eternal interests, to the extreme.

This phrase originated from the 19th-century British Prime Minister Palmerston.

In a country with Anglo-Saxon culture like Britain and the United States, both business and politics take this sentence to the extreme.

For example, yesterday I was a close partner with you, but the next day, I turned my head and took you out of ****** because of interests, as if not long ago, I spoke ill of each other and was incompatible, but it didn't take long for me to give up all the mustard because of the issue of interests, and shook hands with you, smiling and smiling.

Such a norm applies to politics as well as to business.

If Yoyo is an American company, Blizzard thinks it is very normal to behave like this, but this is a company from Huaxia, and they actually have a similar thinking.

"We have to treat Yoyo in a way that we get along with American companies, not the way we used to look at Chinese companies. ”

Marketing Director Owen gave his advice.

Kaplan shrugged his shoulders helplessly after hearing this, and said, "NetEase has suspended negotiations with us out of pressure from Youyou. What a bunch of timid guys. ”

Owen replied: "But we can't do without NetEase now." Whether it is liquidated damages or agency fees, no other company will offer a more sincere offer. ”

Kaplan took a sip of tea, cleared his throat and said, "Personally, I still prefer to cooperate with NetEase, but Yoyo also has to give a reply, such as we will increase the offer and let them retreat." It's not that we don't want to continue this friendship, it's that Yoyo can't show enough sincerity. ”

Owen suddenly thought of something and asked, "Mr. President, NetEase needs to confirm something, does the Warcraft player's account belong to us or Yoyo?"

Kaplan paused for a moment and replied, "Of course, it belongs to Blizzard, but Yoyo has the right to manage it during the contract period." If NetEase pays liquidated damages, according to the contract, Yoyo must unconditionally transfer the player account to us. ”

"But......" his expression showed a look of helplessness, and said, "Yoyo also played a trick with us, they launched the Yoyo Pass and tied it to the Warcraft account. ”

"What's the difference?"

"I did an analysis and summarized the characteristics of the Yoyo Pass, that is, the number one is universal. Players with a Warcraft account can play other games under Yoyo without registration. This is also how our Battle.net system will be used in the future. ”

Kaplan snorted coldly and said, "It's really a cunning Huaxia people, and you always have to pay twelve points of attention when you cooperate with them. ”

After a pause of a few seconds, he continued: "But then again, if we want to get back the account of the Warcraft player, will we be hindered by the other party. ”

Owen replied truthfully, "That's a necessity. Once it comes to the transfer of accounts, Yoyo can refuse to implement this clause on the grounds that the Warcraft account cannot be stripped from Yoyo Pass. Of course, if we are willing to spend money to buy account information, these are not problems. ”

"What's more, from what I know about the young boss of Yoyo, he has an arrogant and cautious personality, and he also understands who can and can't offend. So even if there is such an agreement in the contract, when it comes to the transfer of accounts, Yoyo will inevitably make it difficult for us. It is very difficult for us to achieve our goals without paying some price. ”

"Another point is that in Huaxia, after all, we are an American company with no background, and we can't expect government officials to speak for us there. We are not a company like Microsoft, so strong that the other party cannot leave, and we must always rely on the other party. ”

Kaplan was a little dissatisfied, and asked again: "If we go to court to sue Yoyo, is there a good chance that we will win the case?"

Owen shook his head helplessly and said, "The so-called principle of territoriality, if you want to sue, you can only sue in Huaxia." Although there is a certain possibility of winning the case, no matter what the outcome, Yoyo will try to turn this lawsuit into a tug-of-war, and the time will drag on for a very long time. It's bad for us. ”

"And Mr. President, we must give Yoyo a milder answer, after all, we still have three years left in the contract, and NetEase has already hesitated. If the attitude is too tough, I have a feeling that they will definitely make some moves in the next three years. ”

Kaplan's fist slammed on the table, and he said dissatisfiedly: "Yoyo has been able to get to this day, the huge profits brought by Warcraft have played a decisive role, and it can even be said that we Blizzard have achieved their current status, a group of guys who don't know how to be grateful." ”

"I knew that I would have chosen Jiucheng at the beginning, and the more obedient companies will be handled by us. It was only because Yoyo gave a higher offer that this wrong decision was made. ”

Blizzard's top management, no matter how dissatisfied they are at the moment, must prepare a letter with gentle words and a gentle response to it.

......

NetEase chose to compromise, but as a large company, it also hopes that Yoyo can give a step down.

Liu Yun's request is only one: NetEase issued an announcement, promising never to represent Warcraft, and Yoyo will give up the blocking, and state that this is a misunderstanding.

If you continue to remain silent and do not reply, Yoyo can be regarded as the other party has tacitly prepared to fight for the agency of Warcraft, and then you will start to prepare a series of countermeasures.

Yoyo's meaning is very clear: you learn from that penguin, plagiarism, copycat, I don't care. But if you blatantly come directly to dig into the corners of the wall and steal people's jobs, it will be excessive. It's not like we're not going to be beaten back.

NetEase is now forced to a dead end by Yoyo, either acquiescing or expressing its position, there is no third way to go.

But during this period of time, because of this turmoil, the online rate of Warcraft has continued to break through new highs, and because of the update of the latest expansion, the enthusiasm of players has also become very high.

"Mr. Liu, NetEase said that it had suspended contact with Blizzard. Zhu Xiaoli, the administrative director, reported the news from Yangcheng to Liu Yun.

"What's the point of a pause? This is not the result I wanted. Liu Yun replied indifferently, "I understand that it is difficult for them to promise not to represent Warcraft under the public court. ”

"That boss, why are you ......" Zhu Xiaoli frowned, a little puzzled.

"It's simple. Liu Yun smiled, "Let NetEase and Blizzard see our determination, even if they want to continue negotiations, I will continue to cause trouble for them." ”

At the moment, in the Tencent office building in Shenzhen.

Brother Xiaoma's eyes moved slightly, and he received a call from Liu Yun, which was an agreement to exchange resources and seek a win-win situation.

About half a year ago, Tencent and Yoyo had a bit of an unpleasant quarrel because of the competition for agency rights between "Dungeons and Warriors". And Liu Yun, who has always been cautious and jealous, canceled the Tencent recommendation position on the Yoyo browser.

From that moment on, although Xiao Ma racked his brains, the traffic of Tencent.com, 163, and Sina.com continued to increase, which also made him determined to develop his own exclusive QQ browser.

But Liu Yun's phone call made him hesitate.