Chapter 105: Call of Duty

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BlackRock, also known as Black Rock, has become one of the world's top three asset management giants since its merger with Merrill Lynch's asset management division. For it, Guo Shouyun, who has been involved in the financial circle, can be described as thunderous.

"What about the return on this part of the funds managed by BlackRock?"

"The annual income is roughly maintained at about 8%!"

"It's too low, get out!"

Petty Madir frowned slightly, "Boss, the annual return of 8% is actually not low, after all, the first thing we have to ensure is the safety of funds, and the second is the rate of return!"

"I understand, but I still think 8% is too low. In addition, I plan to wait for this part of the funds to be withdrawn, plus the funds in the accounts, and leave enough to maintain the company's operation and R&D expenses, and then choose another company to do a new asset plan!" Guo Shouyun said.

"Boss, most of the funds on the books have not been taxed yet, and it will be too risky if you use them directly for investment!" Gabe Newell began.

U.S. taxes are paid on an annual basis, and taxes are paid in mid-April of each year, so the gross profit of "Counter-Strike" after deducting costs is still on the books. If this part is deducted, the book of nearly 80 million will shrink by nearly half.

"There is still almost half a year to go until April next year, and we have enough time to move. Moreover, the Counter-Strike disc sales are just right, and funding is not an issue. In addition, I am also a graduate of Stanford's Department of Economics, so you must always have some confidence in my investment plan!" Guo Shouyun said with a smile.

Hearing this, Gabe Newell and Petty Madir glanced at each other, and the two did not object again. After all, the one sitting in front of them now is the majority shareholder of the company, holding an absolute controlling stake in the company.

"Boss, I agree that you will run the company's funds, but if this part of the funds incurs a loss, then I hope you can terminate it in time!" Gabe Newell euphemistically.

"Yes!"

Guo Shouyun nodded. He also didn't plan to use this part of the funds to make ultra-high-risk financial leverage, so it was very simple to ensure that he would not lose money.

"By the way, I've got a game development plan here for you to take a look at!"

After greeting Wendy and asking her to take out the documents he had prepared in advance this time, Guo Shouyun handed it to Gabe Newell, who was beside him.

"Call of Duty?"

Looking at the text on the cover of the document, Gabe Newell read it softly, and then curiously opened it to see the contents.

"How?"

After patiently waiting for him to finish reading, Guo Shouyun asked.

"A first-person shooter set in World War II, with a big background. However, the same type of game already has Electronic Arts' "Medal of Honor", and if we launch it again, I'm afraid the results won't be too good!"

"There are many famous wars that took place during World War II, and Medal of Honor is mainly set in the Normandy landings and Operation Market Garden, focusing on the Western Front. In that case, why can't we develop a game of the same genre based on the Soviet-German war? Moreover, I believe that the Battle of Stalingrad, the Battle of Moscow, and the Battle of Kursk were definitely no less influential than the Normandy landings. If we develop a game with this as a background, I believe many people will be interested!"

Gabe Newell pondered for a moment, "If we really want to develop it, I'm afraid we will invest a lot of money, after all, there are too many scenarios involved. ”

"It doesn't matter, as of today, all of the company's revenue is used for the development of Call of Duty. ”

Looking at Guo Shouyun's determined expression, Gabe Newell nodded after a little hesitation. Seeing this, Guo Shouyun's heart also relaxed. Although he is the chairman of the company, he holds an absolute controlling stake. But Gabe Newell is the CEO of the company after all, and if he doesn't agree, he can use his power to force the proposal through, but it will not be conducive to the development of new games.

You know, he has high hopes for Call of Duty. Since the dawn of the video game industry, there have been only 13 games worldwide that have sold more than 100 million games, including Call of Duty.

And in later generations, it also created an astonishing revenue of more than 10 billion US dollars with the sales of nearly 200 million in the whole series, which is not inferior to the super cash cow of "World of Warcraft" and the absolute pillar of Activision Blizzard. Now that there is a chance, Guo Shouyun certainly does not want to miss this gold mine. What's more, Villefort Game Studios laid a certain foundation for the development of Call of Duty, which is also a first-person shooter, by developing 'Half-Life' and 'Counter-Strike'. There are no copyright constraints, and it can be said that this is currently the most suitable masterpiece for matrix games.

"That's right. It's better to use raw than cooked, let the company's people contact the 2015 studio tomorrow, try to buy it, and it doesn't matter if you spend a little price!"

"What about the M&A funds...?"

"Transfer from the company's existing accounts!" Guo Shouyun said.

In 2015, the studio was just developing a peripheral expansion for the Medal of Honor game, and even if it was acquired as a whole, it wouldn't cost much.

"If the merger is successful, will the 2015 studio's inclusion in Matrix Games still be managed by Villefort?" continued.

"Changed to 'Fourth Game Development Group' and managed directly by Villefort Game Studios!"

In Guo Shouyun's plan, the game development category of Villefort Game Studios is 'first-person shooters'. Whether it's Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Save Your Life, or Call of Duty, it's all in this category, so there's no need to re-establish a separate subsidiary.

"Understood!" said Gabe Newell. He has a stake in Villefort Studios, but not in Matrix Pictures.

"By the way, which company publishes our company's games now?"

"Electronic Arts!"

"Are there many large game companies with publishing capabilities?" Guo continued.

"Not much. In addition to Electronic Arts, Vidiwang, Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony are considered a grade, while Activision, Sega, Capcom, and Konami are relatively weak. ”

Guo Shouyun nodded, and after a little silence, "Do you think if we want to acquire, which one is the most suitable for us?"

"Acquisition?"

Looking at Gabe Newell's surprised expression, Guo Shouyun smiled and said: "Yes, we can't always be satisfied with being a game development company, downstream distribution and channels must be involved sooner or later!"

Looking at the young man sitting across from him, calm and confident, Gabe Newell was surprised by the other party's ambitions for the game industry, but it was also good news for him. This means that the resources in the hands of the other party will be more inclined to the Villefort studio. As the company grows, as a leader, his influence in the industry will naturally increase, and he also has a 5% stake in the Villefort studio, which is all money.

"If we have to buy it, do I think Activision is the best fit for us?" replied Gabe Newell after a moment of silence.

"Oh, why?"

"Electronic Arts, Vidi-Wan, Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony are too big for us to swallow. And even if we have enough money, they won't necessarily want to sell their gaming division. Sega, Konami, and Capcom are all based in Japan, and they're better at fighting and turn-based games. Only Activision is not only good at developing first-person shooters and has a lot of publishing experience, but also the most important 'quake' game engine!"

Guo Shouyun raised his eyebrows, is the game engine important? Of course it does! The quality of the engine directly determines the success or failure of a game. And engine commercial licensing is also a lucrative industry. For example, the 'Quake 2' game engine rented by Villefort Studios for the development of "Half-Life" and "Counter-Strike" costs $500,000 for the basic license fee alone, and the engine provider is paid $6 for each game disc sold. It's all about lying down and counting the money.

However, although the 'Mjolnir' engine is now N-forced, it was soon replaced by Unreal Engine, which can support both OpenGL and DX, due to the dual reasons of leader Carmack's paranoia about the OpenGL standard and Microsoft's promotion of the DX standard, and gradually marginalized.

Therefore, the 'Quake' game engine was not enough to prompt Guo Shouyun to make the decision to acquire Activision. Moreover, without Call of Duty, Activision has limited appeal to him. In contrast, he prefers to acquire Vidiwang's gaming division. You must know that it is Blizzard, and it is the "World of Warcraft" that he misses even if he is reborn!

After sorting out his thoughts, looking at Gabe Newell, who was looking at himself, after a little consideration, Guo Shouyun said: "After I go back, I will ask people to do a detailed investigation of Activision, if it is really suitable, we will pick a suitable time to seek acquisition!"

That being said, he hadn't thought about buying Activision!

Guo Shouyun's superficial questions and answers did not satisfy Gabe Newell. But since the other party said so, he didn't say anything more.

Later, after the three of them chatted about the development of the company for a while, Guo Shouyun walked around the company and left here in the company of the other party.

Back at the hotel, it is inevitable to have a phone call with Molly Bevan, who is far away in Greece, in the evening! Since the relationship between the two has taken a step forward in New York, communication between couples has become a daily repertoire. However, both of them are sane people, and even at night they will not talk on the phone for more than an hour.

The night passed quickly, and the next day after Guo Shouyun exercised, he had breakfast, checked his mailbox, and handled some official business, and after the time was close to 9 o'clock, Wendy Solo handed over the suit.

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