"Of course, you have this capital now." Dawson raised a glass of wine and took a sip: "You have achieved something remarkable last year. If it's just the influence of "The Origin of Everything", it may not make them overprice, but there is no doubt that what is shown from the various trailers of "Getaway" is the quality of a truly epic game. ”

"Don't worry, Pasca, I won't ask what kind of price they offered, we are friends, but there are rules between companies."

"Of course, we're friends, I've always thought so, Dawson."

Dawson said: "You know that I came to China this time not only for tourism, but also to catch up with you. Oh my god, haha, I really had the idea of coming over for the winter...... Of course, Natsu, you know, we're a lot like releasing the game Getaway, and while we haven't experienced the demo yet, we have an unprecedented internal consensus that it's going to be a great game. ”

Xia Qingyu said: "Thank you, we think the same way." ”

"We've had a pretty good time working together, and you know the size and stats of Modern Warfare 2. This time, if "Getaway" is released by us, its distribution scale will not be comparable to the first release of "The Origin of Everything" the year before. ”

At the end of the year before last, the world premiere of "The Origin of Everything" was only 250,000 sets, which is the three largest markets, North America, Europe and Japan, but not every state in North America is available, and there are many countries in Europe that are not in the first region, and Japan has only about 40,000 sets.

"What we can promise is that we're going to give Getaway no less than Modern Warfare 2, you know, it's our own game, but they're supposed to be on the same level."

Xia Qingyu said: "The release scale of "Modern Warfare 2"? The Los Angeles Times has previously revealed it, but we don't know if it's accurate, that $225 million was spent on marketing and distribution? ”

Dawson nodded, "Yes, it may not be very accurate, but it does exceed two hundred million dollars." "There is a kind of pride on my face that is not ashamed but proud...... This pride comes from an unprecedented investment that has paid off in return.

Guinness World Records has added Call of the Year 6 to their database of games as the world's most successful first-day sales of an entertainment product. Of course, the total investment of this game is also the strongest at present, with a research and development cost of 50 million, plus the 225 million publicity cost revealed by Dawson himself, a total total cost of 275 million US dollars, which is also the highest investment in the entire game history in the world.

It was followed by 1997's Final Fantasy 7, with $45 million in R&D and $100 million in marketing. Thankfully, that game also sold more than 9.7 million units worldwide and set a pinnacle of Japanese RPGs.

"New Year's Call 6" is almost twice as high as the second place on this list.

Activision really dares.

Dawson said: "If "Getaway" is published by us, we have estimated internally that there will be at least more than 60 million publicity investment, of course, we need to experience the game before we can give an accurate number, we can't even know what the game looks like and rush to give a number, that would be too irresponsible, but out of our trust in Fisoa, $60 million is the minimum standard." ”

Ye Shenxi and Xia Qingyu just nodded, and did not express any opinions, in the current game market, the publicity cost of 60 million US dollars is nothing to be surprised about, well, at least it is not worth the fuss of these three people and one dog in this room now, but Dawson They know exactly the same as the media and players about "Getaway", and they are judged by the content announced by their own company, and in this regard, the sincerity is quite sufficient.

And the 60 million does not include the agency fees they have to pay to the herring fish network.

One thing Xia Qingyu and Ye Shenxi are very clear about, as one of the world's largest third-party game publishing companies, Activision has had the momentum to catch up with EA in the past two years, but one of the problems they face is that its games rely too much on the FPS genre.

Aside from the "Diablo" series of glass slag, although it merged into Activision glass slag, the two companies still operate independently, and Activision has never interfered in the glass slag's own development plans. Activision's based series, "Call of the Year", "Quake", as well as "Doom 3" and "Wolfenstein 2009" in collaboration with ID Softare...... It's all FPS!

There are also action games such as Spider-Man: The Web of Shadows, X-Men: Wolverine, Transformers 2 Comeback, and Torture Original, which was released last June, but they didn't live up to their expectations. In addition, there is the "Guitar Hero" series, which is a musical game that has always been niche.

As for RPGs, Activision does not have its own masterpieces, and for this super large game market, they do not have the ability to control their company's status.

On the other hand, their main competitor, EA, has acquired so many studios and dissolved a lot, but there are always some that can make a difference. FPS？ They can compete with the "Call of the Year" series with DICE's "Battlefield" series, as well as "Crysis".

Needless to say, EA SPORTS itself is an ace under EA, and the "FIFA" series has begun to have a momentum to catch up with the old rival "Pro Evolution Soccer", even if it is basketball, don't mention it. There are also NFL football series, NHL ice hockey series, MLB baseball series...... These are even more New Year's goods than "New Year's Goods Calling", one a year, and it is obvious that they will come out until the end of the world.

The racing category includes Need for Speed...... The simulation category includes "Virtual Life" and "Spore......

Back to the RPG genre, Gayare is EA's real confidence, in the past two years, Gayare has come out with the "Mass Effect" and "Dragon Age" series one after another, and Activision has really been thrown off in this regard.

Therefore, "Getaway" is the pioneer of their expansion in the RPG category.

Similar to Activision's situation is Yubi, whose strengths are also first-person design and action, so among the few publishers that have come to China, Yubi has the best conditions.

40 million+ publicity investment, and 20 million US dollars in agency fees, if Qingyu Network accepts this condition, basically the game has not been listed, and they will almost return to their original cost.

"I need to say that it was the quality of the game that Getaway showed, and the fact that Fisoa was the hallmark, gave us that confidence. Not only is it at least 60 million marketing investment, but we plan to do 30 countries and regions for the first launch, and then expand to more than 70 countries around the world within two months, not only Europe, America, Japan, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, West Asia, South Africa, Australia and South America players can buy the physical version of this game in offline stores or e-commerce websites. ”

That's what Activision is going to be.

If it is 60 million + 20 million agency fees, and they invest 80 million US dollars in this project, according to the general three-seven sharing rule, that is, Activision believes that on the physical version, no matter how much this game is, there will be more than 6.5 million sales of more than 6.5 million units, if it is less than 6.5 million, then in addition to a series of costs such as retailers, pressure plates, and paying taxes, Activision will lose money.

And the publicity cost of 60 million, Dawson said that it is only a guarantee.

It's not a big gamble.

"Sounds ...... Very moving, Dawson. Xia Qingyu said.

In fact, Activision's prescribing condition has exceeded Qingyu's own internal estimates.

"Yes, even if we don't ask you about what you negotiate with other companies, we are still very confident. Confidence in our conditions, confidence in you, more confidence in this game. In our previous cooperation, we deeply felt what kind of company you are, your pursuit of product quality makes us very admired, and your creativity and talent make us yearn and admire. ”

This kind of straightforward and naked touting made Ye Shenxi and Xia Qingyu both a little unsure of how to pick it up.

Dawson? Smith couldn't think of any reason for the two to refuse...... In fact, Ye Shenxi and Xia Qingyu couldn't think of it.

"As for agency fees, you can tell me what you want, but I don't think that's the point of our conversation today."

Xia Qingyu's routine has always been that the other party is very refreshing, so she will definitely be more cheerful, and she also smiled: "We can talk about this thing slowly, Dawson, have you brought the relevant team to China this time?" ”

Dawson shook his head: "No, we know that this is the biggest festival and the longest holiday in China every year, but it is just a matter of a phone call, if necessary, they will come directly to China, Funan, and the hall of your company within three days." ”

Xia Qingyu and Ye Shenxi glanced at each other, and then said: "Then you may have to make this call, your evaluation team can make a detailed evaluation of the game, we are already doing the final dubbing audio import, and bug troubleshooting, which should meet your requirements...... And then there are the business people, so that they can sign specific contracts. ”

This sentence made Dawson smile, although it was not very obvious on his face, how could the old drama bone's heart easily jump on his face, but he was indeed relieved.

In fact, not the whole company has maintained a unanimous opinion on the project of "Getaway" this time, and there are some people within Activision who believe that "Getaway" may not have such good sales. The biggest reason is that this is a completely new series that simply does not have the player base accumulated by previous generations.

Even "New Year's Goods Call" was in the 6th part, and after the sales of previous generations exceeded 10 million one after another, they dared to make such a large distribution scale all at once. But what about the herring fish network, "The Origin of All Things" does sell very well, but will it be the same kind of person as the players of "Getaway"?

Similar to "Getaway", an open-world RPG, full of "magic and sword" (in their opinion) worldview, great legends and heroes of the ancient era, "The Elder Scrolls 4" has been sold for almost four years now, and it has only just exceeded 9 million.

Dawson said to the men, "You're ignoring the popularity that Fisoa and their two bosses have built up in their own right. They may not be the largest and highest-grossing company in the world right now, but the player base they've built up through their games has given them a huge fan base. They are one of the most popular game companies in the world right now. ”

"Those players have a pilgrimage to this company, yes, just like a lot of people used to do with glass slag, although they really only have three games for players all over the world, but these three games are real masterpieces, and even two of them are real masterpieces that are destined to go down in history and put together with those predecessors who are admired by countless people."

"There is no company that can maintain such a harmonious relationship with players as they do, there is no abuse, no slander, they do a lot of things for the sake of players, which can be seen on the FG platform, like the developer profit plan, although it is still only a small policy, but it has brought them an excellent reputation."

"There are also two bosses who are outstanding, maverick, and full of topics like entertainment stars, and the private habits of those two people will become the object of emulation for many players, and their love stories also make players fascinated, they have almost no negative news, you underestimate the die-hard fans of the entertainment industry."

"Do you understand the real impact of the so-called 'golden sign'?"

Dawson's words were echoed by Activision Glass Slag President Roddick, who unreservedly supported Dawson's proposal and said to him: "Dawson, we can maintain a good relationship with Fisoa, not just "The Origin of Everything", not just "Getaway", we are happy to have a long-term and happy cooperation with Fisoa." ”

So Dawson came to China, Funan.

The attitude of the two has been clearly expressed, and Dawson finally has the heart to taste the cooking skills of Xia Qingyu, and he pokes a piece of ribs with a fork...... It's true that chopsticks can't be used, and then he raised his eyebrows and exclaimed: "Xia, your skills can go to open a restaurant." ”

Xia Qingyu deserved it: "I know you're not a compliment." ”

"Of course not, but if I take my words back, you're wasting more of your outstanding talent by opening a restaurant."

"By the way, there's one more thing, Natsu."

Xia Qingyu asked, "What's the matter?" ”

Dawson said: "That's right, we want to add the activation function of the FG platform to the physical version, that is, after the player who buys the disc activates it on the FG platform through the activation code, he can also use those convenient functions on the platform, such as cloud saves, or Innovation Works. ”

Ye Shenxi smiled: "Of course, we think the same way. And the feature has been developed, which can increase the enthusiasm of players to buy the CD, and also promote the platform itself, which is beneficial to us. ”

Dawson was relieved: "That's great, players on the physical PC version will be very happy." ”

For this proposal, their starting point is from the sales data of "New Year's Call 6", when "New Year's Call 6" was launched in November last year, taking the big market UK as an example, 1.78 million units were sold in the UK within a week, but there is a very embarrassing problem that the PC version only has 53,400 copies, that is, 3%...... While sales of the game as a whole were unprecedentedly successful, the PC version lagged behind considerably.

In comparison, 57% of the XBOX360 were sold, and the PS3 version accounted for 40%, which means that the three major platforms were released together, but this kind of data is not the "Big Three"......

Activision believes that if players in the physical version of the PC can also enjoy the many convenient features brought by the FG platform, it will definitely be able to promote the sales of this platform, "The Origin of Everything" is a good example, so far of the total sales of 27 million copies, more than 12 million sales are from the PC side, which simply breaks their conventional perception, because often the sales of console platforms are crushing the existence of PC.

But it is because the FG platform provides an innovative workshop that is very convenient for mods to download and install, even if the physical version is purchased, you can download and install mods on the Internet by yourself, so many players have chosen the PC platform.

Dawson said, "You see, we have quite a tacit understanding. ”

Gee.

This was really a pleasant dinner, and at the end of the table, Dawson hesitated a little, Xia Qingyu and Ye Shenxi did not have a maid at home...... In other words, after washing and cleaning the kitchen, the owner will take care of it.

Then he, the guest, was a little panicked, should he do something...... But he won't finish washing, and he doesn't want to do this work when he cleans his room.

Xia Qingyu also saw Dawson's hesitation, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, someone will finish washing later, let's go to the living room and continue chatting." ”

"Who?" Dawson didn't really understand.

Xia Qingyu pointed to Ye Shenxi.

Ye Shenxi looked at Dawson and nodded: "The hostess of our family is responsible for cooking, the male host is responsible for the aftermath, and the two of them are preparing the ingredients together." ”

Dawson shook his head and smiled, "If I were ten years younger, I would envy you for such a life." ”

When the three of them returned to the living room, Dawson remembered something again: "By the way, do you know EA's Origin?" ”

Xia Qingyu said: "Do you mean their game digital distribution platform? ”

"Yes, it seems that you guys are also concerned, and as far as I know, they are also about to go live."

Ye Shenxi said: "Yes, that was much earlier than we expected." ”

He has the impression that EA's Origin should be officially launched next year, that is, in the summer of 2011, but EA's acquisition of steem was blocked, and it was stimulated by the FG platform, and it also accelerated the pace, and it was reasonable to say that it was a year ahead of schedule.

In fact, the emergence of the FG platform, in fact, provides a standard template for many manufacturers who want to do digital distribution platforms, how to make such a platform is the best way, the answer is on the FG platform, you only need to register an account, no need to pay tuition, play each function once, you should have a number in your heart.

Those manufacturers who were not very optimistic about the profits of the PC side and the digital platform, after the FG platform showed strong profitability, they couldn't sit still, they are also the first party, and it is estimated that Yubi's UPlay is also soon.

"If EA's Origin goes online, they may take back the copyright of their own games and become exclusive online distribution for Origin, and the same should be true for games released in the future." Dawson said: "There are a lot of games released by EA on the FG platform right now, right? ”

"There are about 40 of them." Xia Qingyu said: "But it doesn't matter, players are loyal to the game company, and the same is true for the game platform." Moreover, the platform is really not that easy, and not everyone can do it well. ”

At this point, Xia Qingyu is very confident: "The social ecology of the FG platform is quite mature, which is also what we are most proud of and the biggest advantage. We think our main competitor is still STEM, and it has the advantage of being a few years ahead of us. ”

……

After the Spring Festival holiday, Qingyu Network immediately welcomed a group of guests from Santa Monica, USA, which was Activision's game testing and business team, and relevant personnel from Huangpu also came to Funan and began negotiations.

After experiencing the packaged game, Dawson and his team said that the quality of the game exceeded their original expectations.

Even at this time, the translation content of the multi-Chinese version was not complete, and even so, they did not even want to do the task, and when they shuttled through the city and flew over that vast and magnificent land, they were already addicted to it.

Soon after, the two companies officially signed a cooperation agreement and officially announced it to the public.

Many things have not been announced in the details of the agreement, and the two sides are only joint statements, and the 2010 masterpiece "Getaway" presented by the Blue Fish Network will be distributed by Activision as a physical version of all platforms.

The game will be released on June 12, 2010 for PS3, XBOX360 and PC...... It's a pity that there is no II this time, because the function of the II is not enough to support the performance of this game with high picture quality.