Zhou Xin glanced up at the luxurious and exquisite lighting on the ceiling of the hotel lobby, and said lightly:

"I hope so. I've always believed that as PCs evolve, video games will become more and more abundant, and the value of Riot games will become more and more prominent.

In the future, the market for virtual items will grow at an unimaginable rate, which is also an opportunity for Riot.

In the future, we will be involved in the trading of in-game items, in other words, Riot is not just a gaming channel, it will permeate every aspect of video games. ”

After the Internet companies of later generations develop to the giant model, they will try their best to build an ecosystem.

This is true for Internet companies in China, and the same is true for Internet companies in Americacan. Take Microsoft as an example, from MSN and Bing to OpenAI, they have been maintaining an enterprising mindset in the field of Internet services.

Google has also acquired a large number of internet products, from YouTube to the Android operating system.

Zhou Xin's idea is not uncommon in Bill Gates' view, and Bill Gates agrees: "Actually, I think we can spin off Microsoft's game division and merge it with Riot Games in the near future."

Riot Games is only one game console away from the full range of video game products.

I know that Microsoft's console program is still in the internal development stage, and there are external competitors like Nintendo, Sony, and Sega, so it is difficult for Microsoft's gaming division to set a price.

When we make the product and it has been fully verified by the market, we can have an in-depth discussion around this matter. ”

Zhou Xin asked: "What do you think about the way that the micro Microsoft operating system is sold online?"

That is, we communicated before, put the download link of the Microsoft operating system on the official website, users have a one-month trial time after downloading, and when the time of one month is up, they need to purchase a verification code through electronic payment before they can continue to use it. ”

Bill looked embarrassed: "Newman, from the bottom of my heart I'd love to do this.

Adopting the online sales method can greatly reduce our costs.

Microsoft's channel costs, marketing costs and production costs are very high costs, and if we adopt the method of online sales, we can save this part of the cost and pass on part of the profit to users.

The Windows 98 SE that we launched this year is priced between $180 and $210, and at least half of that is channel costs and production costs.

With the online approach, the price can be compressed to $120, and our profits will be even higher.

At the same time, it is also conducive to Microsoft's national unified pricing.

But this involves a relatively large adjustment of the whole company, and it is difficult for me to make a decision so quickly.

Because online sales mean that prices have to be repriced, and at the same time, we have to renegotiate contracts with our original retailers, distributors and other partners, and the production end from the production of CDs to packaging materials to user manuals, all the upstream and downstream of the supply chain involved have to re-plan the production target for the whole year.

These aspects are not meant to be implemented immediately after I have decided.

You mentioned it to me before, and I asked our internal strategic research department to do a detailed research report on what the impact would be if we were to adopt an online sales model.

The end result is that it can't be done for the time being, but it will be done sooner or later in the future. ”

After a pause, Bill continued, "I actually quite agree with you about video games.

Moore's Law determines that the performance of the chip has been improving, the better the performance of the chip, the memory and CPU will increase, then the game content and game screen that the hardware can support will have a qualitative leap.

In 1980, when I was 25 years old, I was working on the PC-DOS operating system for IBM, and the most popular video games at that time were Space Invaders by Taito and Pac-Man by Namco.

From today's perspective, the graphics of these two games are rudimentary, and last year's most popular games were Angry Birds and Plants vs. Zombies.

In 1980, the hardware and monitors weren't ready to support games like Angry Birds and Plants vs. Zombies.

Plants and zombies can be very abstract pixels.

In the future, with the advancement of hardware devices, we will have more and richer games.

I think 3D technology is one of the directions of the future of video games.

In the decade from 1990 to 1999, the game platform continued to iterate, Nintendo evolved from Super Nintendo to today's Nintendo N64, and Sony's PS was a great success after entering the market.

And the game genre has also changed from a single action genre and role-playing genre to today's real-time strategy games and shooter games.

The global video game market has grown from $10 billion in 1990 to $60 billion today, and is still growing at a rapid pace today.

Overall, the video game market has grown significantly over the past decade. Factors such as platform competition, diversification of game genres, global market expansion, emerging distribution channels, and mature retail markets have combined to drive the video game boom. ”

Because Microsoft has a long internal debate process about whether to enter the console game space, Bill Gates, as the leader of this strategy, has read these argument reports more than once.

He is well versed in the history of video games in the past and is very optimistic about the future development of video games.

Of course, I am not optimistic and will not start the Xbox project.

Zhou Xin and Bill Gates touched the goblet again: "Since you are so optimistic, why do you think I will merge Riot Games and Microsoft's game division?" ”

"There are no competitors on the market for Riot Games, and Yahoo, the only competitor that could be Riot Games, is unanimously rejected by players because of its plagiarism.

Microsoft's project was challenged by giants from neon, Nintendo, Sony, and Sega. Even with the backing of Microsoft to transfuse the project, Microsoft's game consoles are facing a very severe test. ”

Bill Gates turned sideways to look at Zhou Xin: "I agree with you, Riot can live well without merging with Microsoft's game department."

After the merger of Microsoft's gaming division and Riot Games, we were able to gain some initiative in the competition with Neon's console manufacturers.

Riot has become a brand, and although Microsoft is very famous, it is not as famous as Riot in the field of gamers.

I don't deny that, just as users recognize Yahoo's portal, but there is limited acceptance of MSN.

If Riot were to merge Microsoft's gaming division in a share swap, I would make concessions elsewhere.

For example, NewPay is the only payment software sold online with the windows operating system.

What do you think of this chip?

The share swap of the merger is still going on as usual, which is a bargaining chip I have opened to promote this matter. ”

Zhou Xin is not surprised that Bill Gates realizes the importance of NewPay to Zhou Xin, he will only overestimate and not underestimate Bill Gates' vision and strategic thinking.

"I still need to think about it."

"Newman, I know that NewPay is the most important company for you in all your businesses, you will sell quora, you will let Fist go public, but you have never allowed NewPay to go public, even if it is financing, it will be in the form of A/B shares.

There should be many people who can see this, NewPay is very valuable, and it can become the infrastructure of the Internet in the future.

I am not surprised that it will become the Americ Ken Bank of the Internet in the future. It has this potential, but there are many competitors who also see the potential in the field of electronic payments.

The only payment channel for online sales on the windows operating system, which should make NewPay attractive to Ameriken Bank in the field of electronic payments? ”

Ameriliken Bank is Americacan's largest personal bank.

Zhou Xin asked rhetorically: "Since you realize that it is so important to me, and you also know the potential of electronic payment, why doesn't Microsoft make electronic payment?" ”

Microsoft never set foot in the field of electronic payments during Bill Gates' tenure, until 2016, after Bill Gates' retirement, Microsoft launched Microsoft Wallet.

Microsoft Wallet is somewhat similar to Apple Pay and Googlepay.

Microsoft Wallet allows users to store information such as credit, debit, and loyalty cards in a single app and complete payments through NFC technology.

Bill Gates said, "Because it's not interesting.

The electronic payment thing seems to me to be really boring.

I want to do something more creative and imaginative. Electronic payment is nothing more than the implementation of the credit card system through a computer.

I'm not saying it doesn't make sense, it makes a lot of sense, NewPay I'm also using it, it's convenient, at some point more convenient than a credit card.

But let me make a product like this, I feel bored, I just have to think about what are the ways of traditional payment that can be implemented with a computer. ”

Bill Gates spread his hands with a helpless expression.

After a pause, Bill Gates continued: "I often go to China, and I know many rich people in China.

Wealthy people in China like to buy water, electricity, and natural gas companies when they have money, and they like to buy real estate.

Their investment strategy is very conservative and they want to ensure that their assets grow through these areas.

In my opinion, electronic payment is actually a bit similar to these companies, and its role and value are also similar. ”

Today's first chapter

(End of chapter)