Chapter 436 - 271: The Greatest Game of the Century! (Part 2)

Is it that high?

Chen Ba was a bit skeptical about this statement, after all, with a matchmaking success rate close to half, the data just didn’t sound reliable.

If the success rate in reality were that high, it wouldn’t just be called matchmaking; it would be directly honored as "Matchmaker."

But Dong’s reasoning was not without merit!

With upgraded real-name data, the trial-and-error costs for players have reduced, indirectly increasing the matchmaking success rate.

After all, in the game, dating always eventually leads to the real world, where you need to know about each other’s real-life situation...

Most unsuccessful cases typically fail at this step.

Because the online world is virtual, no matter how compatible you are, you’ll still face a series of material challenges in reality.

Now it saves a lot of energy!

Get along well, after getting mutual consent, you check each other’s verified information, and after having a basic understanding of each other’s material foundation, you can decide whether to move forward.

"Speaking of which..."

Chen Ba seemed to have thought of something and mused, "Since ’Love Advisor Department’ so far, have there been ten thousand players who met and fell in love through the game and eventually walked into the institution of marriage?"

"Yes!"

Yang Dong affirmed, "Not just ten thousand, accurately speaking, there are ten thousand couples!"

"Then... are there any divorces?"

Chen Ba hesitated, "Among these ten thousand couples who met and fell in love through ’Love Advisor Department’, surely not each family is harmonious, right?"

"There are..."

Although Yang Dong hoped there weren’t any, that’s impossible; no matter what, some people will divorce, after all, every family has its own difficulties.

But on the other hand.

Compared to the currently high divorce rate through ’Love Advisor Department’, these couples have very few divorces; so far, only seven couples have divorced.

"That’s decent!"

Chen Ba nodded.

Seven divorces out of over ten thousand couples is a very low ratio, even surprisingly low.

However, he also understood that because ’Love Advisor Department’ has only been out for a few years, these young couples haven’t been married for long, so the data surely looks good.

In a few years, it may not be the same!

Take, for example, the "seven-year itch," Chen Ba believes that in five or six years, this rate might rise to over 20%.

"It’s still impressive!"

Yang Dong was indifferent, "The current divorce rate exceeds 60%, if we can manage below 20%, I’ll directly announce ’Love Advisor Department’ as the greatest game of the century!"

"I announce your announcement valid!"

Chen Ba suppressed a laugh and said, "The greatest game of the century is a bit exaggerated; the 21st century hasn’t even passed halfway, who knows what games might appear later?"

However, if ’Love Advisor Department’ really achieved this, then it would certainly deserve the title of the "greatest game in the past 20 years."

After all, single-handedly changing young people’s views on marriage and relationships, increasing marriage and birth rates while significantly lowering the divorce rate, if such a game isn’t considered great, then what is a great game supposed to be?

You wouldn’t want to say ’Star Emperor 2,’ right?

Give me a break!

As the lead producer of this game, Chen Ba is more aware than anyone, ’Star Emperor 2’ is destined to be merely an "entertainment" game, unlikely to be as great as ’Love Advisor Department.’

"Great or not, I’m not sure..."

"But I know that ’Star Emperor 2’ is definitely our studio’s most profitable game this year, without exception!"

Yang Dong said with a mysterious tone, "We greedily accumulated several hundred million US dollars at once, typical of making money in one shot to last for three years."

Just thinking about it, he admired Ba!

How did he coax those GAL League teams into investing in him, tacitly allowing his embezzlement of production funds, with each investment being hundreds of millions of US dollars?

Could it be that these companies have secrets held by Ba, forcing them to provide offerings to him?

"Well, they’re the ones volunteering to send me money to embezzle; I didn’t force them."

Chen Ba couldn’t hide his smile as he said, "If you really want to be particular about it, I’m the one who was forced! If they hadn’t pushed me to make ’Star Emperor 2’, do you think I wanted to embezzle this money?"

Yang Dong: "..."

Do you not feel guilty saying that?

What do you mean you were forced to embezzle hundreds of millions? Your mouth grinning from ear to ear is revealing the truth; clearly, you’re delighted but still pretending to act like "I don’t love money" and "go away, you damned bills."

Hypocritical, truly hypocritical!

That’s several hundred million US dollars; Tianba Studio has never been in such a wealthy battle, which also leads to money just sitting in the account, and neither Chen Ba nor Yang Dong knows how to spend it.

"Let’s run more advertisements!"

Yang Dong suggested, "With ’Star Emperor 2’ about to launch, we can pre-advertise and build a bit of excitement, make it all grandiose."

"That won’t spend much..."

Chen Ba agreed to advertise, but he also noted that several hundred million US dollars wouldn’t be entirely spent just on advertising; some other solutions must be found.

Why spend it all?

Because this is a "dedicated" account, under normal circumstances, Chen Ba can’t transfer the money in this account to his personal bank card, as that would be illegal.

However, while the money in this account can’t be transferred away, it can be spent at will!

Ultimately, there can’t be leftover funds!

If the project ends and the money hasn’t been fully spent, regretfully, the remaining funds need to be given back to investors.

This is like many scientific research projects, during the last phase, you have to figure out ways to "spend the money quickly" to ensure there aren’t too many leftover funds.

Too many leftover funds would make not only oneself embarrassed but the higher-ups as well. After all, the money is allocated for you to spend; if you can’t spend it all and there’s still a big chunk left, then why did you apply for so much funding initially?

’Star Emperor 2’s several hundred million dollars of funding is the same.

Spend it, and in the end, no one will say anything; even those companies contributing the money won’t feel there’s an issue—after all, this money was meant for Ba to spend.

But if there’s still a big amount left unspent, that’s a problem!

Returning it is impossible; having this fat meat already in Chen Ba’s mouth, why would he spit it out? Moreover, even if the money is returned, it’s uncertain whether they’d want to take it back!

Developing the game, acquiring Mirage Electronics, early-stage promotion and advertisement...

The whole operation spent less than $50 million, leaving plenty of funds—Chen Ba has to figure out how to spend it quickly.

"How about this!"

Yang Dong came up with a good plan to maximize spending the funds, gaining the most profit for Tianba Studio while avoiding criticism.

Hardware subsidy!

Released with ’Star Emperor 2’ is a set of special motion-sensing gaming equipment, which is also the peripherals developed by Mirage Electronics.

The cost of this set of peripherals is relatively high, estimating the release time, probably few would be willing to try this experience, posing a significant challenge for both ’Star Emperor 2’ and Mirage Electronics.

Given the situation.

Why not use this money to subsidize the hardware cost, selling the equipment below cost price, to attract as many players as possible and seize the market quickly?

This is like the "XX" ride-sharing apps going rampant years ago, initiating cash-burning subsidy wars, all to capture the market and solidify user foundations.

Mirage Electronics’ ’Star Emperor 2’ specialized peripherals can also be sold at low subsidized prices, first spreading out, allowing more players to use the equipment.

What’s the point of doing this?

Well, there’s certainly a point!

Once many players experience the exceptional gaming of ’Star Emperor 2,’ they’re naturally inclined to recommend it to others.

Further, these devices aren’t unbreakable; once they break, spare parts and repairs, including other software services, are ways to recoup costs.

If you want this equipment to capture the market quickly and draw players’ attention for purchases, early subsidies and promotions are an efficient method.