Chapter 131 130. Golden Idea
Hearing Mr. Ma's answer, Nie Wei's face remained calm, because everything was within his expectations.
Although iFlytek is currently the largest communication software company in China, the company's current ability to attract money is not strong, and its main income is concentrated on the communication software CQ.
You should know that CQ in this era does not have so many paid items. The only profit point is QQ membership. Although it has a large user base, to be honest, the company's working capital is not abundant just relying on the monthly membership fees of QQ members.
In a word, the biggest weakness of iFlytek in this era is the lack of more channels to attract money.
But this is exactly what Nie Wei is best at.
If a company's senior talents are divided into operational and creative types, then Mr. Ma is undoubtedly the top talent in the operational type. In comparison, Nie Wei, who has the advantage of being a reborn, is the strongest creative talent in this era.
Nie Wei has a clear idea of the charging points in the online market in the next fifteen years. Take the popular "Legend" as an example. At present, most people in the online game market are still obsessed with the point card charging of "Legend", but Nie Wei, who has the memory of the future, knows very well that the online game trend in the future will not attract the most money with the point card model, but the zero-threshold "free online game" that no one can think of now.
Prop mall, membership level system, various gift packages, etc., these so-called free online games with built-in charging items will squeeze the point card charging games to the point where there is no survival market. If it weren't for the sudden rise of World of Warcraft in the future, it would be difficult to see point cards in the domestic market.
Of course, although Nie Wei knows a lot, he also keeps his eyes open and only takes out some forward-looking things at one time. It's not to guard against Mr. Ma, but to guard against other opponents. After all, Chinese companies are not good at other things, but they are the strongest in copying other people's models. This can be seen from the variety shows ten years later.
Facing Mr. Ma, a big boss in the IT industry, Nie Wei spoke eloquently and without servility, analyzing his views on the future development of online games and the pros and cons of the charging model bit by bit. Mr. Ma also went from initially not taking it seriously to nodding his head repeatedly after listening to him.
"According to you, free online games with zero threshold will be the trend in the future?"
"That's right. Removing the card fee does not mean less income. Just like iFlytek's CQ membership, CQ registration is free and use is free, but if you want more functions, you have to open a membership. We actually just changed the card fee from mandatory to optional."
"But what if the players don't buy it?"
"Why not buy it?" Hearing this, Nie Wei couldn't help but smile: "When you and others play the same game, the other party can be a level higher than you by spending a few dozen yuan more every month. Watching others wear new weapons and equipment one step ahead, while you can only work hard to catch up, then the inequality caused by membership will naturally promote players to spend desperately."
What Nie Wei said is to use the players' comparison psychology to promote consumption, which is also the most common means in later generations. Aren't those light effect costumes, out-of-print titles, etc. all derived from this?
"In addition, we can also give paying players some benefits without spending money, such as the color of the member player's name in the game is different from that of ordinary players, or we will give him a gift or title that does not affect the balance of the game but represents his unique identity, etc., as long as there is a user base and a game atmosphere, there will be many ways to promote player consumption."
"But as you said, if members level up faster than ordinary users, the gap between the two will become larger and larger, and ordinary users will run away when they see that they can't catch up." After listening to Nie Wei's explanation, Mr. Ma immediately grasped the key point and raised a question.
Hearing this, Nie Wei couldn't help but praise this big man in his heart. Sure enough, he saw the key point at once, but this problem was not a problem at all in Nie Wei's view, because in the future, there will be smart industry players who will solve this problem.
"Level lock? Staged level opening?" Hearing the answer given by Nie Wei, President Ma quickly fell into deep thought. After a while, his eyes suddenly lit up, and then he slapped his thigh hard and shouted, "Good!"
This applause came completely from President Ma's heart. He never thought that the problem he raised would be solved by Nie Wei in such a unique way. He is really a young man who should not be underestimated.
When he said this, President Ma was completely convinced by Nie Wei's creativity. In his eyes, Nie Wei has become a rare talent. Although Nie Wei has not yet talked about what game to make, President Ma believes that as long as Nie Wei implants his ideas into an online game, as long as this online game is not ridiculously bad, it can bring huge benefits to the company.
But then again, the biggest problem of iFlytek now is that it has no money. Thinking of this, President Ma frowned again. He was really unsure about the money required to set up a new department.
Looking at the frowning President Ma, Nie Wei smiled and took out a CQ development plan that he had prepared long ago.
"QQ Show?" After taking Nie Wei's proposal, Mr. Ma read it carefully. The proposal was not long, only about a thousand words, but the content made his heart beat faster. If half of the expected income in the plan could be achieved, it would greatly alleviate the current financial difficulties of QQ.
"Food, clothing, housing and transportation. Clothing can be ranked before food, which shows the Chinese people's requirements for clothing. QQ Show is the inspiration I got from this point..." Nie Wei analyzed the money-making of QQ Show to Mr. Ma one by one. The viewpoints that have been tested by the market in the future are very convincing. At least after Nie Wei finished speaking, Mr. Ma's eyes were full of excitement.
"In fact, QQ Show is also a test of the built-in mall of free online games that I mentioned. If QQ Show can succeed, then the fashion in our free online games will not lack a market. Mr. Ma, don't you think so?" Nie Wei finally asked with a smile.
"Hahaha, that's right." Hearing this, Mr. Ma also laughed.
A meal took two hours, but it made Mr. Ma, who had been reluctant to step into the online game market, firm his belief. This time, iFlytek finally wanted to test the waters of this market full of gold.
When they parted, Mr. Ma looked at Nie Wei with admiration.
He really admired the brain of this new partner. It seemed that every sentence could bring out a "golden idea". Before the meal, Mr. Ma was still a person who was full of confusion and couldn't find a way out in the unfamiliar market of online games, but after a meal, he had a clear direction in his mind.
As expected, Nie Wei got the position of product creative director. Nie Wei was very satisfied with this position, and Mr. Ma was also very satisfied.
Creative directors rarely involve the operation of the company, which means that Nie Wei has no intention of intervening in the operation of the company, and Nie Wei's sensitivity to money-making in online games also makes Mr. Ma very optimistic. The position of creative director is almost like it was set up specifically for him.
That night, Mr. Ma took a plane back to the company headquarters. The next day, the game department of iFlytek was announced, which caused quite a stir in this circle.
Regarding Mr. Ma's iFlytek Group entering the online game industry, some people welcomed it, some were wary, and some were disdainful, but no matter what, this company finally changed history. Under the instigation of Nie Wei, it took this step in advance. Let's wait and see what the future holds.
Thanks to my fellow book friends I Want to See Your Sister, Huang Yuchen, The Sound of Falling Leaves, Is the Movie Length Enough, Eyes Read and Mind Clear, My Fair Lady, and Domesticated Crab for their rewards.