EFB Chapter 464 King of Glory
Chapter 464 King of Glory
Lu Ran was having lunch in her office when she saw the message from Chen Mo.
The boxed lunch was bought from the convenience store downstairs; it was braised beef rice, and I microwaved it for two minutes.
He sat at his desk, chopsticks in one hand and scrolling through his phone with the other. He saw a long message from Chen Mo, ending with the sentence: "Wang Huabing talked to me for an hour today. I think we should meet."
Lu Ran stared at the name "Wang Huabing" for two seconds, his chopsticks hovering above the lunchbox without moving.
Of course he knew who Wang Huabing was.
The head of Weibo's Shanghai branch was the one who spearheaded the controversy surrounding the stolen farm idea.
Later, as TUTU grew, friction arose between the two sides at the channel and user levels. Although most of the fighting was between the teams below, everyone knew who was directing those actions.
Lu Ran and Wang Huabing had never met before.
He used to think it was unnecessary.
A competitor is a competitor. If you make a good product and retain your users, the competitor will naturally be eliminated.
No additional contact or communication is needed; the outcome depends solely on the product.
But the text message Chen Mo sent him today made him slightly more skeptical of this person.
Chen Mo didn't say anything good about Wang Huabing; he simply recounted the main points of their conversation that day.
Wang Huabing talked to him about his ten years of work experience at Weibo, his views on TUTU's current product matrix, and what he planned to do if he came over.
He noticed that Chen Mo added a comment at the end, which read: "This person is direct and doesn't beat around the bush. He admitted to having a past conflict with TUTU, but didn't make excuses; he simply said that he had to do it that way because he was in that position. I think this attitude is more reliable than someone who makes a bunch of reasons. As for his abilities, although what he did on Weibo didn't yield great results, the key is that he clearly understands where he went wrong, which is a rare quality."
Lu Ran read the message twice, picked up a piece of beef, chewed it, swallowed it, and then replied to Chen Mo: "Have him send over a resume, an electronic version is fine. It doesn't need to be too formal, just clearly state what you've done and what you can do."
He added, "By the way, when you were talking to him just now, where did you think this person would be best placed?"
Chen Mo replied quickly: "The Vice President in charge of market expansion oversees new market development for the Shanghai and Guangzhou branches. His strength lies in channel management; his work over the years has focused on external coordination and resource integration. It's more suitable for him to build the channel system than to handle daily operations."
Lu Ran looked at the message and thought about it for a while.
He was just missing someone who could coordinate the two new markets.
The branch office has been opened and people have been recruited, but an experienced and capable leader has not yet been appointed.
Zhou Mingzhe was in charge of R&D and internal operations, while Chen Mo was in charge of national channels and overall marketing. Neither of them had the extra energy to keep track of business progress in any particular region.
If Wang Huabing is indeed given this position, he will be responsible for market expansion and channel development for the Shanghai and Guangzhou branches.
These two cities are two core strongholds in the south and north of China, and also the areas where TUTU will focus its efforts in the country next.
Establishing a foothold in these two areas is crucial for the company's next strategic move.
He replied to Chen Mo again: "Alright, tell him to come tomorrow afternoon. I want to talk to him in person."
At 3 p.m. the next day, Wang Huabing appeared on time at the front desk of the TUTU Technology office building.
He was wearing a dark blue casual suit jacket today, with a light gray shirt underneath, and no tie.
Her hair was more neatly styled than when we met the day before, and she looked much more energetic.
He didn't bring a briefcase, only a dark brown kraft paper envelope, presumably containing a resume or something similar.
The receptionist called to inform him, then led him through the corridor toward Lu Ran's office.
Along the way, he noticed that the office area was full of workstations, but the atmosphere between people was completely different from that on Weibo. Some people were talking loudly when discussing issues, some people were laughing loudly at their monitors, and some people carrying coffee bumped into each other in the corridor without apologizing. Instead, they stopped and chatted with the other person for a bit before continuing on their way.
Several game promotional posters were pasted on the wall, with the one for the European version of League of Legends being the most prominent.
When he entered Lu Ran's office, Lu Ran was standing by the window making a phone call.
Seeing Chen Mo bring his people in, he said into the phone, "Let's talk later," hung up, turned around, and extended his hand to Wang Huabing.
"Mr. Wang, I've heard so much about you."
Wang Huabing shook his hand; his palm was dry and warm. "Mr. Lu, you're too kind."
The two sat down in the office's reception area.
Lu Ran's office was much simpler than he had imagined. There was no elaborate furnishing; just a desk, a row of filing cabinets, a sofa and coffee table for receiving guests, and a map of Shanghai hanging on the wall.
Lu Ran didn't exchange many pleasantries. After sitting down, he went straight to the point and asked, "Chen Mo told me about your situation last night. I just asked directly—if you were in charge of market development for the Shanghai and Guangzhou branches, how would you approach it?"
Wang Huabing placed the kraft paper envelope he had brought on the side of the coffee table without opening it.
He sat firmly, answering at a measured pace: "Let's start with Shanghai. The gaming market here is characterized by high user density and strong spending power, but the distribution channels are already very mature. Offline internet cafes, online live streaming platforms, and various niche communities all have their leading players occupying the majority of the market share. Trying to build a strong presence from scratch would be very inefficient."
"My idea is to first negotiate joint operations with existing leading channels—not the exclusive kind of cooperation, but rather to connect their users with our product, such as organizing themed events on live streaming platforms or partnering with offline internet cafes to host small-scale competitions. This is much faster than setting up a completely new distribution channel."
"The situation is different in Guangzhou. Guangzhou has a larger user base for games than Shanghai, but the paying user rate is lower, and players have more diverse tastes. I'm inclined to focus on thoroughly developing 'League of Legends' and 'CrossFire' first, retaining our core users, and then launching other products once the reputation is stable. Taking too big a step might be overwhelming."
After hearing this, Lu Ran leaned back.
Instead of pressing for details, he changed the subject: "When do you plan to show people the results?"
"Give me six months. Within six months, the user growth data for both branch offices should show a significant increase. I can't give you specific figures now; I need to see the actual operational data to confirm."
He thought for a moment and added, "Six months is a more prudent timeframe. If things go smoothly, it might even be faster."
Lu Ran nodded, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
He stood up, walked back to his desk, turned on his computer, typed a few words, and then turned the screen towards Wang Huabing: "Take a look at this. This is our current market penetration data in Shanghai and Guangzhou."
Wang Huabing stood up, walked to his desk, and leaned over to look at the data on the screen for a while.
The curves and percentages flashed through his mind, and he looked up, saying, "This data is even better than I expected. The foundation is solid; the rest is about building the specific operational framework on that foundation."
Lu Ran turned the screen back and leaned back in his chair: "Then go back and prepare. You'll officially start work next Monday. The HR department will discuss your specific job responsibilities and salary with you."
Wang Huabing stood still for two or three seconds, then said "Okay".
He bent down to pick up the brown paper envelope on the coffee table, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "Do you still need to look at this resume?"
Lu Ran glanced at the envelope and said, "Keep it. Next time, I'll have Chen Mo send me the electronic version directly."
Wang Huabing put the envelope back down and didn't take it with him.
As he walked out of Lu Ran's office, someone was pushing a cart of packages through the corridor. The person saw him and called out, "Excuse me, excuse me." He stood to the side against the wall and waited for the delivery cart to pass before continuing on his way.
When he reached the front desk, he glanced back at the closed door at the end of the corridor before pushing it open and leaving TUTU Technology's office building.
After Wang Huabing was hired, the branch structure of TUTU Technology was quickly finalized.
Chen Mo was in charge of the overall management of the Shanghai branch, while Wang Huabing was in charge of market development for the Yaodu branch.
One team in the south and one in the north operated in parallel, with Zhou Mingzhe in between to coordinate resource allocation and control progress.
Chen Mo took two men with him.
One is Xu Lei, who previously came from Tencent, and the other is an operations manager he recently recruited in Shanghai, who previously worked at Perfect World for three years.
Wang Huabing's team was a bit smaller, but on his third day on the job, he brought over several of his old subordinates from Weibo, some of whom were full-time employees and some who came temporarily to help.
At the weekly meeting the following week, Lu Ran sat at his desk and listened to Zhou Mingzhe report on the construction progress of the two branch companies.
The report contained only standard, unremarkable data, but what he was thinking about wasn't those numbers; it was something else entirely.
The company now has about 500 people, ranking among the top ten, or even the top five, in the domestic game industry, depending on who we compare it to.
If we also consider its overseas business and its already established product portfolio, TUTU Technology can already be considered a large gaming company in terms of size and influence.
He stared at the organizational chart spread out on the table for a while, and suddenly realized something.
The company is currently operating independently, has not been tied to any external capital, and no official institution holds shares in it.
This is a good thing in the early stages of starting a business, as it makes it less likely for others to interfere with the direction.
But at its current size, it would be troublesome if it didn't have any partners.
Game companies inevitably have to deal with departments such as publishing, culture, publicity, and internet information.
Game license approval, content review, external publicity guidelines, and public opinion management—each of these involves communication with official agencies.
If a company has no channels and has to handle all the processes on its own, the efficiency will be much lower.
He had met with Wang Jianguo once before, when it was about the script for "Raging Storm".
Wang Jianguo works for the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, but he has extensive connections and knows people at all levels.
If we can get some official connections through him, things will go much more smoothly later on.
He spent the whole night thinking about whether or not to contact Wang Jianguo.
The next morning, he sent Wang Jianguo a message on WeChat, saying that he had been considering some long-term plans for the company and would like to ask for his opinion.
If the government is willing to participate in some form, such as holding symbolic shares but not interfering in operations, it would be a great supplement to TUTU Technology's future development.
Wang Jianguo replied quickly, saying that they could find a time to talk in person, but he was currently on a business trip in Shanghai and his schedule was quite full, so the earliest he could free up time was next week.
Lu Ran said no problem, next week it is.
He put down his phone and stood by the office window, watching the traffic flowing down the street below.
The weather in Shanghai began to cool down in October. The edges of the plane tree leaves turned slightly yellow, and a few leaves would twirl and fall when the wind blew.
He recalled that when he first came into this world, he didn't even have a decent office, and his first job was obtained through his father-in-law's connections.
Now there are three branch offices, more than 500 employees, and several games are operating simultaneously in several major domestic and international markets.
If official connections can be successfully established, then this gaming empire will truly be taking shape.
He stood by the window for a while, then there was a knock on the office door.
"Enter."
The door opened, and Zhao Yiming poked his head in, holding a steaming cup of coffee. "President Lu," he said, "the EU server broke a data record tonight. Brother Zhou asked me to let you know. The concurrent online users have reached 1.5 million."
Lu Ran turned around, a slight smile playing on her lips: "Have the operations department prepare some celebratory posters; we'll distribute them tonight."
Zhao Yiming said "Okay," and stopped before closing the door and leaving, adding, "President Lu, someone's organizing a King of Glory internal battle this weekend. Are you going to participate?"
Lu Ran was taken aback: "What, Honor of Kings?"
"It's just an internal company tournament, a 5v5 League of Legends match, everyone's playing it. Chen Mo said he'll be there too, do you want to try it?"
Lu Ran thought for a moment and asked, "How's Chen Mo doing with this?"
"He plays the jungle role, saying he used to be dragged into it by his colleagues every day at Tencent, and that's how he got the skill. But as far as I know, his skill level is only Platinum."
Lu Ran chuckled: "Alright, sign up for me. I'll play mid lane."
Zhao Yiming gave an "OK" sign and closed the door.
Lu Ran smiled; Zhao Yiming's mention of Honor of Kings had reminded him of something.
After the PC game market stabilizes, we will focus on developing mobile games.
If you want to go global, Honor of Kings is a pretty good option.
The images above feature historical figures, serving both as a promotion for the game and a way to promote traditional Chinese culture, including that of historical figures.
As for foreign celebrities? They can come in, but they have to pay.
Lu Ran seemed to have come up with a good way to harvest overseas markets.
The office fell silent, and the data curve on the computer screen continued to rise steadily.
Sunlight streamed in through the gaps in the blinds, casting long, thin strips of light across the desk.
Lu Ran walked back to his desk and sat down. He casually opened the data backend of the European server and took a look. The curve was still climbing up step by step.
The data is very positive.
I'm turning off my phone and going home to kiss my wife.
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