Three more months!
No, ten months!
The future belongs to mobile.
Candy Crush only launched its mobile version in November in its previous life, while Kaixin Xiaoxiaole has already launched, giving it a ten-month lead and a significant advantage.
With a more perfect product and terrifying level updates guaranteed, defeating Candy Crush will be no problem.
"Ten billion in annual revenue, it's mine!"
A small game, yet with ten billion in annual revenue!
Wang Yi would never let go of this massive piece of cake.
What he needed to do first was to defeat Candy Crush, and at the same time, eliminate all potential competitors.
Developing this kind of game can be very easy, or very difficult.
Easy, naturally, because the game design is simple, the barrier to entry is low, and it's easy to copy.
Difficult, because such games need to update a large number of new levels every week, and the difficulty, balance, monetization, etc., of the updated levels all need to be well-controlled!
This is a technical skill; one mistake could ruin its future.
This requires a stable development team and persistent innovation capabilities.
As for copying? It's not even easy to copy!
After all, copying the beginning is easy, and copying a hundred levels is also easy, but what about five hundred, a thousand, five thousand, ten thousand levels?
It would be impossible to keep copying!
In its previous life, Candy Crush, was updated to over fifteen thousand levels...
Precisely because of this, there were many match-3 games in its previous life, but only Candy Crush and Kaixin Xiaoxiaole did well and continued to profit for over a decade!
Other products like Bingguo Xiaoxiaole and Haibin Xiaoxiaole were all fleeting successes, dying out quickly.
Wang Yi had a plan.
As long as he defeated Candy Crush, Kaixin Xiaoxiaole would have few competitors left.
Wang Yi compiled these ideas into an email and sent it to Fang Zhiyuan, the project leader of Kaixin Xiaoxiaole, asking him to make a detailed plan.
He then checked the revenue of Baowei Youzi, which had a global monthly revenue of only around three hundred million.
Compared to Kaixin Xiaoxiaole's monthly revenue of over a billion, it was quite a bit less, but still very outstanding.
For such a small game, annual revenue of two to three billion could be considered very successful, especially since the development cost was extremely low.
Of course, in the later stage, as the number of Changliao users explodes, reaching hundreds of millions, Baowei Youzi's users and revenue would also see a surge.
Changliao + casual games would also be new cash cows!
The next day, New Year's Day, Wang Yi and his parents returned to their hometown to pay New Year's visits.
The countryside had no central heating, and the three elders had originally agreed to be picked up to live in the county town.
But unfortunately, the elders were used to the freedom of the village, where they would meet acquaintances as soon as they stepped out, chatting, strolling, and playing chess, truly enjoying themselves.
Coming to the county town, living in an apartment building, with few people they knew, they felt constrained instead.
As a result, after only half a month, they wanted to return to the village.
Wang Qingzhi and his wife tried their best to persuade them to stay, and with much effort, they stayed for another half month, but then refused to stay any longer.
Wang Qingzhi and his wife were helpless about this; they couldn't stop them.
They could only send the elders back to the village and install air conditioners, so they wouldn't freeze.
Wang Yi couldn't say anything about this either.
Not everyone likes the tall buildings in the city.
On the contrary, in the village, opening the window to see the mountains and stepping out into a courtyard made life more comfortable and the air fresher.
Listening to his parents' words, Wang Yi smiled:
"I'm just afraid that even if you install air conditioners, the elders will be reluctant to pay the electricity bill and won't turn them on if they can help it!"
"Yes, that's a problem, they're used to being thrifty," Wang Qingzhi nodded. "I bought two tons of charcoal for your grandparents and your maternal grandmother's family. If they're reluctant to turn on the air conditioner, they can burn charcoal."
"What if they're even reluctant to burn charcoal?"
Wang Yi said with a smile.
Wang Qingzhi fell silent: "..."
Wang Shulin also sighed repeatedly: "..."
Now the family wasn't short on money, but the elders were used to being thrifty.
People who lived through that era, having experienced hunger and extreme poverty, would mostly be very frugal.
"So what should we do?"
Wang Qingzhi felt a headache coming on.
Wang Yi thought for a moment:
"Easy, I'll have someone install solar power generation, using solar energy, so they won't have to pay electricity bills anymore, and that will solve it."
"That's a good idea, but that stuff isn't cheap, is it? How long will it take to break even?" Wang Qingzhi couldn't help but say, "It probably costs more than paying for electricity."
In 2012, solar panel prices were still very expensive.
But some things couldn't be helped; the elders were reluctant to use electricity.
Only with free solar power, without paying for electricity, would they be willing to use the air conditioner every day.
Moreover, this small amount for equipment was not a problem for Wang Yi at all.
He simply said:
"It's fine, the elders have few appliances and use little electricity, so not many solar panels will be needed."
An average family of three uses about 2000-3000 kWh of electricity per year.
Elders in the village have few appliances and use less than 50 kWh per month.
They would use more when running air conditioners in winter and summer, about 200 kWh per month.
To be safe, let's calculate based on 300 kWh.
An average of 10 kWh per day, assuming Jizhou gets 6 hours of average sunshine, generating 2 kWh per hour would be enough.
Therefore, only 2KW of solar power would be needed, which could generate an average of 12 kWh per day, over 4000 kWh per year, far more than the two elders could possibly use!
As for cost, off-grid systems require purchasing storage batteries, which need to be replaced every few years, a hassle and expensive, so it's better to choose grid-connected directly.
Once connected to the grid, any unused electricity can be directly purchased by the power grid.
More than ten years later, solar power generation would be saturated, and the grid's purchase price would become very bleak, possibly dropping to 0.4 yuan, or even 0.3 yuan.
Calculated at 0.4 yuan per kWh, the payback period would be relatively long, about ten years.
However, Wang Yi remembered that in these years, the country strongly supported the solar industry with subsidies, offering high prices, making the payback period shorter, around seven or eight years.
An investment of tens of thousands, with a payback period of ten years or eight years, didn't matter.
The main thing was that it would make the elders willing to use electricity!
After arriving at his grandparents' house, Wang Yi paid his New Year's respects to the elders and presented two big red envelopes:
"Grandpa, Grandma, Happy New Year!"
The two elders smiled broadly:
"Xiaoyi, it's good enough that you came to pay your New Year's visit, why bother with red envelopes!"
"Just a small token of my regard,"
Wang Yi said with a smile.
After talking with the two elders for a while, Wang Yi walked to the offering table in the inner room and lit an incense stick.
In his hometown, it was customary to invite ancestors' tablets for New Year's.
Just then, a figure carrying gift boxes walked in; it was Zhao Huan, the manager of Pudong Development Bank!
"Grandpa, Grandma, Happy New Year!"
Zhao Huan walked in, carrying many bags and packages.
"Happy New Year, Manager Zhao. You brought so many things again, really,"
the old man said with a smile.
Zhao Huan chuckled:
"These are all bank gifts for our major clients. Chairman Wang is our major client, but he doesn't need them, so they're perfect for you. And the experience vouchers we sent, we'll arrange for you to use them after the New Year, can't let them go to waste."
"Good, good, we'll listen to you,"
the two elders said with a smile.
Some of these gifts were from the bank.
Some were bought by Zhao Huan with money given by Wang Yi.
The twice-yearly comprehensive physical exams were also paid for by Wang Yi.
Only through such indirect methods would the elders, who were reluctant to spend money, not refuse.
Seeing Wang Yi walk out of the inner room, Zhao Huan's eyes lit up:
"Chairman Wang, you're here too, Happy New Year!"
Wang Yi nodded with a smile:
"Happy New Year, Manager Zhao, no, President Zhao!"
"Thanks to Chairman Wang, I was promoted to Vice President before the New Year, all thanks to Chairman Wang's strong support!"
Zhao Huan quickly stepped forward and shook Wang Yi's hand:
"Chairman Wang, without your support, at my age, I wouldn't be able to be a branch vice president."
Wang Yi smiled faintly:
"It's a small matter, keep working hard, and you might even become a branch president! Perhaps even a regional vice president!"
"I'll take that blessing!"
Zhao Huan was in a great mood.
With Chairman Wang's words, a regional vice president might be a stretch, but branch president was surely secure!
At the bank, every president and vice president had targets, and had to shoulder very high deposit quotas.
Without Wang Yi, Zhao Huan would have to run around frantically and might not even gather enough, and might even have to pay to meet the deposit quota.
But with Wang Yi, let alone the quota for a branch vice president, the entire branch's total quota was just a matter of Wang Yi's word.
Just a fraction of Meiyou's monthly revenue would be more than enough for him.
In this situation, it would be difficult for Zhao Huan not to get promoted.
If the branch president had excellent business capabilities, strong connections, and could complete tasks, it would be fine, and he could hold his position as the top person.
However, if the president failed to complete tasks, and Zhao Huan, as vice president, could take over, then a shift in leadership would be a natural course of events.
This kind of private bank was very simple: everything revolved around resources and performance.
"By the way, President Zhao, do you know anyone who installs solar panels?"
Wang Yi remembered this.
Although BYD also had solar power business, for such a small matter of tens of thousands of yuan, there was no need to involve Wang Zhanggui at all.
Zhao Huan, as the branch vice president, was sufficient.
"Yes, of course,"
Zhao Huan glanced at the old man's house, and instantly understood Wang Yi's intention:
"Chairman Wang, the old man's house is most suitable for installing solar panels. Once installed, not only will electricity be free, but it will also be warm in winter and cool in summer, very fitting!"
"Coincidentally, we have a client at our bank who makes solar panels. I approved his loans, so I'll call and ask right away. Chairman Wang, please wait a moment."
"Okay,"
Wang Yi nodded.
Zhao Huan stepped out of the room and dialed a number:
"Factory Director Zhang, Happy New Year."
"President Zhao, Happy New Year! Are you at home? I was just about to go pay you a New Year's visit!"
"Haha, no need for such trouble, what are friends for?"
Zhao Huan said with a smile.
"No, that won't do. Our relationship is good, so I should definitely pay my respects. I'll head over now,"
Factory Director Zhang said.
Zhao Huan had the final say on their factory's loans, so naturally, he had to show his appreciation.
"No, really, no need. To be honest, I'm also here paying a New Year's visit, to a major client."
'A major client, could it be Chairman Wang, the chairman of Meiyou?'
Factory Director Zhang's eyes lit up, grasping the key point.
Everyone in the industry knew about Zhao Huan's situation: getting promoted to vice president at such a young age was pure luck, encountering Chairman Wang.
And he met Chairman Wang just as he was starting out, which allowed him to rise rapidly and soar to success!
One could only say his luck was too good, making people envious, jealous, and resentful!
Zhao Huan changed the subject:
"It's like this, the client's grandfather's house is an old village dwelling, suitable for solar panel installation, what do you think..."
"Coincidentally, I'm good at this. Give me the address, and I'll personally go..."
Factory Director Zhang had intended to say he would go himself, but fearing that being too familiar might annoy Wang Yi, he simply said:
"I'll arrange for someone to visit for measurements and follow the procedures right away."
Zhao Huan was a bit surprised:
"You don't take holidays during the New Year?"
"Oh, there are no holidays for Manager Zhao's matters. The factory staff on duty are idle anyway, so a trip would be perfect!"
"Alright, let's agree beforehand, whatever the cost is, that's what it will be, our bank will pay for it!"
For super major clients, vice presidents had special funds at their disposal.
After all, if deposits weren't enough, he would spend even more money buying deposits!
"What money? It's cheap stuff."
"No, a deal's a deal."
"Alright then, I'll just charge you the ex-factory cost price."
"Good, thank you."
Zhao Huan returned to the room:
"Chairman Wang, it's settled. Ruichi Solar, a solar company in our Qingyun County, its performance isn't great, but its products are good. Someone will be here shortly."
"Okay, thank you for your trouble. Also, my maternal grandmother's side, install it there too. Just handle the funds through the accounts."
Since Wang Yi wasn't around, he gave Zhao Huan a sum of money and entrusted Zhao Huan to purchase daily necessities and nutritional supplements for his parents and the three elders every month.
"No need, really no need, it's just tens of thousands of yuan,"
Zhao Huan quickly waved his hand:
"Chairman Wang, the money you saved me from buying deposits is countless!"
As for being promoted to vice president, that favor was immeasurable!
Wang Yi smiled and said no more.
Zhao Huan was a person who knew how to repay kindness, which was also good.
That afternoon, people from Ruichi Solar factory came to measure and presented a proposal.
The entire rooftop could be fitted with 5kw of solar panels, generating an average of 30 kWh per day, or 11,000 kWh per year.
Without air conditioning, the elders would only use about 40 kWh per month, and with air conditioning, 200-300 kWh per month, totaling about 1500 kWh per year.
The remaining electricity would be fed into the grid, and calculated at 0.4 yuan per kWh, would amount to 3,800 yuan per year.
The total installation cost at market price was 40,000 yuan, requiring over ten years to break even.
But for Zhao Huan, it was the cost price, only 25,000 yuan, breaking even in less than seven years.
They could also apply for policy subsidies; once approved, it wouldn't be 0.4 yuan per kWh, but 1.2 yuan!
In 2010, the provincial solar power subsidy price was 1.7 yuan per kWh, in 2011 it was 1.4 yuan per kWh, and in 2012 it was 1.2 yuan per kWh.
Subsequent prices would continue to fall, dropping to 0.7 yuan in six years, and over 0.3 yuan in ten years...
But in recent years, it was still very expensive, yet calculating this way, it could break even in three years, after all, it was the cost price!
The situation was similar on his maternal grandmother's side.
Wang Yi was very satisfied with this proposal.
However, subsequent installation would have to wait.
After the New Year, they would first apply for grid connection and go through the procedures; once the procedures were completed, they could directly install and connect to the grid.
Wang Yi was not in a hurry about this.
It wasn't very good to install solar panels during the New Year festivities.
Once solar power was installed, the three elders would no longer be reluctant to use electricity.
In the following days, Wang Yi mostly attended family dinners, at his paternal uncle's house, paternal aunt's house, maternal aunt's house...
New Year celebrations in these years still had a stronger traditional festive atmosphere.
He also spent two days playing with Lin Shu; days without work were always happy yet short-lived.
The 7-day New Year holiday passed in a flash.
On January 29th, the seventh day of the first lunar month, Wang Yi, like most workers, returned to Didu, and began a new round of busyness.
First stop, Wang Yi went straight to the Kaixin Xiaoxiaole department and held a meeting with the developers.
"Everyone has seen Kaixin Xiaoxiaole's revenue and profit. One month after its launch, domestic and international revenue combined for over a billion, which can be called a great success. But the potential dangers are also significant."
Saying this, Wang Yi looked at everyone.
Everyone was confused, and some even said:
"Chairman, Kaixin Xiaoxiaole's situation is excellent, where is the danger?"
"Do you all think so?"
Wang Yi was a bit speechless.
Project Manager Fang Zhiyuan, however, slightly frowned:
"The chairman is concerned that Kaixin Xiaoxiaole is too popular, and friendly competitors will frantically copy it and make knock-offs!"
Wang Yi nodded:
"Exactly."
Everyone suddenly understood:
"What domestic game developers love to do most is follow trends."
"I estimate that some companies are already planning, or even preparing to act."
"This is not a good thing. This type of game is relatively easy to imitate."
"Once similar games proliferate, it will definitely severely impact our Kaixin Xiaoxiaole."
Listening to everyone's words, Wang Yi nodded:
"Yes, that's right, so I want you to be prepared for danger in times of peace, and not be careless! And establish our absolute advantage, build barriers, and make competitors hesitate to advance!"
Hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.
Wang Yi continued:
"Manager Fang, I discussed this issue with you during the New Year holiday, how do you plan to implement the solution now?"
Fang Zhiyuan opened his laptop and projected it onto the big screen:
"Chairman, after reading your email, I researched for a week and developed the following strategies."
"First, regarding marketing, domestic marketing has been very successful. I conducted an in-depth analysis of the reasons for its success, mainly several points."
"One is frequent trending topics. Two is linked promotion with Meiyou and Baowei Youzi, etc. Three is linked promotion with Changliao, using Changliao's friend interaction for promotion. Four is live streaming promotion on Xingyi Video!"
"Especially live streaming promotion, Gulina livestreams every week, and at other times, Meiyou's contracted influencers also livestream."
"These beautiful streamers attract a large number of male users into the game with their appealing looks or figures."
"And some handsome male streamers also attract a large number of female users into the game."
"Similarly, overseas, I can replicate the successful domestic experience."
"As mentioned in the chairman's email, leveraging Meiyou International for promotion, and promoting through Facebook and Twitter friends."
"Additionally, we can collaborate with YouTube influencers!"
"I spent several days screening a large number of YouTube influencers. These people all have a certain amount of traffic, some are top-tier, some are long-tail."
"Top-tier influencers have high quotes, so we'll choose the best to collaborate with. Long-tail influencers have low quotes, so we can collaborate with many of them long-term. This way, we can maintain long-term popularity for 555 on YouTube. Here is the specific list."
Wang Yi carefully read the list of influencers, and saw that it contained not only nicknames, but also follower counts, influence scores, quotes, categories...
It had to be said that Fang Zhiyuan was very well-prepared.
Wang Yi nodded:
"Very good, this is perfectly fine."
Fang Zhiyuan continued:
"I have also completed the deployment for the weekly updates mentioned by the chairman. I have divided the entire department into three teams: the New Level Team, the Upgrade and Renovation Team, and the Testing and Adjustment Team."
"The New Level Team is responsible for developing completely new levels, redesigning new levels from scratch. They develop 20 levels per week."
"The Upgrade and Renovation Team is responsible for upgrading and transforming old levels into new ones, renovating and upgrading 40 levels per week."
"The Testing and Adjustment Team tests sixty levels, adjusts game balance, and finally selects the best 50 levels for release as an update!"
Wang Yi nodded:
"Very good."
"Chairman, I also have targets for the international events you mentioned sponsoring. These events are all good, and the cost is not high, with sponsorship fees within twenty million US dollars."
Wang Yi looked at them and shook his head:
"These events have too little attention, they're meaningless. If we're going to play, let's play big."
Fang Zhiyuan was startled:
"Chairman, you're not planning to sponsor the Olympics, are you?"
The 2012 Olympic Games in Wudu will be held on July 27th!
International events like this, with over 4 billion global viewers, are the best publicity channels.
Simply put, if Kaixin Xiaoxiaole sponsored the Olympics, its brand awareness would instantly soar, and download numbers would explode!
Moreover, Olympic sponsorships in these years were still very cheap.
Wang Yi remembered that Acer took over as top sponsor from Lenovo for 80 million US dollars.
That's right, TOP sponsorship was only 500 million RMB.
Regular sponsorships were even cheaper.
Wang Yi made up his mind: for anything that could be sold internationally, just go for it.
For example, the upcoming sports brand could make a big splash with the help of the Olympics.
Wang Yi had already chosen the spokesperson: Super Dan!
At the 2012 Wudu Olympics, Super Dan defended his title again.
As for the scandal a few years later, Wang Yi didn't mind.
Super Dan endorsed many brands, and wasn't greatly affected after the scandal, so gaining current traffic and popularity would be enough.
Moreover, Wang Yi's cooperation with Super Dan would only last one or two years, stopping before the scandal.
As for the Asian Flying Man, he unfortunately withdrew due to injury and missed the Olympics, which was truly a pity.
Super Dan could endorse the sports brand, but for Kaixin Xiaoxiaole, it would be a bit unsuitable.
Xiao Lizi could be chosen instead.
As a top international superstar, Xiao Lizi became extremely popular with works like "Titanic" and "Romeo + Juliet".
"Inception," released in 2010, further elevated his status.
Having Xiao Lizi endorse Kaixin Xiaoxiaole would be perfect.
European and American middle-aged women would probably download Kaixin Xiaoxiaole frantically, all for Xiao Lizi, spend money furiously, play for ten years, and spend money for ten years!
This was entirely feasible.
Moreover, the endorsement fee wasn't expensive; 5 million US dollars would be enough.
Wang Yi had also considered Bieber; his influence was equally terrifying.
It's just a pity that Bieber seemed to have a scandal these two years, and even went to jail for a while...
Wang Yi couldn't recall if it was specifically 2012 or 2013, he just remembered Bieber's scandal during his university days...
Therefore, Xiao Lizi was still more reliable.
In response, Wang Yi said:
"You all must do a good job with Kaixin Xiaoxiaole. If you do well, we'll hire an international superstar as a spokesperson for Kaixin Xiaoxiaole, and if it does exceptionally well, we'll also sponsor the Olympics!"
"Really? Chairman, who will it be?"
Instantly, everyone in the room became excited.
"How about Xiao Lizi?"
"Xiao Lizi! No problem, that's absolutely fantastic!"
"My idol!"
"With Xiao Lizi as the endorser, our game can become a global hit!"
Wang Yi nodded:
"The premise is that the game must be done well. If it's not done well and closes down in half a year or a year, then there's no need to hire an international superstar for endorsement, and there's no need to keep you all around either."
Everyone's expressions changed dramatically: "..."
They resolutely said:
"Don't worry, Chairman, we will go all out."
"We will definitely make all the new levels of Kaixin Xiaoxiaole perfectly."
"Yes, the entire department will work overtime to get it done!"
(End of chapter)