The next day, the sun was high in the sky.
Pairs of swallows flew in the air, their chirping a pleasing sound.
Bobby was in a great mood, humming a tune that was even more cheerful than the swallows.
Mmm-mmm-mmm~~~
He was celebrating his foresight and preparing his talent for the congratulatory banquet that evening.
Today, he would make his name!
Seven years ago, Bobby's decision to abandon PC development and focus on the VR field gave Bob Snow the absolute initiative in today's mature VR technology.
This great decision allowed Bob Snow's VR devices to lead the industry by a significant margin in terms of production capacity.
Furthermore, the accompanying VR games were launched globally today.
One must understand that
in business competition, time is the most precious commodity, with every second worth thousands of gold. Moreover, Bob Snow had a full three months head start over the industry!
The reason Bob Snow possessed such initiative stemmed from the VR exploration project he had spearheaded years ago.
This was the moment to witness his dual success of fame and fortune.
Excitement filled Bobby's mind, even overshadowing the bad news from the network wing.
As for China's Lingjing, he didn't take it seriously.
It was merely an upstart, making a lot of noise with its hype.
VR was not something that could be achieved with mere words.
Arriving at the conference room,
all the managers, big and small, were already seated, their eyes fixed on the super screen created by the VR equipment.
The screen displayed real-time data for the VR game "Stellar" for the ten hours since its launch.
Currently, 5 million players had purchased the VR game from the Steam platform.
The ticking numbers were presented as a fluctuating curve, recording data analysis minute by minute.
It was projected to break ten million in sales on its first day.
A small area was also sectioned off to the side.
On it was a 3D model of a capsule-shaped sensing pod.
These were the sales figures for Bob Snow's VR equipment, with the numbers currently reaching a staggering twenty million units.
And this was only the global sales data for the eighth day.
"Five million..."
Bobby, arriving at the head of the table, leaned back in his chair, staring at the constantly fluctuating numbers on the screen, his thumb tapping rhythmically on the desk.
The managers below looked on intently, as if trying to read a hint of emotion from their CEO's eyes.
And then, based on that emotion, judge his satisfaction with this achievement.
Everyone present in this conference room was a shrewd individual.
They were masters at anticipating the psychology of those in power.
"Not bad."
As soon as Bobby's lips curved into a smile, someone below immediately led a wave of applause.
As the applause died down, the heads of various departments began reporting their respective data.
"..."
"In summary, these are the aggregated first-day data for the equipment and game. At this rate, before other game manufacturers release their VR equipment, our sales will exceed forty million units, and our first-day game sales are expected to hit ten million copies."
After the managers finished their reports, Bobby turned to the financial director.
The latter immediately understood, produced a stack of data, and began to analyze:
"At this rate, we expect to recoup our research and development costs in one go, with a net profit of over fifty billion. Our second VR game will officially start generating profits."
"Of course, this is an ideal scenario assuming no competition from rivals. Once a competitor enters the market and tries to grab market share, our sales figures will be significantly impacted."
After speaking, the financial director glanced at Bobby at the head of the table.
"When you say competitors... do you mean Yu Bi, or V Society, Rentendo, or Lingjing?" Bobby asked.
"As it stands, Lingjing is the only one directly competing with us."
The marketing director replied, "Last week, they sold 500,000 VR headsets, codenamed 'Iron Pilot', through the channels of eight university alliances."
"But... according to rumors, the order backlog for the eight university alliances has already exceeded two million."
The implication was that 500,000 was not the limit of their sales, but the limit of their production.
What??
Everyone in the room was stunned. What was the background of this Lingjing?
In just one year, it had grown from an unknown entity to one that could challenge Bob Snow?
However,
when the data analyst pulled up the sales data for Lingjing's VR game "Wanderer and the Colossus" from the same period, everyone present was completely dumbfounded!
Domestic sales in China: 3 million. Overseas sales: 4 million?
"How is that possible! How is that possible!!"
"I saw the sales of 'Wanderer and the Colossus' at just over 200,000 this morning. How did it increase so rapidly in these few hours?"
"Only 500,000 devices were sold in China, yet sales reached 4 million. For the remaining 3.5 million copies, what devices were used..."
"Shut up! Can't you see the president's face has turned green!"
People in the conference room whispered amongst themselves, blinded by the astonishing data before them.
They had considered that Lingjing's existence might slightly affect Bob Snow's sales, but only slightly.
They couldn't figure out the reason, no matter how hard they tried!
"Boss, look at the data quickly!"
Someone shouted, and Bobby turned to look at the technologically advanced display.
He saw that the sales of "Wanderer and the Colossus" were rapidly catching up to "Stellar" at a visible pace, while "Stellar" was disappointingly declining.
Their growth rates were diverging, the two sets of data like intersecting parallel lines that, after a brief intersection, widened the gap, threatening to leave "Stellar" behind.
"Investigate!"
"Investigate for me!"
Bobby was furious; there was definitely something fishy going on.
Soon,
the relevant departments had completed their investigation. It turned out that a very popular streamer on YouTube had defected at the last minute.
He had been bought off by Bob Snow to stream and promote "Stellar." However, as he played, he realized that this so-called "Stellar" was nothing more than an upgraded version of "Minecraft"!
Then they added some adventure elements, where players would play as protagonists surviving on a barren planet, mining wood, building extensive structures, and engaging in infrastructure construction...
It was... very boring. If one wanted to play this type of game, wouldn't "Minecraft" be more enjoyable?
Using such luxurious equipment for this was a complete waste!
Moreover, it was clearly a hastily produced, shoddy product rushed out to meet the launch.
Feeling deceived, the YouTube streamer was enraged and directly streamed Lingjing's "Wanderer and the Colossus." His original intention was to provoke Bob Snow.
However, he became addicted to playing it.
Especially the character Mona, he saw a shadow of his first love in her.
He played for five to six hours without realizing it, not even knowing that he had become famous on YouTube.
With the influence of this streamer, more and more streamers joined in broadcasting "Wanderer and the Colossus."
Streamers also tended to gravitate towards what was beneficial and avoid what was harmful. "Wanderer and the Colossus" not only brought them traffic but, more importantly, provided an experience of excitement and excellent sensory feedback different from traditional games.
Then,
Lingjing, which had not been advertised, once again reversed the battle through word-of-mouth.
When the official first-day data was released the next day, everyone was dumbfounded!
...
(Long time no see. My uncle's funeral arrangements are complete. I returned this afternoon and only managed to write one chapter. Normal updates will resume tomorrow!)