Qiu Hong sighed softly and continued, "The closed and unique operating systems of home consoles provide strong protection for the copyright of single-player games. Although they can be cracked, this line of defense guarantees the profitability of large foreign game companies."

"Regardless of how online games develop, in overseas markets, single-player games account for more than 60% of the market, exceeding online games. In China's market around 2001, this proportion was close to zero."

"The lack of home consoles led to widespread piracy, and the booming piracy destroyed the single-player game market."

"People who haven't experienced that era have no concept of how tragic the single-player game market was then. Simply put, single-player games were so bad that even if the price was reduced to 15 yuan per copy, players would still choose the pirated version for 6 yuan."

"And at that time, domestic games were just in their infancy. Due to cultural barriers, they basically couldn't be sold overseas, so they could only focus on the domestic market."

"Before that, many domestic single-player games were priced at several tens of yuan and could be sold, with good profits. But in a short period of one or two years, genuine games had to fight a price war with pirated games. *Sihai Fengyun Hui* (四海风云会) lowered its retail price to 18 yuan in order to combat piracy, and even gave away a batch with magazines, but it was still to no avail."

"The reduction in game prices did not achieve the effect of small profits and quick turnover, but greatly reduced revenue. With reduced revenue, production costs could only be reduced, and the quality of the game would also decrease."

"In addition, some rubbish companies developed many rubbish games that seriously overdrawn the enthusiasm of the few genuine game supporters, eventually turning into a vicious circle, and domestic single-player games became synonymous with poor quality."

"When a genuine game priced at 18 yuan still couldn't beat a pirated game priced at 6 yuan, everything was already doomed, and no matter how much they struggled, it was useless. The wave of online games, on the other hand, gave game developers like me a way out, allowing me to make online games and continue to stay in the game industry. Otherwise, I might have found an internet company and become a product manager."

"So, on the contrary, single-player games didn't die from online games, but from piracy. Online games, on the other hand, were a lifeline for these manufacturers."

Pei Qian was silent for a long time, and then said, "But, if the product is good enough, people will still pay for it, right? I heard that there are 3A masterpieces overseas that don't have any anti-piracy measures."

Qiu Hong nodded: "Yes, President Ma, you're right, that's right, completely correct."

"The only problem is, what is the standard for 'good enough'?"

"Is it to make a 3A game that is at the same level as foreign giants? Or, among domestic manufacturers, to be one of the best?"

"That means that only by reaching the top 1% of the entire industry can you be considered good enough, and only then will enough people be moved by you and pay for you."

"Some people say that piracy will expand potential market share. First of all, this is nonsense. Secondly, even if it is true, it will only have a little effect on the top 1% of the industry."

"If you can achieve a monopoly like a computer operating system, then maybe piracy can help you打击竞争对手 (dǎjī jìngzhēng duìshǒu, combat competitors) and maintain market share."

"However, how many companies can reach the top 1%? How many companies can achieve a monopoly?"

"Is there any company that is born as a big company, a monopoly company?"

"Are the remaining 99% just supposed to die?"

"It is meaningless to discuss the top 1% of an industry. How many people can reach the top 1% in their field? If someone tells you now that in your industry, only the top 1% can be recognized and survive, and the remaining 99% can only starve to death, would you stay in this industry?"

"Even industry大佬 (dàlǎo, big shots) like He An, who have made many successful single-player games, have switched to online games, haven't they? When the base disappears, the entire market will shrink comprehensively. How can one or two companies at the top of the tower change the entire market?"

"So, a healthy industry should be like a pyramid or an iceberg. The top of the tower, or the part of the iceberg that floats above the sea, is the top 1% who enjoy the glory, while the base of the tower, or the iceberg under the water, is the cornerstone of an industry's existence."

"When the base doesn't exist, how can the top exist?"

"So, whether the top 1% are doing well or not will not determine how this industry will develop. What really determines the life and death of this industry is whether the bottom and middle layers can survive."

"This leads to a vicious cycle:"

"Manufacturers: We need you to buy genuine games so that we can develop better games!"

"Players: Then give us the best experience first! If you reach the top, we will give up piracy and buy genuine games!"

"Manufacturers: But you have to reject piracy first and pay us first so that we have the money to provide a better experience!"

"Players: Then you have to give us the best experience first, and then we will reject piracy!"

"So the manufacturers had no choice but to make online games."

"This is the market, the choice that players make with their feet. The players said that we only accept online games, only accept pirated single-player games, and do not accept genuine single-player games. So, as everyone wished, genuine single-player games died out."

"For players, the concept of 'only paying for things that are good enough' is inherently unproblematic and should not be criticized, but the premise is that this is a healthy and orderly market."

"If the market itself is full of unfair competition, then 'only paying for things that are good enough' means that in addition to the top 1% of content producers, the remaining 99% of ordinary content producers will be killed by people who engage in unfair competition and破坏市场规则 (pòhuài shìchǎng guīzé, destroy market rules)."

"Just like now, many video creators work hard to make videos for three days, but some people copy and paste them directly. You need three days, but they only need one second. How can you compete with them? If the audience doesn't have this awareness and thinks that the content is the same anyway, and it's the same to watch it on the pirate's channel, and they don't care about the original author, then how many video creators, apart from the top ones, do you think can really stay?"

"So, thank you to the establishment of the esro official platform in 2006. Without it, the domestic single-player game market would still be a barren desert to this day."

"Even if there are one or two seedlings, they will only be a flash in the pan and will never grow into towering trees."

"Because no one really cares about this matter."

Qiu Hong took a sip of coffee, his expression lost.

Pei Qian was silent for a moment and asked, "Then... since the survival environment of domestic single-player games improved again in 2006, why didn't you stick to your dream and continue to come back to make single-player games?"

Qiu Hong smiled self-deprecatingly: "Because I gave up my dream."

"Remember what I said at the beginning? Sticking to your dream is the biggest factor in failure."

"When I first entered the industry, I made a single-player game. I developed it for nearly two years and insisted on it for more than two months without pay. In the end, no one even knew its name."

"So I gave up my dream and made a Xianxia (仙侠) themed氪金 (kè jīn, pay-to-win) online game. This game earned me a project bonus of 1 million yuan in one year. It can be said that I was successful."

"So, does it matter what my dream is? Does anyone care? Who am I persevering in this dream for? If persevering in my dream means that I can only drink cold water and eat instant noodles every day, and giving up my dream allows me to live a life of abundance and gain the attention of tens of thousands of players, why should I persevere?"

"So from that time on, I made up my mind that I would only make氪金 (kè jīn, pay-to-win) games. My goal is to make more money. As for the great mission of revitalizing single-player games? What does it have to do with me? Even the players themselves don't care, so who am I persevering for?"

"In fact, all the game developers who entered the industry with me in that early stage, which one of them didn't have a dream?"

"But those who stuck to their dreams have already left the industry. Only those who gave up their dreams, like me, can survive."

"President Ma, you may think that my experience is not applicable to this era."

"Because domestic single-player games are getting better and better. There is no piracy now, and more and more people are paying for domestic single-player games."

"But the principle remains the same. Only a very small number of people can have both dreams and reality. And the vast majority of people can only make a cruel choice: either give up their dreams, or be taught a lesson by reality."

"President Ma, these are my last words from the bottom of my heart."

"It's not suitable for everyone, maybe it's right, maybe it's wrong. But in any case, I hope it can give you some inspiration."

Pei Qian took a sip of coffee and didn't speak for a long time.

Because this topic was indeed a bit heavy.

Pei Qian really didn't know the relationship between the esro official platform, the disappearance of piracy, and the normal development of single-player games in this world. Now he knows that it was the establishment of the esro official platform and the strict control of piracy that saved the domestic single-player game market and made this world different from the world in his memory.

A slight difference, a world of difference.

Qiu Hong said that without the esro official platform, domestic games would still be a desert today.

Pei Qian knew very well that he was right.

Because all of this had really happened in his memory.

But it was precisely because of this that Pei Qian felt that he should say something.

The current environment can be said to be heaven. And the reason why Qiu Hong feels like he is in hell is only because he has never seen the real hell.

Pei Qian considered for a moment and said, "President Qiu, I know that it is impossible for people to truly empathize with each other. Many people can see things clearly only because they have not experienced that kind of pain. So, persuading others to be generous is often something that can be struck by lightning."

"But I still want to say two sentences to you, okay?"

Qiu Hong nodded: "Of course, President Ma, we are kindred spirits. You can say anything."

Pei Qian said seriously: "I know that the feeling of putting in effort but not getting the proper return is very painful. Everyone will be angry when their efforts are plagiarized. This world is inherently full of unfairness. Sometimes you can't even distinguish who is right and who is wrong. Not every disaster can find a responsible person."

"There is a life motto that not everyone can stick to, but everyone knows it is right. This sentence is called: Do good deeds, and don't ask about the future." (但行好事，莫问前程.)

"President Qiu, don't let the tragedy of the times become your personal tragedy."

Qiu Hong repeatedly pondered the last sentence, speechless.

After a long time, he raised his head: "President Ma, it's really good that you can think like this."

"Thank you."