Chapter 183 Unexpected Praise

At this moment, in the "Qiong Tu Project" (End of the Road Project) incubator in the Imperial Capital, Qiu Hong was worrying.

In his opinion, the games produced by this incubator were simply not up to par.

The incubator had been running for two months, and many indie game developers had already been working on their games for some time before coming to the incubator. Logically, they should be showing some results by now.

After all, these were indie games, with relatively small investments and workloads, aiming for a "small but beautiful" approach.

However, just fixing bugs had exhausted everyone.

Two games had been released, but for various reasons, the response was not good.

Qiu Hong briefly summarized the situation and concluded that the main problem was a lack of ability.

Although he had provided these indie game designers with relevant support, that didn't guarantee their games would be successful.

Game development itself was a low-probability endeavor, and indie game development even more so. Indie game developers often had an abundance of inspiration and enthusiasm but lacked the necessary skills; otherwise, they would have gone to work for a proper game company, why choose the path of indie game development, which was both unprofitable and exhausting?

But this put a lot of pressure on Qiu Hong.

He knew that President Pei had high hopes for this indie game incubator and never hesitated to provide funding. He himself was a successful game developer with a small reputation, but after working for so long, he hadn't achieved anything, which was embarrassing.

Several games that Qiu Hong was closely monitoring, such as "Shui Mo Yun Yan" (Ink Wash Clouds), couldn't be released yet due to various bugs and details, and might have to be delayed until next month.

No matter how anxious Qiu Hong was, he couldn't do anything without games to release.

Just then, his phone rang. It was President Pei calling.

Qiu Hong's heart skipped a beat: Could President Pei be calling to question him?

When he submitted the weekly report on the incubator's work, he had a bad feeling. Now that President Pei was calling him personally, was this a sign that his premonition had come true?

Qiu Hong quickly answered the phone, "President Pei!"

On the phone, President Pei's voice was very kind, even cheerful: "President Qiu, I've been informed about the incubator's situation. It's been a great success! The situation is very good, you must keep it up, understand?"

Huh?

A question mark slowly appeared above Qiu Hong's head. He almost thought he had misheard, or that President Pei had dialed the wrong number.

But after thinking about it, he shouldn't be mistaken. President Pei was talking about the incubator.

The situation is very good? A great success?

Qiu Hong was very confused, "President Pei, you call this situation a great success? Is my definition of 'success' somewhat off?"

"The two games we released have clearly sold poorly..."

Pei Qian chuckled, "Of course this is a great success!"

"President Qiu, obviously your evaluation criteria are flawed. You should think of it this way: these indie game designers couldn't even finish and release their games before. With the help of the incubator, they were able to complete their games and meet the players. Isn't that a huge improvement and success?"

"Don't worry about how many points they get on the exam, at least they can complete the whole paper independently, all the questions are answered, and they hand in the paper normally. That's progress!"

"People have to take it slowly. How can you expect to start making money two months after building an indie game incubator? That's too impatient! This kind of mentality is undesirable."

Qiu Hong was confused and looked blank.

Although what President Pei said made sense, he still felt something was off.

Could it be that my work is actually excellent? I just didn't realize it myself?

The sudden praise almost made Qiu Hong's back hurt.

"However..." Pei Qian changed the subject, "There are still some problems with your work, I must point them out now, and you should correct them as soon as possible."

Qiu Hong breathed a sigh of relief. That's more like it!

How could my work be perfect? I don't even believe it myself.

He quickly said, "President Pei, please speak frankly, I'm all ears."

Pei Qian said, "I saw in your work report that you plan to let the developers of these two games take a break and then continue to design and develop their next indie game? That's not appropriate."

Qiu Hong was silent for a moment, and said, "President Pei, are you saying..."

"To fire them?"

Judging from President Pei's tone, he was clearly dissatisfied with his arrangement.

The games of these two designers had already been completed, and the market response was not good, so Qiu Hong planned to have them immediately start working on new games. The incubator couldn't support idlers.

But President Pei didn't think this was appropriate. Could it be that he thought these two people were useless and wanted to kick them out and replace them?

On the other end of the phone, Pei Qian almost choked.

This Qiu Hong, what kind of comprehension ability is this!

You want to fire such an important aide?

Pei Qian quickly said, "Your understanding is too outrageous! What I mean is, modify, optimize, and redo these two games until they are recognized by the market, understand?"

"Every indie game is a crystallization of the designer's inspiration and wisdom. If the game is made and not welcomed by players, it doesn't mean that the idea is bad, it only means that the way of expressing the idea is not mature enough!"

"If every idea is only tried superficially and then abandoned, how can it be successful?"

"For unsuccessful games, pour money into remakes, until they are successful!"

Qiu Hong was stunned.

Other game companies cut off failed projects in time to stop losses; President Pei, on the other hand, increased his efforts to extend the lives of failed projects!

According to common sense, this was a very stupid behavior. After all, the game itself had already been rejected by the market, so it was better to make a new one than to make major changes.

However, President Pei's tone was extremely firm, and his reasons were so confident that Qiu Hong felt that he was so right! So the mistake was mine?

Qiu Hong thought for a while, "Then... there should be an upper limit to the investment, right? One million? Two million? No more for indie games!"

Pei Qian was silent for a moment and said, "Don't let money limit valuable imagination."

"If a game can only achieve the best effect when it invests five million, and you limit it to two million, how can it be successful?"

"Since you've decided to do it, you must do it to the best of your ability, understand?"

Qiu Hong: "...Okay."

...

After hanging up the phone, Pei Qian continued to review the reports from other departments.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. It was He Desheng.

"President Pei, I'm here to briefly report on the situation of Leng Mian Gu Niang (Cold Noodles Girl). It's hard to explain in a few words in the report, so I think it's better to report in person."

Pei Qian nodded, "Okay, go ahead."

He Desheng briefly introduced the situation of Leng Mian Gu Niang.

After Meng Chang sold all the shares in his hand, he completely cut ties with Leng Mian Gu Niang and left it alone. But a large number of the original employees of Leng Mian Gu Niang remained.

Although the company was out of money and there were wage arrears, it wasn't so easy to change jobs.

Many people heard that the company was going bankrupt and were depressedly looking for jobs. As a result, before they found a new job, they heard the news that their original job was saved.

This group of people had been re-assigned to their jobs, and Leng Mian Gu Niang's stores should be able to open soon and start operating normally.

Of course, Yu Meng Chuang Tou (Round Dream Venture Capital) took out another sum of money for the normal operation of Leng Mian Gu Niang's stores.

He Desheng asked, "President Pei, should we continue with those marketing activities of Leng Mian Gu Niang?"

Before, Meng Chang spent money like water, mainly because he spent too much on marketing expenses, buying hot searches, advertising, and renting venues for speeches.

If it was just subsidizing and maintaining the daily operation of the stores, the money would be spent quite slowly.

Pei Qian thought for a while, "Let's put them all on hold for now and consider them in the long term."

Although continuing these marketing activities would spend money quickly, the boss of Leng Mian Gu Niang had changed from Meng Chang to Tengda. Considering Tengda's influence, if it was publicized, it might have some unknown impact on Leng Mian Gu Niang.

So Pei Qian thought about it and decided to observe first. He had finally found a stable way to lose money, so don't mess it up as soon as he took over.

What's more, many marketing activities couldn't be done without Meng Chang, such as that speech. Pei Qian couldn't take the stage himself, that would be inappropriate.

He Desheng hesitated for a moment and said, "President Pei, the other marketing activities are easy to say, but there is one 'Street Food Competition'. A lot of effort has been spent in the early stages to find contestants from all over the country. The competition is scheduled to start next week. Do you think we should still hold it?"

Pei Qian was stunned.

Street Food Competition?

This Meng Chang is quite capable of creating events. How did he come up with this kind of marketing activity?

Pei Qian immediately thought of Meng Chang's intentions: he wanted to invite small vendors from all over the country to make some food, to be used as a foil for Leng Mian Gu Niang. This topic would definitely be good, and the advertising effect would not be bad.

Pei Qian was really interested, and nodded, "This sounds good, let's do it according to the original plan."

He Desheng nodded, "Okay, President Pei, then there's nothing else."

He was about to leave, but Pei Qian stopped him again.

"What is Meng Chang doing now?"

He Desheng replied, "He seems to have looked for many investors, but they all turned him down. There is basically little chance of a comeback."

"Some failed entrepreneurs seem to have a chance to make a comeback, but in fact it's because they either have a good family, or have connections, or have resources, or have fans... and Meng Chang actually has nothing but personal ability, which is fatal."

"However, if Meng Chang puts down his posture and does some work that he looks down on, and works hard for more than ten years... he should be able to pay back the money."

Pei Qian thought for a while, "If he really has no other way out and comes to me, I can consider arranging a job for him."

He Desheng: "Okay, President Pei, will he be in charge of Leng Mian Gu Niang?"

Pei Qian shook his head, "No. We'll talk about it then."