Chapter 176 Extinction Tactic

When Lin Chang said this, Pei Qian felt like a Saudi Arabian tycoon buying Shenhua phones at a domestic counter.

So cheap, so worth it? Just take ten of them!

Maybe because Shenhua also had a soccer club, he subconsciously thought that top players must be worth tens of millions, and even buying a decent one would cost several million, right?

But after getting into esports clubs, he found that the best esports players weren't as expensive as ordinary soccer players, and those unknown internet addicts could be hired for just ten thousand a month in the youth training program?

At the base, it was just one more person to feed. If they could find one diamond in the rough out of ten, it would be worth it.

With this mindset, Shenhua immediately started a crazy buying spree, asking not only high-scoring GOG solo queue players but also IOI and Revelation players if they were interested in switching.

Quite a few people were poached.

Although many professional players were attached to their favorite games, attachment didn't pay the bills.

GOG was so popular in China, and the GPL league was about to start. It was readily available hype.

As the saying goes, it's a disaster for a man to choose the wrong profession, and an esports player who chooses the wrong game will definitely regret it for life.

Shenhua was famous in the soccer world, so their esports venture wouldn't be bad either.

Of course, not everyone was willing to switch games, and Shenhua wasn't accepting everyone. They would do a trial period first.

That was why the IOI teams weren't completely gutted. Five people could still keep three or four, but most IOI teams had been raided, more or less.

And it wasn't just Shenhua poaching people. Many other clubs, seeing Shenhua's strategy, also felt a strong sense of crisis.

Shenhua was doing a whale-level gacha pull, so they couldn't just sit by and watch, right?

If Shenhua took the whole gacha machine, what would they do?

So, the other club owners followed Shenhua and started poaching people everywhere, trying their luck and buying any promising rookies they could find.

After all, GOG's professional league had just started not long ago. Although the gap between professional players was quite large, new players still had a chance to catch up quickly once the league was officially established.

So, led by Shenhua, these clubs were not to be outdone, sweeping through the entire domestic esports scene like a tidal wave.

...

At SHG's training base, Pei Qian drank his tea while listening to Lin Chang's grand pronouncements about his "masterstrokes" and "brilliant decisions" in running the SHG club recently.

Although SHG was funded by Shenhua Real Estate, Lin Zhou wasn't very interested in it. His main focus was still on soccer.

Lin Chang, on the other hand, was very active, volunteering to be the owner of the SHG club and personally selecting managers and team leaders.

Clearly, Lin Chang was very satisfied with his operations and very optimistic about the future prospects of the SHG club.

"I've been playing GOG recently, and I've been catching up on GOG matches on the plane. I suddenly feel that this game is really interesting!"

"Before, I always thought, it's just a game, what's so good about it? Can it be better than soccer?"

"But after playing it, I found that it's really great. Although the popularity is far less than ball sports, this esports mode has a characteristic that ball sports simply don't have in terms of spectator appeal!"

"Hey, President Pei, which hero do you like the most? I like Wind Warden Ruan and Modest the most..."

"This game is really fun, President Pei, how did you design it?"

Lin Chang became more and more excited as he spoke.

In fact, he had only come to show support at first and didn't think that esports could amount to much. He was just tagging along out of a playful nature.

But after delving into it for a while, he realized that this alternative sports event was indeed very exciting and had potential!

That was why Lin Chang was so invested, buying and buying everywhere, highlighting his foolishness and wealth.

"So, President Pei, GOG's competition is the best esports competition in the world now, right?" Lin Chang asked.

Zhang Yuan smiled and said, "President Lin, it's hard to say. Finger Company is also preparing for the IOI World Finals. They don't lack money or people, and they've been preparing for so long, so the event may not be inferior to GOG's Global Invitational."

"After all, although GOG has a dominant position in China, it's still a bit behind IOI in the world."

Lin Chang suddenly understood and nodded, "I see."

He looked at Pei Qian: "President Pei, do you need any help with promoting GOG overseas? Shenhua's mobile phone overseas gaming time can also help with promotion, and we can even advertise or do some placements in movies..."

Pei Qian quickly said: "No need!"

Lin Chang was stunned, not expecting President Pei to refuse so decisively: "Really no need? It's okay, it's just a small favor, not troublesome at all."

Pei Qian immediately shook his head: "Really no need! I have other plans for GOG's overseas market. Don't take action rashly, it may affect my overall plan."

Lin Chang nodded: "Okay, then I won't interfere, President Pei. If GOG encounters any difficulties in overseas promotion, you can always come to me. I will do my part!"

Pei Qian was a little speechless.

He would do his part, indeed!

He hadn't even settled the score with Lin Chang regarding *Tomorrow is Beautiful*!

The biggest difficulty GOG faced in overseas promotion was that the promotion speed was too fast... Could Lin Chang help him shrink GOG's market share?

He couldn't? Then never mind.

Zhang Yuan took a sip of tea and said, "President Lin, the GDL slots have all been arranged, and the scrims with DGE's club have also been arranged, but... even with two teams, we've bought a few too many players."

Lin Chang: "What happens if we buy too many?"

Zhang Yuan was silent for a moment: "Well, nothing really happens, it's just a bit of a waste of salary."

Lin Chang laughed and said, "That's okay, we have plenty of budget. Let's just buy them and support them. Besides, I see that several players in the IOI club are about to give up. It should be a meritorious deed to poach them to play GOG, right?"

...

In the evening, the conference room of Longyu Corporation was brightly lit.

The members of Longyu Corporation's IOI operations and cooperation department gathered together, with extremely solemn expressions on their faces.

This weekend, Zhao Xuming had been running around most of the clubs in Shanghai non-stop, personally notifying them of the IOI Global Finals as a sign of sincerity.

But he never expected that the IOI divisions of these teams had almost all been dismantled! Although most teams were only missing one or two people, they were all incomplete!

Zhao Xuming asked carefully and learned that it was only a matter of three or four days. If he had come earlier, these people could have been saved.

Now, they had all signed contracts with other clubs, and buying them back would require paying transfer fees...

The more Zhao Xuming thought about it, the angrier he became. He slammed the conference table.

"That President Pei is ruthless! Ruthless!"

"This move is simply an extinction tactic!"

"Sending people to buy IOI professional players, dismantling all the teams, leaving none intact! It's outrageous! Too outrageous!"

"Is he deliberately trying to make our domestic IOI teams lose face in the World Championships?"

"Despicable, shameless!"

The others were silent, not daring to respond.

After venting his anger, Zhao Xuming gradually calmed down.

After all, he was a man who had seen a lot, and he had a strong ability to adjust his emotions.

He held his breath and tried to adjust his emotions.

"Forget it, it's a business tactic. I was too emotional."

"President Pei played this well. By taking away the fuel from the bottom of the pot, he created so much difficulty for us with so little money."

"And the timing was just right, which shows that President Pei is not only well-informed and decisive, but also likes to mess with his opponents' minds..."

"He is indeed a difficult opponent!"

"So, has the situation of each club been summarized?" Zhao Xuming looked at his subordinate next to him.

The subordinate quickly nodded and handed over a document: "President Zhao, the situation of all IOI teams is in here, including which positions are missing."

Zhao Xuming reached out and took it, reluctantly scanning it.

All the IOI teams were listed in a table, and the missing positions were marked in red. A glance at it was like playing Minesweeper, but one that had already exploded.

After considering it, Zhao Xuming said, "Let's call the old-brand clubs that still have IOI divisions together for a meeting and put together three of the strongest teams to participate in the World Finals."

"As for how to put them together, let the owners negotiate among themselves, and we'll coordinate in the middle."

"Then, let them hurry up and train!"

The so-called "negotiate among themselves" was simply for the owners who were qualified to participate in the finals to spend money to buy players in other positions to strengthen their own teams.

There weren't many domestic IOI players to begin with, and now with this happening, it was completely like choosing the tallest among the dwarfs.

Zhao Xuming continued: "Alright, let's leave it at that. We've given them the slots, so it's up to them to make something of it."

"We have to hurry up and start preparing to cooperate with Finger Company to build momentum for the Global Finals, and we also need to start negotiating with various live broadcast platforms immediately..."

Zhao Xuming began to assign tasks one by one.

After all, Longyu Corporation was a well-established game operator in China, and its ability to work in this area was beyond doubt. Various publicity efforts were quickly arranged.

Although he had considered everything, Zhao Xuming still felt uneasy.

After all, ever since IOI and GOG started competing head-on, President Pei had always been calculating and won every time.

So this time, could Longyu Corporation and Dayak Group combined win against GOG, which had firmly occupied the domestic market?

Zhao Xuming was also a little unsure. He vaguely felt that the key to this lay in the Global Finals. As long as it could be done well, IOI China still had a glimmer of hope for a comeback.

Therefore, there was no room for error!