Chapter 1270 Waiting for the Bite

Seeing the players’ resistance, Pei Qian almost burst out laughing.

How could there be such a good thing?

Indeed, he should trust the professionals. Eric delivers!

Originally, Pei Qian thought the price increase would lead to a surge in revenue, but considering the current situation, it's not necessarily the case.

Because GOG players were accustomed to the previous pricing, even if it increased, it couldn't increase too much. An increase of 30% would already be a lot.

The situation where players would curse and buy was indeed possible, but only if the price increase wasn't too outrageous.

As it was now, even some players who weren't price-sensitive felt uncomfortable, causing widespread resistance online. The price increase might not necessarily bring more profit.

Actually, this "Light's Descent" event had some other content, mainly in-game.

For example, by playing a certain number of matches with the skins and achieving certain conditions, you could unlock some new rewards.

These rewards weren't directly revealed, but most players could guess.

Because this type of event was very common, many games had done it before. The rewards might be some insignificant things like avatar frames, avatars, or emojis, as an additional promotional tactic.

So, the players weren't buying it at all.

I spent money to buy skins, and I still have to spend time grinding?

After I grind, you give me some avatar frames and emojis that you should have given me anyway as rewards?

Outrageous!

Resist, we must resist!

Anyone who buys the skins for this event is a public enemy!

Don't be polite when you see someone using the new skin in the game!

Because these people buying the skins are helping the game company become more arrogant, allowing them to raise prices even more confidently in the future.

Even Tengda can't be indulged, you have to call them out when they deserve it!

Pei Zong must see the online opinion and quickly remove Eric, otherwise with this person around, the GOG game will definitely not get better!

Watching the public opinion online, Pei Qian was happy.

Good job, Eric, you were worth the hire!

...

The next morning, Pei Qian went straight to the GOG project team after getting up.

Not to question them, nor to commend them.

He certainly wouldn't question them. Pei Qian was happy, anyone who could help him make less money was a beloved friend and brother.

But commendation wasn't appropriate either. After all, this event had caused such a stir online. It looked like a work error by Eric, so commending him at this time would be too obvious.

Pei Qian's purpose this time was to observe and appease.

First, observe the reaction of the entire GOG project team to this incident, whether they were full of complaints about Eric, affecting his future work.

If there were real complaints, he would appease everyone, telling them not to complain about problems, but to follow the arrangements of Eric, the person in charge.

In short, he wouldn't support this specific event, but he would generally express that he still supported Eric, helping him consolidate his position in the project team.

Eric was going to go all out to help Pei Qian lose money, so how could he be restricted?

After the change of leadership, the entire GOG project team had been moved out of the Tengda game department to the 22nd floor of the building.

The 23rd floor had also been rented to facilitate future expansion.

Currently, the relocation of the new workspace had been completed. In addition to the original GOG project team, the operations team and the people responsible for communicating with the esports division were also here. The recruitment plan for personnel expansion had also been put on the agenda.

Pei Qian glanced over the workspaces and found nothing unusual.

Everyone was working normally, not showing any bitter expressions or wanting to overthrow Eric.

But Pei Qian was still worried, because this might just be a facade.

Even if they didn't like the new leader and were dissatisfied with this event, who would write it on their face?

Pei Qian thought about it and decided to talk to Eric first and ask about the situation.

If Eric felt that there were no problems and everyone in the project team was listening to him, then the subsequent steps wouldn't be necessary. If Eric felt it wasn't working and someone wasn't cooperating, then Pei Qian would step in to support him and appease the employees.

Eric and Zhao Xuming had a dedicated office, mainly to separate them from the other employees and maintain their purity.

Pei Qian came to the office door and knocked gently.

...

At the same time, Eric and Zhao Xuming were in the office, looking at the feedback from the players on the forum.

"As expected, we're being scolded pretty badly, even worse than expected." Zhao Xuming was a little worried, "The situation is a bit serious, will there be any problems?"

Compared to Eric, Zhao Xuming was obviously more timid and afraid of taking responsibility for problems.

Eric shook his head, "The plan has already been shown to Pei Zong. Pei Zong didn't say anything about changing it, which means he supports our plan."

"Besides, if you want to lure the enemy into an ambush, you have to pretend to retreat first, and there will inevitably be some casualties."

"This time won't be very long. According to my previous estimate, it will be within a day or two. So our final reward unlock for the event is also two days."

Zhao Xuming asked, "How confident are you in this event?"

Eric smiled, "Seventy percent, maybe."

"Actually, the higher-ups of the Dayak Group have been trying to raise the price of IOI's skins, but they haven't found a good opportunity."

"Although they have basically given up on directly competing with GOG, this doesn't mean they don't pay attention to GOG's activities. On the contrary, they pay even more attention than before."

"Precisely because they want to raise prices, they have to pay more attention to GOG's movements, and many things have to be done carefully, and they have to choose the appropriate time to slightly restore some reputation."

"What if the price increase happens to coincide with Tengda's deep discount promotion? Wouldn't that be like putting their head under the blade?"

"So, they must also be paying attention to the 1024 Digital Festival and have prepared corresponding activities. They can't just do nothing and let their market share be taken away too much."

"Even if the event is well done, it won't be launched immediately. Most likely, they will observe first, see the specific content of GOG's event, and make some adjustments to the content of their own event at the same time."

"If GOG's event is particularly generous, then they can only lower the discount on the skins a little bit, at least on the surface."

"But what if GOG raises the price?"

"They probably won't miss this opportunity."

"Of course, this is just my guess. They may not take the bait, or they may not be able to react so quickly due to their slow efficiency."

"But even if they don't take the bait, it doesn't matter. This event doesn't harm us. We can still continue to seize IOI's market share."

Zhao Xuming nodded.

He was also very clear that IOI probably wouldn't miss this opportunity.

Because for the Dayak Group, after realizing that they couldn't defeat GOG in the short term, and even IOI's own market share was constantly declining, they were very eager to get more profits as soon as possible.

But raising the price of skins is something that gets you scolded every time you do it, so you can't act rashly.

But what if GOG takes the initiative to raise the price, and the increase is very large?

That would provide IOI with an opportunity to raise prices!

Many things are afraid of comparison. If the price of GOG skins increases a lot, and the price of IOI skins also increases, but the increase is not so large, maybe they can achieve a situation where they raise prices to make money and earn a good reputation at the same time.

For the Dayak Group, this is obviously a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and it won't come again if they miss it.

Moreover, the activities are all prepared in advance, and they only need to change a few numbers before going online. It's hard for the average person to resist this temptation of low cost and high return.

And as Eric said, even if the other party doesn't take the bait, the event itself doesn't have much harm, and it can still be used as a normal marketing activity to seize market share.

Zhao Xuming felt that the only problem with the whole thing was Pei Zong's attitude.

After all, the two of them were newcomers, having only taken over the GOG project for less than a week. They changed Min Jingchao's original event plan, changed it very boldly, and even caused GOG to receive a lot of scolding in the early stage of the event. It was still somewhat against the rules.

If it were in other companies, they definitely couldn't do this.

But Tengda was obviously not an ordinary company, so he felt that doing so wasn't a problem and was even more reasonable.

Just as Zhao Xuming was struggling, there was a knock on the door.

As soon as he said "Please come in," he saw Pei Zong push the door open.

Zhao Xuming and Eric quickly stood up, "Pei Zong!"

Pei Zong walked in with a smile, "You sit, I just came to take a look, nothing else."

"The changes to the new event are quite bold. It seems that you have adapted to the working mode in Tengda."

"But I'll still ask, have you encountered any old employees not cooperating in the work process? If so, you must tell me, and I'll help you solve it."

For other people, this might be a difficult problem to solve. When a conflict occurs between a superior and a subordinate, the superior must be supported, but it's difficult to guarantee that the subordinate won't harbor resentment.

But this problem doesn't exist for Pei Qian, because all employees trust him so much that as long as Pei Qian says a word, he can make all employees support Eric's work from the bottom of their hearts.

Eric quickly shook his head, "Thank you, Pei Zong, but I haven't encountered this situation."

"The business capabilities of the employees here at Tengda are the strongest I've ever seen. They are very efficient, don't ask too many questions, and are much more efficient than before. We haven't even encountered any delays, let alone intentional non-cooperation."

Pei Qian nodded slightly.

It seemed that this "not asking too many questions" style of Tengda employees still had its benefits.

At least, when a leader who can lose money is parachuted in, he can ensure that these employees conscientiously implement his money-losing policies, saving a lot of trouble.

Pei Qian was relieved a lot and asked, "I see that the event seems to be getting a lot of scolding."

"But it doesn't matter. The person in charge has to be responsible. Many times, you have to withstand the pressure and do what you think is right."

"Don't deny yourself just because you're being scolded. Many times, you still have to stick to what you believe in."

Pei Qian was afraid that after Eric and Zhao Xuming came to Tengda, their skin would become too thin, and they would change the event as soon as they were scolded by the players. How could that work?

But Pei Qian couldn't say it too clearly. He couldn't directly say, "Just keep messing around like this." He could only beat around the bush and let the two of them "stick to themselves."

Eric immediately nodded, "Okay, Pei Zong, I understand."

Zhao Xuming's previous worries had all vanished, and he felt ashamed of his shallowness.

What kind of storms hasn't Pei Zong seen?

As early as when he was developing "Game Producer," Pei Zong had created "performance art-style publicity," spending money to buy up-and-comers to collectively "dig lotus roots."

Wasn't it always scolded like a dog first and then hailed as a treasure later?

The little tricks that he and Eric came up with were probably just insignificant skills in Pei Zong's eyes and not worth mentioning at all.

"Alright, since there's nothing else, I'll leave first."

"Don't work too hard, pay attention to the balance between work and rest."

Pei Qian was very satisfied with the current state of the GOG project team. He felt that he had hired the right people and gave a few simple instructions before leaving.

After Pei Zong left, Eric said, "See, I told you Pei Zong would definitely fully support this!"

"Although Tengda's scale hasn't developed to the level of a super giant, Pei Zong, as a leader, definitely has the most top-notch vision and decisiveness, which is by no means comparable to the mediocre higher-ups of those big companies."

Zhao Xuming deeply agreed.

Eric refreshed the page again, "In the next day, it depends on whether IOI will take the bait."

...

At noon, Pei Qian went to a nearby Moyu Internet Cafe for lunch and also refreshed the players' comments.

Sure enough, the heat seemed to have risen again.

After all, this event was launched at midnight. Some players went to bed early for various reasons and didn't know about it until this morning.

Although the heat had risen again, most of the players were still the same old thing, either scolding Eric in the forum or calling for a boycott, with no new tricks.

This made Pei Qian feel a little disappointed.

You don't even have the energy to scold people, and you call yourself keyboard warriors?

Put some effort in! Come up with more tricks!

Speaking of this, Pei Qian especially missed those online trolls he had once bought, either at his own expense or at the company's expense. He felt that these online trolls were indeed worthy of being professionals in this field, finding very tricky angles.

If he could get full reimbursement for hiring online trolls, then Pei Qian would definitely arrange them 24 hours a day to maximize the program effect for everyone.

While browsing, he suddenly refreshed a new post.

"The IOI next door has also launched an event! I never thought that one day IOI's event would be more generous than GOG's..."

"Generous my ass, IOI has also raised prices!"

"But it's still less than GOG!"

Pei Qian couldn't help but be stunned.

Huh?

They also launched an event and released new skins?

The timing is perfect!

He quickly opened IOI's official website and found that they had indeed just launched an event. Of course, they didn't call it the 1024 Digital Festival, but called it another name, but the intention was obvious, to compete with GOG.

This event also released new skins and raised prices.

Compared to the original skins, the new skins added some special effects and exclusive actions, and the price increased by 30%.

Originally, this matter would have been scolded miserably by the players, but with GOG taking the blame in front, IOI's reputation had actually rebounded to some extent!

Of course, looking at these neatly aligned praise phrases, Pei Qian smelled the familiar scent of online trolls.

Obviously, IOI had secretly hired online trolls to fuel the flames, wanting to take this opportunity to both push up the price of skins and establish a reputation, snatching some players from GOG!

"The timing is indeed very good, but don't be hypocritical!"

"Wouldn't not raising prices or even giving discounts be a perfect counterattack?"

"Forget it, forget it, it's slightly flawed, but it's not a big problem."

Pei Qian's first reaction was regret.

If IOI hadn't raised the price of the skins, but had taken the opportunity to give a discount, wouldn't that have been a complete dimensional blow to GOG, forming a perfect cooperation with former colleagues Eric and Zhao Xuming?

As a result, IOI also took the opportunity to raise prices, which was a bit hypocritical.

But on second thought, the Dayak Group had to make a living. They had been brewing the idea of raising prices for a long time and had been holding back for a while.

If this excellent opportunity to raise prices wasn't utilized, it would be as difficult as climbing to the sky to raise prices again in the future.

After all, this time it could be said that Tengda's IQ was dropping. What about next time?

They had to seize this opportunity, set the price increase, and let the players get used to the new price.

It could only be said that the cooperation wasn't perfect, but it was still pretty good.

Pei Qian's requirements weren't high. He just felt that this time, it should give IOI some breathing room.