"You want to find my technology list!" Andy Rubin wasn't truly foolish, especially with Netflix's precedent. Thus, Andy Rubin quickly understood Hao Jianguo's intention: to seize control of him and obtain that crucial list of technological patents.
Only by possessing this list could Jiangnan Group apply for patents and secure its assets. Otherwise, the hundreds of millions of dollars invested over several years would be wasted, and he would be doing all the work for others.
Therefore, even though Hao Jianguo's actions were illegal and many would face repercussions, Andy Rubin believed it was all worth it. As long as he could get that technology list, nothing else mattered.
Having figured this out, Andy Rubin no longer felt anxious. He stopped trying to leave the office and calmly sat back in his chair, looking at Hao Jianguo with a cold smile. "Unfortunately, you're bound to waste your efforts. There's no such list. All my technology is within the company. If you want to find a technology list, just look through the company's database. Why are you locking me up here?"
"Android has been in development for four years, right? In these four years, Android has only produced 42 patents and has 18 unfiled technologies. Is this number perhaps a bit too laughable?" Hao Jianguo retorted.
This was the result of his thorough investigation of the entire Android company database. Four years and 500 million US dollars had yielded so little – it was utterly ridiculous.
Moreover, these more than sixty technologies were all of little significance to the core product. They were likely byproducts generated during the core research and development, yet they were openly placed in the technology library, while the main objective was nowhere to be seen.
"Our R&D wasn't very successful, and I admit I bear responsibility for the R&D!" Andy Rubin stated frankly. With one sentence, he declared the R&D a failure, and there was indeed nothing anyone could do about it.
"Just wait. Once I find that list, you'll be finished. Transferring company technology is a serious commercial crime. According to US law, you'll be incarcerated for at least 20 years!" Hao Jianguo said coldly.
"I told you, there's no list. You won't find it!" Andy Rubin remained confident, and he had every reason to be, as he genuinely possessed no technology list.
Although Andy Rubin had a terrible personality and was extremely greedy, he was never a fool. Therefore, he would never leave any leverage for his opponents.
There was only one copy of that technology list, and it had always been stored in a secret location. Andy Rubin was confident that Hao Jianguo would be unable to find this place.
However, this secret location was now irrelevant because the list had been handed over to his mistress, Anna. Anna had likely partnered with a Goldman Sachs representative to establish a technology company, and all the technologies on this list were now being patented as assets of this brand-new tech firm.
Even if Hao Jianguo's people found Anna, it would be meaningless, as they had no evidence to prove that this technology list originated from Android products or was stolen from Android.
"Then we shall wait and see!" Hao Jianguo no longer bothered talking to him. He simply sat in the office, browsing the internet on his computer and occasionally directing the work of various investigators via phone.
Andy Rubin initially tried to contact the outside world through various means, only to discover that this place had become an island of modern urban society, completely isolated from any communication channels.
So, Andy Rubin resigned himself to silence and began playing single-player games on another computer in his office, which had its network cable unplugged. Of course, whenever Hao Jianguo spoke on the phone, he would prick up his ears, searching for any useful clues.
Soon, seven or eight hours passed. Andy Rubin had already completed six missions of the Human campaign in Warcraft IV. It had been a long time since the game's release that Andy Rubin had the leisure to play this single-player game, which had once again driven the world into a frenzy.
What made Andy Rubin happy was that Hao Jianguo, on the other hand, clearly wasn't receiving any good news. The reports were mostly about areas being searched with no results, and Hao Jianguo would then instruct them to search elsewhere.
"It's useless. You don't need to look anymore. I assure you, you won't find any technology list in any place you can search!" Andy Rubin couldn't help but laugh, feeling quite smug at this moment.
"Is that so?" Hao Jianguo's attitude was no longer as forceful; it seemed to have softened. This was understandable. After all, if he couldn't find any evidence, it would be Andy Rubin's turn to counterattack.
And Hao Jianguo, having failed at his task, would also be reprimanded by Boss Huang.
"Warcraft IV is really fun. Thank you for giving me the rare opportunity to play this game. I haven't even had time to open it before!" Andy Rubin said cheerfully, seemingly offering genuine thanks to Hao Jianguo.
"Do you know? In reality, Warcraft IV didn't exist at all!" Hearing Andy Rubin's words, Hao Jianguo couldn't help but say, "Originally, Blizzard had no intention of developing Warcraft IV."
"What are you joking about? Blizzard not developing Warcraft 4? Not developing this game that has sold over 2 billion US dollars globally? What are you talking about?" Hearing Hao Jianguo, Andy Rubin couldn't help but mock.
Warcraft IV was released globally in March of this year. It's only been about four months, yet this game has already accumulated sales of 2 billion US dollars worldwide.
This sounded like an insane figure. The previous best-selling single-player game, Warcraft III, had only sold around 500 million US dollars globally. Now, it had quadrupled in just four months, and this was only the sales revenue for four months; the figure would undoubtedly continue to grow in the future.
Even more unbelievable was that Warcraft IV had implemented a brand-new sales strategy globally: the free-to-play model, pioneered by Jiangnan Group in the Chinese market and gradually rolled out worldwide.
That's right, Warcraft IV was provided for free globally. Any player who downloaded the oo Game Center could download and play the game directly without any obstacles or cost. They didn't have to pay a single cent – that's how generous it was.
This sales strategy, coupled with the influence of its predecessors Warcraft III and World of Warcraft, directly led to Warcraft IV surpassing 30 million installations within a month and 70 million within four months. This meant that 70 million computers worldwide had Warcraft IV installed.
This was still because Warcraft IV had relatively high system requirements, and a significant portion of computers couldn't meet the minimum installation requirements. Otherwise, it would have surpassed 100 million installations.
So, where did these 2 billion US dollars in sales revenue come from?
Naturally, it was from Jiangnan Group's signature move: selling blind boxes.
However, this time, in addition to offline blind box sales, Jiangnan Group also introduced online blind boxes. Warcraft IV featured a new city-building game mode.
Upon logging into the game, players no longer encountered traditional game entry interfaces. Instead, they directly appeared in a massive city.
This city offered two perspectives: 3D and 2D. The 2D perspective was the traditional Warcraft III-style overhead view. From this perspective, players could construct various buildings, install peculiar items, and recruit diverse NPCs to populate their city.
It could be understood as a large-scale city-building game. Within the city, there was also a palace, which served as the player's home. Players could also decorate their palace and recruit queens (or consorts), maids of honor, and so on.
If one grew tired of the 2D perspective, they could switch to the 3D view, which was akin to entering World of Warcraft, but the graphics in Warcraft IV were even more refined than those in World of Warcraft.
In short, it was an unimaginably grand city, filled with all the elements of Warcraft. You could simultaneously incorporate buildings from the Undead, Human, and Orc factions, have Arthas, Thrall, and Tyrande Whisperwind serve as your ministers and work for you.
In your palace, you could also have Human maids, Blood Elf dancers, Orc tutors, and Undead physicians, etc. Essentially, it gave players a city with absolute control and imagination.
This feature was unanimously loved by all players. Although many players complained on various forums that this design ruined the essence of the entire Warcraft series, it was precisely this city that, within four months, generated over 2 billion US dollars in massive profits for Blizzard.
This was because there was one building in the city that players couldn't control: the Warcraft General Store. This store sold a variety of blind boxes and merchandise.
Those who enjoyed design could buy blind boxes to draw what they wanted, while those who preferred less thrill could directly purchase various game enhancement content.
Not to mention the special unit and building skins that were already available in Warcraft III, this city, which attracted countless players, also added numerous selling points.
Do you want to add some Egyptian-style buildings to your city?
Do you want to pave your city with concrete roads and add some steam locomotives?
Oh, and do you want to dress up the maids in your palace, like the Night Elves, in white stockings?