"Warcraft 4: The Frozen Throne?"
Huang He suddenly felt that this world was truly different from his previous life. He had waited for 20 years without seeing the release of Warcraft 4, and it was highly unlikely it would ever appear.
Yet, in this world, in 2003, Warcraft 4 was about to be released.
Huang He had to admit that Allen Adhan was a business genius. With this move, all of Huang He's contracts with Blizzard regarding Warcraft 3 would come to an end.
"Huang, I've told you, I've always admired you, and I wish to be your friend, but you must also consider the interests of our Blizzard Entertainment in America!" Allen Adhan sighed.
"It's actually very difficult for me too. Don't mistake me for the president or founder of this company; I'm now just a poor wage slave!"
"This company has been sold to greedy capitalists, and these capitalists have endless demands for us. If we cannot meet their demands, I'm afraid I'll be forced to leave the company I personally created. This is a situation I absolutely cannot accept, and I hope you can understand our position!" Allen Adhan sighed.
Well, after directly using commercial threats, Allen Adhan began to appeal to emotions.
"Besides, you've already made enough money. Once The Frozen Throne is sold, you'll be able to sell hundreds of millions of dollars worth of blind boxes, while we only earn a mere 30 million dollars. The lion's share still goes to your Jiangnan Group, and we only get a small pittance."
"Look, this is what mutual benefit and win-win cooperation is all about. You wouldn't want Jiangnan Group and Blizzard to only do this one-off deal, would you? In the future, Blizzard will develop more games, such as that online game you somehow got intel on, which is set for public beta next year."
"I can tell you clearly, this will be the best online game in the world. No one will be able to escape the charm of this game. You absolutely wouldn't want to lose the opportunity to cooperate with us!" Allen Adhan stated.
It had to be said that Allen Adhan was not a simple gamer; his negotiation skills were quite brilliant.
First, he uses strong tactics to instill fear, then he uses emotional appeals to make you feel his pain and hardship, and finally, he dangles a carrot, telling you that there are more profits to be made together in the future.
With these three moves, under normal development, Huang He would have been genuinely touched by Allen Adhan and agreed to pay a huge sum of money to acquire The Frozen Throne.
Huang He seemed to have been convinced by this argument. He stopped resisting fiercely and fell into hesitation, finally saying, "Allen, I need to think. Can we discuss this issue again in a few days?"
"Of course!" Allen Adhan said with a smile. "However, we are officially announcing The Frozen Throne next Monday. Whether The Frozen Throne will be an expansion pack or Warcraft 4 remains to be seen."
"So, you only have three days. After three days, I must have a definitive outcome from our discussion!" Allen Adhan smiled, while also delivering a final, fierce threat to Huang He.
"Alright!" Huang He nodded and left the Blizzard headquarters without looking back.
"Zhiruo, you need to take a flight to France tonight!" Huang He said calmly to Leng Zhiruo beside him. "Forget it, it's just 50 million US dollars. We're not short of that amount now. Go to France immediately and reach an agreement with them, don't drag it out any longer."
"Understood! I'll leave tonight!" Seeing the anger on Huang He's face, Leng Zhiruo knew that her brother-in-law had likely not been treated well at Blizzard headquarters, which was why he had suddenly changed his stance and no longer wanted to prolong the ongoing negotiations.
Leng Zhiwen had finished filming "Chinese Paladin" two weeks prior and had returned home for a holiday. Consequently, Huang He was once again alone in America.
"Hujing, contact this number. I want to know who has visited Blizzard headquarters and met with Allen Adhan in the past few days," Huang He said calmly.
The mention of other domestic companies by Allen Adhan was not a mere threat. Huang He had a feeling that many people in China were extremely envious of his business and wanted to replace him.
This phone number belonged to an administrative staff member within Blizzard Entertainment.
This administrative staff member was ordinary, holding the lowest position within Blizzard Group, responsible for reception work, considered an expendable employee.
However, she had accompanied Allen Adhan on a visit to China. So, without Allen Adhan's knowledge, this minor employee, having received $100,000 from Huang He, became a hidden pawn placed by Huang He within Blizzard Group.
After all, for a receptionist with a monthly salary of $2,000, upon seeing the lump sum of $100,000, she was destined to be unable to escape Huang He's grasp.
As a receptionist, her job might not be important, but no one coming and going could escape her eyes. She was perhaps the most well-informed person in the entire company regarding various news.
Soon, after receiving the call from Hujing, this ordinary female employee responsible for reception provided Huang He with extremely important information: about three days ago, several Chinese individuals, along with two foreigners, visited Blizzard Entertainment headquarters, and Allen Adhan met with them.
Although the secretary didn't know the origin of these Chinese individuals, during her reception duties, they had all given her a business card, which was now being delivered to Huang He overnight.
When Huang He took the business card, it clearly read "Shi Yuzhu, Chairman of China Giant Group."
"Shi Yuzhu?" Seeing this name, Huang He felt a mix of amusement and speechlessness. Because when he saw the name, he immediately pictured an old man and an old woman singing and dancing rap on television, shouting the addictive jingle "No gifts received during festivals, only Naobaijin!"
But the question was, how did Shi Yuzhu, who sold Naobaijin, suddenly connect with Blizzard Company?
"Hujing, I remember Shi Yuzhu also dealt with blind boxes, right?" Huang He rubbed his nose. "How is his blind box business doing?"
"Not bad, not bad?" Hujing pondered for a moment and then replied, "Shi Yuzhu launched his Giant Blind Box last October, primarily selling various items that seemed like toys or crafts. Shi Yuzhu even gave these items a name: 'Chao Wan' (trendy play)."
"Their 'Chao Wan' actually involves acquiring foreign IPs and producing various figurines to attract young consumers."
"They have successively obtained IP authorization for 'Pokémon' from Nintendo, authorization for 'Saint Seiya' from Bandai, authorization for 'Dash Yankuro' from Bandai, and authorization for 'Transformers' from Hasbro."
"In addition to these, they have also secured authorizations for some smaller cultural IPs, all of which have been used to produce various figurines and toys for sale."
"Their blind boxes are selling averagely, having a certain market, which allows them to maintain balanced profits. However, the market is too small to achieve a breakthrough, making it difficult to grow and strengthen. I heard that many grassroots teams are preparing to leave Giant, so Shi Yuzhu is going through a difficult time!" Hujing was indeed an excellent secretary. With just one question from Huang He, she provided intelligence on this competitor.
"Then I understand. So, Shi Yuzhu has set his sights on our Warcraft IP, planning to sell Warcraft blind boxes as well!" Huang He smiled slightly. "But Shi Yuzhu knows that selling figurines alone won't work. Blind boxes must be paired with in-game skins to truly sell!"
"Therefore, he wants to poach from me, buy the game authorization for The Frozen Throne, operate The Frozen Throne in China, and enter the gaming industry at the same time!"
"He might even have his eyes on World of Warcraft!"
With the support of the intelligence, Huang He quickly analyzed Shi Yuzhu's every move and saw through all his intentions.
After all, Shi Yuzhu had been quiet for a few years after selling Naobaijin to others, and then he set his sights on the gaming industry.
He then made a trip to Shanda, where he was warmly received by Chen Tianqiao, and simultaneously poached one of Chen Tianqiao's gaming teams with a high salary. In just six months, he developed "Zhengtu," a free-to-play game that changed the history of online gaming in China, pushing the concept of "free is the most expensive" to its extreme.
Shi Yuzhu is definitely a genius in the gaming industry. Although in this world he was misled by me into the world of blind boxes, history has its own inertia. Thus, Shi Yuzhu was swept along by the trends of the era and entered the gaming industry, which is quite amusing!
At this moment, Hujing suddenly received a call and said to Huang He, "Boss, the receptionist from earlier called again and said that Shi Yuzhu and his team are meeting with Allen Adhan again!"
"Oh, anything else?"
"Yes, she said she has a small voice recorder now, and if we're willing to give her another $50,000, she'll sell it to us!" Hujing said.
"No problem, I'm very willing to pay that money!" Huang He nodded.
A few hours later, a woman cautiously arrived, quickly handed a voice recorder to Hujing, and then disappeared into the twilight.
A few minutes later, the voice recorder was connected to Huang He's computer, and soon, Allen Adhan's voice echoed from Huang He's computer.
Allen Adhan probably never dreamed that his entire conversation would fall into Huang He's hands immediately after the negotiation.