137: Chapter 137: Game Summit Speech Sparks a Wave of Overseas Cooperation
Singularity Technology on Friday had been buzzing with a different kind of excitement since morning. The receptionist arrived half an hour early to repeatedly wipe the glass doors. The Administration Department held flowers and banners, arranging a 'Welcome Chairman Song' sign by the conference room door. Even the usually focused Technology Department had people occasionally looking toward the elevator entrance.
Today, Song Zhiwei's father, the business tycoon of Jiangcheng and Richest Man Song, was visiting in person.
At ten in the morning, a black Bentley slowly stopped below the office building. Richest Man Song, dressed in a dark gray suit and looking energetic, stepped into the elevator, followed by Song Zhiwei, two assistants, and six bodyguards.
Just as they stepped out of the elevator, they saw Zhang Fan leading the core management team, including Zhou Yurou, Gu Jingshen, and Liu Ruyan, waiting at the door: "Chairman Song, welcome to Singularity for your inspection."
"No need to be so polite; I just came to see a young people's company and feel your vitality." Richest Man Song smiled and patted Zhang Fan's shoulder, his gaze sweeping across the office area.
Employees were focused on their work, with 'star dream workshop' character stickers on their workstations. The large screen looped player feedback from the Southeast Asian version of star path: reboot, showing a thriving vitality everywhere. "Not bad, you have more drive than I imagined."
Entering the conference room, Richest Man Song sat in the main seat, took a water glass from his assistant, and got straight to the point: "I'm here today for two main things. First, to congratulate you on the successful overseas launch of star path—I heard from Zhiwei that within half a month of going live, downloads in Southeast Asia exceeded 700,000 and revenue surpassed 2 million USD. This performance is among the best for domestic games going abroad."
He paused, took an investment agreement out of his briefcase, and pushed it toward Zhang Fan: "Second, on behalf of the Song family, I'm adding an investment of 500 million to Singularity. Part of this 500 million will be used for your globalization layout, such as the construction of the Singapore subsidiary and market research in Europe and America. The other part is for new game R&D, especially that open-world project you mentioned before. I'm looking forward to it."
"500 million?" Everyone in the conference room was stunned. Even the always steady Zhou Yurou couldn't help but widen her eyes. The Song family had previously invested 50 million; adding 10 times that amount this time showed immense trust in Singularity.
Richest Man Song looked at everyone's surprised expressions and explained with a smile: "When I invest, I don't look at short-term returns, but at the team and potential. From being controversial to becoming an overseas benchmark, and from internal testing to exploding across all platforms, 'star dream workshop' has proven you have the ability to make good products and the potential to become an industry leader. This 500 million is the Song family's trust in you, and also our expectation for the Chinese game industry—I hope one day to see a Chinese game company go toe-to-toe with European and American giants in the global market."
Zhang Fan picked up the investment agreement, his fingertips trembling slightly—this 500 million was not just capital, but a heavy responsibility.
He looked up at Richest Man Song and said firmly: "Thank you for your support, Chairman Song! We will not fail your trust. Next, we will accelerate our globalization layout, striving to become a Top 10 domestic game company by next year and have Singularity's products cover major global game markets within three years!"
Song Zhiwei sat nearby, watching her father and Zhang Fan chatting happily. The small amount of jealousy she had felt earlier because of Zhang Fan's attention to Xia Qinyi gradually vanished without a trace.
She remembered when she first brought Zhang Fan to see her father; her father was worried he was too young and couldn't command a room. Now, Zhang Fan had won her father's recognition with solid results, and she felt sincerely happy for this partner she fought alongside.
"Right," Richest Man Song suddenly remembered something and looked at Song Zhiwei, "You said before you wanted to participate in Singularity's overseas operations; I have no objection. Young people should be tempered in actual combat. Learning and doing more alongside Zhang Fan and the others is better than staying in the Song family's greenhouse."
Song Zhiwei's eyes lit up, and she immediately nodded: "Thank you, Dad! I'll work hard!"
After seeing off Richest Man Song, the atmosphere in the conference room completely boiled over.
Gu Jingshen patted Zhang Fan's shoulder: "Nice job, Fan Zi! With 500 million in investment, we can finally go all out! For the European and American markets, I'll immediately have Gu Corporation's overseas branches help connect resources!"
"The Finance Department will draft a fund usage plan as soon as possible to ensure every penny is used effectively." Zhou Yurou took out her notebook and began recording key points: "Registering overseas subsidiaries, forming new game R&D teams, and accelerating the recruitment schedule—all of these need to be put on the agenda."
Just then, Zhang Fan's phone rang. It was a call from the organizing committee of the China Game Industry Summit, inviting him to attend the summit in Shanghai next weekend as a 'representative of domestic games going abroad' to share the overseas experience of star path: reboot.
"Good things come in pairs!" Liu Ruyan said excitedly. "The Industry Summit is the most authoritative event in the industry. Giving a speech there will not only raise the company's profile but also allow us to contact more overseas partners!"
A week later, at the Shanghai International Convention Center, the China Game Industry Summit was held as scheduled. Zhang Fan, wearing a dark blue suit, sat in the guest section with Zhou Yurou, next to representatives from game giants like Qixun and Wangnan.
When it was his turn to speak, he walked onto the podium. The large screen behind him played a video of player interactions from the Southeast Asian version of star path: reboot—Indonesian players wearing sarongs danced traditional dances to celebrate the game's launch, and Malaysian players used AI to generate a 'Petronas Towers Map' to share on social media.
"Many people ask me, what is the key to games going abroad? My answer is 'localization,' but it's not a simple 'translate + upload'."
Zhang Fan's voice spread throughout the hall via the microphone. "When making the Southeast Asian version of star path, we spent three months researching local culture. In Indonesia, we launched exclusive Eid al-Fitr skins and events to respect local religious customs. In Malaysia, we changed the game item 'Dumplings' to the locally common 'Nasi Lemak' to avoid alienation caused by cultural differences. We also formed a fully Chinese-speaking overseas customer service team to respond to player feedback 24 hours a day, because we know that only by listening to players' needs can a product truly take root in the local market."
He paused and pointed to the player data on the screen: "Within half a month of launch, star path's player retention rate in Southeast Asia reached 65%, with a payment rate of 18%, far exceeding the industry average. This proves that good content has no borders. As long as we respect culture and make products with heart, Chinese games can break cultural barriers and win the recognition of global players."
After the speech, enthusiastic applause rang out from the audience.
As he walked off the stage, many representatives from overseas game companies took the initiative to step forward and hand over business cards to seek cooperation—there were game publishers from the US wanting to represent the Western version of star path; animation companies from Japan wanting to cooperate with 'star dream workshop' to develop IP crossover maps; and tech companies from South Korea wanting to discuss cooperation in AI generation technology.
Zhou Yurou helped Zhang Fan take the business cards and said with a smile: "You're an industry celebrity now! The Tencent representative just told me they want to cooperate with us to develop a new IP. In the future, Singularity's cooperation opportunities will only increase."
Zhang Fan looked at the thick stack of business cards in his hand, then thought of Richest Man Song's 500 million investment, the team's united efforts, and the 'star dream workshop' icon Lele had drawn back home. His heart was full of emotion.
He knew that the story of Singularity Technology had only just turned to its most exciting chapter; and in the wave of Chinese games going abroad, they would eventually become the most dazzling spray.