60: Company Halo

The next day, Li Xiuwu finished washing up and came over to eat, but he didn't see Liu Yifei get out of bed.

"Where's Xixi?" Li Xiuwu sat at the dining table and asked Liu Xiaoli.

"She's sleeping in, she doesn't want to go to class." Liu Xiaoli was a bit helpless.

"Let's eat first, let her rest for a day before going back to class." Liu Xiaoli doted on her daughter after all; with her daughter's current acting skills, missing a day or two of class wouldn't matter.

"Auntie, I have something to take care of, so I'm heading out. I probably won't be back for lunch," Li Xiuwu said to Liu Xiaoli after finishing his meal.

"Go ahead and get busy. Remember to call me if you run into any problems. You know about my family; I have some connections in Beijing," Liu Xiaoli said with a slight hint.

"Thank you, Auntie, I'll keep that in mind." Li Xiuwu smiled and nodded.

Lin Qian drove Li Xiuwu's car to the Courtyard House.

"Go here." Li Xiuwu gave Lin Qian an address.

Dream Time.

Under an office building, just as the car parked, a middle-aged man waiting downstairs came over to open the car door.

"Mr. Li, you've finally arrived." Qiu Wanjun had a smile on his face that was hard to hide.

"Chief Qiu, you look so happy; I assume you have good news for me." Li Xiuwu got out of the car and shook hands with Qiu Wanjun.

Lin Qian parked the car and stepped up behind Li Xiuwu.

"This is Lin Qian." Li Xiuwu formally introduced Lin Qian.

Lin Qian stepped forward at this moment and extended his hand: "Hello, Chief Qiu, I am Lin Qian. I serve as the boss's assistant, helping to handle various matters."

"Hello, Assistant Lin. Since we're all on the same team, we can communicate more in the future." A sharp light flashed in Qiu Wanjun's eyes as he shook hands with Lin Qian.

Since Li Xiuwu had brought Lin Qian here, many matters in the future would likely have to go through Lin Qian.

"Mr. Li, Assistant Lin, let's head upstairs first." Qiu Wanjun invited the two of them up.

As the two went upstairs, Lin Qian always walked behind them, observing the conditions inside the company.

"The games we act as agents for have received very good market feedback after their release. Although they are all casual games and don't have a huge market share, the player base is stable, and there are many female players."

"The social software we developed based on the games also has a relatively stable number of users within the gaming community."

"After a year of operation, the games we represent have finally achieved profitability. Moreover, from the current market reaction, these three games have the potential for long-term operation."

Qiu Wanjun was not a talent in the internet sector. In the early days of the company's founding, he simply followed Li Xiuwu's orders.

He led people overseas to negotiate agency rights, and after buying the independent operating rights for the mainland, he recruited computer talent for localization and developed social software according to Li Xiuwu's requirements for launch and operation.

This process spent money like water, and he didn't know if the three games being operated would be able to make money.

Now, all three games have achieved profitability, and the number of active players is stable, as is the social software.

Li Xiuwu reviewed the operating status of several games, among which 'Crazy Arcade' had been officially operating for three months and reached 250,000 users.

The company introduced a model where the game is free but items are charged, selling mounts, decorations, and other items that do not affect game balance.

The proportion of paying users is very high. Although they haven't fully recouped their investment, profitability is already in sight.

The launch times and profitability of the three games vary, but the stable number of active users allowed them to see long-term benefits.

Among them, the one with the best profitability is 'Ragnarok Online,' with a peak concurrent user count of 230,000. This is a pay-to-play game, with monthly revenue exceeding twenty million.

This game has already broken even and will be profitable every month from now on, and its potential has not yet fully exploded. It was from this one game that Qiu Wanjun saw the future of the other two, which is why he was so happy.

After Li Xiuwu finished reviewing the game situation, it was similar to what he remembered, except of course, the person making the money was now him.

"Continue running the games. If there are excellent games overseas, you can also try to import them as an agent." Li Xiuwu gave Qiu Wanjun some autonomy.

"Understood." Qiu Wanjun nodded. He had already seen the greatness of the internet; no wonder Li Xiuwu had been investing in internet companies.

"Don't just act as an agent for games. If the company has enough gaming talent, we can also invest in game development. For example, I see the foreign single-player game CS; if an online version could be developed, the market prospects would definitely be even more vast."

Qiu Wanjun nodded and took notes. He admired Li Xiuwu and took his opinions very seriously, preparing to free up his hands to try it immediately.

"Lin Qian will hold a position here at your company." At the end, Li Xiuwu suddenly said to Qiu Wanjun.

Qiu Wanjun was clearly taken aback but quickly reacted: "Okay, I'll have HR arrange the onboarding immediately. I wonder what position I should give Assistant Lin?"

He thought Li Xiuwu was planting people in the company. Thinking about it, it was normal; except for the money Li Xiuwu invested, the company was built by him alone, which indeed made one feel uneasy.

"Just arrange it as you see fit."

The Loyalty Halo was the real reason Li Xiuwu came today. Lin Qian's position was too important; without putting a halo on him, he wouldn't feel at ease.

Golden Culture had too few people and had never met the halo conditions. Li Xiuwu wasn't comfortable with Lin Qian only working at Golden Culture, so coming to Dream Time today was mainly to put a halo on him.

After putting on the halo, he would be a nuclear-powered powerhouse with a combination of Savvy, Loyalty, and Stamina halos.

Lin Qian had a similar thought to Qiu Wanjun, thinking that Li Xiuwu wanted him to hold a position at Dream Time to make it easier for him to understand the situation within the company, so he had no objections.

After leaving Dream Time, Li Xiuwu stopped by Zulong Studio.

Chi Yufeng was a bit surprised, as Li Xiuwu hadn't notified him before coming.

After introducing Lin Qian to Chi Yufeng, Li Xiuwu sat down to understand the development progress of the game company.

"Part of the game has already taken shape." Chi Yufeng showed the finished product to Li Xiuwu.

Novice village, the cultivation system, the dragon-seeking system.

Li Xiuwu looked at the game he was once quite familiar with. This game was very stunning back then.

"My suggestion is to refine the background story and make the world-building complete. Sometimes, character stories can be more attractive than the game itself," Li Xiuwu said.

For this game to appear in China during this era was truly stunning.

Because of Li Xiuwu's investment and the existence of halos like Savvy and Physique, the game's research and development progress was much faster than in the original world. If the world-building and gameplay were further enriched, it might be able to compete with World of Warcraft.

Li Xiuwu told Chi Yufeng about some 3D game mechanics from later generations, telling him to use them if the current technology allowed.

Chi Yufeng recorded Li Xiuwu's ideas. Some made his eyes light up, some he felt could not be achieved with current technology, and some he felt were not quite reasonable.

"I'm a layman, just having a flash of inspiration. You don't need to worry about my status; make your own decisions."

Li Xiuwu did not force Chi Yufeng and Zulong Studio to change things exactly as he requested. He only offered suggestions; whether to use them or not was for Zulong Studio to decide.

Chi Yufeng nodded, his face full of respect. Who wouldn't like such an investor?

"Is there anything the studio needs me to solve? Whether it's work or life, if there's a problem, you can bring it up." Finally, Li Xiuwu asked this question.