Chapter 417: Chapter 261: Major Companies Crowdfund the Sequel (Happy New Year to All)

This part of the business is actually quite lucrative.

Fun fact!

Xianyu Digital has been the top seller of digital accessories for three consecutive years on major e-commerce platforms during the 618 and Double 11 sales events!

It’s no exaggeration to say that the phrase "Buy a graphics card from Ba" has become a societal consensus over the years.

Other circles are hard to say, but at least in the DIY computer parts community, the recognition of Xianyu Digital is not much worse than Gou Dong’s self-operated store.

Ordinary players might waver between Gou Dong’s self-operated store and Xianyu Digital, but real hardcore PC players will only choose Xianyu Digital blindly.

The reason is simple!

Gou Dong might have great service, but when it comes to product quality and after-sales guarantees, it’s uncertain who’s more reliable.

Especially when a certain graphics card manufacturer’s official after-sales repair department disclosed that products labeled "Xianyu Digital" are prioritized for repair, while repair orders from other platforms could be delayed, everyone was left speechless.

What the heck!

The same brand of graphics card is priced similarly just through different purchasing channels, yet when applying for after-sales repairs, I have to wait behind others?

Is Xianyu Digital really that superior?

Actually, speaking of graphics cards, in terms of product quality alone, goods from major official e-commerce channels are about the same. There’s no such thing as Xianyu Digital’s graphics cards being of higher specifications.

However, due to some unspeakable special background, buying a graphics card from Xianyu Digital ensures it’s not a mining card or refurbished card, so more people buy from them, resulting in high sales.

Because of its high sales, it has become one of the main internet e-commerce sales channels for various graphics card manufacturers, so Xianyu Digital has a certain say in after-sales support.

Of course!

No matter how high their say is, it shouldn’t be enough to make the after-sales repair department prioritize orders from "Xianyu Digital."

The reason a manufacturer might delay repairs for individual users but prioritize after-sales service for Xianyu Digital’s customers comes down to one thing...

Someone really knows how to protect their own!

If you buy a graphics card from Gou Dong and have issues, Dong, worth billions or even trillions, isn’t going to step in for you, and it might not even reach his ears.

But if you buy from Xianyu Digital and have issues that the manufacturer refuses to handle, customer service can really escalate the matter to Chen Ba.

Typically, when faced with such matters, Chen Ba will make a call to the company’s general manager or executive vice president.

It’s all about connections!

When a connection reaches the company’s top levels, can you expect the after-sales repair department to not treat "Xianyu Digital" like a revered figure?

Are you kidding!

More than just revered, they treat them with utmost respect, while individual users trying to send in repairs will face all sorts of delays and refusals. Repairs sent from third-party channels also face all kinds of pushbacks and procrastination.

But when Xianyu Digital sends something for warranty service...

Sir, dear, don’t worry, I’ll resolve it immediately. No need to call anymore! Your CEO is busy, no need to bother him with trivial matters that aren’t worth it!

Even the well-known Refused Protection Jia can’t withstand a call directly from Ba, their attitude becomes incredibly good.

This makes perfect sense!

After all, everyone involved is in big business, people with status, whose worth is counted in billions.

With such status, complaining about the repair and warranty of a single graphics card, making a special call to negotiate a solution?

Dude, if you’re not embarrassed, I certainly am!

But that being said...

The reason why these PC hardware manufacturers favor Xianyu Digital so much, and even indulge Ba, is deeply related to the GAL League.

"When’s the second one coming out?"

This was the question the AMD Greater China head asked Chen Ba during a dinner.

The "second one" he referred to wasn’t the second generation of some hardware, but the sequel to "Star Emperor."

As we all know.

Last year, the GAL League saw an unusual drop in attention, primarily because of the reduced number of "Star Emperor" players.

This is undoubtedly a deadly blow to the league’s environment.

So, the CEO of the GAL League’s operating company coordinated with the teams and their backers, and they all sat down for a meeting.

The meeting’s content was simple.

We’re all respectable people, for the future of the GAL League, let’s each contribute a bit of money and crowdfund a sequel for "Star Emperor."

This proposal was unanimously approved!

No kidding...

Making a game, even if it’s a top AAA standard game, is just a drop in the bucket for these big companies.

Let’s pool some money and get this done together, preventing the GAL League’s popularity from continuing to decline.

A peculiar scene emerged.

The dozen or so GAL League teams and their backers were practically throwing money at Chen Ba, urging him to quickly produce the second installment of "Star Emperor."

But Chen Ba was somewhat reluctant to accept this money that was offered to him freely.

His thoughts were simple.

What’s with these people giving him money? Are they looking down on him, on Tianba Studio, thinking Tianba Studio can’t afford it?

Who’s being underestimated here!

If they truly want to make "Star Emperor 2," Tianba Studio can cover all the development costs by itself, why would they need their help crowdfunded?

Moreover, this money is crowdfunded, so if it’s used for developing "Star Emperor 2," how does one determine the ownership of the game’s rights?

"Of course, it’s yours!"

The AMD regional head earnestly replied, "We’re funding this simply because we don’t want to see such a fantastic game as ’Star Emperor’ without a sequel. The ownership and rights of the game are naturally with Tianba Studio."

Who wants your lousy rights?

Come on! We guys make graphics cards, CPUs, hardware—that’s real high-tech stuff. Who needs your little game revenue?

Really, don’t be so suspicious!

If they were blunt about it, this money is just charity with no expectation of return, a gift to Tianba Studio, would Ba then stop being skeptical and accept the money?

"This can’t be..."

Upon hearing that this was indeed charity with no expectation of return, donated to him, Chen Ba instantly wore a shy expression like a young girl.

Hey, hey, hey, what is this?

He did nothing, just sleeping at home, and suddenly there are good Samaritans who think he’s pitiful, specially fundraising for him to make games, isn’t that so embarrassing?

Chen Ba originally didn’t want to accept it.

He’s a self-respecting and independent game producer. How could he accept such windfalls, the so-called "unearned" things?

But he couldn’t help it, it was too much...

The backing enterprises of these dozen GAL League teams managed to raise about $417 million for the development of "Star Emperor 2."

Oh wow!

After hearing this figure, Chen Ba threw his integrity, principles, self-respect all out of the window, his eyes practically turning into dollar signs $$.

The rich truly have deep pockets!

Faced with such an amount, enough to produce a top-tier AAA game, Chen Ba’s knees started to buckle slightly, even feeling that being kept is quite a happy thing.

"Then it’s settled!"

"As soon as the promised funding is in place, the ’Star Emperor 2’ project will commence immediately, a word is a bond, double happiness, boss’s generosity!"

Any moment’s hesitation would be disrespectful to 400 million dollars.

Chen Ba’s bottom line is very flexible, immediately agreeing to the matter.

However, he also remained cautious, suggesting that the project starts when the funding is received, to avoid empty promises, working without getting paid in the end, that would be a major misfortune, wouldn’t it?

"Rest assured, rest assured, we’ll transfer the money to you right away, just hope you start the development of ’Star Emperor 2’ as soon as possible!"

The $400 million might sound like a lot, and it is indeed a lot, since when converted, it’s more than 2 billion RMB.

But this money isn’t borne by just one company, it’s collectively raised by over a dozen large enterprises. And these enterprises include tech giants like Microsoft, Sony, NVIDIA, AMD.

That’s just a drop in the bucket!

For Ba to actually doubt they wouldn’t provide this money is somewhat insulting to them.

What kind of international joke is this?

In these dozen or so fundraising companies, even Daren Shuo, the relatively less powerful one, throwing out tens of millions of US dollars is just a game.

The only problem is...

After putting out this money, how do they explain its purpose and whereabouts to investors and the board?