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墨書 Inktalez
Li Hong, accompanied by Loli, got into Ma Ge's car and arrived at a stylish Western restaurant in the city.
It seemed that Ma Ge had made prior arrangements. As soon as they entered the restaurant, the waiter served their food and quietly left, leaving just the two of them in the private room.
Charlie seemed to understand that this was not an appropriate setting for him, so he took Loli to a nearby private room for lunch.
Ma Ge noticed Li Hong's somewhat reserved demeanor and chuckled, "I’m sorry to disturb you right after your flight. That was inconsiderate of me."
"It’s no trouble at all. I couldn’t ask for more than to have lunch with you," Li Hong replied with a smile.
Ma Ge was not someone to be underestimated, but until he revealed his true intentions, Li Hong had to greet him with a smile.
From any perspective, Ma Ge was a top-tier business mogul. Although Li Hong had achieved some success, it paled in comparison to Ma Ge's Penguin Empire. The fact that he could sit down with Ma Ge to discuss potential collaboration felt like a surreal dream to Li Hong.
"Alright then," Ma Ge said with a laugh. "There's no point in wasting time on small talk; let’s get down to business."
Here it came!
Li Hong knew that this was the moment Ma Ge would make his move.
Although Yuewen Group was also a subsidiary of Penguin Holdings, it was insignificant compared to Penguin's main business. If it were merely about collaborating with Yuewen Group, Ma Ge wouldn’t have traveled all the way from Penguin City to Magic City just to meet Li Hong.
Ma Ge's intentions were likely more complex than that.
"While I don’t usually oversee things at Yuewen, I can still speak on certain matters. Your Sweet Potato Films is a capable film company, and we would love to collaborate with you on web literature rights. I’m giving my approval for this," Ma Ge stated casually.
His words carried little weight; Yuewen Group already had plenty of partners. Adding Sweet Potato Films wouldn’t make much difference, nor would losing them. Since such partnerships were interchangeable, it was better to agree first and open up further discussions.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Ma," Li Hong said with a smile.
Although the collaboration had been informally agreed upon, until contracts were signed, unforeseen complications could still arise.
With this moment of cooperation seemingly secured by Ma Ge, there was no longer any doubt. At least it allowed Li Hong to finally relax the tension he had been feeling.
Of course, Li Hong knew that this was just a gesture of goodwill from Ma Ge. His main purpose had not yet been addressed, and it wasn't the right time to discuss it.
"It's nothing. I also value your Sweet Potato Films," Ma Ge said, taking a sip of tea from the table. "I heard that you are not only the actual holder of Sweet Potato Films but also the current hottest boss of Fist Game?"
Li Hong felt a chill in his heart; he had suspected that Ma Ge's main target would be Fist Game, and it turned out to be true.
"Yes, I am the boss of Fist Game." This was something anyone could find out with a little inquiry, so denying it would serve no purpose and would only make everyone awkward.
Ma Ge smiled with satisfaction. "Mr. Li has a keen eye. Fist Game has been making quite a splash lately. Even our Penguin Games' Three Hundred Million Students and Toxic Milk Powder can't overshadow the momentum of Goddess Alliance."
"Not at all, Mr. Ma is overpraising us. Compared to Penguin Games, we at Fist Game are still just beginners. We have much to learn from our predecessors," Li Hong replied with a laugh.
Ma Ge's intentions were clear; he had seen through everything long ago. But he had nothing better to offer, so he decided to play along for now. If he couldn't push things further, he would simply refuse later.
Ma Ge chuckled, "You're being too modest. Our Penguin Games has always started as an agency; we can't compare to you who create your own games. If anyone should be learning, it's us from you."
At this point, Ma Ge shifted his tone and asked thoughtfully, "By the way, how about we establish regular communication between our two companies? It would help us learn how to create a successful game."
"That sounds good; we welcome it. To be honest, we also want to communicate with Penguin Games. After all, this is our first time operating such a large-scale game with players; compared to Penguin Games, we still lack some experience."
This was a mutually beneficial arrangement, and Li Hong readily agreed. He also understood that Ma Ge was trying to use this opportunity to lure their designers away.
However, what Ma Ge didn't realize was that there was something called loyalty lock-in in this world. His attempts at poaching were destined to fail.
After sharing a laugh, Ma Ge expressed regret, "Mr. Li, your words resonate with me deeply. Our two companies each have their strengths; if we could combine them, wouldn't the entire gaming industry be under our control?"
Seeing Li Hong merely smile without directly responding to the topic, Ma Ge asked seriously, "Really, Mr. Li, are you not considering our offer for Penguin's acquisition? I believe that with the strength of both our companies combined, we could dominate the entire Game Industry."
"Mr. Ma, let's forget about the acquisition," Li Hong replied. "We at Fist Game just want to focus on making our own games without complicating things too much."
This had been his initial thought when he brought Fist Game back from Shroud World: to create a relatively simple game. While Penguin Games had its merits, their games were filled with money and profit motives, which never quite aligned with Li Hong's philosophy.
Upon receiving Li Hong's rejection, Ma Ge frowned and asked, "Is it a matter of pricing? If you think there's an issue with the offer, we can sit down and discuss it."
"It's not a matter of the offer; in fact, Mr. Ma's offer is already quite high, far exceeding my expectations for Riot. But the reason I declined is that I want to preserve the purity of making games at Riot."
The first offer from Penguin was eight hundred million dollars, and after Li Hong rejected it, they raised their bid to one billion dollars. No matter how you look at it, this offer shows respect for Riot. After all, in Li Hong's mind, he never imagined that Riot could be worth so much.
The emergence of Goddess Alliance changed many people, including Li Hong himself.
If someone had told him before the launch of Goddess Alliance that Riot could sell for a high price of one billion dollars, Li Hong would have undoubtedly sold it without hesitation.
But people are emotional beings. Having spent so long with Mark Tiamat and others, he had developed feelings for them. He understood that when League of Legends was acquired by Penguin, Mark and the others were actually quite disappointed deep down. Penguin might be a good home, but it wasn't suitable for focusing on making games.
Rather than engaging in internal strife within a large corporation, fighting over trivial benefits, it would be better to hold onto his own little piece of land and focus on making games peacefully.
This was the thought that Mark and the others conveyed to Li Hong after receiving Penguin's offer. Now, it had also become Li Hong's own thought.
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