Chapter 9

People's names are like the shadows of trees; those in the know, upon seeing "Gooseman," knew it was Li Ming, one of the top independent game developers of the era. Through the creation of *Counter-Strike*, he had secured a position with a 200,000-dollar annual salary at Valve Corporation. However, Wang Fubu, not being from this era, had no idea of the significance of this nickname.

But if someone could discover his login and quickly post a top-pinned thread to find him, it must mean something good was coming. Wang Fubu was very excited but couldn't find the so-called message box for a moment.

It wasn't Wang Fubu's fault; the message box was placed in a very inconvenient spot, a small corner of the discussion board. When Wang Fubu finally clicked into it, he found that the messages had already piled up to dozens of pages, all from "Gooseman."

The content was the same: Gooseman introduced himself as one of the creators of *Counter-Strike*, expressing admiration for the quality of *Rage* on behalf of himself and the company, and hoping that Wang Fubu could add him on MSN to discuss further.

Here it comes!

Wang Fubu was thrilled. Although he was confident that this forward-thinking game would succeed, he still felt a bit anxious until it was certain.

MSN was a software developed by Microsoft, which had recently added a chat function. Wang Fubu first downloaded, then installed, and registered... It took him quite a while to get it set up. This was one of the reasons MSN couldn't compete with QQ in China—it was inconvenient.

"Hi!" Wang Fubu greeted first.

"Hello, are you Chinese?" Gooseman, or Li Ming, typed in English from the other side of the world.

"Yes." Wang Fubu was greatly surprised. How did the other party know?

"If it's more convenient for you, you can type in Chinese. I can understand Chinese, but I can only communicate in English. Sorry." Li Ming was very respectful, without a hint of arrogance.

The two Valve founders standing behind Li Ming were stunned. When they invited Gooseman, the guy had been so arrogant, his nose almost pointing to the sky. Had someone beaten him up? Why was he so easy to talk to now?

Wang Fubu didn't know the situation. He wasn't a businessman and didn't plan to beat around the bush. He wanted to keep things simple and said, "Thank you. Let's get straight to the point. What do you think of the quality of *Rage*?"

Li Ming immediately translated for the two bosses: "The creator of *Rage* says he's asking us from the mountain, how is the game?"

The meaning changed when it was relayed. The two Valve founders looked at each other. They had also quit Microsoft to start their own business, and *Half-Life*, which sold millions of copies worldwide, was made by them working through the night. No matter what, they were among the top software developers in the world.

But the Chinese developer of *Rage* started by saying he was on the mountain! How confident was that guy in his skills?

But games were straightforward. Everyone knew that, whether in terms of technology or design, *Rage* stood at an unprecedented height.

The two founders discussed for a while and decided that this was the expert's negotiation strategy, testing Valve's patience with an arrogant attitude. They decided to lower their stance and said, "Tell him that the quality of *Rage* is very good. We believe this game model has a broad market potential."

Wang Fubu was anxious in the internet cafe. The other side, Gooseman, took two minutes to give a formal response to a simple question.

He thought for a moment and quickly typed, "Let's be straightforward. I hope *Rage* can collaborate with *Counter-Strike* and Valve."

"Great is great, the tone is authoritative yet dignified. Look, 'collaborate,' what a good word choice," Sun Yifeng flattered from the side.

On the other side of the world.

Li Ming's forehead was sweating as he translated, "He says he doesn't like talking much. He seems to want to get straight to the point and hasn't left us any room for negotiation!"

If Wang Fubu were standing in front of him, he would have hit him with a brick. "Straightforward" was explained like this?

The two founders were immediately alarmed when they heard Li Ming's translation. Experts were usually like this; they wanted to prove themselves more than anything else. They quickly asked, "What else did he say?"

Li Ming wiped his sweat, "He said he wants to collaborate with *Counter-Strike* and the company, and he is indeed hoping to be acquired..."

"That's good." The two founders breathed a sigh of relief, discussed for a while, and decided, "Since he doesn't like business stuff, let's not beat around the bush. Just ask him the price."

Wang Fubu suspected the other side was using a dictionary to chat. It took another two minutes to get a response.

Seeing the inquiry about the price, Wang Fubu didn't know how to quote. After all, selling a game he made was different from tricking a coal boss into investing. His former boss, a rich second generation, would boast about having several international projects to trick others into investing millions... Trickery did require talent, and Wang Fubu, being naturally shy, couldn't do it.

"I am content with what I have. You can decide the price," Wang Fubu typed quickly.

Li Ming looked at the Chinese characters on the screen, his face pale, "He wants us to quote a price and says he will only smile if we give him enough money."

The two founders were alarmed. This was tricky. If they offered too much, the company would lose money; if they offered too little, the expert would leave.

Suddenly, one of them asked in surprise, "You mean 'enough' money, not 'a lot' of money?"

Li Ming looked at the character "enough" in "content with what I have" and nodded, "Yes, 'enough' money."

The two founders slapped their heads, suddenly understanding, "We get it. He doesn't want us to just throw out a number. That way, both sides might lose. He wants us to make a fair judgment and achieve a win-win situation!"

They instructed Li Ming to hold Wang Fubu and brought in an accountant to calculate the price they should offer Wang Fubu.

"Based on *Rage* selling 500,000 copies, first assess the risk, then deduct the company's costs and profits, and add the value of future sequels. How much should we pay him?"

The accountants divided the work, using *Half-Life* as a benchmark, and various formulas flew around, creating a chaotic mess.

Wang Fubu didn't understand what was happening. He only heard that Li Ming said the founders required the accountants to calculate the value.

Wang Fubu was deeply moved. Indeed, this was the style of a future game giant. Even if they were the owners of the company, they wouldn't make decisions in areas they weren't experts in but would leave it to professionals. This was one of the essential qualities of a successful company...

"Look at them, company leaders never make decisions on a whim. If I start a company in the future, you must remind me constantly," Wang Fubu marveled. He saw the truth of success in this small "detail."

"Okay," Xia Ci nodded, though she didn't understand.

Soon, the other side calculated the amount.

"Valve will fully operate the *Rage* brand, and the buyout price is 210,000 US dollars. If you are willing, Valve can offer you a position with an annual salary of over 250,000 US dollars," Li Ming typed, envious.

The price of *Rage* was seven times higher than *Counter-Strike*. But Li Ming knew that the completion levels were completely different. Even the Beta version of *Rage* could be packaged and released, while the initial version of *Counter-Strike* only had two characters, a few guns, and one map.

210,000... Wang Fubu first checked the exchange rate of RMB to USD in 2000, which was 1:8. So 210,000 US dollars was 1.6 million RMB! He hugged Xia Ci tightly, unable to contain his excitement.

"In a few days, you can really live a carefree life as a little princess!" Wang Fubu laughed heartily.

Xia Ci's face turned slightly red, and her natural shyness made her push Wang Fubu away. She turned her head, thinking she had already been a princess.

"I am very satisfied with this price. I only plan to sell *Rage*. Sorry, but thank you for your invitation," Wang Fubu said. He didn't want to go to the United States and, in fact, didn't want to work for anyone else.

Li Ming was surprised. A 250,000 US dollar annual salary was very generous, almost a dream come true. And the other party refused it outright? Didn't countless Chinese people try every means to get into the United States?

"Are you sure you won't reconsider? You can get stock options after six months of employment, and when Valve goes public in the future, you will instantly become a millionaire," Li Ming insisted.

"Thank you, but everyone has their own aspirations," Wang Fubu was very firm.

"I understand." This time, Li Ming understood that the other party had his own ambitions and stopped persuading him. But he thought, what ambition could be more important than 250,000 US dollars a year?

Next, they began to discuss the acquisition agreement for *Rage*. When Li Ming heard that *Rage* was already completed and that Wang Fubu was currently uploading version 0.5, he was astonished.

"After version 0.5 is released, don't release any other updates. The company will send someone to China as soon as possible to complete the acquisition agreement," Li Ming paused for a long time and then sent another message, "Our boss said that if you have already completed *Rage*, the risk assessment and other formulas should change, and the acquisition price will be much higher. The specific amount will be determined when we arrive in China."

It turned out that the 210,000 US dollars was calculated based on the performance of the *Rage* Beta version. They had also included the costs of future expansions, without knowing about the complete version of *Rage*.

Wang Fubu didn't mind; 210,000 US dollars was enough for him. Of course, more money was always better.

After a few more exchanges, Li Ming suddenly made another request, "Additionally, our other founder is very interested in the game engine you used."

Engine? Wang Fubu was a bit embarrassed. Once, after Valve developed a new engine, they released the old engine, which had no more potential for improvement, to the public. Wang Fubu used this engine to create *Rage*.

In other words, Valve was now asking for the engine they would improve to its limit in the future.

Wang Fubu felt embarrassed about charging for this engine but couldn't give it away for free.

What should he ask for?

Wang Fubu suddenly realized he was talking to the creator of *Counter-Strike*. *Counter-Strike* was a game that had been popular in China for a whole decade!

"I can use this engine to exchange for the operating rights of *Counter-Strike* in China," Wang Fubu said.

"Operating rights? I can't make that decision. Let me ask," Li Ming said.

---

End of the page.