vstars Chapter 480 Projects that Impact the Industry
Chapter 480 Projects that Impact the Industry
Sure enough, there was a knock on the office door five minutes later.
Zhou Mingzhe pushed the door open and came in, with Chen Mo following behind him. The two of them sat down in the chairs opposite Lu Ran's desk, one after the other.
Zhou Mingzhe was still holding the cup of tea that had gone cold, while Chen Mo's hands were empty.
Lu Ran leaned back in his chair and looked at them, waiting for them to speak first.
Zhou Mingzhe spoke first, his voice soft but his tone direct: "You mentioned expanding enrollment at the meeting earlier, and I'd like to confirm that with you again. I understand there were so many people in the room, so there were some things you couldn't say. Now it's just the three of us, could you clarify what you didn't say?"
Chen Mo nodded in agreement and added, "I'm not against expanding recruitment. But it requires money, people, and time. Our user base has shrunk by 70%, revenue is declining sharply, and Shanda and NetEase have sided with Tencent. If we expand recruitment on a large scale at this point and don't produce significant results within three to six months, we won't even have enough money left to pay severance."
Lu Ran didn't answer immediately after hearing this. He picked up the water glass on the table and took a sip. The water was cold, just like Zhou Mingzhe's cup of tea.
He put down his cup and looked at the two people opposite him: "I made three points at the meeting, but those three points were for other people to hear. Now I'm going to tell you the fourth point."
He paused for a moment: "The real purpose of expanding recruitment isn't to show the market we have confidence, nor is it to build up manpower for that project. The real purpose is to weed out those who cannot be trusted."
Zhou Mingzhe's brow twitched slightly: "You mean—"
"TUTU's employee benefits are relatively high in the industry. How high? For the same position, our salaries are 30-40% higher than the average, the year-end bonus starts at six months' salary, and overtime pay is calculated by the hour and is never delayed. These conditions attract mostly people who are genuinely interested in working hard. But there is also a small group who are attracted by the high compensation. They may only want a high salary, and they don't care much about the company's development."
"This round of attacks by Tencent is a good opportunity for me to test this litmus test. Those who start sending out resumes as soon as they hear a little bit of news, those who forward articles saying 'TUTU might be finished' on their WeChat Moments, those who privately contact headhunters to inquire about opportunities at other companies—these are the people who usually receive high salaries from TUTU, but when the company needs them most to stabilize the situation, their first reaction is to find a way out for themselves."
"The longer these kinds of people stay, the more damage they do to the company. Rather than letting them stay in the team and stab us in the back when a bigger crisis comes, it's better to give them a reason to leave now. Expanding recruitment is that reason. We'll put all the positions up for recruitment again, letting interested people see that we're still moving forward. Those who have already considered leaving will automatically think, 'The company is about to go bankrupt, why are we still hiring?' and then they'll proactively talk to headhunters. It's much more dignified for them to leave on their own than forcing layoffs."
After listening to this, Zhou Mingzhe remained silent for a few seconds, then placed the now-cold teacup on the table: "You're right. There is indeed a group of people who came for the high salaries. When things are going smoothly at the company, they're perfectly fine, but as soon as trouble arises, they start scheming for their own benefit. Keeping these people around is definitely not as good as letting them go."
Chen Mo nodded beside him: "So that project you mentioned at the meeting earlier—was it a deliberate bait for them?"
"Fifty-fifty," Lu Ran said. "The project does exist, but it's not as big as I described. When I said 'bigger than all existing products combined,' I wasn't thinking about a specific game, but an entire industry. No one has truly entered that industry yet, but if they do, it could definitely change the landscape of the gaming industry."
Zhou Mingzhe leaned closer: "What track?"
Lu Ran leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment about how to phrase his words.
He doesn't intend to say it directly; at least, it's not the right time yet.
Because once those two letters are spoken, Zhou Mingzhe and Chen Mo's questions will become "how to do it" and "how long will it take to do it".
He can't give the answers to these two questions right now because he hasn't fully studied the specific technical solutions for that system.
He chose a different approach: "A technological route that can significantly improve the efficiency of game developers. I'm still working out the specifics, but the direction is clear. If this path works, we can reduce the development cycle of a new game from two years to less than six months, and the cost can be reduced to one-third or even less. At that point, even if Tencent tries to block us by tying Shanda and NetEase together, they won't be able to stop us."
Zhou Mingzhe did not respond immediately after hearing this.
He leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling, his fingers tapping lightly on his knees, as if he were quickly assessing the feasibility and market value of this technological approach in his mind.
Chen Mo was more direct: "You say that 'no one has actually ventured into this technical route yet,' so how can you be sure we can?"
"Because I see the direction more clearly than they do," Lu Ran said. "They're still frantically focusing on visuals, special effects, and storylines. Those things are important, of course, but no amount of focusing will bring about a qualitative change. What can truly shift the industry's gears is a leap in development efficiency. Whoever can achieve that first will leave everyone else behind."
Zhou Mingzhe looked away from the ceiling and back at Lu Ran: "Okay. I trust you. Let's do as we discussed at the meeting, starting with the first batch of expanded recruitment. I'll work with HR tonight to come up with a plan regarding the priority order of specific positions."
Chen Mo chimed in, "I'll cooperate on my end too. The channels and relationships in Shanghai are stable now, and Wang Huabing doesn't have anything urgent on his plate right now, so he can dedicate half his energy to recruitment support. He has a wider network in the industry than we do, and he can directly connect people with suitable candidates for some senior positions."
Lu Ran nodded: "Okay. It's settled then."
Zhou Mingzhe stood up to leave, but stopped at the door, turned around and looked at Lu Ran: "President Lu, one last question."
"you say."
"If the worst-case scenario occurs, and Tencent not only blocks the login interface but completely shuts down our exposure across all Tencent-affiliated channels, with Shanda and NetEase following suit, our user base won't recover within six months—what do you plan to do then?"
Lu Ran thought for a moment: "If it doesn't recover within six months, it means our current product line and operational strategies are no longer sufficient to cope with this level of competition. At that point, we won't just need to expand or contract; we'll need to completely change our approach."
"What's that playing style?"
"I haven't decided yet. But I'll figure it out when the time comes."
Zhou Mingzhe looked at him for two seconds, then pushed open the door and walked out.
Chen Mo followed a step behind, and when he reached the door, he turned back to look at Lu Ran and said, "When you were saying those things in the conference room just now, your expression reminded me of someone."
"who?"
"A former boss of mine from my time at Tencent. He was always the most energetic when everyone else thought there was no chance. Your expression today is exactly the same as his back then."
Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
"That's good news," Chen Mo said. "He later led that person's company to an IPO."
The door closed.
Lu Ran was the only one left in the office.
He sat in his office chair, stared at the closed door for a few seconds, then picked up his phone and checked the access data of the recruitment backend.
TUTU Technology's job postings on several recruitment websites saw a significant increase in visits today compared to yesterday, and the number of resumes submitted also rose accordingly.
He didn't know how many of those who submitted their applications genuinely wanted to come, how many were just there for the fun of it, or how many were sent by Tencent to gather information.
But he didn't care about these things, because he never expected that this round of recruitment would fill all the positions within a week.
The real purpose of this round of recruitment expansion has never been to recruit more people.
He put down his phone, opened the drawer, and glanced at the blank notebook.
He turned to the first page and wrote two letters on the first line.
Then he put down his pen, closed his notebook, and put it back in the drawer.
The industry is about to undergo a dramatic change.
...