Losing Money to Become a Tycoon: Starting with Games
Chapter 492: DGE Esports Club
Seeing the bewildered look on Zhang Yuan's face, Pei Qian felt absolutely delighted.
Haha, didn't see that coming, did you?
In the past, it was always everyone else putting question marks over his head. Now he finally had the chance to make them feel confused for once!
Surprised? Unexpected?
In truth, Pei Qian had already anticipated this possibility and had deliberately laid a trap in advance.
Still, watching Zhang Yuan innocently walk straight into it brought him a special sense of satisfaction.
What would be the hottest genre in the future of esports?
Pei Qian believed it would undoubtedly be MOBA games. FPS titles had potential too, but he doubted they would ever become as popular in China.
If he simply copied the future from his memories, then over the next few years the esports scene should belong to IOI and Divine Revelation, while all other titles would lag far behind in popularity.
But this was a parallel world, and anything could happen. He couldn't be certain how events would unfold.
Take IOI, for example. It looked a lot like League of Legends, yet there were many subtle differences. The lore was completely different, the gameplay and details varied considerably, and even the timeline didn't match.
The butterfly effect was a terrifying thing. A tiny deviation at the beginning could lead to vastly different outcomes.
After some thought, Pei Qian concluded that Divine Revelation was originally inferior to DOTA. Up to this point, he hadn't heard any news about it becoming a standalone online game, which meant it probably wouldn't happen anytime soon. He wasn't sure what had gone wrong.
Meanwhile, IOI also seemed somewhat weaker than the League of Legends he remembered. Whether in gameplay or in Fingertip Games's design philosophy, something seemed slightly off.
On the other hand, their own game, GOG, was expanding through the domestic market at breakneck speed, as if it had been injected with steroids—a development that gave him endless headaches.
Given the current trajectory, Pei Qian felt that Divine Revelation was in the most danger. It still wasn't a polished standalone online game with a proper matchmaking system, meaning it was handicapped from the start.
By the time the esports scene truly matured, it would probably come down to a battle between IOI and GOG.
The interesting part?
Both belonged to him.
GOG went without saying—it was entirely developed and operated by Tengda Group.
As for IOI, its operations were effectively under Tengda Group as well, since both Dream Fulfillment Ventures and Shangyang Games were wholly owned subsidiaries.
In esports, tournament organizers were not supposed to own teams competing in their own events.
It was like getting mud on your pants—you could explain yourself all you wanted, but nobody would believe you.
Even if the team were operated completely independently, would the audience trust that? Would other clubs?
How could you prove there was no favoritism involved?
If the club won, people would accuse it of colluding with the tournament organizer and claim the championship was rigged.
If the club lost, people would still mock it, saying that even with the organizer's support it couldn't beat the competition.
Therefore, there were only two options.
Either Zhang Yuan's club would become completely independent and sever all ties with Tengda Group before participating in GOG competitions.
Or the club would have to focus on other game titles.
The first option was obviously impossible.
As for the second, if they couldn't participate in either GOG or IOI tournaments, the club would never gain much popularity anyway. It would still be a pointless effort.
Besides, most esports clubs in the world operated at a loss. Wealthy corporations kept them around mainly for advertising and brand exposure, while enduring year after year of financial losses.
Pei Qian couldn't help feeling a bit proud.
No matter how he looked at it, he was standing in an unbeatable position.
Zhang Yuan, what are you going to do now?
At that moment, President Pei desperately wanted to put his hands on his hips and laugh triumphantly for three straight minutes.
At last, one of his talented employees had experienced the feeling of being blindsided without any warning.
Zhang Yuan remained silent for a long while.
He had come fully prepared to establish a GOG esports team, only to have President Pei shut the idea down with a single sentence.
The esports industry was still immature. It lacked both popularity and professional standards, so Zhang Yuan had never realized that tournament organizers weren't supposed to own competing teams. As a result, he had stumbled into a major misunderstanding.
So the question now was... ?
Zhang Yuan instinctively looked toward President Pei.
In the face of this dilemma, it seemed that only President Pei could provide an answer.
At that moment, however, there was a faint smile lingering at the corner of Pei Qian's lips. He looked as though he wanted to say something, yet chose not to.
Zhang Yuan couldn't help but feel puzzled.
What does that expression mean?
Being unable to establish GOG or IOI teams should be terrible news for the club, yet President Pei didn't seem upset at all.
Could it be that President Pei already knows the solution but isn't telling me? Is he trying to make me figure it out myself?
Frowning slightly, Zhang Yuan cautiously asked,
"President Pei, then which game do you think our club should build a team around?"
Pei Qian chuckled.
"GOG."
Since you've asked so sincerely, I'll answer sincerely as well.
First, GOG would probably lose to IOI in the long run. If they built a GOG team and then GOG died off, the team would die with it. All that effort would be wasted.
Second, even if GOG survived, the team still wouldn't be allowed to participate in official tournaments.
No matter how he looked at it, he was standing in an invincible position.
Of course, these were reasons he would never share with anyone.
Zhang Yuan stared at him in astonishment.
President Pei's answer was completely unexpected.
After going around in circles, they were still choosing GOG?
But they couldn't even compete!
Zhang Yuan felt dizzy. Once again, President Pei's wisdom seemed beyond his comprehension.
Pei Qian was very satisfied with Zhang Yuan's reaction, but he had no intention of continuing the discussion about why GOG had been chosen.
The more he explained, the more chances there were for something to go wrong. If he accidentally triggered some strange chain reaction, things could become awkward.
"So," Pei Qian said, decisively changing the subject, "does the club have a name yet?"
Still preoccupied with the previous conversation, Zhang Yuan took two seconds before responding.
"Uh... I originally came up with a rather imposing name: World Champion. But when we started designing the team logo, I suddenly realized the abbreviation might be a bit problematic, so we scrapped it."
"How about you name it, President Pei?"
Pei Qian smiled.
"Sure."
As someone familiar with countless esports teams, Pei Qian knew all sorts of famous names:
World Elite, Invictus Gaming, Royal Never Give Up, FunPlus Phoenix—all excellent names.
But whenever President Pei named something, he always pursued a favorable omen.
Not because he was superstitious.
Mainly because saying the name out loud made him feel better.
The problem was that all those team names belonged to organizations with outstanding achievements.
That clearly didn't match President Pei's expectations for his own team.
After thinking for a moment, he suddenly remembered a team that seemed impossible to defeat.
"Our team's name will be DGE!"
Zhang Yuan blinked.
"DGE? What do those letters stand for?"
Pei Qian explained,
"The full name is Dark Geni E-sports!"
As for the name's real meaning...
It was actually the initials of the Chinese phrase Da Gan Er ("Big Godson").
If LGD (Old Godfather) could somehow manage to take first place from the bottom, then surely Big Godson would surpass its predecessor and become even more of a hopeless little brother among little brothers.
As for why it wasn't called Small Godson instead—
Pei Qian was worried that two negatives might make a positive and backfire completely.
Zhang Yuan carefully savored the English name.
"That's a great name! It's powerful, easy to remember, and the full English title has a certain depth to it."
Pei Qian felt things were more or less settled.
The matters concerning Dream Fulfillment Ventures and the esports club had been arranged. The chances of them somehow succeeding against his expectations seemed very low.
However, considering the relationship between Ma Yang and Zhang Yuan, Pei Qian felt he should add a few more words of caution.
Clearly, Ma Yang was far more interested in the esports club than Zhang Yuan was.
So there was always the possibility that Ma Yang might "lend" some of the people from Dream Fulfillment Ventures to Zhang Yuan.
These people were all high-ranked Divine Revelation players. Even after switching to GOG, they could easily reach Master rank. Although they were already in their twenties—considered relatively old for esports—the professional GOG scene had barely begun. There was a chance that this group of veterans could actually make some waves.
Therefore, Ma Yang had to be separated from Zhang Yuan, and Dream Fulfillment Ventures had to be kept separate from DGE Esports Club.
At the same time, since DGE Esports Club was practically destined to lose money, Pei Qian needed to remind Zhang Yuan not to be stingy. He should spend freely instead of pinching pennies.
Pei Qian cleared his throat.
"Recruiting from the high-ranked ladder is the right idea, but age must be taken into account. Young people have faster reflexes and greater potential. Those are the kinds of people suited for professional play."
"And another thing: if some internet café attendant claims to be a gaming genius and asks to join the team, absolutely do not believe him. Kick him out immediately."
"Also, don't skimp on facilities. Rent a villa directly. Once you've picked a location, let me know, and I'll arrange for Moyu Delivery to provide food exclusively for the team."
"In short, never save money where money should be spent. Remember the spirit of Tengda Group!"
Zhang Yuan listened carefully and nodded.
"Understood, President Pei!"
Pei Qian then turned toward Ma Yang.
"Old Ma, you can spend more time at the club and help Zhang Yuan out. As for He Desheng and the rest of you, some gaming as a hobby is fine after work, but don't get involved with the club."
Ma Yang's eyes lit up.
"Just leave it to me, Brother Qian!"
He Desheng and the others also breathed a sigh of relief, silently thanking President Pei from the bottom of their hearts.
Pei Qian knew that He Desheng's group understood GOG far better than ordinary players, so under no circumstances could they be allowed to have anything to do with DGE.
As for Ma Yang, placing him at DGE would be the perfect way to disrupt the team's training plans. At the same time, if Ma Yang became completely absorbed in esports, Pei Qian wouldn't have to worry about him causing trouble by investing in companies like Finger Games again.
Meanwhile, He Desheng and the others had been worried that President Ma might suddenly decide to drag them all into professional esports. Gaming was only a hobby for them; none of them actually wanted to become professional players.
A perfect outcome for everyone!
Well... everyone except Zhang Yuan, who felt even more confused than before.
Pei Qian chuckled and patted him on the shoulder.
"Don't be confused. Spend more money, and everything will work out."
He felt a tiny bit guilty toward Zhang Yuan, but giving DGE a larger budget could serve as compensation.
. . .
After seeing President Pei off, Zhang Yuan became even more troubled.
He was still obsessing over the esports club.
President Pei had explicitly instructed him to build a GOG team and to invest heavily in it.
But it didn't make any sense!
Zhang Yuan racked his brain.
'Calm down. Use the way of thinking I developed while managing the internet café and ROF PC-building business. Try to interpret President Pei's intentions.'
'Tournament organizers can't own teams. It's the same reason a referee can't also be a player. That's a fixed rule and isn't going to change.'
'There are only two options: either separate from Tengda Group, or give up on GOG entirely.'
'Yet President Pei told me to continue building a GOG team.'
'That means he's clearly chosen a third path…'
'What makes this third path special?'
'No matter what, DGE won't be allowed to participate in GOG's official tournaments!'
Then a thought suddenly occurred to him.
'Wait. If a team can't participate in official tournaments, does that necessarily mean it can't survive?'
'Well... actually, yes, it can't survive. Without tournaments, there'll be no exposure or publicity. Without exposure, there'll be no sponsors and no prize money. What's the point of running a team then? It would just be burning money for entertainment.'
'Damn it! This time I really can't figure it out!'
Zhang Yuan wanted to pull his hair out.
This puzzle seemed even harder than any of the challenges he had faced before.
After struggling with it for a long time, he finally gave up.
'Forget it. I'll just follow President Pei's instructions faithfully.'
'So many of his decisions looked irrational at first. Yet as long as we followed them and persisted, they eventually turned around in unbelievable ways.'
'Yes. I should trust President Pei!'
Zhang Yuan decided that if he couldn't understand it, he simply wouldn't think about it for now.
Rent a villa.
Scout promising players from the ranked ladder.
Handle all the preparations for establishing the club.
In short, he would start acting according to President Pei's instructions first—and figure out the reasoning later.