Chapter 22: Proving Value Beyond Creativity (1)
The atmosphere in Polaris Interactive's conference room was distinctly different from other companies David had encountered.
On one side of the long table sat David. On the other side were Robert Chance, Polaris's CEO, a sharp-eyed, composed middle-aged man;
Mark Anderson, the VP of Business Development, whose attitude had been somewhat firm in previous email exchanges; and Sam Chen, the CTO, who wore black-rimmed glasses and had been silently reviewing documents.
David's opening was still the concept video.
As the crude but conceptually clear character in the video jumped from the transport plane, as the shrinking safe zone on the map slowly tightened like a noose,
and as the words "Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner!" appeared with exhilarating sound effects, David clearly saw the eyes of the three executives opposite him instantly light up.
It was the undisguised excitement and hunger of industry professionals seeing a groundbreaking creative concept.
"Gentlemen," David turned off the projector, his voice steady and confident, "This is the core experience of 'Survival Arena: Battle Royale' that I'm presenting. It's not just a game mode—it's an entirely new game genre."
He then distributed the design document summary, which had been iterated multiple times and was dozens of pages thick.
CEO Chance quickly scanned the table of contents and core rules section, his fingers unconsciously tapping the table.
VP Anderson focused more on the market potential analysis and user demographic profiles.
And CTO Sam Chen immediately immersed himself in David's newly added appendix on technical implementation concepts, his brow sometimes furrowed, sometimes relaxed.
The meeting's first half went exceptionally smoothly. David's explanation was logically clear, and his understanding of games far surpassed ordinary players, even many industry designers. He could not only describe gameplay but also explain the design logic behind it and the desired player psychological experience.
Next, the three Polaris executives each posed crucial and incisive questions.
Anderson led off: "With such high anticipated development costs and ongoing server maintenance fees, the traditional one-time purchase model would likely struggle to cover costs and risks. And if we adopted a subscription system,
it would inadvertently create barriers, keeping many potential players out. Have you considered a sustainable profit model?"
David didn't answer immediately, turning his gaze to Chance. Seeing this, Chance spoke up with another question: "Such a hardcore, high-freedom, high-frustration game—I mean, a game where most players might not survive more than a few minutes—can it really be accepted by the mainstream market? Will it ultimately just be a niche geek carnival, unable to achieve commercial scale?"
No sooner had Chance finished than Sam Chen interjected, his tone precise and technical: "One hundred players in the same arena, a large-scale map, real-time synchronized interaction, physics calculations...
This sounds like a massive technical and hardware challenge and a bottomless pit for network bandwidth. In the existing commercial hardware and network environment, do you think this is truly feasible? How do we solve the potentially fatal latency and data synchronization issues?"
David listened, well-prepared, smiled slightly, took a deep breath, and began his clear, structured response:
"Thank you all for raising such critical questions. This gives me an opportunity to elaborate on deeper considerations beyond just the creative concept."
"First, regarding technical feasibility." He looked at Sam Chen. "You've hit the nail on the head. Yes, this is one of the biggest challenges. But it's not insurmountable.
If you read the manual in your hands through to the end, you'll find in the appendix that I've initially explored a regional server architecture based on dynamic load balancing,
as well as a tiered data synchronization strategy based on player distance and visual relevance. We don't need to synchronize all data for all 100 players to each other every moment—that would indeed be catastrophic.
We can use technical means to ensure each player's client only processes limited information 'relevant' to them. Simultaneously, I believe hardware performance will rapidly advance according to Moore's Law, and in a year or two, what seems like a bottleneck today might no longer be an issue.
What we need now is finding a 'good enough' solution under current technical constraints, and my concepts provide a feasible path."
As Sam Chen listened, his fingers involuntarily flipped through those appendix pages. After just a few glances, a hint of surprise and deep thought flashed in his eyes, and he began reading more deeply, apparently rapidly digesting and evaluating these solutions' feasibility.
"Second, regarding the business model." Seeing this, David turned to Anderson. "I'm leaning toward a hybrid model of 'base game purchase' combined with 'continuous content updates and microtransactions.' Players pay a one-time, reasonable fee to purchase the core game.
Ongoing server operating costs and profits are then covered by selling purely cosmetic items that don't affect game balance at all—such as personalized character outfits, weapon skins, parachute patterns, and so on.
This ensures game fairness while providing players a channel to express individuality and support the game, forming a healthy revenue cycle."
Anderson stroked his chin. This model was still relatively novel in the PC online game market at the time, but he could understand its potential.
"Finally, regarding market risk." David met Chance's gaze, his tone full of conviction. "Precisely because it's unique enough,
it can carve out a blue ocean in a red ocean. Traditional team competitive games have left some players feeling fatigued and constrained.
They crave more freedom in strategic choices, and the adrenaline rush from relying on personal snap judgment and survival instincts. This 'every round is unknown' experience is extremely addictive and highly shareable.
Risks certainly exist, but the reward is—creating and dominating an entirely new game genre. This is worth the gamble."
David's answers were well-reasoned and substantiated, acknowledging difficulties while offering practical thought directions,
especially the foresight in technical and business models, which made the three executives present regard him with newfound respect. The conference room atmosphere grew more serious and earnest because of these solid responses.
However, when the discussion inevitably shifted to the most crucial aspects—cooperation models and profit distribution—the temperature in the conference room abruptly dropped.
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