Chapter 697: A Friend in Need

“How much of the game have you completed so far? Can I try it out?” Qiu Hong asked.

Jiang Fan hesitated for a moment but then nodded in the end. “Of course, you can.”

After that, he opened the half-complete ‘Survival Guide for Working Adults’ game on his laptop and handed it to Qiu Hong for testing.

Jiang Fan was still slightly conflicted.

Until now, very little of the Survival Guide for Working Adults had been completed. It was an educational game, which meant that one would not be able to understand the core gameplay or experience any fun with such little content being available.

With the amount of content that the game had now, it would not be nearly as fun as it was meant to be. After all, the game was meant to be one whole piece.

However, since Qiu Hong wanted to give it a shot, Jiang Fan could not turn him down.

Simply describing the game would leave many gaps unfilled. Qiu Hong had to play the game himself to visualize how fun it was meant to be.

Preparing a slideshow would triumph a pure verbal explanation, and having a demo would triumph preparing a slideshow.

That was why Jiang Fan gritted his teeth and allowed Qiu Hong to try the game out. He sat by the side and watched, so that he could fix the game whenever bugs or gaps appeared.

Qiu Hong began to play the game intently.

This was an educational game that targeted ordinary working adults. Its art resources were mainly made up of 2D images, and it had interesting gameplay, along with proper character and plot development.

The only problems were that there were indeed many bugs, temporary art resources, incomplete storylines and gameplay, and so on. That affected the game experience to some extent.

Jiang Fan, who remained at the side to explain the game, could not help but offer reasons for the hiccups while perspiring profusely.

He had no other choice. Qiu Hong was supplying him with funds, and so he was the boss!

Jiang Fan could not afford to be careless. What if Boss Qiu became unhappy with something and decided not to invest in the game anymore? Wouldn’t Jiang Fan have a huge problem on his hands then?

The funds they had left in the workspace could only last them over a month at most. From the looks of the current situation, they would not have enough funds to see the game to completion.

If Boss Pei decided not to invest in it, the workspace would have to sit around and do nothing for a period. What’s more, if the game could not sell because it was incomplete, the workspace would lose everything, and all of its resources would have gone to waste.

The sale of games was considered a one-off sale for most game developers.

If the game was popular among customers, the workspace would only have to avoid messing up and continue to update content to make more and more money.

However, if the game was not popular, customers would not purchase the game no matter what improvements and edits followed subsequently.

It was rare for games to build a good reputation from constant improvement and editing alone.

After all, no one would be able to tell whether the game failed merely because it was incomplete or problematic at its core.

Continuing to invest resources in a failed project was far too risky, and few game developers would dare to make such a wager.

That was what people meant when they said that a penny stumped heroes.

Thus, on a certain level, the amount of money that Qiu Hong would provide today would determine the fate of the Survival Guide for Working Adults and Cherry Workspace.

As Qiu Hong played the game, he pondered very seriously.

He had been working hard on developing games with paywalls earlier, but he still had the ability to appreciate standalone games.

To him, this game had a chance of succeeding, but the chances were not high.

That was because a game mechanism like that was never before seen.

The game itself was an educational game, but it was different from other educational games in the market. Mini-games had also been thrown into the mix to make it more interesting.

What moved Qiu Hong even more was that the game’s description of’ ‘societal slaves’ was extremely apt. On one hand, the gamer would feel like it was a joke; yet, at the same time, they would feel a sense of bitterness.

Obviously, Jiang Fan had injected his own experience while working into the game as well. Otherwise, Qiu Hong would not have found it so easy to empathize with the depiction of societal slaves in the game.

The project completely fulfilled Boss Pei’s requirements!

To say that the game was unreliable… it was quite interesting and novel. Moreover, while it was largely incomplete, the general framework was already in place. The developer, Jiang Fan, had once succeeded in creating standalone games as well.

Yet, to say that it was reliable… Jiang Fan was a lawyer who had moved into developing games. His three other colleagues had illegitimate backgrounds in planning and strategizing as well. Leaving the innovation of the game to them was extremely risky, and there was no guarantee that they would be able to appeal to current gamers’ tastes.

What’s more, the project was short of funds. One could say that they were nearly at the end of the road.

Weren’t all the conditions for the ‘Destitution Plan’ satisfied?

At that thought, Qiu Hong decided not to carry on playing. He immediately said, “Not bad! This project fits the bill for the Destitution Plan. We have decided to invest!

“How much more funds do you think you would need to complete this project and maintain its quality?”

Jiang Fan was stunned. At that moment, he had no idea how to react.

You’ve decided to invest just like that?

That’s too rash, isn’t it?

Not even thirty minutes have passed since we began chatting!

When other investors considered investing, they always beat about the bush and refused to broach the main subject for a long time. When it was time to negotiate the contract, there would also be many additional clauses and a lot of bargaining, which often tired Jiang Fan out.

Yet, Boss Qiu had only exchanged a couple of pleasantries and experienced the game for ten minutes before deciding to invest. During those ten minutes, many lags and bugs occurred in the game as well.

Jiang Fan could not help but feel emotional. After serious consideration, he said, “Boss Qiu, based on the current progress, I think we will need about four hundred thousand yuan more!”

Qiu Hong nodded. “Alright. We will invest five hundred thousand yuan. Make sure that the game is produced perfectly!

“However, I have two requests.

“First, the game must be buy-to-play, and there must not be any in-game purchases available.

“Second, once the game is put up for sale, you hit the minimum quantity to recover your capital, and start generating profits; we will split the profits according to our investment. Based on the proportion of our investment… we’ll take thirty percent.”

Jiang Fan was dumbfounded. “That’s it?”

Qiu Hong nodded. “That’s it. What else could there be?”

Confused, Jiang Fan asked, “What if the game fails? What if we can’t even recover the initial six hundred thousand yuan?”

Qiu Hong answered, “We will only accept split profits after you recover the initial six hundred thousand yuan. If you don’t generate profits, we will not get a single cent.”

Jiang Fan was speechless.

That sounded too good. It was as good as giving him money.

Other investment companies that Jiang Fan had met with in the past wanted more than just shared profits. Many wanted shares in Cherry Workspace, and others were even bold enough to ask Jiang Fan to be jointly and severally liable.

Compared to those companies, Boss Qiu seemed like a charitable philanthropist!

Cherry Workspace would not stand to lose out at all if they took the five hundred thousand yuan, would it?

If the game failed to recover its capital, Boss Qiu would not ask the workspace for a single cent. That would be as good as giving the workspace five hundred thousand yuan for nothing. If the game generated profits, Boss Qiu would only get thirty percent of the profits. That meant Cherry Workspace would earn much more.

The conditions were so good that Jiang Fan found it difficult to believe.

Qiu Hong grinned. “All in all, you can take some time to consider the terms and raise any questions.”

Jiang Fan quickly nodded. “Of course, there are no questions! But Boss Qiu… your terms are so good that I’m finding it hard to believe this is true…

“Are you sure you’re not doing charity?”

Qiu Hong smiled. “Those are not my terms, but my boss’s.

“He had set all of those prerequisites in advance. He also told us what kind of company to invest in, how much profits to take, and so on.

“I’m just following his orders.

“Strictly speaking, he’s the initiator of the Destitution Plan, and he’s the one paying for it as well.

“Your workspace just so happened to fit his criteria perfectly. If you want to thank someone, thank my boss.”

For some reason, after hearing Qiu Hong’s words, Jiang Fan’s heart grew warm, and he felt like a spring breeze had just lightened his mood.

He felt like he had been walking in snow for a long time… when he was suddenly given a down jacket.

Developing independent games could be extremely lonely. With limited manpower, the workspace had to fix the endless number of bugs that kept appearing in the game, and they seemed perpetually far away from the finish line. They found it extremely difficult to get help from people in the same industry, games channels, or investors alike.

Once they started working on independent games, they could not turn back.

Most workspaces that developed independent games quietly disbanded without anyone knowing. It was rare for companies to succeed, generate profits, and achieve their goals.

Yet, now, the Destitution Plan made Jiang Fan feel like he was not alone.

Someone was willing to lend him a helping hand and help him quietly!

Deeply moved, Jiang Fan asked, “Boss Qiu, can I please ask who your boss is?”

Qiu Hong smiled. “I’m sorry, I cannot tell you that. I must keep it a secret. However, my boss is very famous in the game industry. You have probably heard of him before.”

Once again, Jiang Fan was stunned.

He was doing a good deed without leaving a name? Did such an ideal person really exist?

The ‘Destitution Plan’ was termed an investment project, but it was probably offering more help than anything else. More likely than not, it would end up incurring losses.

If its purpose was not profits, it was probably a reputation.

Yet, this big boss was doing it neither for profits nor for reputation. Was he really intent on doing good deeds? Did he really just want to assist in the development of domestically-produced independent games?

How noble and generous must he be?!

There were many big bosses in the local game industry, and so Jiang Fan could not figure out who this one was. Still, he only had respect for him.

Qiu Hong stood up. “If you have no other questions, I’ll go back and prepare the contract. Once it’s signed, we’ll transfer the funds at once.”

Everyone at Cherry Workspace stood up. “Alright, Boss Qiu. We’ll do a good job of the Survival Guide for Working Adults!”

Qiu Hong smiled and nodded… and then left Cherry Workspace.

For some reason, he had an amazing feeling.

What he was doing now seemed much more meaningful than everything that he had been doing for the past few years combined.

Seeing those young people in Cherry Workspace reminded Qiu Hong of himself many years ago.

He had also been filled with drive and dreams.

Yet, those young people were much luckier than he had been.

If he had had the help of something like the Destitution Plan back then, would he have persisted in the field of standalone games?

Feeling emotional, Qiu Hong headed towards the next game workspace that he had to inspect.