Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

"We'll know after seeing the players' feedback in two days."

Pei Qian did not pay much attention to this. As long as Meng Chang was still working hard to pursue commission, he was trustworthy.

He could not tell if this publicity plan was feasible yet.

Even though news of Ghost General 2 had been released and the demonstration video of actual combat had caused some response among the gamers of Ghost General, the popularity had not spread yet.

Most of the people who expressed their anticipation below Ghost General 2 were old gamers and combat enthusiasts of Ghost General. This group of people only accounted for a small portion of the gamers. Their attitudes did not represent anything.

The investment for Ghost General 2 was huge. Whether it could recoup its capital depended on how far it had broken out of the circle. How many players from non combat games could be willing to pay for it.

If only combat gamers liked it, the best outcome would be not earning it.

Thus, Pei Qian was in no hurry to observe.

At the moment, he had many more important things to do.

"Let me see how 'Safe and Civilized Driving' is going."

"Hm…"

"The game is very popular, but the sales volume is alright. It's slightly better than I imagined."

Pei Qian first looked at the sales volume of Safe and Civilized Driving and realized that it was not as popular as many other Tengda games.

Safe and Civilized Driving itself was a huge investment. These sales would indeed not be able to recoup their costs in the short term.

Pei Qian could roughly guess why the sales volume was optimistic.

The main reason was that this game model had made a contribution!

At the moment, most of the racing games in the market were similar. The difficulty of the early stages was very low. The keyboard and controller could be better used.

Even some particularly hardcore driving simulators would at least add a driving support system so that players could successfully complete the entire process after entering the game.

Yet, 'Safe and Civilized Driving' was not only a very hardcore driving simulator, but it was also a novel driving license test!

This segment was the ultimate dissuasion for opponents and keyboard players.

Of course, some keyboard and controllers could pass the driver's license test with their superb micro-management skills. However, such gamers were rare after all. What's more, they had to spend a lot of time and effort.

Thus, this driver's license test dissuaded many people.

He tested his driver's license several times but failed no matter how hard he tried. Then, he glanced at the time. Coincidentally, it was still within the refund allowance period.

What was there to hesitate about then? Refund it!

This time, there was no official ridicule like Repent and be Saved. Players were very determined to refund the game.

After buying the steering wheel and passing the driver's license test, the game experience would indeed rise in a straight line. However, most players would not be able to persevere to this step.

Spending a few thousand yuan on the steering wheel in order to play games meant that if you gave me a plate of vinegar, I would specially make dumplings, right?

Many people had this mentality. Thus, they would rather become cloud players and watch the streamers fail the test time and time again than suffer in the game.

That was why the current situation happened: Many keyboards and controllers were dissuaded, and many players were hesitant about buying the steering wheel and watching.

Even though the game 'Safe and Civilized Driving' had caused a heated discussion online, it had only temporarily brought its popularity to the live-stream circle and the hardcore driving simulator circle. It had not really broken out of the circle and reached the level of 'national games' for some racing games.

Pei Qian could not help but heave a sigh of relief after reading this.

It was still alright!

Pei Qian had been in a state of fear for a long time after the results that the Passat made. He was afraid that the collision function of this game would cause a terrifying chain reaction that would cause the game to become popular.

However, from the looks of the current situation, the situation did not seem that bad.

Even though the game had gained in popularity, it did not seem to be working on sales for now.

Many people on the internet were treating the Passat matter as a joke, dealing a huge blow to the domestic sales of the new Passat. However, most people would not choose to buy it because a game had exposed the quality of the Passat, right?

Pei Qian could not help but relax.

"How's the sales volume of the Kangkang Safe and Civilized Driving Simulator?"

"Hmm… not bad."

From the sales figures, it did not look as popular as the Fully-Automated Bickering Machine and smart fitness drying rack. There was no shortage of goods on the product details page. It looked quite good.

"It's perfect!"

Pei Qian could not help but feel surprised. The current situation had already exceeded his expectations.

Wouldn't it be a huge success if the game did not become popular and the simulation equipment did not become popular?

Pei Qian was no longer looking forward to good things like the game's sudden death. He did not want no one to care about the game. As long as it remained within a small group of people, it did not matter how good its reputation was. In any case, he could not break out of the circle. He would not be able to recoup the huge investment.

Given Tengda's current size, they were investing all their efforts in every new project. Thus, the definition of 'success' was becoming higher and higher. It was no longer considered a success just to achieve the level that ordinary small companies could.

"Since that's the case, can we rent or buy a few more large warehouses?"

"I have to check on the warehouse!"

On a whim, Pei Qian decided to check on his inventory.

Tengda had several large warehouses and many warehouses in Jingzhou. The storage system was an internet layout: there were large warehouses in the outskirts of Jingzhou City in different directions. There were smaller warehouses near the Tengda physical industry integrated body of Fish-Catching Internet Cafe. Finally, there were also some goods in Upwind Courier stations.

The other cities were similar and were all planned according to this plan.

This level-three storage layout was like a dam upstream of the river. It could ensure that Upwind Logistics could send the products to customers as soon as possible. At the same time, it could ensure that there was no shortage.

Of course, the accumulation of goods in the inventory of these stocks was also very terrifying. Once the price fluctuated, they had no choice but to reduce the price of sales. So much inventory was enough to make some small companies that were weak enough to die a few times.

However, that was exactly what Pei Qian wanted.

From the looks of the current situation, as long as no one bought the accumulated prices, it would be a win-win situation: Pei Qian would win twice!

Whether he was forced to reduce the price and sell the stocks to incur losses, or whether he insisted on not lowering the price and allowed the stocks to continue to depreciate in the warehouse, Pei Qian had won everything.

Of course, the worst case scenario would be that all of these goods would be successfully sold. What's more, they would not be able to stop bleeding no matter how they prepared. That would be too scary.

However, that should not have happened yet.

Of course, not all of these warehouses were equipped with driving simulators. They were filled with various Tengda products. There were furniture and home appliances in the inventory, be it new products, old products, the digital products developed by Otto Technologies, or the furniture and home appliances that cooperated with other manufacturers.

Upwind Logistics was working hard to achieve the best of "delivering parcels to customers as soon as possible".

Pei Qian wondered if he could rent a new warehouse legitimately if all the driving simulators in the inventory were not sold.

The more warehouses he had, the better!

At that thought, Pei Qian called Ye Zhizhou, saying that he wanted to take a look at the warehouse in the outskirts.

After seeing the warehouse, he decided to talk to Ye Zhizhou about the game.

…

An hour later, Pei Qian arrived at the biggest warehouse in Tengda's outskirts.

Ye Zhizhou should already be waiting in the warehouse.

In fact, Pei Qian had wanted to call Chang You over. However, Chang You was still suffering on the island and would only be back at the end of this month. Thus, he did not call the others from Otto Technologies.

However, Pei Qian felt that something was amiss the moment he got off the car.

There were two huge trucks parked at the entrance. One was unloading the goods, and the other was assembling the goods!

The huge truck that unload the goods was filled with safe and civilized driving simulators. There was a set meal version that was packed together in large boxes. There was also a steering wheel, a joystick, and other small items that were packed separately.

Several forks and workers were unloading the goods in full swing. The drivers of the two large trucks looked quite young. They found a random place to sit at the side and smoke and chat while looking at the unloading of the goods.

"Have you played Safe and Civilized Driving?"

"What is that? I've never heard of it."

"Never heard of it? It's the thing we are pulling. There are simulated steering equipment behind it!"

"Is this a game? Why do I feel like something is amiss with this name?"

"It's just a game with huge trucks. It's very fun."

"Huh? You drive daily to get more goods. Haven't you had enough? Are you going to continue driving a truck in the game? Is your brain fried?"

"Yi, what are you saying? It's really different. You'll know once you try."

The two of them chatted happily and did not notice Pei Qian. They only treated him as an ordinary passerby.

However, Pei Qian lost his cool when he heard their conversation.

What was going on?

Even truck drivers pulling goods were playing this game?

Ridiculous!

However, on further thought, he was the driver of Tengda after all. He understood the use of this simulator and bought it out of curiosity. It seemed reasonable to train his driving skills at home when he had nothing to do.

It was not a big problem for truck drivers to play 'Safe and Civilized Driving'. The key was why there were still large trucks loading and unloading goods now?

That was the real reason why Pei Qian was on high alert.

Logically speaking, Tengda's stocks had been set up before the safe and civilized driving simulator was officially released. After they were imported from the factory, they were first transported to Tengda's large warehouses and then gradually spread to other cities, including some small stocks and Upwind Courier stations.

In other words, the warehouses should have been filled up long ago.

What was going on with such a large-scale production? There shouldn't be so much sales, right?

As he walked further in, Pei Qian noticed that the warehouse was also busy.

As Tengda expanded, so did the warehouses.

When Tengda first started to set up its own warehouse, it only had a small warehouse. The shelves were filled with digital products, internal storage, graphics cards, and the like. It was quite compatible.

Now, not only had the number of warehouses greatly increased, but the warehouse had also changed drastically. It had become a neat and tall shelf. All sorts of products had been placed in different categories, and small forks had been packed to collect goods.

Several small forks were busy sorting out various goods.

Ye Zhizhou had already arrived. When he saw Pei Qian, he quickly walked up to him.

"Boss Pei!"

Pei Qian looked at the situation in the warehouse as if he was facing a formidable enemy. "Recently… the sales volume of the Safe and Civilized Driving Simulator has increased significantly?"

Ye Zhizhou nodded. "Yes, Boss Pei, you already know?"

Pei Qian was stunned and did not know how to respond.

What do you mean by I already know?

Know my a * s!

I guessed it based on the abnormality in the warehouse!

A realization dawned on Ye Zhizhou when he saw Boss Pei's expressionless face. "Oh! Boss Pei, you didn't know, you predicted it, right?"

Pei Qian: "…"

While feeling incredulous, Pei Qian was also puzzled. The sales volume of the game did not seem to have skyrocketed.

Logically speaking, the number of people buying the safe and civilized driving simulator should be positively correlated with the number of people buying the game. The proportion of players playing racing games with the steering wheel should be roughly stable.

The sales volume of the game had not skyrocketed, but the number of people buying the simulator had. What was going on?