Tencent's gaming division has always been a cash cow.
It holds significant influence within the entire group.
The reason is simply that making games is incredibly profitable.
Those seemingly lackluster gacha games, with their heavy reliance on microtransactions, are incredibly profitable.
The appearance of Black Myth: Wukong immediately alerted Tencent to a potential business opportunity.
Similar situations have actually occurred before.
China is vast; there will always be passionate and talented game developers who dedicate themselves to creating excellent games.
However, as soon as these games emerge, they attract the attention of giants like Tencent and NetEase.
In the eyes of Tencent, the process is straightforward.
Contact the game developers and discuss acquisition.
So-called ideals, beliefs, and pursuits are inconsequential in the face of capital.
If someone still insists on pursuing their ideals, it simply means the offer is not high enough.
But this time, Tencent's staff found they couldn't get in touch with Black Myth: Wukong's developers.
The mysterious developers only left their information on the gaming platform.
The problem is that the platform wouldn't easily disclose this information.
The atmosphere in the conference room grew tense. "Contact Douyin, find their executives, and locate the streamer who premiered Black Myth: Wukong on the platform." Mr. Ma, the CEO, instructed grimly.
"He was able to play the game before its official release." He continued.
"Even if this streamer isn't the game developer, they must have a close relationship with them."
As soon as Mr. Ma finished speaking, someone immediately took action.
As a tech giant, Tencent naturally had frequent business dealings with Douyin's parent company.
A glow of anticipation spread across the faces of Tencent's executives in the conference room.
To them, Black Myth: Wukong was already a fish on the chopping block.
And it was a particularly fat fish.
If they could swallow it, their year-end bonus might double!
Everyone's heartbeat quickened, their breathing grew heavy.
The conference room was filled with the palpable desire for wealth.
…
At this moment, Xu Tian Tian had finished exploring the Guanyin Zen Monastery and arrived at the back mountain of the bamboo forest.
She activated the land temple at the back of the bamboo forest.
After saving the game, she chose to end the stream.
After all, she had spent a lot of energy slaying three bosses in one night.
As soon as Xu Tian Tian went offline, she saw a table full of seafood barbecue and milk tea in the dining room.
Xu Chen was arranging fruits.
"Come, have some late-night snacks after your hard work on the stream."
Xu Tian Tian's eyes lit up at the sight of all her favorite foods on the table.
The lingering emotions from her encounter with Ling Xu Zi in the game quickly dissipated.
Moments later, Xu Tian Tian was munching on a skewer of grilled meat with one hand, and sipping milk tea with the other.
"Brother, you wouldn't believe it, there were at least a million viewers in my stream, and they were all amazed by my gameplay!" she exclaimed.
"I'm so smart, I instantly figured out the weakness of the big-headed ghost - they only attack from the ground."
"So I immediately respecced, leveled up the Polearm, and climbed up to a place where it couldn't reach me!"
Xu Tian Tian acted like a monkey, hopping around while eating and drinking.
Xu Chen couldn't help but smile.
The sweet and lovely Xu Tian Tian in the live stream was always her true self in front of Xu Chen.
Just then, Xu Tian Tian's phone rang.
"Who's calling this late?" she wondered aloud.
"Hello, is this..."
"Cut it out, I'm the President of the United States!"
Xu Tian Tian hung up the call.
"Who was that?" Xu Chen asked.
"Some idiot got my number and said he's the CEO of Douyin, Zhang Xiao Ming." she replied.
"Really funny. Are scammers even getting more creative these days?"
Xu Tian Tian took another sip of milk tea.
Unexpectedly, a phone call came through two minutes later.
Xu Tian Tian furrowed her brow, about to ignore it, but realized the caller was someone she knew.
"It's the head of Douyin's department, the one who contacted me before. Weird, why's he calling me?"
After answering the call, Xu Tian Tian heard the same male voice as before.
"Ah? You're really Zhang Zong from Douyin?" she asked.
"Yes, it's me. Xu Tian Tian." he replied.
"What? Tencent's Mr. Ma wants to chat with me personally?" she said in disbelief.
"Whoa... Okay, tell him to call me. I'll take the call."
"Yes, yes. Don't worry, I won't hang up."
Xu Tian Tian hung up the phone, still stunned.
"Brother, it was actually Zhang Xiao Ming, the CEO of Douyin, who called." she said, her voice trembling.
"He said Tencent's Mr. Ma wants to talk to me." she continued.
"If this had happened three days ago, I would have thought it was some obscure vocabulary." she said.
"They're just Chinese words, why can't I understand them when they're put together?" she asked, still in shock.
Xu Chen smiled slightly. "You're a big streamer now. Naturally, you'll be in contact with different kinds of people."
"Get used to it." he advised.
"Don't scare Mr. Ma later." he chuckled.
The phone rang, and after a few minutes, Xu Tian Tian hung up, her face serious as she approached Xu Chen.
"Brother, Tencent's Mr. Ma asked if I'm willing to sell Black Myth: Wukong. They want to buy it." she reported.
"He also said the price is negotiable. They'll pay whatever you ask." she added.
Xu Chen nodded slightly when he heard Xu Tian Tian's words.
Tencent moved fast.
They smelled the opportunity and came knocking.
They even involved two billionaires whose combined wealth exceeded hundreds of billions.
You have to admit, their business acumen and greed for money were impressive.
Seeing Xu Chen deep in thought, Xu Tian Tian felt a little anxious.
"Brother, what do you think?" she asked nervously.
"Are you really going to sell it to them?" she inquired.