My capital is quite large.

Chapter 215 A Layman Guiding a Professional

Although the S3 World Championship ended with a crushing defeat for the LPL region, this "anti-Korean" battle did not dampen the enthusiasm of Chinese players as many had expected.

On the contrary, the overwhelming global viewership during the competition, along with the fervent engagement of countless young Chinese people, caused the domestic capital market to boil over!

Jinling, Haofeng Networks Headquarters Building.

Chen, the director of the game division, has been working non-stop these past few days. His desk is piled high with sponsorship quotes from top domestic and international brands.

"Mr. Li, LPL has really become a hot commodity this time!"

Old Chen excitedly reported to Li Feng, holding a newly signed, high-profile contract, "After several days of bidding and negotiation, we've finally secured the LPL's lead sponsor for next year! It's Mercedes, the highest bidder!"

"Mercedes-Benz not only provided a cash sponsorship of 80 million RMB, but also provided all the official vehicles for the league! This is the kind of treatment you only get for traditional sporting events!"

Upon hearing this news, Li Feng nodded in satisfaction.

The fact that LPL was able to drag Mercedes into this mess means that its commercial value has shed the low-end label of "internet addicts playing games" and has officially entered the ranks of mainstream high-end commercial sponsorships.

"As for those secondary endorsements for gaming chairs, peripheral keyboards, and energy drinks..." Old Chen said with a smile, "I won't bother you with them."

"Yes, let the lower-level staff handle the sponsorship of these scraps."

Li Feng casually asked, "What about Tencent? How's their 'DPL' league, which they practically copied from us pixel by pixel, doing?"

Mentioning his old rival, Old Chen's face showed a hint of schadenfreude.

"Don't even mention it! Tencent is in a complete mess right now!"

"While their DOTA2 game attracted a wave of players by appealing to nostalgia, their so-called DPL domestic esports league still hasn't found a proper title sponsor! Apart from a few small workshops selling pork floss cakes and peripherals on Taobao willing to contribute some sponsorship fees, the real big-name investors don't even give them a second glance!"

"Compared to the vibrant energy and flourishing of our LPL, their place is practically dead!"

In esports, the winner takes all.

Capital has the keenest sense of smell. Since Haofeng's LPL has already captured more than 90% of the domestic e-sports popularity and traffic, who would still throw money at a lukewarm knock-off league?

……

A few days later, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang.

Inside a private club by West Lake, imbued with the ambiance of a Jiangnan water town, the aroma of tea wafts through the air.

Zhang Yuxi, the newly appointed chief secretary to the president, was carefully holding a purple clay teapot and pouring tea for Li Feng, who was sitting in the main seat.

Although she had been raised and trained by Zhang Xinyu for three years, and etiquette and rules were already ingrained in her bones, this was still the first time she had come with the big boss to meet such a big shot.

Her hands trembled slightly, almost uncontrollably.

"Keep your hands steady, relax. You're representing Haofeng's image now," Li Feng glanced at her and casually reminded her.

"Yes, boss." Zhang Yuxi took a deep breath, suppressed her unease, and obediently stepped behind Li Feng.

Shortly after, the wooden door to the private room was pushed open.

Jack Ma, the head of Alibaba Group, walked in with a beaming smile, surrounded by several entourage members.

"Oh, Brother Li! I'm sorry to have kept you waiting!" Jack Ma laughed heartily and stepped forward to shake hands firmly with Li Feng.

"Mr. Ma, you're too kind. I just arrived recently." Li Feng said calmly, pointing to the seat opposite him.

After the two sat down, Jack Ma picked up the tea that Zhang Yuxi had poured, glanced at the new secretary who had a mixed-race look, and got straight to the point without asking any questions.

"Brother Li, your World Championship event was really well organized! It made quite a splash!"

Jack Ma made an exaggerated gesture, his tone full of admiration, "Esports binds together the nationalistic sentiments and competitive spirit of a group of young people. That's a very good model! The capital market loves to hear this kind of good story!"

"However..." Jack Ma changed the subject, with a hint of teasing, "I think Pony Ma seems to be borrowing your competition format again lately. His DPL is completely modeled after your LPL."

When Jack Ma mentioned penguins, Li Feng smiled indifferently.

"Pony is just like that. If he can buy it, he buys it; if he can't, he copies it."

Li Feng exposed the true nature of Tencent Games' empire: "They have always lacked self-developed capabilities; at their core, they are just traffic dealers who focus on social networking and channel distribution."

"Looking around, the only self-developed game that Tencent Games can be considered successful seems to be 'QQ Three Kingdoms,' which was a pixel-perfect rip-off of 'MapleStory' back in the day, right?"

"And what happened? The game is a complete mess now. I heard it's full of businessmen and studios running a breeding ground for scams, and ordinary players can't survive at all. If they can't even manage an old game, how can they be expected to understand and manage the grand scheme of esports?"

Jack Ma listened to Li Feng's analysis and nodded repeatedly in deep agreement.

"That makes sense! Tencent simply lacks the DNA for content creation!"

After finishing his gossip about his old rival, Jack Ma put down his teacup, his eyes becoming somewhat serious.

"Speaking of games, Brother Li, when SoftBank's CEO Sun talked to me on the phone the other day, he specifically mentioned something."

"Boss Sun said that SoftBank just invested over a billion US dollars in Supercell, the Finnish company that makes Clash of Clans!"

"Spending over a billion US dollars to buy shares in a mobile game company! With smartphones becoming so ubiquitous these days, the future of mobile games is absolutely immeasurable!"

Jack Ma looked at Li Feng with a hint of inquiry in his eyes as he said this: "There are rumors going around that Haofeng is going to shift its focus entirely to PC esports. Brother Li, is Haofeng really planning to withdraw from the huge mobile game market?"

"Exit the mobile game?"

Upon hearing this, Li Feng laughed and said, "Mr. Ma, those are just rumors spread by those who don't know the industry."

"We at Haofeng originally started with mobile games, so how could we possibly hand over the market to others? Mobile games will naturally still have a place in our core business in the future."

"Besides, even if I don't release any new games for the time being, every single one of the new touchscreen mobile games on the market that uses multi-touch and physical drag-and-drop interaction logic will still have to pay patent fees to Haofeng!"

Hearing this, Jack Ma understood immediately: "I knew it! You, Brother Li, wouldn't do anything without a profit; how could you possibly do a losing deal!"

"Since you're an expert in this field, Brother Li, I happen to have something I'd like you to advise me on today."

Jack Ma's smile faded, and his expression became somewhat serious.

"Recently, Alibaba has also been looking into the mobile game sector. Our team has their eyes on a martial arts card game called 'Grand Master,' which is performing very well and is very profitable."

"However, eBay has recently been bidding against us for the acquisition rights to this game. The price has been driven up by both sides, and it's now reached 17 billion RMB!"

Jack Ma looked at Li Feng and asked, "Brother Li, do you think it's worth it for Alibaba to invest 17 billion?"

17 billion to buy a "The Great Master"?

Upon hearing this name, a hint of mockery flashed in Li Feng's eyes.

But in retrospect, Alibaba's purchase of "Immortal Tao" from him for a staggering 25 billion yuan can be considered a helping hand.

Today, he's happy to repay this e-commerce godfather's favor.

"Mr. Ma, I heard..."

Li Feng looked at Jack Ma with a half-smile: "Although this game uses a lot of martial arts characters and manuals from Jin Yong's novels, it didn't get Mr. Jin's authorization!"

Upon hearing this, Jack Ma's expression froze!

Without Jin Yong's authorization?!

This means that this is an infringing product that could be removed from all online platforms at any time!

Such enormous copyright legal risks, yet the team responsible for the game acquisition didn't mention them at all in the report, and even encouraged him to spend 17 billion to bid against others?!

"Snapped!"

Jack Ma slammed his hand on the tea tray, causing the water in the teacup to splash out.

This wasn't just a matter of almost wasting money; it also made him lose face in front of this young internet peer!

"Brother Li, thank you for the reminder!"

Jack Ma, his face ashen, pulled out his phone and, in front of Li Feng, dialed the number of the person in charge of Alibaba Group's digital entertainment division.

As soon as the call connected, Jack Ma launched into a tirade:

"What were you guys doing doing the due diligence?! The IP infringement risk of 'The Great Master' is so high, why wasn't it mentioned in the report?!"

"17 billion yuan to buy a time bomb that could be taken off the market at any moment?! Do you want me to appear in court as a defendant?!"

"Immediately! Get the entire project team responsible for this game acquisition fired! Lay them all out!"

After hanging up the phone, Jack suppressed his anger and put on a smile as he looked at Li Feng.

"I'm sorry to have troubled you, Brother Li. The people under you are really unreliable."

"Mr. Ma, you flatter me." Li Feng smiled slightly, indicating his understanding.

Seeing Jack Ma's furious expression just now, Li Feng shook his head inwardly.

Why have Alibaba's games never taken off in the past? This phone call is the best example.

It's common practice for outsiders to guide insiders in Alibaba's entertainment sector.

It's not just games; Alibaba's investments in film and television, as well as its broader entertainment sector, mostly follow this pattern of using e-commerce KPIs to evaluate content.

This inherent flaw means that Alibaba will forever remain a nouveau riche in the pan-entertainment field, waving money around but unable to buy core competitiveness.

Therefore, Li Feng knew very well what was going on.

There will never be a substantial core conflict between him and Jack Ma.

Alibaba focuses on e-commerce and payments, while Haofeng focuses on content and traffic.

They can keep to themselves and even become complementary strategic allies on the front lines of targeting penguins.