A Returner’s Successful Investment Method - Chapter 630



Only Krnovel

Episode 630 UDT (5)

[I’m doing well. The move was also successfully completed.]

Nice to hear your voice after a long time.

Perhaps David was the same, but I could hear the joy in his voice.

“How is the new office?”

[great. All the employees also like it. We also prepared a separate room for the boss.]

“oh! “I’m looking forward to it.”

Is it now possible to recline your chair as much as you want and put both feet on the desk without worrying about what other people think?

“How is Maggie doing?”

[I am working hard at school. He wants to see the boss.]

“uh! really?”

I also want to see Maggie soon.

In the past, I envied people with money, but these days, I envy people who have pretty daughters the most.

I also need to give birth to a pretty daughter soon… … .

[I saw the destruction of neo-Nazis well. I would like to applaud you with my honest feelings.]

“Do you hate neo-Nazis?”

[of course. I feel embarrassed to be a fellow white person.]

It’s not just the United States that these guys are talking about, it’s the same in any country that has the Internet.

There is a similar group in Korea… … Any further detailed explanation will be omitted.

David said curiously.

[For some reason, accidents happen constantly where the boss goes.]

“uh… … .”

I think I heard a similar story a few days ago. Listening to this story makes me feel like I’m really causing the accident!

[Now that I think about it, another big incident happened.]

“The UDT incident? “Already, game companies are all in an uproar because of that.”

[After looking at the reform plan, I think it is worth it. Royalties per download, not sales.] I asked him.

“Why do you think UDT revamped its rate plan in such an unusual way?”

David answered that question right away.

[It’s probably because of mobile advertising.]

“oh… … .”

I was amazed on the inside.

I can’t believe you understand this right away.

After all, you have to be at this level to be called the investor of the century.

[CEO Raphael’s strategy to use games using his company’s engine as an advertising platform is excellent. If we do well, UDT could become a company like ATube.]

As can be seen from his actions at AE, it is no exaggeration to say that Owen Raphael has a natural talent for generating profits, if nothing else.

[I was expecting that UDT would raise rates. But you pulled out the sword faster than expected.]

“uh! Did you know?”

[yes. Regardless of the stock price, the financial situation was bad.]

UDT does not have anything to say about this rate plan reform.

UDT Engine dominated the market with low usage fees. In other words, this means that profitability is decreasing.

Moreover, due to spending a lot of money on R&D and mergers and acquisitions, there was a loss last quarter.

So, they must have started to make money in earnest by raising the usage fee.

“How is the stock market reacting?”

[Positive.]

“Why?”

[If profits from the revised plan and game-based mobile advertising are successful, UDT’s profits will increase explosively. Some securities companies are already raising their target stock prices.]

It’s as they say.

After the announcement of the rate system reform plan, there was a strong backlash in the gaming world, but UDT’s stock price actually rose slightly.

“That only depends on success.”

David seemed to pause for a moment at my words.

[Are you saying the rate reform will fail?]

“yes.”

[…] … .]

Since he didn’t say anything for a while, he seemed to be calculating in his head what kind of repercussions there would be if he failed.

[How much do you expect the stock price to fall?]

“well. “It will be at least 80 percent gone.”

[Are you serious?]

I could hear the confusion in his voice.

“yes. UDT’s current stock price includes expectations for future profits and trust with game companies. “If these two collapse, it will be difficult for the current stock price to be maintained.”

The reason game companies and developers used the UDT engine was because they had trust in UDT. But this incident broke that trust.

Even if UDT belatedly withdraws its reform plan, who would believe this?

[How are you so sure?]

Since I returned, I have made many investments and changed many things.

It didn’t have much of an impact in some areas, but it had a very big impact in other areas.

Among these, the gaming industry belongs to the latter.

Block Games and Legend Games were acquired, and SW Games was created. In addition, it succeeded in acquiring Ice Storm, which is considered one of the best game companies.

Because of this, a lot has changed in the gaming industry compared to the first time.

The release of Fantasia Tales R, the success of Legend Store and Legend Deck, the huge box office success of Overclock 2 and Mephisto 5, etc.

Therefore, there is no guarantee that the same thing will happen as in the first time.

If someone had asked me a few days ago if I was sure that UDT would revamp its pricing plan, I would not have had an easy answer.

But once something happens, the result is bound to be the same.

In case that isn’t the case… … .

“Because I will make it happen.”

If the future prediction is uncertain, all I have to do is make it clear.

After a moment, David answered.

[All right. We will proceed with the investment right away.]

* * *

While Sunwoo was running around trying to come up with a solution, a white man who appeared to be in his mid-50s came to Ice Storm.

I looked at him and said.

“You’re here again.”

He nodded.

“Ah yes. “Because it is such a serious issue.”

His name is Jim Schneider.

As the editor-in-chief of GameSpark, he is the most influential among game industry reporters.

It’s only been a few days since I interviewed you about the Mad Men incident, so I can’t believe you’re here again.

When I heard the story, it was said that he had been in LA all this while covering other game companies.

“Have you done any research on other game companies about the UDT situation?”

He smiled bitterly.

“To be honest, all the larger game companies refused to be interviewed.”

“As expected.”

95 of the top 100 game companies are closely related to UDT.

Since you don’t want to be caught carrying a gun first, you may want to wait and see how the situation unfolds.

“So you came to us again.”

“yes. “I think CEO Kang Seon-woo would say something.”

Hearing this story, I think that Kang Seon-woo has suddenly become a very influential figure in the gaming industry.

This is all thanks to me raising good friends.

A developer who grew up on his own?

“Welcome to the right place.”

* * *

I watched the interview between Editor-in-Chief Jim Schneider and Seonwoo Kang from the sidelines.

The interview was conducted from the main point, skipping the greetings.

“What do you think about UDT’s rate plan reform plan?”

Sunwoo answered right away.

“In a word, bullshit is policy.”

Real men in the gaming industry don’t pay attention to UDT.

Seonwoo spoke passionately.

“Whether it’s taxes or fees, it’s understandable if a lot of money is collected from people who earn a lot. If you had said that you would take $100,000 if you earned $1 million and $10,000 if you earned $100,000, you would have understood the purpose, even if you were dissatisfied with the ratio. However, if UDT’s reform plan is followed, it is possible for companies that earn less money to pay more money.”

“Are you saying that small game companies, indie game companies, and solo developers may suffer greater damage than large game companies?”

“That’s right. Let’s take an example. An indie game developer earned $200,000 by creating a decent game and uploading it to the app market. The developer, thinking he had made enough money, made the game free-to-play as a thank you to gamers. But what happens if this game suddenly becomes so popular that it gets downloaded an additional 2 million times?”

Editor-in-Chief Schneider said.

“Are you saying that a situation could arise where a developer who earned $200,000 would have to pay $400,000 in royalties to UDT?”

“That’s right.”

“But isn’t the probability of that happening extremely small?”

“If you’ve ever played gacha, you know that, no matter how small the probability, someone is bound to get caught. Also, do you think it makes sense for developers to worry that too many people might play the games they create?”

Next, there was a discussion about how to measure the number of downloads such as reinstallation, abusing, and cracking.

“UDT claims that $0.2 per download is not an expensive price compared to competitors.”

Seonwoo shook his head.

“no. As it is an additional fee from the existing subscription plan, it is expensive enough. What I don’t understand is the policy toward Chinese game companies. UDT announced that it would set US and Korean game companies $0.20 per download, and classify China as an emerging country and cut it by one-tenth. “This can only be attributed to UDT being watched by Chinese giant game companies such as Wechant and LetEase as well as Chinese regulatory authorities.”

China is a huge gaming market competing with the United States for first and second place.

However, thanks to being classified as an emerging market, Chinese game companies and developers only have to pay $0.02.

“You are saying that you are pouring money into developed markets where you can easily raise money, and taking a generous policy toward China, where you can’t.”

“That’s right. Moreover, this cannot be seen as a problem exclusive to developers. “There is a high concern that gamers will also suffer great damage if UDT’s plan to revise its payment plan is implemented.”

“Why?”

“If you charge per download, games with higher ARPU will be more advantageous. On the other hand, games with many non-paying users are at a disadvantage.”

ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) is the average revenue per user.

Game companies cannot do business at a loss, so they have no choice but to figure out how to extract money from non-paying users.

“Udity Engine’s rate plan reform is likely to bring about changes in the game industry’s business model. If this is not prevented, it will lead to damage to gamers. “This is clearly an evil law.”

Then Editor-in-Chief Schneider asked.

“But aren’t evil laws also laws? No matter how much game companies and developers protest, they will have no choice but to follow UDT’s new fee policy.”

“We are currently preparing measures to address this.”

Editor-in-Chief Schneider’s eyes lit up at those words.

I guess I never thought there would be a solution.

Seonwoo spoke firmly.

“However, we would like to clearly state that we will stand on the side of game companies and gamers.”