Chapter 167 Global Interview (X) Public Execution (√)

There is no doubt that over the past six months, the Honor of Kings professional leagues around the world have been on a rapid decline.

The popularity of the club plummeted, many players left, and some small clubs went bankrupt.

The situation was precarious and it was falling step by step into the abyss.

But as a once-global e-sports overlord, Honor has never lacked fans to this day.

They see the current state of the game and the league and are anxious about it.

There is something wrong with the league, there is no doubt about that.

But what went wrong?
For ordinary fans, it may not be possible to figure it out.

First of all, the rapid rise of the League of Legends next door is definitely the most important.

An e-sports game with more advanced concepts, more sincere operations, and a more perfect competition system has kicked the aging Honor of Kings into the coffin.

But is it just because of the emergence of competing products?
After all, you were once in the first league of glory!
Can you stand up and resist for a while?
But for more than half a year, the Glory Leagues around the world have basically failed to form an effective resistance.

Even the most basic games were suspended, and they just lay there and were ridiculed.

Fans can accept that the Glory League is gradually approaching the end of its career, but they cannot accept the official attitude of completely giving up and not striving for progress.

Over the past six months, countless posts criticizing and insulting the official operations have been posted in major communities of Honor.

The fans felt sorry for their players' difficult lives during the suspension, and at the same time, like red-eyed bulls, they were looking for a target to hit.

But the problem is that the concept of "league official" is somewhat too abstract as a target.

It's like we are more interested in summoning Mongolian top laner to Uncle than attacking "a certain station operation".
An abstract collective label is far less likely to satisfy fans' need to vent their anger than a specific, extremely evil "person".

In the past, in the eighth season and before, there was such a person in the Glory League, at least in China.

That is Feng Xianjun.

Although he appears in public quite frequently, once there are problems in the league, he will be scolded by dissatisfied fans for being a figurehead and doing nothing.

Just like the Excellent Era incident back then, many people scolded Feng Xianjun for not properly supervising the players' rights and interests, and for allowing Excellent Era to force Ye Xiu away.

But the problem is that Feng Xianjun has left and moved to Tencent Esports with his core team.

The League of Legends professional league under Tencent Esports is doing steadily and well, and is booming. There is absolutely nothing to complain about.

And what about Honor?
Even Han Yong from the Huaxia branch rarely appears in public, let alone Codick from the headquarters.

Without a specific target to vent their anger, fans' anger can only be blocked in their throats, becoming more and more uncomfortable.

Han Yong saw all of this.

"It seems that it is necessary to let our loyal fans and friends meet with our far-sighted president..." Han Yong smiled sinisterly.

To undermine Kotick's control, the first thing to do is to completely ruin his reputation.

But now most people don’t even know who Kotick is, so where does his fame come from?
Fortunately, Codick was greedy and ambitious enough, so Han Yong had enough room to maneuver.

Thinking of this, he discussed it with Pei Yunteng, made some arrangements, and then called Codick.

"Dear Han? Why are you suddenly interested in calling me?" Codick's voice was greasy but with a hint of joy.

He is in a really good mood these days, because being an e-sports manager is really profitable.

The logic of fan economy is actually not much different in different countries.

As long as it does not touch some special sensitive points in the local area, the logic that works in China will most likely work in other countries.

In the early years of the professional league of Glory, the leagues in various countries focused on creating stars. Fan circles did it over and over again, and created strange and bizarre godhoods in a patchwork manner.

Nowadays, when e-sports managers cash in on the money all at once, the profits must be substantial.

With these profits, Codick can not only make a lot of money himself, but also take the opportunity to win over his friends.

After all, their attitude is that whoever can help them make money is a good brother.

Therefore, Kotick is currently in the most successful moment.

In fact, due to the outstanding performance of the e-sports manager project, he has already begun to consider whether he should launch a few more similar projects to continue making money.

As for its players?

Anyway, we can wait until the Glory League reopens and then create another batch of stars to use, right?

Therefore, when faced with Han Yong's sudden call, he behaved quite warmly and cheerfully.

Han Yong spat in his heart, but still maintained a respectful attitude on the surface.

"President Kodick, it's like this. Due to the huge commercial success of the e-sports manager project, we have attracted a lot of attention from the Chinese media."

"A highly authoritative media outlet approached us, hoping to interview the planner of this project."

"Originally, I was supposed to be the one to accept this interview, but I always felt that it might not be appropriate not to report this to you."

Kodick raised his thick eyebrows, a little surprised: "Oh? Media? What kind of media?"

"It's the China Economic News."

When he heard the name, Kodick nodded slightly, and his suspicion dissipated a little.

Economic News is a very authoritative traditional financial media in China, which often conducts exclusive interviews with successful business people.

The most important thing is that as a traditional official media, the content of this media has basically nothing to do with the game itself.

This also ruled out the possibility that Han Yong was setting up a trap for him.

The commercial sensation caused by E-sports Manager this time is not small. As an attempt to integrate mobile games with fan economy and realize large-scale monetization, it can be said that it has opened up a new business idea.

In addition, the World Electronic Sports Association and the Electronic Sports Foundation that provides financial support to it are already very influential business entities.

It's not surprising that it attracted interviews from media of this level.

But this alone was not enough for him to agree to it with confidence.

For most of these guys who come from wealthy families, accepting media interviews is somewhat of an honor.

Especially the China Economic News, which is considered an official media of a country, is willing to interview him, which shows that he is also a well-known entrepreneur.

For someone like Kotick, who came from a small background, this kind of recognition is quite valuable.

Of course, it is not bad for Han Yong, the second generation of Chinese.

Han Yong himself didn't accept it, but instead wanted to give it to him?
Cotrick is a very suspicious person. He never believes that there is such a thing as a free lunch.

"Han, wouldn't it be great if you could attend the interview in person?"

"After all, you are the one who has put in the most effort and effort in promoting e-sports in the Chinese region!"

Codick asked with a seemingly humble but actually dagger hidden in his smile.

"What are you pretending to be!" Han Yong cursed inwardly.

But knowing Codick well, he had naturally prepared a response plan. "How can you say that? You are the president of the general association who is in charge of the overall direction!"

"The president of the General Assembly is like this. We, the branch workers, just need to devote ourselves to the work, obey the instructions, and work hard."

"But as the president of the General Association, Mr. Kodick, you have a lot to consider!"

"You, who are in charge of the overall plan, are the most important part!"

Hearing Han Yong's somewhat insincere flattery, Codick remained silent.

Although he has always claimed to the outside world that the idea of ​​e-sports manager was his own.

But you can cheat on your friends, but don’t cheat on yourself.

Codick knew very well who proposed this project in the beginning and from whose hands he benefited.

When others say this, it is a compliment, but when Han Yong says this, it can even be understood as sarcasm.

However, Han Yong obviously did not place his hopes on a few words of flattery, and immediately changed his tone to a pitiful one:

"To be honest, Mr. Kodick, the Chinese branch, whether it is the Glory Professional League or the major clubs under it, has a serious funding gap."

"If possible, I would like to advance a portion of the revenue from the E-sports Manager China Region to stabilize the situation..."

After hearing this, Kodick finally felt relieved.

I asked him why he suddenly came over to show his courtesy, and it turned out he came to cry poor and ask for money.

As a branch, the activity funds of the China E-Sports Association will naturally be managed by the headquarters.

Although according to the information collected by Codick, the business of China Glory Club is still not doing well after a large number of players started live broadcasts, it is far from being unable to survive.

Han Yong came to cry miserably at this time, and his purpose was probably not that simple.

But does Kotick care? Not at all.

He was not afraid of Han Yong's greed, but he was afraid that Han Yong would be selfless like a saint.

In the past, Han Yong had an amazing background in China, and he came to the World Electronic Sports Association purely out of interest.

Not only Han Yong, but most of the managers in Huaxia are of this color.

Since they have no interest in Kodick, they have always ignored the requests of the association.

He is very independent and is a thorn in Kotick's side.

For him, who has a strong desire for control, the World Esports Association will not allow such a powerful character to exist.

But now, Han Yong took the initiative to humble himself and was willing to get closer to him, and was also willing to give him some reputational benefits.

Most likely, during this period, he was beaten to a pulp by that damn Pei and his Teng Hai.
I was amazed by the business miracle of e-sports managers.

Kotick is a greedy man, but he is not stupid.

If spending some money can strengthen his control over China's distribution and allow him to continue to make money in China unscrupulously in the future, he doesn't mind being generous.

"Look at what you said, dear Han, the funds are originally used to maintain the normal operation of the association's work."

"What's the old Chinese saying? Good steel should be used on the blade!"

"As the first line of attack against Tenghai Company, your Chinese branch should naturally receive more financial support!"

Kodick immediately replied righteously.

Although he didn't believe at all that Han Yong really intended to use the money for club operations.

But who cares? It’s enough that Han Yong is willing to make money with them and expand his own network of contacts a little bit.

"Of course, your idea makes sense. The exclusive interview with the China Economic News will be handled by the General Association!"

"Do a good job, I'm optimistic about you!"

Han Yong also nodded and bowed quickly. The two sides flattered each other and finally hung up the phone.

The moment they hung up, both Kodick and Han Yong had a slight sneer on their faces.

"Took the bait."

……

A few days later, the triumphant Bobby Cotick accepted an interview with a reporter from the China Economic News who had rushed to Europe, in his capacity as president of the World Electronic Sports Association and the Esports Foundation.

“I don’t think the huge success of the E-Sports Manager series of games in the market is accidental. It is the result of the association and its leagues’ careful operation of the fan ecosystem over the years…”

"In the future? Of course there will be many similar projects. We believe that this business model has unlimited potential and has the opportunity to become an important monetization model for league operations..."

"Glory? Adhering to our usual high standards, we made the decision to redesign the competitive version of Glory after careful consideration."

“This is a difficult decision, but we hope that all of our dear fans can give us some time. The new Glory and League will definitely not let you down!”

……

In front of the camera, Kotick acted like a business tycoon and spoke confidently.

Of course, with his mouth, he described all the extremely stupid decisions made by Rong Yao as a big game of chess.

He never mentioned the mistakes and losses that occurred, and took all the credit on his own.

Finally, the interview was successfully concluded.

Then, with the help of some people, as expected, it became popular.

The gaming community, especially the Honor of Kings gaming community, soon realized that the reason the Honor of Kings game and league had fallen into such a bad state was because of a man named Codick who was in charge.

However, this guy's arrogant style makes it a little difficult for players and fans to figure out his intentions.

"It turns out that this whole thing is directed by that fat guy named Kodick? Our little Samsara has suffered so much, this bastard should be held responsible, right?"

"You can't say that. Look how confident he is. He must have made some preparations. Maybe he is really planning something big."

"Big one? How can we beat it? Even if it's Glory Plus, most of the players have left. Can we still save them?"

"It's hard to say. Anyway, I'm not optimistic."

There are many different opinions, but there is no sharp one that directly criticizes Kotick's remarks.

After all, in order not to alert the enemy, Teng Hai did not deliberately guide public opinion this time, and Codick, who has little exposure on weekdays, did look intimidating.

As a result, many fans chose to wait and see.

Therefore, apart from some people occasionally leaving negative reviews in the comment section of the e-sports manager, the public opinion of the Honor Association has calmed down little by little during this period.

However, no one knows whether it has completely disappeared or is just lying dormant to see the effects of future events.

Just waiting for the day when some really big news comes!
　The first update is 4,000 words, and there will be more later.

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(End of this chapter)