[2014 WOT Shenzhen Station Lecturer Interview] Zhang Lei: Sharing Mobile Game Entrepreneurship Experience

From November 21 to 22, 2014, the 2014 WOT Global Software Technology Summit Shenzhen Station hosted by 51CTO Media will be held in Shenzhen, and technical personnel and corporate practice users will gather in Shenzhen.

WOT is the most influential technology summit in China hosted by 51CTO Media. Since 2012, it has been adhering to the concept of focusing on technology and serving technical personnel, and has won unanimous recognition from the majority of IT practitioners and technology enthusiasts, becoming an important technology sharing and exchange platform as well as a network expansion platform in the industry.

The 2014 WOT Shenzhen Station will invite the most famous Internet and innovative enterprise technology leaders from home and abroad to publicly share their most popular technologies. The sharing covers six major themes, with a total of 30+ courses, including mobile game operations, operation and maintenance development, Web security, data mining, team management, etc., as well as the technology trends in the next two to three years. Click to register >>

The interviewee of this interview is Zhang Lei , the speaker of the 2014 WOT Shenzhen Station <Mobile Game Development and Operation> Forum, who is currently the general manager of Shenzhen Xihe Interactive Technology Co., Ltd.

Zhang Lei_General Manager of Shenzhen Xihe Interactive Technology Co., Ltd.

Zhang Lei's speech at this forum is titled " Sharing Mobile Game Entrepreneurship Experience ". In the speech, he will introduce how to find investment for mobile game startups, how to set up projects with investment, how to build a team, how to evaluate project progress, how to make choices when there is little money and few people, and many product requirements and functions, and what to do when partners disagree. He will share with you the various pitfalls he encountered in the one and a half years of mobile game entrepreneurship and some of his personal experiences. In order to let you know more about Zhang Lei's ideas about mobile games in advance, 51CTO has specially conducted this interview. The interview transcript is as follows:

51CTO: What do you think of the current development trend of the domestic mobile game industry? What problems exist? What are the key factors affecting the development of the entire industry?

Zhang Lei: After more than a year of market baptism, the mobile game industry has become more rational from the initial madness. Whether in terms of capital or manufacturers, after a period of survival of the fittest, the entire industry has also developed from the early mixed fish and dragons to a benign direction. The era when you can get investment by just finding a makeshift team is gone forever. In the end, only companies that really make products and can make high-quality games can survive. One of the more obvious problems at present is the serious homogeneity of products. Many small teams, due to the limitations of objective conditions such as funds and teams, often choose the route of copying and making quick money. In fact, this is a road of no return. Only innovation can make small teams have vitality. It is difficult to survive by making homogeneous things. All aspects of the factors that affect the development of the industry, from the mentality of the entrepreneurial team, the mentality of investors, distribution channels, etc., will affect the development of the entire industry. As a small CP who wants to develop a good product, it is often affected by capital, distribution channels, talents, etc., and often makes some impetuous choices, which may eventually lead to haste makes waste.

51CTO: What are the inevitable factors behind a successful mobile game?

Zhang Lei: It is difficult for me to clearly explain the necessary factors for successful mobile game products, because I have not made a successful product yet. Haha... From my personal feeling, there are several necessary conditions. First, there must be sufficient technical reserves. This is the foundation of a tall building. Without a stable foundation, innovation is impossible and many needs cannot be met. Second, there must be enough innovative highlights. The essence of game products is to generate happiness. Fun is the core. We cannot focus on copying, duplicating, and digging holes for players to pay. Third, the quality of art must reach a certain level. Fourth, the details, details, and details of the player's game experience. In fact, everyone understands the truth, but after all, we are not living in an ideal country. Especially for small CPs, which are restricted by team size, funds, talents and other conditions, it is impossible to achieve 100% in all aspects. Each team is good at different aspects. We should give full play to our strengths and try to improve our shortcomings. Even if these necessary conditions are met, it is not necessarily successful. We still need a little bit of luck. This is a very complicated matter, and no one can explain how to succeed. Every successful product has its own path, and it is difficult to copy and summarize the formula. You can only do it yourself, explore and summarize carefully.

51CTO: What is the current relationship between domestic channels and game developers?

Zhang Lei: From my personal point of view, for small and medium-sized CPs, the channels are still more powerful overall, and the channels control the users. However, CPs are not completely without opportunities. As long as CPs make great products, the channels will turn to CPs. This is a game process. At present, there are not many CPs that make high-quality games. Many of them are still copying, replicating, and re-skinning. In this situation, it is inevitable that there are no good products and CPs are restricted by channels.

51CTO: What do you think will be the trend of the mobile game market in the next two years?

Zhang Lei: I can’t tell the trend, but as a CP, I feel that only products with unique features and highlights can have a future. From my perspective as a small CP, the next two years will be difficult. A large number of small CPs that initially received a little investment will fail because they ran out of funds, failed to make products, or failed to find a good market for their products. The teams that will stay in the end will either have sufficient funds to survive, or be able to make good products and grow rapidly. What I can do now is to make good products with my heart.

51CTO: What experiences or suggestions would you share with entrepreneurs working in the mobile gaming industry?

Zhang Lei: ***, in the financing stage, if conditions permit, try to get more investment, don't be too entangled in giving away too much. As long as it is within an acceptable range, try to get as much money as possible. The initial investment in making a good game is very large, and you will not be panicked if you have food in your hands.

Second, the current operation of mobile game products is still mainly based on independent loans and joint operations. Generally, small entrepreneurial teams do not have the human and material resources to operate on their own. Only innovative and outstanding products have the opportunity to find good publishers. Copycat products without highlights may fail before they are released. To put it bluntly, innovation does not necessarily lead to success, but not innovating is basically doomed.

Third, the team must be united. Frustration and adversity are the norm in the process of entrepreneurship. It is abnormal to have smooth sailing. In difficult situations, people tend to get angry and blame each other. Often the castle is breached from the inside. Since you have chosen the path of entrepreneurship, you must have the heart to bear these grievances and misunderstandings. Only when brothers think together and work together can they finally swim to the other side. Blaming and cursing each other will only lead to everyone's death.

Fourth, pay a higher price to hire good talents, and don’t save money just for the sake of saving money.

The above is 51CTO’s interview with Zhang Lei , the speaker of the forum <Mobile Game Development and Operation> at the WOT Software Technology Summit Shenzhen Station. More content can be found on the official website of the 51CTO Summit Shenzhen Station .

2014 WOT Global Software Technology Summit Shenzhen, what are you waiting for? In addition to hands-on experience, there are also technology trends for the next two to three years. Will you let yourself miss such a technology conference?