This Is Not a Bug but a Game Feature

Chapter 470 - 288: Mirage Electronics’ New Business (Part 2)

He guessed that the actual valuation should be higher than his own estimate, after all, there is always some "premium"!

But he never expected the premium to be so high, more than double his estimate...

"Honestly, I’m surprised!"

Chen Ba was a bit curious: "There must be some reason, right? Why do these investment firms think so highly of Tianba Studio?"

"Surprised?"

Huang Qing laughed heartily: "You should know that fundraising is like asking for the sky and settling for the ground, meaning this fifty billion is just a preliminary figure. In serious negotiations, doubling it isn’t impossible."

"As for the reason, it’s about the real difference between Tianba Studio and other game studios..."

In the eyes of players, Tianba Studio is just a game company, nothing special.

But to the Jiangning authorities, Tianba Game is not just a game company, but also a high-tech computer technology enterprise, in short, a high-tech company!

For the same reason, these venture capitalists are so optimistic about Tianba Studio, chasing after it with monthly increasing valuations, precisely because of Tianba Studio’s strong "technical" capabilities.

"Technology?"

"Oh right! I hadn’t thought of it until you mentioned it, it’s indeed a huge plus."

Chen Ba suddenly realized.

He had always looked at the valuation issue from the perspective of a "game company" and hadn’t considered it from the perspective of an internet high-tech company.

In that case, fifty billion is indeed not much, maybe even a bit "low"!

Are you kidding me?

With Tianba Studio’s technical capabilities, if it were a "pure" internet tech enterprise, the valuation might need a new unit; fifty billion is still fifty billion, but switching the unit to US dollars wouldn’t be too much, would it?

Unfortunately, Tianba Studio’s identity as an internet tech enterprise is not pure, as their main business area is still games.

"So, am I worth billions now?" Chen Ba asked.

"Of course!"

"If you’re willing to cash out, there are plenty of investment institutions willing to take over. The catch is don’t go overboard; if you sell the entire company at once, there may not be as many takers, and the price might decrease a bit."

Huang Qing joked: "So, are you even a little tempted after hearing all I said?"

"Saying I’m not tempted would be a lie..."

Chen Ba didn’t deny being tempted; he even had a ridiculous thought of selling the company and founding a new Tianba Studio.

But on second thought, who would buy it!

The core asset of Tianba Studio, the underlying code of its many games, is something no one but Chen Ba can replicate and apply.

This means that if Chen Ba leaves, everything at Tianba Studio would be revealed for what it truly is.

Unless someone else can understand those codes as if they were reading a book and know what they’re all about...

Given this, Chen Ba knew long ago that transferring ownership of Tianba Studio is impossible; nobody would be foolish enough.

Before any acquisition, they would definitely verify and audit the company’s assets, and how would Chen Ba explain the origin and characteristics of those codes?

"What does a high valuation have to do with me?"

After a sigh, Chen Ba said: "Whether it’s hundreds of billions or trillions, it doesn’t affect my daily life either way."

Would anyone actually be stupid enough to consider valuation as assets?

Valuation is valuation; it can turn into money to some extent, but the premise is that you have to sell it. If it doesn’t sell, a high valuation is just a string of numbers.

So...

Chen "Billionaire Monopoly" Ba eating instant noodles without adding eggs or sausage, and drinking only instant coffee, all this makes sense.

It’s truly not because he’s broke.

It’s just that his money is mostly on paper and not cashable, so life goes on as it is.

In a sense, Chen Ba’s net worth is several times that of Old Wang in real estate, but his quality of life hasn’t reached Old Wang’s level.

Last time he visited Old Wang’s house, even the housekeeper drove a luxury car to buy groceries. The villa wasn’t just a villa, it was more of a "manor," extremely spacious and luxuriously decorated, which made Chen Ba envious...

But as envious as he was, he also understood that he and Old Wang are different.

This is the gap between valuation-based wealth and actual assets!

Guys like Old Wang, who are into real estate, might have net worths in the tens of billions, but they can afford multi-million dollar luxury cars, live in billion-dollar mansions, and maneuver around hundreds of billions in deals.

And these are things that someone with a seemingly billions-worth valuation like Chen Ba cannot do.

This might be why, when a real estate company previously went bust, it unexpectedly uncovered debts totaling in the "trillions," causing a sensation online.

Even if you sold that company and all the assets under the names of the owner and executives, it probably wouldn’t be worth that much; this is the power of "cash flow."

"By the way, President Chen!"

Huang Qing suddenly remembered something and asked: "Although we’ve acquired Mirage Electronics, its business is not closely related to us but rather has some ties with Xianyu Digital. Should these two companies merge?"

Xianyu Digital? Mirage Electronics?

Chen Ba thought for a moment and realized that Huang Qing’s observation was indeed correct; Mirage Electronics doesn’t have much to do with Tianba Studio.

Since their businesses have significant overlap with Xianyu Digital, these two subsidiaries can be merged to avoid unnecessary hassles.

"Mirage Electronics’ main business is producing gaming peripherals, right? Controllers, keyboards, mice, and the Galaxy Set?"

"Yes!"

"Then go ask them if they’re interested in expanding into a new business."

New business?

Hearing this, Huang Qing couldn’t help but ask curiously: "What business? It must be related to us, right?"

"Of course, it’s related!"

Chen Ba affirmed: "Many of the games under our studio have derivative products for sale. We either license them or find someone to custom make them."

Since they’re going to license them anyway, why not license them to anyone? Mirage Electronics is part of our family, authorizing them is like keeping the riches in the family, a win-win.

As for the fact that Mirage Electronics mainly deals in digital technology and gaming peripheral hardware, and hasn’t done game-related merchandise before, lacking experience and whatnot, that’s not a problem at all!

If they can make controllers and keyboards, they can certainly make phone cases, keychains, and fridge magnets, right?

Moreover!

Even if they think these products have low technical content or aren’t very profitable, they can always focus on licensing and make an article out of it!

A "Star Emperor" co-branded controller, a "Cultivation Fantasy" co-branded wireless mouse, a co-branded mechanical keyboard, isn’t this a completely new revenue stream?

Be bold!

Chen Ba intends to discuss with Old Huang and Su later, to find a future path for Mirage Electronics. If they only keep doing controllers and keyboards, that’s really unambitious.

After all, they are all gaming hardware; if they can make peripherals like controllers and keyboards, why can’t they make hardware such as motherboards, graphics cards, and memory sticks?

It wouldn’t make sense not to...

With Tianba Studio as a backing, Mirage Electronics is naturally suited to operate in the PC hardware business. They can rely on Xianyu Digital as a platform for selling the designs and productions, a complete service chain.

The only issue is that if Mirage Electronics steps into the graphics card production field, Old Huang and Su probably won’t have a problem, but it’s hard to say for Daren Shuo, Shuo Star, and Refused Protection Jia.

After all, they were partners before; now they could become competitors.

But anyway.

No matter how dissatisfied they are, as long as the "Star Emperor 2" and GAL League "links" remain, the relationship won’t turn too sour.

The PC hardware market is large, with many brands, and the emergence of one more brand isn’t really a big deal...