When Microsoft focused on game development on game consoles, Xia Tian was considering using online games to promote the system.

In fact, online games were born very early. As early as 1969, someone developed an online game version called "Space War" to support two remote users to fight online.

In the seven or eight years, a pure text online game called mud was born and quickly became popular all over the world. To this day, mud games are still continuing to operate around the world, such as China's "Peking Da Xiake Tour".

In 1996, the first online game "Meridian 59" with a graphical interface was finally born in the world. This greatly improved the fun of the game, and thus attracted many players.

Xia Tian knew that "Merical 59" was just the beginning. In the future, with the popularity of computers and network broadband, online games will become more and more marketable.

In the past life, in mainland China alone, there were more than 600 million online game players. These online game players can create output value of more than 200 billion yuan each year.

In my previous life, when I was in school in the summer, online games were already very popular.

"Legend", "Miracle", "Magic Baby", "World of Warcraft", "The Journey", "Karting", "The Dance Team", "Fantasy Westward Journey", "World of the Westward Journey", "Dungeon and the Warriors", etc., were all very popular, with more than tens of millions of registered players.

Among online games, there are paid online games and free online games. Paid online games exchange money for point cards; while free online games use money to buy props. In short, they are not cheap.

No matter what business it was in the beginning, the mainland Internet companies transformed in the end, using online games as their main profitable projects. For example, Tengxun, NetEase, Souhui, etc., and even Alibaba and Barba have established a game department.

The reason for this is that online games are so profitable. Not counting those super masterpieces with excellent production and first-class reputation, such as "World of Warcraft", "Fantasy Westward Journey", "PUBG", etc., even those copycat games with rough production and low reputation can still achieve very good returns.

For example, those private servers of "Legend" can make profits of up to 10 billion yuan in two years, which is even more profitable than Fandu.

Therefore, the online game market is much larger than the game console market.

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On the other hand, the reason why summer is keen on developing online games is to eliminate piracy.

Tuozaka has always been the biggest threat to the game industry. Many game companies are forced to close their doors due to the flood of Tuozaka and the bleak genuine sales.

For example, the famous Shanghai Ruanxing, the famous "Legend of Sword and Fairy 3" and "Legend of Sword and Fairy 3: The Love Chapter" developed by that time, are sold in total less than one million sets due to the flood of the thief. However, the number of its players is likely to exceed 50 million. Because the flood of the thief has impacted the genuine sales, Shanghai Ruanxing has to choose to close its doors.

The Heluo Studio, which once released "The Legend of the Martial Arts", "The Legend of the King of Jin Yong", and "The Legend of the King of the Three Kingdoms", was forced to close its doors because of the proliferation of thieves.

When I was in school in summer, none of the games my classmates played were genuine, all of which were bought in the Thunderban plate or downloaded directly from the website. It was truly cultivated to buy genuine games, and it was not until after the 2008 Olympics.

Moreover, playing the game of Thunderbolt is not just a patent in the mainland. In European and American countries, pirated games are just as popular. Even the anti-theft systems of many games are cracked by gamers in Europe and the United States. According to statistics, pirated games will generate more than 74 billion US dollars in revenue for the game industry every year (2017 value).

And online games can effectively eliminate piracy.

Because it is well known that online games must be connected to a server before they can be played. There are also stand-alone versions of online games, but their fun is much less.

Because the greatest fun of online games lies in the interaction between players. Whether it is PK, collaborative combat, transactions, chats, etc., it will bring happiness to people. Therefore, online games are also called online communities.

For this reason, there are very few online games that can steal Saka, and even almost cannot be pirated. If it weren't for the source code of "Legend", there wouldn't be any "Legend" private servers everywhere. Similar events generally rarely happen in the game world.

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Based on the above concept, Xiatian then held talks with the heads of many game companies such as Blizzard Entertainment, Square, and ea, and suggested that they develop online games.

At present, Origin, acquired by summer, is developing the online game "Genesis". This is an online game version adapted from its popular works and the stand-alone game "Genesis".

Blizzard Entertainment is also interested in launching Battlenet to promote Diablo. It will allow players to log in to Battlenet and fight in groups with players from all over the world.

Square Games' "Final Fantasy" is actually very suitable for developing an online game version.

Because this game is an adventure game, it has rich adventure elements, career systems, and skill systems. Players can upgrade, transform, learn new skills, and explore new continents.

"Final Fantasy 14" in his previous life was developed into an online game. Although it was first criticized, "Final Fantasy 14" eventually became a super masterpiece with more than 10 million players and an annual profit of more than 100 million US dollars, and helped Square's turn losses into profits many times. Now, it has become one of Square's most profitable games.

There are also many popular IPs under ea. It is also OK to adapt it into an online game. In the past life, ea once launched Need for Speed ​​Online, and also launched the "The Sims" online game version, etc.

After hearing Xia Tian’s suggestion, several game companies expressed their approval without exception.

Because the prospects of online games are actually not only visible in Xiatian, but they can also see them.

However, now the Internet-connected computer users account for a relatively small proportion of computer users. Many users have computers but no Internet, and even if they have Internet, they are mostly used for office and cannot be used to play games.

What's more, in the 1990s, the concept of information highway was just proposed, and the Internet speeds around the world were not fast. Therefore, there was no problem in developing online games in terms of software, but there were problems in hardware facilities.

This is why everyone knows that online games make money, but rarely develop online games.
Chapter completed!