Global Monopoly of Technology

"The virtual idol project took nearly half a year, the budgeted expenditure was 1 billion US dollars, and the actual expenditure has accumulated 837 million US dollars." He Chao, who attended the meeting, immediately reported to Luo Sheng the progress of his work.

"There are 163 million US dollars left? Well, the remaining money will be used for publicity." Luo Sheng immediately made a decision.

The cost of such publicity is about one-third higher than that of Hollywood A-level big production movies, and a lot lower than that of "Avatar". The cost of this movie is also exaggerated. The total cost of production and publicity exceeds 500 million. Dollar.

The brand-new element of virtual idol does not have any audience base, and it will definitely cost a lot of effort and financial expenditure to announce it.

It's hard to make more money without spending money.

But for a moment, He Chao continued to report: "The three major sections of the virtual idol plan have been completed, and the film and television section Anno Hideaki has completed the production of the advertising film, and the later stage has also been completed. The film is finally named "Hatsune Miku: With Love" In addition, the official version of the sound production software "SINGOID" has been confirmed to be released, and the official version of the music rhythm game "Hatsune Miku: Diva Project" has also been confirmed, and the release preparations are also underway."

These three-piece sets constitute the core of Bluestar Technology's virtual idol plan. Among them, the promotional film "Hatsune Miku: In the Name of Love" has burned half of the budget. The initial budget is 450 million US dollars, and the final budget is 495 million US dollars. Very satisfied with the internal screening.

At least it has won the approval of the project team. Originally, everyone was not optimistic or worried about it.

Anno Hideaki's hands and feet were saved.

The final development cost of the sound production software "SINGOID" is 82 million US dollars. This software product is to collect human voice samples first, and then create a singing database, but there is no singing database itself, and the actual version that can be used is developed by a third party. It is user-generated content, a typical web2.0 model, so the database and copyright will also be open source and free.

This is the key to building a self-contained ecosystem for "Hatsune Miku" that everyone can participate in and share.

This sound production software is called "SINGOID", the origin of its name represents two meanings, one is composed of the English word "Sing (singing)" and the affix "oid (similar)", which means "software that can sing" , another meaning is "Sing" and "Android (robot)", which means "a robot that can sing".

The third game section "Hatsune Miku: Diva Project" has a budget of up to 260 million US dollars, of which 155 million US dollars was spent to create an engine system code-named "Bing Xin".

And the game engine is still being improved, and the operation department is considering whether to open source it.

This music rhythm game is very rich in content. You can get props and components to dress up Hatsune Miku's custom mode. The development team has designed a lot of costumes, shapes, scenes, etc.

Among them, in the music rhythm mode, the player presses the corresponding button according to the rhythm tile on the screen. When the input timing is correct, the song of Hatsune can be heard smoothly. If the input fails, the song will be interrupted.

When special conditions are met, there will also be close-up pictures of Hatsune Miku's expressions and movements, and there are not only one or two, but hundreds of random selections, allowing players to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of impromptu singing.

There is also a dressing system. Under the rhythm game, you can unlock new clothing styles through special conditions. After replacing the clothing, it will be reflected in each mode.

In addition, there is the photography system. When certain conditions are met in the game, you can use the appreciation mode. You can use this background to take photos. You can also change clothes and shoot according to your favorite poses. It can be used in various scenes.

Then there is the scene, yes, players can also arrange the scene as they want, and get various props to arrange in the game, and Hatsune will also have different expressions, actions and voice interactions due to different scenes and different decorations.

Finally, there is a powerful free editing system. Players can make their own rhythm game content, and they can also use their favorite costumes and props to make PV, including background stage, dance moves, target configuration, expression, camera angle and direction, etc., all can be freely set .

Subsequent new item updates will be available for purchase in the form of game DLC.

This is definitely a loss-making super 3A-level game masterpiece, and it is impossible to recover the production cost, because it requires players to understand a lot, and it is destined to be a niche game.

However, Luo Sheng never thought about making money from games. His fundamental goal is to shape the IP of "Hatsune Miku", use this game to enrich videos about Hatsune Miku, and encourage "great players" to generate video content through this game platform. , enrich the ACG culture.

Bluestar Technology's "Virtual Idol" project is almost ready to go, everything is ready.

...

Entering December, the next work is to officially launch the press conference of the "Virtual Idol" plan as the final plan of this year.

"Mr. Luo, what's your order?"

Luo Sheng, who was staring at the work computer, heard the voice and put down his work. Looking at Zhang Bowen who entered the office, he immediately said: "A week later, the press conference of the 'Virtual Idol' plan will be held. I want to acquire two Japanese companies, you send someone to go. Get this done."

Zhang Bowen asked bluntly: "Acquisition of the Japanese company?"

Luo Sheng said succinctly: "Call and Pixiv, let's make another move early next year, now is not a good time to hunt for the bottom."

Zhang Bowen nodded: "Understood."

He didn't ask anything, the boss wants to buy and buy, just pay for it.

The subprime mortgage crisis in North America can no longer be suppressed, and the systemic financial crisis triggered further will sweep the world next year. For others, it is a disaster, and for Luo Sheng, it is a good time for aggressive mergers and acquisitions.

When cash is king, money can really do whatever you want.

The acquisition of these two companies doesn’t actually cost much money, but Bluestar Technology’s money is not from the wind. Although Luo Sheng’s spending method is no different from the wind blowing in the eyes of outsiders, it is because the outside world does not understand his layout and thinking.

It is a barrage video website, an online video sharing website launched in 2006, which is similar to the BluestarVideo sharing website model of Bluestar Technology.

A half follower.

But there are also innovations of his own. For example, the message will appear on the film in the form of a bullet screen. This is the first time for a streaming video website. Luo Sheng is not in a hurry to let his own video website launch the video bullet screen function.

The Pixiv website is a community network service website for artistic illustration, a new site for sharing Japanese doujinshi and illustration works, and a new website was established in September this year.

The purpose of acquiring these two websites is to enrich the entire ecological chain of the "Virtual Idol" program, to expand the Japanese market and its in-depth development, and to encourage users to publish Hatsune Miku's related works on the Pixiv community.

...

On December 3, the most eye-catching homepage of the official website of Bluestar Technology Group released the latest news, officially announcing that a new product launch will be held in Akihabara, Japan on December 8.

At the same time, the official website released a poster, the image of a girl with long double ponytails, but it was just a shadow, not showing her true face on the poster, and she was holding a registered brand new logo.

The meaning is self-evident, and the outside world obviously understands that this is a brand new brand launched by Bluestar Technology.

The conference was held in Akihabara because Japan's ACG culture and animation industry lead the world, and it is undoubtedly an important market for Bluestar Technology's "virtual idols". At present, there is no basis at all in China, and it is even a blank state. , Luo Sheng honestly went to Akihabara because he didn't want the occasional inexplicable and persistent cold scene at this press conference.

After the news was disclosed, it immediately aroused widespread attention in the industry. Bluestar Technology Group made another big move after its high-profile entry into the e-sports industry in the second half of the year. Once it was disclosed, the media rushed to report it.

At the same time, the publicity budget of more than $150 million prepared for the launch of the "Virtual Idol" program is also gaining momentum.

...