ROSGT ### Chapter 50: Still an Ant
## Volume 1
### Chapter 50: Still an Ant
In the SB Light Brain Company headquarters in Yanjing.
Software Development Department.
The department head, Huang Xiaotian, was frowning as he stared at the light screen of his light brain in front of him.
SB Light Brain Company had decided to establish a game development department, which would become a sub-department of the software development department, with Huang Xiaotian fully responsible for all matters.
Now that the game development department was steadily progressing, he had published recruitment ads for game ideas through the media, inviting anyone with good game ideas to send them to the SB Light Brain Company's dedicated email.
In the past week, Huang Xiaotian had been receiving various game ideas continuously.
However, these ideas all felt unpromising to Huang Xiaotian.
In reality, people were still not very clear about the concept of games. It was only because of Professor Fork's Looking series that they had seen a general direction. But as for how to actually make a game, many were still clueless.
Some even thought that games were just about looking at, sniffing, tasting, etc. - all sorts of nonsensical junk.
There were also some who directly sent what they considered to be complete products, but none of these caught Huang Xiaotian's interest.
For instance, right now, on the light screen in front of Huang Xiaotian, a newly submitted game called "Building Blocks" was being displayed.
The game was very simple. Various differently shaped bricks kept falling from the top of the screen, and the player had to control these bricks to build a wall. If Ye Chui saw this game, he would instinctively recognize it as the prototype of Tetris.
Of course, compared to the playability of Tetris, this game fell short.
Tetris, despite its simplicity, has remained popular for decades due to its intrinsic charm. The "Building Blocks" game Huang Xiaotian was playing had a vague resemblance to Tetris but lacked the classic scoring and elimination elements. The falling blocks were also too irregular, significantly reducing the playability.
At least this crude imitation did not impress Huang Xiaotian.
"Is this boring thing even considered a game?"
After playing for just a few seconds, Huang Xiaotian closed it.
He glanced at the sender of this game, a man named Robert from the United States - a foreigner submitting to SB Light Brain was quite normal given SB's status as one of the industry's top three companies.
Having just closed this game, Huang Xiaotian was about to look at the next submission when there was a knock on the door.
"Come in." Huang Xiaotian adjusted his tie meticulously before speaking.
The door opened, and Wang Zhaoming cautiously walked in. "Director Huang."
"What is it?" Huang Xiaotian frowned.
The recent betting incident involving Wang Zhaoming and Fang Xi had embarrassed SB to no end. Online, people were using "SB" as an insult, and their system was being mocked as the "Fool System."
He had tasked Wang Zhaoming with handling the situation, but Wang Zhaoming had achieved nothing, and Huang Xiaotian was on the verge of firing him for any minor reason.
"Director Huang, I recently got my hands on a game development concept. Please take a look." Wang Zhaoming said respectfully as he pointed to the light screen of his portable light brain, which displayed a document.
"A game development concept?" Huang Xiaotian had no interest. "Just send it to my email."
"Director Huang, this concept came from Professor Fork," Wang Zhaoming said cautiously, observing Huang Xiaotian's reaction.
Sure enough, Huang Xiaotian's expression changed to one of interest.
He did not ask how Wang Zhaoming got it.
"Send it to me."
"Alright." Wang Zhaoming quickly agreed, transmitting the document from his portable light brain to the desktop light brain on Huang Xiaotian's desk. The transfer completed in a moment.
"You can go now. I'll review this document." Huang Xiaotian said.
Hearing this, Wang Zhaoming's face lit up, and he respectfully left the office.
Huang Xiaotian opened the game concept document and began reading.
This game concept, naturally, was about Ye Chui's soon-to-be-completed arcade fighting game, "Kung Fu."
Like Jian Fan's initial reaction, just reading the game's description made Huang Xiaotian frown, thinking the game didn't sound interesting.
Controlling characters to fight? What's fun about that?
But the document included some videos of the already developed "Kung Fu" game. This world valued copyright highly, so if Jian Fan had directly sent the game's source code, it could constitute a serious theft crime. But sending videos was less problematic.
Watching the fighting video, Huang Xiaotian's eyes lit up.
"Though the characters' moves are simple, this fighting seems quite interesting!"
The more he watched, the more Huang Xiaotian saw potential in this "Kung Fu" game.
If developed, it could be a big hit.
His fingers gently tapped the desk as he pondered.
"With our SB's professional team, this game could be developed in less than a week! SB Light Brain Company needs a high-profile opening for its game development department, and this 'Kung Fu' game has that potential!"
Ye Chui's series of games like Lianliankan, Xiaoxiaokan, and Fang Xi's upcoming Pimpinkan had sparked a trend, making the term "game" popular online, with many companies beginning to form game development departments.
Currently, games were just considered a software branch, but many software companies wanted to be first.
"This Ye Chui is indeed talented. If he could join our company..." Huang Xiaotian thought, but quickly shook his head. Regardless, he would not hire Ye Chui.
He had once rejected Ye Chui. Going back now to recruit him would be humiliating.
Huang Xiaotian reviewed the document: "Talented or not, he's just in a small studio. No matter how talented, he's still an ant in the face of our large enterprises!"
"We must develop this 'Kung Fu' game first! Of course, we can't directly copy Professor Fork's game. We'll make some changes. He calls it 'Kung Fu,' we'll call it 'Kung Fu Kid.'"
Huang Xiaotian, who had initially made his fortune developing software, was also creative. He quickly thought of many enhancements.
"Professor Fork's 'Kung Fu' has simple controls with forward, backward, up, down, and four attack buttons. I'll add more buttons for more complex actions, making the character control more refined. I recall the military has a simulated control system that might be worth referencing..."
The more he thought, the more excited Huang Xiaotian became.
As for copyright infringement, he wasn't concerned.
His opponent was just a small studio. Even if they sued for infringement, SB Light Brain had plenty of ways to deal with it.
SB Light Brain's legal team was formidable.
As long as they released the game first, it would be a settled matter. Their legal team could handle any small studio's challenge without breaking a sweat.
"Hmm? Arcade equipment?" Huang Xiaotian saw the mention of specialized game equipment in the document. "A dedicated device for this type of game? This could be a great complement to the fighting game. Alright, let's develop some arcade machines too!"
"Zhaoming did put in effort this time."
Huang Xiaotian thought of Wang Zhaoming, recognizing his intention. Wang Zhaoming likely eyed the manager position of the game development department and went to great lengths to steal this idea from Professor Fork.
Such behavior might be disdained by others, but Huang Xiaotian appreciated it. Stealing this concept took skill.
Business is war, and as a businessman, one must have the guts to be unscrupulous.
Huang Xiaotian had risen from an ordinary programmer to a director in three years by adhering to this principle.
"The game development department manager position will go to Wang Zhaoming."