Building a Gaming Empire From Scratch

The next morning, Lincoln arrived at the studio.

After the previous company couldn’t bear the rent and left, Lincoln took over and renovated the place.

However, since the studio’s work has always been online, he never came here after the renovation was completed.

If it weren’t for the many new employees joining today, he wouldn’t bother coming back.

Swipe to open the access control, the office is well-equipped with various facilities, and later 30 virtual reality devices will be delivered. After the new employees join, they can directly start learning the new development software.

But these lessons will be taught by Randall, who should have no problem for the people in the Flame Group, as they have been led by him for two or three years and should be used to it by now.

Moreover, the development tools created by Lincoln and Xiaomeng are easy to get started with, and it’s almost a WSIWYG (what you see is what you get). It’s just a bit more difficult than the MOD editor once available for console games.

Even Little Chun, who didn’t come from a programming background, can master it quickly, so these new employees should have no problem either.

Soon, Randall and Little Chun arrived at the studio together.

Little Chun curiously looked around the office—after all, although they had both joined Cloud Dream for more than half a month, they were still coming to the company for the first time.

Lincoln handled the access cards for them one by one, then called the property management to arrange for a cleaner to clean the office.

You can’t have new employees start cleaning the office on their first day, right?

That would be too humiliating.

The cleaning auntie was very efficient, and within less than fifteen minutes, the office was cleaned inside and out.

By 8:30, new employees began to arrive one after another, and within ten minutes they were all here, almost as if they were waiting outside together.

Although the appointed time was 9 0’clock, Lincoln wasn’t a stickler for punctuality. After Randall greeted them briefly, he invited everyone to sit wherever they liked.

“All of you are talents that Old Qin trusts, so I won’t bother conducting a complicated interview. After all, working on virtual reality games, the technology and tools used are different from VR games, so testing your skills isn’t meaningful. However, don’t worry, the new development tools are not difficult to get started with, and I believe you’ll be able to master them quickly.”

The new employees were obviously surprised, as they never expected their prepared assessments wouldn’t even exist. They gratefully glanced at Randall, showing the boss’s trust in him.

“As for working hours, we’ll follow the usual practice of a 5 -day work week, working from 9 to 5, and ensuring all holidays are taken. So do all the work ahead of time, don’t think about working overtime after hours. At 5:30, the company will lock the doors, and they won’t open on weekends either.” Contrarv to Lincoln’s exoectations. the new emDlovees weren’t haDDV about his statement, but rather confused.

While the usual practice is 9-to-5, none of them have heard of a company in Xiajing City that actually follows this “usual practice”, as not having a 996 schedule was already considered good. Wanting 9-to-5? Really?

They even began to worry about whether the studio could survive.

At first, Randall also had concerns about this, but in the past half month, he has become accustomed to Lincoln’s style, such as leaving work early and taking days off frequently.

And once accustomed, he realizes—it’s just too awesome!

As for the studio’s survival, it’s completely unfounded and a conditioned response due to being used to overwork.

Soon they will realize that working 5 hours happily and focusing on the job is far more efficient than spending over 10 hours 996 and fishing in troubled waters.

“Next, let’s talk about the remuneration issue that everyone is most concerned about. I have asked Old Qin about your previous salary situation before, so we’ll just increase it by 10% for now. After a month of adjusting to each other, if there are no issues, we will increase everyone’s salary by another 20% starting next month. Then, the annual salary adjustment will be no less than 15%, with bonuses and benefits calculated separately. In short, as long as you work hard, the remuneration and benefits will surely satisfy everyone.”

Lincoln was pleased to see that everyone’s eyes lit up; talking directly about money is the best motivation for employees!

Although he posted a recruitment notice on Spiritual Rhinoceros in a very chuuni way, saying something about changing the world.

But when he actually faced the employees, he didn’t have any plan to talk about the grand future of Cloud Dream, changing the world or revolutionizing the gaming industry, and other vague topics.

Those are all pie in the sky; while they can indeed be reached, most employees will probably think that even if those dreams are realized, it’s still a matter for the higher-ups, and it feels too far away.

So when Lincoln faced the employees, he just talked about the most tangible things: weekends off, no overtime, high salary, excellent benefits, and large cash bonuses. These are things ordinary employees can see and touch!

“Besides, our studio policy is quite humane, and we don’t prohibit office relationships, so don’t worry about that. If someone sparks a romance, it’s fate, and if they get married, I’ll even give them a red packet.”

“Cough!” Hearing Lincoln’s words, Randall coughed quietly out of guilt, then turned his head and caught Little Chun’s eye.

Since Little Chun believes her life is short, she hasn’t agreed to marry Randall, and they haven’t gotten married yet!

Lincoln didn’t care about Randall and Little Chun’s reactions; he wasn’t just trying to make things easier for the two of them. He just thought that forbidding office romances was somewhat inhumane.

Many talented people in tech and programming are inherently introverted, and they spend most of their time in the company, leaving their social circle incredibly narrow. If office relationships are also forbidden, it seems quite anti-human.

In the end, employees either resign alone or together.

This is a great loss for both the employees and the company. It’s better to just not interfere from the beginning and let them date, as long as the work is done on time, and their private life is none of my business.

As for the drawbacks of office relationships, there are naturally rules and regulations to manage them, and Cloud Dream isn’t an iron rice bowl.

“Then there are cats and dogs and the like. If someone has one at home and doesn’t want to leave it alone during work hours, you can bring it to the company. In the afternoon, the two administration employees I hired will join, so they’ll be able to help look after them when you can’t. Don’t worry.”

“Of course, if someone doesn’t want to come to the company and wants to work from home, just write a reason for the application.”

“That’s the leisure room, stocked with snacks and drinks. If there’s something you like that’s not in there, just let the admin know, and they’ll be responsible for purchasing. The budget for this is fully open, so just rest assured. Of course, there will be no alcoholic beverages, so don’t think about that.”

“Any questions?

The new employees shook their heads one after another, as this was already better than their best expectations.

Although Cloud Dream is just starting out, it is a leader in the technology industry and appears to be quite wealthy. Not only are the benefits and treatment good, but the studio atmosphere is also great. The boss is admittedly younger than their previous bosses, but is clearly much easier to get along with.

More money, no pie in the sky, good atmosphere, and easy work.

Why hesitate?

From now on, I’ll live and die as a part of Cloud Dream!

No one can stop me!