Game Programmers’ “Ode to Joy”, without Luxurious Housing or Clothing

Breaking through all the negative energy, Du Yuxin and his Perfect World Engine Team have brought us an Ode to Joy.

In the game industry which the media still spoke ill of a decade ago, a game engine team that was behind the scenes for many years, for 3 consecutive years has been awarded the titles of “Beijing Worker Pioneer” by Beijing Federation of Trade Unions, “Beijing Model Group” by Beijing municipal CPC committee and government, and “National Worker Pioneer” by All-China Federation of Trade Unions. You may be wondering what Du Yuxin and his Perfect World engine team excels in.

2004 was marked as the year in which Perfect World was established, though Du had formed ties to it much earlier. Being a shy, introverted but determined young man, Du found a reliable job at Perfect World after graduation and worked there for over ten years. He made a few close friends, got married and had children, growing up together with Perfect World.

On April 29th, 2016, the Celebration Conference of May 1st International Labor Day and National Award Ceremony of May 1st Labor Prize was hosted in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. This is the supreme honor for workers and a rarely experienced big occasion for Du. After receiving the invitation to attend this ceremony and participate in China’s Central TV Station’s special program recording for the celebration of May 1st International Labor Day, themed “Chinese Dream · Labor Beauty” program, Du rushed home to look for a suit, but ended up wearing clothes borrowed from others. You see, such a typical cute IT guy he is.

His overcautious behavior could not cover up the sense of excitement in his eyes. To Du, that kind of occasion and ceremony was strange, but solemn. Its significance was far from sharing a few updates in WeChat Moments or taking home a certificate only to leave it on a high shelf. No. It told Du and his Perfect World Engine Team in a determined voice that:What you are doing is worthy and honorable.

Before the ceremony, what they were doing raised doubts from some people. Gamers usually compare game engine to a vehicle engine, and a game product to a finished car. Compared to other working procedures, the research and development (R&D) of the engine is the priority of priorities. But as is known to all, this is an arduous but fruitless task. Controlled by the market, the R&D cycle of game products has continuously been cut down, while the game engine undoubtedly demands more technologies based on its mature framework. This implies a long, endless cycle of high input but poor cashability. The paradox of the entire game industry is “hurry up, earn more, slow down, and intensive and meticulous cultivation”. An engine team of any game company is not able to break through this paradox on its own. The only thing they can do is to constantly challenge it and become stronger.

As the first team in China to be engaged in the R&D of 3D game engines, Perfect World Engine Center has created the engine of Angelica, which has become the representative piece of work that has proprietary intellectual property right and the criteria of which has achieved world-class. This engine was so named after the whole team looked up in the dictionary. Angelica are just like their child. For this decade, it has been launched on several platforms including PC, iOS and Android, and has supported various backbone game products from Perfect World, such as Perfect World, My Own Swordsman, Zhu Xian and Swordsman Online, etc.

Now, with the engine having been produced, they also came to realize that they were not only able to produce “cars”, but may even able to produce “airplanes” and “aircraft carriers”. Du and his team have accepted a new historical mission, namely the application of the engine to TV animation production, following the transformation of the company’s strategy to “the dual engine of TV and game”. They are challenging the high efficiency and high quality of animation production technologies, which is hugely different from the game

engines they were skilled at. “Doesn’t this mean starting new business? Do you feel high pressure?” They do face some pressure, but the company supports them with a favorable environment. What they need to do is accumulate and persevere, which have always been the fine tradition of Perfect World’s engine center and its cultural heritage.

Three people made up the team of Perfect World Engine Center at its earliest stage. Along with the development and transformation of Perfect World, it has come to possess a type of imposing manner. It is now a small but high-quality team, with less than 30 people, who rely on working efficiently. After several rounds of personnel changes, the team has cultivated many talented professionals for the game industry. Those who stay in the company say that it is because of their dreams and interests.

You will probably agree that people of Du’s age, who can still talk about dreams, must truly have dreams. Those who can take their interest as their job for ten years and still find it interesting must be working at Perfect World.

Perfect World is remembered by many people because it is a kind company that has, for many years, done much good in a low-key manner, and provided enviable benefits for its employees. Employees do not have much concept about grade structure. The aspiration of the chairman of the board is that all employees would be able to afford a house and car, and take good care of their parents. Like Du, many employees regard the company as their home. Therefore, it is natural that employees work hard for their home and achieve their own values. Kind-hearted people are always happy. The stereotype of the tech geek has been broken. In Du’s team, there are talkative and humorous members, who are crazy about archery and ball games. They have actively taken part in cultural activities organized by the company. There are ones who broke their fingers when playing basketball but continued to work after bandaging their fingers, and never forgot to make a joke out of his situation while managing his own tasks.

Do you still want to find the source of their happiness? You can find the answer in their craftsmanship. The engine supported by framework and technology is the final artwork after all their devotion and hard work. The devotion to work by an engine craftsman is like an artist’s creation of music, architecture and paintings. During the technical work of repeated refinement and meticulous precision, they can experience the beauty of logic, the wonder of machine language, and the realization of creative thinking that cannot be experienced by ordinary people. They are not different from musicians, architects, or painters at all in this regard. Without fashionable clothing, fine wine or fancy cars, and separated from the hustle and bustle of the metropolis, the life of Du and his team cannot be made into a beautiful TV drama. Yet, it can be regarded as a pure and happy symphony of perfection. Their ode to joy is going on.

Zong Zite from Perfect World was Awarded the Capital Labor Medal

The TV station of Haidian District of Beijing municipal city produced a special report on Mr Zong Zite, an employee of Perfect World, who was awarded the Capital Labor Medal. The report was based around his hard work which has molded his ‘game’ life.

The Capital Labor Medal is awarded by the Federation of Trade Unions of Beijing Municipal City to honor individuals who have worked hard in ordinary posts, been innovative at work, and achieved outstanding results.

As the designer of game numerical value for the Zhu Xian project under Perfect World, Zong “took the initiative at work and was bravely innovative”, constantly exploring and pursuing in this field. He “has constantly adjusted the framework and user experience of the game system”, at the same time improving himself and his efficiency at work. This has played an important role in the progress of the whole Zhu Xian project team.

According to the report, due to his outstanding performance in the field of game software, Zong was awarded the “Pacesetter of Technological Innovation of Haidian Park of Zhongguancun Science and Technology Zone”, and “Annual Pacesetter in Economic and Technological Innovation Project Competition of Haidian District”. This year, he became the winner of the “Capital Labor Medal”, showing the spirit of an outstanding worker of game software industry with his practical efforts.

When interviewed, Zong said, “These numerical values should be reflected in games to meet the basic needs of gamers. At first, we found it hard to adapt to the environment, but it became a kind of enjoyment later because it made us happy when we came to receive more and more feedback from gamers.

“A week before Zong’s wedding, I often saw him still working at the company until 9 or 10pm, and even working overtime until midnight. I was really amazed when I received an invitation to his wedding. I wondered how he even had time to prepare for his wedding since he worked so late every night. He told me that he had to prepare for his wedding after completing his work”, said Teng He, Vice President of Perfect World, at the interview.

Based on original technology, Perfect World has kept up its talents-oriented strategy for many years, and adopted various measures to mine for talented people. At the same time, Perfect World has provided various styles of training to the employees, and offered a free and happy working environment and platform for them to carry out their dreams.

In addition, Perfect World has attached great importance to its corporate cultural development. Established by Perfect World, the new concept of “Perfect Positive Energy” has reshaped and enriched the corporate culture of Perfect World, and served as its core principle. With this concept, employees of Perfect World are constantly improving themselves while driving the steady development of Perfect World.

It was reported that the United Trade Union of Perfect World won various group and individual awards at the work conference of Haidian Park of Zhongguancun Science and Technology Zone at the beginning of 2013. These included “Advanced Trade Union at the Basic Level”, “Advanced Enterprise of ‘Double Love and Double Evaluation’ Event”, “Advanced Enterprise of Economic and Technological Innovation”, “2012 Pacesetter of Economic and Technological Innovation of Haidian Park of Zhongguancun Science and Technology Zone”, and “Outstanding Employee of Loving the Company”. Various online game products under Perfect World brand name won “Outstanding Achievement Award in Economic and Technological Innovation Project” of Haidian Park of Zhongguancun Science and Technology Zone.

Zong’s winning of the “Capital Labor Medal” this time is not only a reconfirmation of the talent cultivation of Perfect World, but also sets an example for all workers.

All Chinese Game Companies Owe this “March 8 Red Flagger” a Gratitude

In 2010, I wrote an essay titled The Chinese-style Online Game is Collapsing, which caused some repercussions within the industry. Back then, I was merely a finance author and part-time veteran gamer, and had nothing to do with the game industry. Frankly speaking, at that time I felt that the Chinese game industry was weird.

In its early stage, the game industry in China was independent and unbridled like its practitioners. The quick earning of money brought with it conceit and fanaticism, which alienated this industry from the mainstream. Other than the rules and regulations relating to life and death, few people paid attention to aspects like brand reputation or social image. That was completely different from the traditional industry or even the IT and “traditional” Internet industry that I had reported on for over 10 years.

That was why, at the end of 2010, when introduced at a dinner party to Ms Wang Yuyun, Vice President of Perfect World, I didn’t take her seriously. My previous essays had also showed little respect for Perfect World. But at that time, the game of Zhu Xian made by Perfect World was really popular, and as a fan of web fiction myself, I found that we had a lot to talk about to each other. From the later contacts with her, I found Ms Wang Yuyun really modest and polite, much like the “traditional” Internet practitioners we are familiar with.

The image of the game industry, at that time and two years before that, was at its worst. The media were awash with various negative reports which caused serious concern, from the report of System on Southern Weekly, to various angry rebukes against the game industry as “having a crazy desire for money” and being “a poison for teenagers”. Wang was extremely worried about the image of the game industry, and was desperate for suggestion. I didn’t take it seriously at that time and only answered casually. To be honest, the attempt for anyone or any company to change the image of the entire game industry seemed to me a futile effort, like filling the ocean with pebbles.

In the years following, positive news of the independent innovation of the Chinese game industry and its new path to go global gradually entered mainstream media. Having been first place in Chinese game exports for many consecutive years, Perfect World began to attract the attention of national media. People’s Daily reported the status quo of China’s game industry in a full-page article titled Why it is Perfect World, and investigated ways for the industry to develop soundly in the future. CCTV News had reported many times on Perfect World as the representative enterprise of game industry, allowing people to comprehensively understand the various aspects of development of the Chinese game industry.

These changes are not only of great significance to Perfect World, but also to the entire industry, consisted of 534 million users and with sales revenue of over 140 billion yuan. Although there are various problems in the development of the game industry with its receiving backlash from time to time, more and more people and media outlets have started to view the development of the Chinese game industry in a comprehensive, calm and less prejudiced light. Previous reports adopting the stance of “games are poison” and “losing temper at the sight of games” are slowly fading out of this era.

As the new representative of “Chinese culture going global”, the CEO of Perfect World has accompanied state leaders for their state visits, and the products of Perfect Group, namely films and television programs, have been sent by state leaders to foreign presidents as the “national present”. This enabled the entire game industry in China to finally feel proud. The brand building of other game companies in China has also been influenced by Perfect World, either intentionally or unintentionally.

At an informal meeting, a powerful and listed cutting-edge game company directly suggested making the brand planning according to that of Perfect World. The senior journalists and planners who were present were speechless at the suggestion. As one who has become a closer friend to Ms Wang Yuyun by each day, I know that she and the team she leads have invested many years of hard work. This is far from being an achievement that can be accomplished overnight.

Several days ago, I learned that Wang had won the medal of “March 8 Red Flagger” （a honorific title for a woman who has extraordinary achievements and outstanding contributions on various fronts of socialist construction）, and she was the first person in the game industry to be honored with this. This was just as shocking as the news that, just one year ago, she served as the Director of a United Nations’ public welfare organization. But I could not find the right wording to congratulate her so as not to seem like I was mocking her. She shared a cute picture of the award in her WeChat Moments, which led to tease by a group of her friends. It is almost inconceivable that such a traditional award is now linked to such a new industry as the game industry.

In fact, the “March 8 Red Flagger” in the traditional sense is designed to honor those women with extraordinary achievements in the material and spiritual civilizations of socialism. This symbolizes the recognition of the game industry by the mainstream media, as in People’s Daily and on CCTV News.

Wang’s friends made jokes on her because they were surprised that she won this award, and they subconsciously thought that games were incomparable to the mainstream industries. Media outlets in Hong Kong devoted a full page to the game industry in China, with the article titled “Confucius and Online Game becoming the Pioneer in Cultural Export”. Reports on Reuters, Forbes and Yahoo Finance were filled with praise for the development of the game industry in China. Increasing numbers of parents are beginning to approve of their children taking this hobby as their career and working in the game industry. As the game industry begins to gain mainstream approval, the professionals within the industry are also enjoying the benefits that the changes have brought about.

Each practitioner in the game industry should therefore be grateful to those who worked so hard to change the “poor overall image of the game industry”. The consistent efforts of people like Ms Wang Yuyun who are devoted to improving the reputation and environment of the game industry, though their power may be limited, are very much worthy of our respect.