After working in Computer Core for a long time, I often feel a sense of "dislocation of identity".

On the explicit side, we are a game culture content company. We communicate with users through radio stations, videos and articles, and share our love and insights about games. This is our "media attribute"; on the other hand, I can always witness some things that completely "transcend" the media category in every corner of the office and at the "nuclear fusion" scene:

Developers and players chatted excitedly over a DEMO, and Gikos's cloakroom was prototyping clothes printed with various IPs; and in the developer event (BOOOM Jam) named "BOOOM Jam", countless creative prototypes, whether rough or stunning, were "created" in just three weeks.

What exactly is the core? This once somewhat uncertain topic now has a clearer picture: it is a gathering place for gamers and a place that provides various stages for outstanding creators - whether it is community, nuclear fusion or BOOOM.

Last weekend (October 18th-19th), we held a small "Breaking Market Roadshow" at Dongjin International B1, Chaoyang District. This is a place where players and developers can truly communicate face-to-face.We also announced that BOOOM has officially upgraded from a "developer community" to a "game incubator".

The first reaction of the developers present and mine may be similar: Why would a company that is famous for content and community want to end up in an industry as "incubator" as "important"? The word "incubator" is not uncommon in the game industry, but it is often strongly tied to capital, industrial parks, and clear business returns.As for Jihe, a company that started with "love" and "sharing", if we become an incubator, what do we want to achieve? What can we achieve?

What's more, the location we chose is Beijing.Realistically speaking, whenever we talk about China's game industry landscape, the center of gravity always seems to be moving south.Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou and even Chengdu have attracted a large amount of capital and talents with their mature industrial chains and cluster effects.As for Beijing, as China's cultural center and Internet highland, the "atmosphere" of the game industry always seems to be bad. Moreover, we have heard more than once the story of outstanding teams from the north "going south to look for opportunities."

This constitutes an important stroke in the line describing this upgrade: Beijing and even the entire north seem to have always lacked a truly systematic and full-link "game incubator", and this map itself is not a whim of business expansion, but a positive response to the industry's pain points based on our accumulation of more than ten years.

Thanks to the strong support from the Propaganda Department of the Beijing Chaoyang District Committee and the National Cultural and Creative Experimental Zone Management Committee, at this node, Jihe will officially launch its own "grand plan": we will enter a new stage of work with tens of millions of seed funds and 3,000 square meters of physical office space.

01 A piece of "puzzle" that needs to be filled urgently

Before talking about "what" the BOOOM incubator is, we really have to look at what current game developers, especially early-stage developers, "are lacking".

At the scene, Erqi, the person in charge of BOOOM’s explosive business and the speaker this time, showed a growth chart of the number of users of the Steam platform in China.From the “Dota 2 Launcher” in 2015, to the explosive decline brought about by “PUBG” in 2017, to the current payment habits cultivated by various 3A masterpieces and high-quality independent games.The data is already somewhat "conservative" - ​​now, Chinese has surpassed English and become the first language of Steam, and the maturity of the market is obvious.

The general background is that players’ aesthetics are improving, their willingness to pay is increasing, and they crave “high-quality content.”This desire has given rise to diverse offerings.We have seen the emergence of high-quality independent teams such as "Taiwu Scroll" and "The Kingdom of the Wind"; we have also seen traditional mobile game manufacturers begin to turn around, set up studios, and turn to the production of "content-oriented games".

The market is getting better and the ecology is getting richer.But beneath this prosperity, a structural problem still exists.

For example, most of the resources in the market now are concentrated in the links of "financing", "issuance" and "sales" - which is not difficult to understand. These links are closest to "money", have the fastest returns, and are also the easiest to quantify.But what about the first few steps of game development? For example, how to communicate with more developers? How to form a reliable team? After the game has its first DEMO, where to get real feedback from the first batch of core players?

In the past 10 years, nearly 20 "Nuclear Fusion" games and thousands of new independent products have been tried to find answers to these questions: No matter the popularity and fame of the game, players on Nuclear Fusion will always give unconditional support, actively play and provide feedback. This has also made this party a must-go place for many developers and a typical case of "service".

After all, these needs that occur at the "earliest stage" are the cornerstone of the entire chain.But perhaps, such scheduled exhibitions alone still cannot meet the demand - after all, in the "service" stage, the investment time is long, the results are slow, and the returns obtained are unstable and difficult to see.This is a "hard work" and a "slow work".

When a developer has a brilliant idea, he may not be able to find the program; when a two-person team makes a prototype, they may go in the wrong direction due to a lack of early verification from players; when they finally polish a good version, they may fall before the threshold of finding the first start-up funding or applying for a version number.What developers need is "full-link" help.What the BOOOM incubator needs to do is to fill in this missing piece of the puzzle - an incubator focused on "early-stage teams" and "full-link services".

It is not just to provide a job or a sum of money, but to establish a mechanism to open up the entire closed loop from "helping developers find each other", to "helping the game obtain player feedback", to "solving the first wave of development funding and compliance issues", and finally "docking the complete release online".

And this support is also quite scarce in the current Beijing game industry. It needs the right time, place and people, as well as support from policies, processes and other aspects. Therefore, this time, Jihe can unite with the support of the Beijing Chaoyang District Party Committee Propaganda Department and the National Cultural and Creative Experimental Zone Management Committee, which is even more valuable.

02 The “content” and “connection” of the machine core

Although friends who are familiar with the machine core already know the answer to this question, some friends may have questions: Why can the machine core do this?

In the early days of this business, we also conducted in-depth investigations into some relatively pure developer organizations. They are precious parts of the entire ecosystem, but they do often show shortcomings that are not very efficient.We have gradually learned that to be a developer community, we must not only have the ability to gather developers, but also have mechanisms to continuously encourage developers to create, and we must also have the ability to commercialize projects. We must have dreams and bread.

These thoughts form the basis for the BOOOM incubator. After further summary, we will summarize it into four key "parts" in the core ecosystem that have been running stably for many years:

First, it is an in-depth content platform and high-quality community.This is the "basic disk" of the machine core.After more than ten years of accumulation, the machine core community has accumulated a group of the most core, picky and passionate players in China.More importantly, there are a large number of "quasi-developers" and "active developers" lurking in this community.

They discuss game design and share development experiences here. They are the natural audience of BOOOM.The incubator does not need to "go from 0 to 1" to find users, we only need to "activate" the soil.

Secondly, there is the “proving ground” of BOOOM Jam.The BOOOM Jam event (and later BOOOMLab) since 2019 is the earliest exploration of machine core in "service developers".It provides a proposition, a time frame, and a community that allows countless “ideas” to be seen.

More importantly, it provides a platform for “teaming”.Countless developers have found like-minded comrades through BOOOM and achieved breakthroughs from 0 to 1.This is the “creative source” and “talent pool” of the incubator.

Furthermore, it is the "Nuclear Fusion" game exhibition, the largest "player verification" channel.What does a game DEMO need most? Feedback.What developers fear most is that no one cares about their work after it is completed.Jihe has the largest offline game exhibition in China with the widest coverage and the highest player participation - Nuclear Fusion.Every year, the BOOOM zone becomes the most unique scenery in nuclear fusion.

Here, developers' works will be "reviewed" by thousands of core players.This kind of large-scale, high-intensity offline trial play and instant feedback are unmatched by any online test.It can help developers quickly verify gameplay and avoid risks at an early stage.This is the "quality inspection system" of the incubator.

Finally, there is the commercial "export" of Organic Core Distribution and Gikos.When the game is developed, it needs to be brought to market.Jihe's own publishing team, as well as Jikesu as the "first party" of Jihe, have been exploring the road to commercial transformation for many years.The side-scrolling puzzle game CATO, the first commercial game released by Jihe, which was launched last year, has completed the entire chain linkage from incubation to commercial sales to peripheral sales.

To sum up, the content community (people) + BOOOM Jam (creative) + nuclear fusion (verification) + distribution/Gicos (business), these four "parts" are combined together, allowing Jihe to be an incubator. From a "cross-border" adventure, it has become a "natural thing".

In a certain sense, we are not trying to break into a new field, we are just trying to "system encapsulate" the capabilities we already have, and then deliver them to developers in a more systematic way.

03 From “communication” to “check-in”

The infrastructure is running through, and it is not far away from actual operation. However, "you must do it if you know it". We must know the specific "how to do it" and "how to practice" the BOOOM incubator in order to truly solve the "early pain points" of developers.

To put it in the most straightforward and simple way, it is: "We provide money, and we rely on the park as a copyright publishing base to provide more convenient version number compliance services. We provide offices, housing, exhibitions, and testing activities for players at all stages."

This is an almost "arranged" commitment.It takes over almost all the "chores" for a game developer in Beijing from the germination of an idea to the launch of a product.This reminds me of a term in the real estate industry: "move-in ready."No matter where you are, you have a good idea for a game and you have formed a small team.You no longer need to worry about calculating the rent of workstations in Haidian, you no longer need to worry about the tedious process of version number, and you no longer need to worry about no one taking care of the DEMO after it is made.You just need to "bring your ideas and team" to BOOOM.

Dismantling this "turn-key" service package, it contains several extremely "real" parts:

The first is "providing funds" (early guarantee).The incubator will provide the first wave of development funds to early-stage teams that settle in.The purpose of this money is simple - to ensure that the team can "survive" and successfully produce the first playable version, without having to worry too much about livelihood or being kidnapped by "hot money" in the early stages.

The second is "giving place" (office and housing).This is the most real pain point in the geographical location of "Beijing" - BOOOM incubator is an offline incubator, it is a physical incubation space.This not only provides workstations to solve the high rental costs, but also creates a "physical field" where developers can communicate and collide together, reshaping the offline developer community atmosphere in Beijing.Moreover, rental subsidies are also within the scope of the support plan, and every effort is made to allow developers to use the money they receive for the development itself.

The third is to "give processes" (improve compliance efficiency).This may be one of the most valuable services for domestic developers.BOOOM will use the resources of the computer core to help the settled teams enter the process of solving the most critical "compliance issues" such as "version number" and other game launches more efficiently.Free developers from complicated administrative processes, allowing them to focus on "creation" itself.

The fourth is "exhibition" (player verification).Games from participating teams will have the opportunity to be exhibited and tested at online and offline events such as "Nuclear Fusion".As mentioned before, this is one of the core resources of the machine core.

Finally, there is "all-in-one service" (full-cycle escort).In addition to the above-mentioned "hard currency", BOOOM Incubator will also provide full-cycle "soft services".

For example, "Game Roadshow Workshop".BOOOM will invite successfully incubated teams, publishers, investors, and even guests like old friends Zhongqing and Leiden to teach developers step by step "How to introduce your game", "How to choose a publisher", and "How to face investors".This is no longer a "nanny-style" service, but "arming" developers.

BOOOM not only helps you "make" games, but also teaches you how to "sell" them and how to "continue" in this industry for a longer time.

From online team-building tools, developer communities, and game libraries to offline BOOOM Jam and nuclear fusion; from knowledge empowerment in "master classes" to business exercises in "workshops"; from providing workstations and funds to arranging version numbers and distribution... what BOOOM Incubator is trying to build is an "environment that allows developers to create with peace of mind."

04 Conclusion

From the content media of "talking about games", to the communities and exhibitions of "playing games", to the BOOOM creation of "making games", the path of machine core seems to be very natural.

The growth of machine core has always been accompanied by the growth of China’s core player group.And when some of these players were no longer satisfied with "playing" and "chatting" and began to pick up tools and try to "create" their own games, Jihe naturally chose to "take another step forward."

Therefore, BOOOM's upgrade from Jam to community to today's "incubator" is not a "transformation" of the machine core, but can be regarded as an evolution in the way of "giving back" to the community.

Of course we know that "incubation" is a long process, it requires patience, continuous investment, and you may not even see the "return" for a long time.But at such a node, with the strong support of the Propaganda Department of the Beijing Chaoyang District Committee and the National Cultural and Creative Experimental Zone Management Committee, Jihe is willing to use its ten years of accumulation to "fill in" the most difficult but important early piece of the puzzle for this industry.

The official launch of the BOOOM incubator is an important attempt for Jihe in Beijing.We hope that this "move-in" home we built can give those scattered ideas and dreams, or those who are preparing to go south, a place where they can take root safely.

Of course we want to witness more stories with everyone, starting from here.

If you have an early game project and are looking for help and support,

Welcome to contact us BOOOM game incubator,

Please send your team and project introduction to: boomcat@gcores.com