幕后那座山，崩了：育碧创始人克劳德·吉尔莫之死

他的名字，叫克劳德·吉尔莫。

His name was Claude Guillemot.

对绝大多数人来说，

To the vast majority of people,

这是一个，

this is

相当陌生的名字。

a rather unfamiliar name.

但是他亲手参与缔造的那家公司，

But the company he helped build with his own hands

却几乎无人不知——

is known to almost everyone —

育碧。

Ubisoft.

《刺客信条》、

Assassin's Creed,

《孤岛惊魂》、

Far Cry,

《舞力全开》……

Just Dance …

这些响彻全球的游戏，

these games that ring out across the world,

背后都站着同一个名字：

all stand behind one name:

育碧。

Ubisoft.

全世界有数以亿计的玩家，

Hundreds of millions of gamers worldwide

都曾在它构筑的虚拟世界里，

have, in the virtual worlds it built,

度过无数个夜晚。

spent countless nights.

而克劳德，

And Claude

正是这一切的，

was, of all this,

起点之一。

one of the starting points.

让我们把时间，

Let's turn the clock

拨回到四十年前。

back forty years.

一九八六年，

In 1986,

在法国西部，

in western France,

一个叫布列塔尼的地方，

a place called Brittany,

五个亲兄弟，

five blood brothers

合伙创立了育碧。

jointly founded Ubisoft.

克劳德，

Claude

是其中之一。

was one of them.

在那个年代，

In that era,

他们做的，

what they did

不过是一门，

was no more than

再朴素不过的小生意——

the plainest of small businesses —

靠邮购的方式，

by mail order,

贩卖电脑软件。

selling computer software.

谁也无法预料，

No one could have foreseen

这门不起眼的家庭生意，

that this unremarkable family business

会在几十年间，

would, over a few decades,

生长为一个，

grow into

横跨全球的游戏帝国。

a game empire spanning the globe.

在这五兄弟之中，

Among these five brothers,

真正为公众所熟知的，

the one truly known to the public

是弟弟伊夫·吉尔莫。

is the younger brother, Yves Guillemot.

长期以来，

For a long time,

伊夫担任育碧的首席执行官，

Yves served as Ubisoft's CEO,

是公司当之无愧的"门面"，

the company's undisputed 'face',

频繁地，

frequently

出现在镜头前、

appearing before the cameras,

财报会上、

at earnings calls,

和聚光灯下。

and under the spotlight.

而克劳德，

Claude, by contrast,

选择的，

chose

是一条截然相反的道路。

a completely opposite road.

他极其低调，

He was extremely low-key,

几乎从不在公众面前抛头露面。

almost never showing his face in public.

他更像是这个庞大家族企业的，

He was more like, of this vast family enterprise,

"总管家"和"压舱石"：

the 'head steward' and the 'ballast stone':

默默地，

quietly

打理着公司的运营，

tending to the company's operations,

统筹着资本与内部的，

coordinating the myriad threads of capital and

千头万绪。

internal affairs.

与此同时，

At the same time,

他还执掌着，

he also headed

家族旗下，

another company under the family,

另一家专做游戏硬件的公司。

one devoted to gaming hardware.

你我玩游戏时，

When you and I play games,

握在手里的手柄、

the controller in our hands,

脚下的方向盘和踏板，

the wheel and pedals at our feet,

都与他经营的版图，

are all, to the domain he ran,

息息相关。

closely tied.

如果说，

If

弟弟伊夫，

the younger brother Yves

是站在台前、

was the dazzling star

光芒四射的那颗明星，

out on the stage,

那么克劳德，

then Claude

就是那个，

was the one

始终隐于幕后，

who stayed always behind the scenes,

用双肩，

and with his shoulders

默默扛起整座舞台的人。

quietly bore the whole stage.

那么，

So,

这场猝不及防的悲剧，

this tragedy that struck without warning —

究竟是如何发生的？

how exactly did it happen?

就在这个星期五的傍晚，

On this Friday evening,

克劳德，

Claude

登上了一架，

boarded

小型私人飞机——

a small private plane —

一架双引擎的塞斯纳。

a twin-engine Cessna.

飞机一路飞向，

The plane flew all the way to

法国西海岸，

France's west coast,

一座名叫拉博勒的海滨小城，

a seaside town called La Baule,

准备降落。

preparing to land.

然而，

But then,

就在即将着陆的那一刻，

at the very moment of landing,

飞机失去控制，

the plane lost control,

一头扎进田野，

plowed into a field,

随即燃起熊熊大火。

and instantly erupted in roaring flames.

机上两人，

The two people on board —

连同克劳德本人，

Claude himself,

以及一位经验丰富的飞行教练，

and an experienced flight instructor —

全部不幸罹难。

all perished.

克劳德，

Claude

享年六十九岁。

was sixty-nine.

噩耗传开，

As the grim news spread,

整个游戏行业，

the entire game industry

都陷入了震惊与哀痛。

fell into shock and mourning.

而这则消息，

And this news

之所以格外令人唏嘘，

is all the more wrenching

还在于它出现的，

because of

这个微妙的时刻。

the delicate moment at which it came.

事实上，

In fact,

最近这两年，

over the past two years,

育碧的处境，

Ubisoft's situation

相当艰难。

has been quite hard.

玩家的不满，

Players' discontent,

业绩的下滑，

falling results,

让这家昔日的巨头，

have forced this former giant

不得不踏上，

to set out on

痛苦的重组之路——

a painful road of restructuring —

大刀阔斧地，

boldly

削减成本，

cutting costs,

重新划分业务，

redrawing its businesses,

身后，

while behind it,

还有像腾讯这样的资本，

capital like Tencent

在静静地，

waits and watches,

等待与观望。

quietly.

就在这样一个，

At just such

风雨飘摇、

a storm-tossed,

前途未卜的关口，

uncertain juncture,

这位曾经，

this man who once,

一砖一瓦，

brick by brick,

把它亲手垒起来的人，

built it up with his own hands,

却以这样一种，

departed, in such

突如其来的方式，

an abrupt way,

永远地，

and forever,

退场了。

left the stage.

说到这里，

Speaking of this,

我想和你聊聊，

I want to talk with you about

这件事更深的一层。

a deeper layer of this.

我们身处的这个时代，

The era we live in

习惯于，

is used to

把所有的掌声与目光，

casting all its applause and gaze

都投向那些，

onto those

站在聚光灯下的面孔。

faces standing in the spotlight.

我们记得CEO，

We remember the CEO,

记得明星，

remember the stars,

记得那一个个，

remember those

被反复提起的名字。

names brought up again and again.

但克劳德的一生，

But Claude's life

却像是一个，

is like

温柔而沉默的提醒：

a gentle, silent reminder:

在每一座，

behind every

我们仰望的高楼背后，

tall tower we look up to,

都有这样一些人，

there are people like this,

甘愿，

willing

一辈子待在阴影里，

to spend a lifetime in the shadows,

不为人知，

unknown,

却把最重的那块基石，

yet carrying the heaviest cornerstone

稳稳地，

steadily

扛在了自己肩上。

on their own shoulders.

节目的最后，

At the end of the show,

我想把两个问题，

I want to leave you

留给你。

with two questions.

第一，

First,

回到你自己的生命里——

back in your own life —

有没有那样一个"幕后的人"，

is there such a 'person behind the scenes',

你很少看见他，

one you rarely see,

甚至很少想起他，

even rarely think of,

但正是他，

yet it is precisely he

一直在为你，

who has always, for you,

默默地，

quietly

撑着一片天？

held up a piece of the sky?

第二，

Second,

当一个人，

when a person

倾尽一生，

pours out a whole lifetime

建起了一座城，

to build a city,

而这座城，

and this city

此刻正风雨飘摇，

is, at this moment, storm-tossed,

他的骤然离去，

is his sudden departure

究竟是一个故事的，

the ending

落幕，

of one story,

还是另一段，

or the beginning

艰难旅程的，

of another

开始？

hard journey?

这两个问题，

These two questions

没有标准答案。

have no standard answer.

但是它们，

But they

值得你，

are worth your

慢慢地想。

thinking about slowly.