Agreeing to Create Bad Games, What the Hell Is ‘Titanfall’? Chapter 267: Kamijou Keimaro’s resignation application!

Rustling whispers.

At this mont, the Kora conference room was filled with quiet murmurs and hushed conversations.

There were seven people present, making eight in total including Uekoe Kagemasa.

These eight individuals ford Kora’s top echelon, the shareholders’ eting that held ultimate authority over life and death decisions.

Just as Moriya Tetsuya had said before.

In Neon, so-called “executive directors” like him usually held no shares and only participated in profit distribution at best.

The real decision-making power rested with the shareholders who made up the shareholders’ eting—the true board of directors.

And today!

The reason Kora called this top-level shareholders’ eting on such a blurry, ambiguous day was primarily because the losses of Torii had beco unbearably severe!

About half a month ago, with the official trailer released, Torii began its pre-sale.

This 3S-level blockbuster, with a total investnt of 245 million dollars, was priced at 78 dollars per copy. The pre-sale phase had a generally positive response, selling over 800,000 copies by the start of the ga expo.

Selling more than 800,000 copies in pre-sale was huge news for any ga.

Kora was no exception.

They had already recouped a quarter of the costs during pre-sale.

It seed that Torii’s success was practically guaranteed.

However!

As the saying goes, man proposes, heaven disposes.

Since the opening of the ga expo, Kora’s nightmare began.

First, they were completely outnumbered by Golden Wind. Then, the live demo’s reputation plumted to rock bottom!

Within just two days of the expo!

Torii’s pre-sale practically ground to a halt in an awkward deadlock.

But that wasn’t all.

Starting the third day!

As Torii’s reputation worsened online, pre-sale numbers began to decline sharply, with refunds even appearing during the pre-sale phase!

“This is way too different from the trailer quality…”

“I feel like it’s not as good as Sekiro. Better to wait and see.”

“If I had to choose, I’d still pick Sekiro.”

“Is this live demo even serious? How did they make such a dull ga?”

“Damn, this is a disaster in gaplay.”

“Regretted pre-ordering. Already refunded. I’ll wait for the official version before deciding.”

“…”

Such comnts were endless.

Under this wave of bad reputation, within just four days of the expo, Torii’s pre-sale dropped from 800,000 copies to less than 600,000!

A full 200,000 pre-order players refunded!

What was once joyful data instantly turned into an unprecedented disaster!

At that ti!

Moriya had already resigned from the lead position, and Koizumi Kazuo had been hospitalized, with no authority to mobilize large-scale public relations.

Since the expo, Torii’s promotional activities had nearly co to a standstill.

At this mont!

Uekoe Kagemasa had already realized the ga was dood!

No.

Not just dood!

It was a complete disaster!

After all, whether it was Sekiro’s 65 dollars per copy or Torii’s 78 dollars per copy, it was no small sum for most players.

In this showdown, most players could only choose to buy one of the 3S-level blockbusters.

And the situation was extrely unfavorable for Torii!

The situation turned so sharply that the word ‘ruined’ might as well have been pasted on Uekoe Kagemasa’s face!

Seeing the dire circumstances!

Uekoe Kagemasa made a decisive move!

He had to sacrifice a pawn to save the king!

Since the ga’s release, the actual sales, as he had predicted, were filled with the bitter taste of failure—

Including pre-sale and official sales, a total of 720,000 copies.

Almost a month!

720,000 copies.

Sales revenue of 56.16 million dollars.

Only 22% of total costs recouped.

Moreover, daily sales were declining, and in about a month, sales were expected to stall completely.

What to do?

Enemies outside, no commander inside!

Under this heavy pressure, Uekoe Kagemasa’s anger surged uncontrollably.

He gritted his teeth and stomped his foot, deciding to completely halt all of Torii’s promotional activities!

Uekoe Kagemasa was truly a ruthless businessman.

If he couldn’t turn defeat into victory, he would just make the ss bigger, hoping to shock the shareholders’ eting!

Because then!

The pawn he sacrificed to save the king would be easier for the shareholders to accept!

And the situation.

Went exactly as he predicted!

Less than two weeks after the ga’s release, sales stalled and less than a third of the total cost was recovered, shocking the shareholders’ eting!

Today’s eting was naturally to find Uekoe Kagemasa and hold him accountable!

“Then, President Uekoe,”

After a round of whispering, a balding man with white hair and a slightly overweight figure at the shareholders’ table asked:

“Since we prepared so thoroughly, why has it ended up like this? Hm?!”

These shareholders didn’t care about preparation or project details.

To them, making money was good, not making money was bad, and losses were even worse!

Uekoe Kagemasa had to explain!

“…Because plans cannot keep up with changes.”

Uekoe Kagemasa was prepared for this!

“In fact, during the promotional phase, we were in a favorable position,”

Uekoe Kagemasa said:

“But! Due to Koizumi Kazuo’s poor choice in the live demo, he failed to fully showcase the ga’s features and instead chose relatively dull segnts to display,”

“This had a severely negative impact on us,”

“Directly causing our reputation to suffer,”

“Leading us to lose the word-of-mouth battle later on.”

At this point,

Uekoe Kagemasa sighed and lowered his head, putting on a sorry expression:

“…I bear so responsibility,”

“I didn’t manage or finalize the project details carefully enough,”

“Shimi Masai!!!”

Dodging the issue! Turning right into wrong!

He stood up and bowed deeply at a ninety-degree angle, burying his face deeply.

No one could see the cold, ruthless smile twitching at the corner of his mouth.

Actually, if even one person in the shareholders’ eting had played just a little of their own gas, they could instantly see through Uekoe Kagemasa’s excuse.

Was Torii only repetitive in that one live demo segnt? Was that the only boring part?

The true shareholders of the board exchanged glances.

Obviously, they neither completely believed nor completely disbelieved Uekoe Kagemasa’s words.

And this was clearly within Uekoe Kagemasa’s expectations.

After a brief pause, he continued:

“Of course, besides that, having no available personnel internally was also a major problem for our later promotions.”

As he spoke,

Uekoe Kagemasa frowned slightly, showing a troubled expression:

“Originally, the promotional lead for Torii and other projects was Executive Director Moriya Tetsuya,”

“But,”

“Due to Koizumi Kazuo’s impulsive actions nearly causing a serious diplomatic incident and the overall unfavorable situation,”

“Executive Director Moriya chose to resign from the lead position…”

Passing bla eastward! Adding to negligence!

Though Uekoe Kagemasa’s words sounded neutral, anyone with common sense could hear the implied accusation that Moriya Tetsuya had deserted at a critical mont!

Suddenly!

The conference room fell into silence.

The shareholders frowned deeply!

They were sowhat aware of Uekoe Kagemasa’s claims but had only partial understanding before.

Now, hearing Uekoe Kagemasa’s explanation, their hearts tightened.

Moriya Tetsuya was an executive director!

He was the top managent in Kora!

Almost second only to the president!

To behave like this in such a position?

This was not just improper.

It was dereliction of duty.

A very serious dereliction!

Seeing the shareholders’ displeased expressions, a cold glint flashed through Uekoe Kagemasa’s eyes.

The ti had co.

After a slight cough,

“Hmph—actually—”

Uekoe Kagemasa opened his mouth:

“There is another situation I only recently discovered,”

“Which can be said to be…the key cause of this severe loss…”

At these words!

Suddenly!

All eyes turned to Uekoe Kagemasa!

He paused slightly, as if making a difficult decision against tradition.

Then, he raised his hand, signaling everyone to look at the large screen at the back of the conference room—

Click.

A photo appeared on the projection.

In the photo, an older man and a younger man were sitting in a small restaurant, seemingly chatting, both smiling brightly.

As the photos flipped,

The two looked happier and happier.

Until the last photo.

They shook hands warmly, laughing together.

In an instant!

The entire conference room fell deathly silent!

Uekoe Kagemasa’s voice sounded especially clear in this hush!

“The older man needs no introduction. He is our Executive Director Moriya,”

Uekoe Kagemasa said:

“And the man shaking his hand,”

“Is the Executive Vice President of Golden Wind and also Golden Wind’s Chief Ga Director,”

“Gu Sheng, SamGu.”

Buzz!!!

Although Uekoe Kagemasa hadn’t said much yet, the release of such photos was obviously targeted!

“President Uekoe,”

The balding shareholder with white hair frowned coldly, looking at Uekoe Kagemasa with a trembling gaze:

“So things aren’t to be said lightly.”

What a joke!

Moriya Tetsuya was an executive director!

He was practically Kora’s second-in-command!

Now, Uekoe Kagemasa’s displayed photo clearly implied that Moriya Tetsuya had close ties with Golden Wind’s vice president and had even betrayed Kora by secretly defecting to Golden Wind and leaking business secrets!

Such words could not be spoken lightly!

Especially for a comprehensive super company like Kora!

The second-in-command betraying them? What an enormous impact!

Seeing the shocked expressions of the shareholders, Uekoe Kagemasa knew well how much such news would shake the entire company and its stock price!

But at this point,

To avoid being the first to fall, he could only drag out another one—

No, a pair of heavyweight executives—to take the bla and die for him!

Koizumi Kazuo, fool and useless!

Moriya Tetsuya, treacherous and contemptible!

Two for one!

Anyway, the company stock price drop wouldn’t hit him alone!

With those two as shields and the entire shareholders’ eting sharing the burden,

This deal was worth it!

Steeling his heart!

Snap! Snap! Snap!

Evidence from nurous private investigators flashed on the projection screen!

Uekoe Kagemasa’s voice grew increasingly firm and ruthless:

“Externally—”

“Three months ago, Golden Wind Vice President Gu Sheng called Moriya Tetsuya and detailed many aspects of the Sekiro project, but Moriya never reported it,”

“Later, when Golden Wind’s Sekiro project encountered motion capture difficulties, they contacted Moriya Tetsuya. After verification, Moriya helped Golden Wind get in touch with the MOSIA motion capture team and secretly facilitated cooperation between Golden Wind and Kenji Tanigaki’s motion capture team,”

“And at the expo, when Golden Wind’s booth was provoked, Moriya again stepped up, using his special status in the Kansai area to help Golden Wind quell the incident,”

“Internally—”

“He repeatedly chose an avoidance policy against Golden Wind’s promotion,”

“Secretly permitted Torii and Sekiro to launch simultaneously,”

“Maliciously injured project leaders during the expo and resigned at the crucial mont,”

“If this still isn’t enough to prove Executive Director Moriya’s collusion, please listen to this—”

Like dumping beans from a bamboo tube, Uekoe unleashed a relentless barrage of evidence!

And the final hamr was earth-shattering—

[“Mr. Gu, is there sothing you need my help with?”]

[“Actually, this matter… well, I shouldn’t be telling Moriya-san, but I consider him one of my few true friends in Neon, so I can’t hide it…”]

[“…Recently, we’ve been preparing a motion-sensing pod action ga… we also need motion capture actors to provide action model data…”]

[“Ah—okay, then let’s et and talk in detail…”]

A phone recording!

The two voices were clearly Gu Sheng and Moriya Tetsuya!

Of course!

This recording was obtained by Uekoe Kagemasa through sowhat improper ans.

But for soone at his level, this wasn’t a serious issue.

After all.

The weight of this phone recording far exceeded that of stolen audio alone!

This—!

This—!

For a mont, every shareholder’s face in the conference room was stunned!

Shock, anger, rage, disbelief!

Layer upon layer of expressions like colorful masks covered the seven shareholders’ faces!

Seeing this!

Uekoe Kagemasa took a deep breath!

Everything was ready.

Now, only his final tremble was left!

Bang!

Suddenly, a chair clattered under Uekoe Kagemasa!

In front of the seven shareholders, Uekoe Kagemasa stood up again and bowed deeply, a perfect ninety-degree bow:

“Shimi Masai, dear shareholders!”

“Now, this situation happened partly because I failed to supervise the project properly, and partly due to excessive trust in the senior executives around ,”

“Leading to such severe losses, I must take primary responsibility,”

“So,”

“I hereby formally submit my resignation to the shareholders’ eting and earnestly request approval,”

“To let soone more capable,”

“Take over the position of president!!!”

Retreat to advance!

A final decisive move!