The highlight of Mickford’s launch event was scheduled for the latter half.
The first half consisted mostly of conceptual products and relatively inconsequential electronic devices.
When the second half arrived, Mickford clearly slowed the pace of the presentation, and Myron Cass personally took the stage to introduce the remaining content.
"Everyone, I know what you’re waiting for," Myron Cass said. "But please don’t be impatient. Everything you’re expecting will be shown today. What I’m about to unveil next will be our key video ga projects for the coming period. These are large-scale gas that required a long developnt cycle and significant investnt. Now, please welco the head of our ga developnt departnt, who will introduce our latest video ga products."
"They’re here," Takayuki said softly.
The other executives who had been chatting imdiately fell silent and turned their attention to the big screen.
Among all of Mickford’s announcents, their video ga showcase was the one Gastar Electronic Entertainnt had to pay the most attention to.
The earlier products had little overlap with Gastar’s core business. No matter how impressive they were, they wouldn’t shake Gastar’s foundation.
Gas were different.
The head of Mickford’s ga developnt departnt took the stage and began with a brief introduction.
He first talked about Mickford’s journey in ga developnt over the past few years—a journey he described as extrely difficult.
Between the lines, he repeatedly implied that Gastar Electronic Entertainnt was simply too dominant, placing enormous pressure on other companies’ ga developnt efforts.
But everyone in the industry knew the truth.
Wasn’t the real reason simply that other companies’ gas were of lower quality and not on the sa level as Gastar’s?
If you could make high-quality gas yourselves, where would the pressure co from?
To this day, Murakami Kazuo’s ga review website had listed around fifty or so five-star gas in total.
More than forty of them ca from Gastar Electronic Entertainnt.
Most of the rest were from Suri Electronics.
A small number belonged to Brown Entertainnt.
And finally, an even smaller handful ca from other mid- and small-sized studios.
As for Mickford—after all these years, they still didn’t have a single ga rated five stars.
It was only natural they felt pressure. Mickford had poured in huge investnts without gaining much prestige, and even Myron Cass himself couldn’t feel proud of that.
"But!"
Just as the departnt head finished lanting their hardships, he suddenly changed tone.
"This year, we will completely turn things around. Thanks to the strong support of our CEO, Mr. Myron Cass, our ga developnt departnt now has ample funding to fully unleash our creativity. At the sa ti, many like-minded and talented individuals have joined us. I am confident that in the coming years, our ga developnt departnt will beco a force that everyone pays attention to."
His voice grew more and more excited, as if Mickford’s ga division were about to rise to stand shoulder to shoulder with Gastar Electronic Entertainnt.
He then began unveiling their latest gas.
The first was a first-person shooter—a sequel to one of their previous titles.
The visuals looked quite impressive. Gastar’s people imdiately recognized it.
"That’s Unreal Engine," they thought.
Kidaida Kō, head of the First Developnt Departnt: "The ga looks good."
Kitada Hitomi, head of the Third Developnt Departnt: "But it’s using Unreal Engine."
Shiratori Umi, head of the Second Developnt Departnt: "Boss, should we trip them up a bit? It might affect their developnt."
Uchiyama Ei, head of the Ninth Developnt Departnt: "You’re really nasty... I like it."
Shiratori Umi instantly exploded. "Get away from , you creep! You damn masochist!"
Takayuki said calmly, "Why trip them up? If their ga sells well, we get a cut too. I actually hope their ga becos a hit."
A truly good ga was always good news for players.
How could Gastar Electronic Entertainnt alone satisfy the appetites of all gars?
Nowadays, developing a ga often took two or three years, sotis even longer. Yet players might finish it in dozens—or at most a hundred—hours. Were they supposed to wait several more years for the next release?
The market was still short on great gas. One more good title from Mickford wouldn’t hurt.
Takayuki was watching for two reasons: first, to see whether Mickford’s gas were genuinely interesting and worth playing; second, to let his team study the competition and plan their own future developnt pace accordingly.
At this point, the overall landscape of the ga market was largely set. It was very unlikely for any company to seriously threaten Gastar—unless Gastar itself self-destructed by releasing piles of garbage gas and ruining its reputation.
Next, the departnt heads began analyzing the technical details of Mickford’s ga—how certain chanics were implented and whether similar techniques could be applied to their own projects.
The launch event continued.
Mickford’s ga departnt head revealed several more casual-oriented titles: a music rhythm ga and an extre sports ga. They closely resembled Rhythm Master and Riders Republic from Takayuki’s previous life. Judging by appearances, they had the potential to beco high-quality niche hits.
Still, none of them truly amazed Takayuki.
Then, suddenly, the departnt head’s tone and deanor shifted.
Takayuki noticed it imdiately and narrowed his eyes.
"I believe that after seeing these gas, you’ll all agree that they look quite good—at least judging from the trailers," the departnt head said. "What I can promise you now is that your actual experience after getting the gas will match what you saw in the trailers, or perhaps even exceed your expectations. I guarantee that if players are dissatisfied at any point within the first ten hours of gaplay, they can request a refund with no conditions. This is my confidence in the gas we’ve made."
That was a strong statent—full of confidence.
Takayuki nodded to himself.
The departnt head continued, "If the gas shown so far are ones you find solid and enjoyable, then the next title I’m about to reveal is one I am absolutely confident will leave you truly amazed. Please welco our new-generation ga producer—a young but exceptionally talented developer—who will now introduce a groundbreaking product, a ga that can redefine the open-world genre!"
Reviews
All reviews (0)