There was once an internet social networking company in Japan called YOO.
Takayuki had long since forgotten the na of its boss. Back then, they had boldly claid they were going to enter ga developnt, throwing money around to acquire nurous ga studios, looking every bit like they were aiming to beco a world-famous ga company.
Unfortunately, the company’s valuation was inflated. When the internet bubble burst, it collapsed instantly. With additional behind-the-scenes pressure from Japanese financial conglorates, YOO—a rising star that had just begun to shine—fell apart overnight.
The ga division that Mikufu later created was sowhat similar, but also very different.
Mikufu’s ga division followed a traditional, in-house developnt route instead of expanding by acquiring other studios.
In terms of original creativity and intrinsic value, it was far stronger than YOO’s forr ga teams.
Takayuki had never been interested in YOO’s collapse; in the end, it was carved up cleanly by companies like Suri Electronics.
This ti, however, Takayuki had the idea of acquiring Mikufu’s ga division.
The potential of that departnt was genuinely quite good.
What they lacked was a proper opportunity.
An opportunity for strong marketing and the right release timing.
Mikufu’s ga division was sowhat comparable to Blizzard’s scale in Takayuki’s previous life—not quite on the level of Activision Blizzard combined, but already on par with Blizzard as a standalone company.
Acquiring such a team and folding it into the North Arican ga division would be a solid move.
"Mikufu’s ga division... their main leadership is actually decent," the Infinite World producer answered seriously. "It’s just that they were held back by Mikufu’s headquarters and missed a lot of growth opportunities."
In his impression, Mikufu’s ga division really wasn’t bad.
Team mbers got along reasonably well, and when developnt problems arose, they were generally willing to communicate and solve them together.
The real problem was Mayron Kess.
That genius-with-a-bad-temperant was infuriating—but also, in a way, worthy of so respect.
At least in the fields he cared about, he truly had achievents to his na.
In chip design and manufacturing, he had carved out a unique position. Even when facing Facebook’s brute-force capital pressure in smartphones and tablets, he hadn’t been completely crushed.
Instead, his high-end positioning had earned the favor of people who valued style and taste.
But when it ca to fields he didn’t like, he treated them purely as tools—cold, ruthless, and without the slightest bit of sentint.
"I’ve looked into that departnt head," Takayuki said. "He’s neither outstanding nor incompetent—but that kind of person isn’t really suited to be in charge."
If an acquisition happened, that person would have to go and be replaced with soone of Takayuki’s choosing. Otherwise, problems would inevitably arise sooner or later.
"I think so too," the Infinite World producer nodded. "But Mikufu clearly couldn’t find a better head for the ga division."
After all, no one wanted to be mistreated.
Talented ga managers could get the sa position and salary at other companies—there was no need to endure Mikufu.
The current ga director simply didn’t match the role in terms of managent ability.
At this point, the Infinite World producer suddenly realized sothing. He looked at Takayuki in surprise.
"Boss... you’re not thinking of acquiring Mikufu’s ga division, are you?"
"That idea has crossed my mind," Takayuki replied calmly. "The gas they’ve developed are quite good. There may still be value there."
Good gas deserved to be cherished.
Seeing that Mikufu’s gas were genuinely solid, Takayuki didn’t want them to simply fade into obscurity.
In his previous life, there were many gas he still felt regret over.
Gas with good quality that just never sold well—abandoned rcilessly by capital in the end.
Yet sotis, if those gas were given a bit more patience, the returns could be unexpected.
Those returns were long-term, though—and required patience.
Most capital had none.
But he did.
He didn’t have to care about anyone else’s expectations.
The ga that left the deepest impression on him was a live-service title called Otherworld Maze.
Its setting was very similar to World of Warcraft from his previous life, and also resembled Dragon Treasure, developed by Brown Entertainnt in this world.
Recently, however, Dragon Treasure’s developnt direction had beco confusing, with several poorly received updates in a row.
Fortunately, it had no real competitors, so it could continue raking in money.
Otherworld Maze, though, had the potential to surpass Dragon Treasure.
It just needed one opportunity.
A full multi-platform release—and a more approachable control and design philosophy—to win over more players.
Coincidentally, Gastar Electronic Entertainnt didn’t yet have a long-running online RPG.
This could neatly fill that gap.
As for Final Fantasy XIV, it could be developed at a steady pace. Two gas of the sa genre could grow and compete side by side.
Takayuki had already planned out many of the follow-up steps.
Now the only missing piece was acquiring Mikufu’s ga division.
There were definitely talented people in there.
The Infinite World producer studied Takayuki’s expression for a long while and finally confird that he wasn’t joking.
He sighed.
"Mikufu’s ga division really was born at the wrong ti. If their team had been established a few years earlier and grown to this point, I think they could’ve gained much more recognition."
"Or," Takayuki added, "if Mayron Kess hadn’t been so rigid and had allowed those gas to launch on all platforms, the outco might’ve been very different."
"Huh?"
The producer’s expression changed.
All-platform release?
Of course!
It suddenly clicked.
Up to now, all of Mikufu’s gas had been released exclusively on Mikufu’s own platform.
And that platform had severe limitations—its market was small and capped.
But if those gas launched on Morgan Group’s operating systems, on Gastar Electronic Entertainnt’s consoles, on Suri Electronics’ platforms...
The result would be completely different.
Takayuki had never been obsessed with exclusivity. He wanted gas to reach as many players as possible.
Platforms were just channels.
If conditions allowed, he was perfectly willing to release his gas everywhere.
"Boss... you’re saying you want Mikufu’s gas to go multi-platform?" the producer said, excitent rising in his voice. "That... that could be an absolute gold mine."
He was so excited he almost wished he had enough money himself—to buy Mikufu along with its IPs outright and then dump all those gas onto every other platform.
Most of those gas were built on Unreal Engine. With similar underlying code, porting wouldn’t be especially difficult.
In the end, it could an massive profits.
The God of Gas...
...might just be the God of Investnt as well.
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