The person who submitted this sales data wasn't soone from the statistics departnt—it was Matsuhiro Minoru.
Within Gastar Electronic Entertainnt, Matsuhiro Minoru's value was hardly less than that of their top ga developers.
It was precisely because of her presence that the company's operations ran so smoothly. She could always resolve most business-related problems, allowing Takayuki to focus fully on ga developnt and production.
Now, the U.S. market was basically stable, forming a three-way balance.
Gastar Electronic Entertainnt held the majority share. Then there was Hark Brown—forr CEO of Lielda and now head of Brown Entertainnt—whose FPS and MMORPG titles dominated their own niches. Finally, Suray Electronics, which had followed in Gastar's footsteps by deeply investing in multiple ga genres. Together, Brown and Suray accounted for roughly 30% of the U.S. market.
That was about as much as Gastar could realistically achieve.
If their market share increased any further, the U.S. governnt would likely beco concerned again.
After all, they'd already experienced a ti when Japan dominated their market—and Aricans clearly didn't want history to repeat itself.
...
If that happened, the U.S. governnt might slap Gastar with an anti-dumping lawsuit and hit them with a hefty fine. Holding about 70% of the market was just the right amount—enough to dominate, but also leaving so breathing room for competitors so that Gastar wouldn't look like a monopoly. This gave the governnt less excuse to intervene.
Under these circumstances, Matsuhiro Minoru felt there was no longer any need to stay focused on the U.S. market.
So she set her sights on a new region: Europe.
Up until now, Europe had always been a relatively neglected market for Gastar Electronic Entertainnt.
It wasn't that Europeans couldn't afford gas—it was just that they'd never shown much enthusiasm for video gas in general.
Even massively popular RPGs often flopped in Europe due to cultural mismatch.
Whether Japanese or Arican in style, RPGs never sold well in Europe.
Third-party developers under Gastar had also seen little success there. Gradually, many companies lost interest in the region.
Similarly, Suray Electronics had virtually no presence in Europe. They'd tried multiple tis in the past, but with poor results. Eventually, they gave up and treated Europe like an afterthought. Gastar was doing a bit better—at least so of their titles were still popular.
Sowhat surprisingly, the best-performing titles weren't even Gastar's—it was Brown Entertainnt's realistic first-person shooters. Over the past few years, they'd released three FPS gas, each selling more than two million copies in Europe. That was impressive.
Gastar's own Mario series perford well due to its family-friendly nature. In addition, Europeans had a strong preference for racing gas—Mario Kart and more realistic titles like Need for Speed sold very well. Football (soccer) gas were another strong category.
Last year's top-selling ga in Europe was a Mario title on GSL, with around 1.3 million units sold, followed by Mario Kart and Need for Speed, both hovering around the 1 million mark. Lastly, there was a semi-realistic football ga Gastar had developed on a whim.
Just like Aricans loved Arican football, or how the Japanese were crazy about baseball, Europeans—especially the British—had an unparalleled passion for soccer.
The Premier League, Champions League, and other football tournants were internationally famous. Not to ntion FIFA's headquarters were also based in Europe, overseeing the global World Cup every four years.
Along with the sales data, Matsuhiro included a written assessnt of the European market.
She believed Europe had trendous untapped potential. Up until now, it simply hadn't been fully explored. In her report, she proposed developing a ga specifically tailored to European tastes as a way to fully open up the market.
"Gas that are popular in Europe, huh?"Takayuki tapped his desk, falling into thought.
Then let's go with FIFA.
He rembered clearly that the FIFA series was especially popular in Europe—particularly in the UK.
That annual franchise pulled in over two million sales from the UK alone each year.
It also made a fortune through its in-ga purchases, with Europe being one of the most lucrative markets.
If they wanted to break into Europe, a football ga was definitely the best bet.
It was a top-tier sports ga that could even rival Call of Duty in annual sales—a worthy developnt investnt.
So, let's go with that. It was also a good excuse to train up their Arican developnt team, getting them used to working on a new genre and laying the groundwork for future large-scale sandbox gas.
Releasing a top-tier football ga in Europe had great potential. Matsuhiro's foresight was spot on.
Since she was hoping Gastar would launch a football title to open the market—he'd make it happen.
Takayuki picked up the phone and dialed Matsuhiro's number.
It was nearly the end of the workday in Japan, which ant Matsuhiro was probably just waking up in the UK. But knowing her, she'd probably been up since 3 or 4 a.m., working non-stop until 8, 9, or even midnight.
She was a tireless woman—insanely dedicated to success and recognition. No matter how many tis he told her to rest more, it never worked. So Takayuki could only try to support her health in other ways—by hiring a personal health consultant, chef, and so on.
Thanks to her, he didn't have to worry about the company's managent or operations and could confidently leave everything in her hands. He didn't think he'd ever find another Matsuhiro, so he had to make sure she was protected.
Of course, first, he had to give her a call.
Takayuki had barely waited three seconds after dialing when the call was answered.
"President, are you calling to respond to the report I submitted?"
Matsuhiro went straight to the point, asking the question she cared about most.
Takayuki couldn't help but smile wryly. This woman was truly intense when it ca to work. Of course, he was just as bad when he was deep in ga developnt. In that sense, they were well-matched.
Takayuki replied, "Yes, I was calling to respond. But first, I want to ask—are you holding up okay? I heard from your health consultant that you've been cutting back on sleep again. You're going to drop dead at this rate."
"I'm fine," Matsuhiro answered calmly and coolly. She clearly didn't care about her health at all. As long as she could keep moving, she wouldn't stop—like a wind-up clock constantly ticking.
Reviews
All reviews (0)