Matsuhiro Minoru was the quintessential success-driven individual.
As long as she achieved success, she would feel a sense of peace and satisfaction deep within.
And Matsuhiro was the elite among such people.
She wasn't content with success once or twice—she wanted to keep winning, again and again.
Over the phone, her tone was earnest as she said, "President, I need your help. Ga developnt is your area of expertise, so I'd like to ask for your most professional advice."
Takayuki casually replied, "You're wondering what kind of gas are popular in Europe, right? I figured you'd already have so idea."
Without hesitation, Matsuhiro responded, "I do have a few rough thoughts, but I'm not a professional developer, so I don't feel confident making a definitive judgnt."
Takayuki chuckled. "It's not that complicated. Don't overthink it. It's really quite simple—just think about what people enjoy most. Go on, tell what you think."
...
After a brief pause to organize her thoughts, Matsuhiro began, "Alright, here's what I've gathered so far. From the data I've seen in Europe, first-person shooters—especially war-thed ones—are very popular. It seems they're particularly drawn to those, so I was thinking maybe we could go in that direction and develop a ga like that."
Takayuki nodded. "Keep going. Aside from FPS gas, what else do you think Europeans enjoy?"
"Besides shooters, I'd say football gas. Just like how baseball gas are hugely popular in Japan, I think football gas would do really well in Europe."
This ti, Matsuhiro had struck a chord with Takayuki.
That's exactly what he'd been thinking too—testing if her intuition aligned with his, and sure enough, it did.
Matsuhiro's insight was spot on. She had imdiately identified the genre that hit the sweet spot for European audiences. In other regions, football gas were popular but not necessarily top-tier sellers.
But in Europe, it was a different story—especially in the UK, where annual FIFA releases routinely sold over 2 million copies. Across all of Europe, they likely sold more than 5 million units annually.
With sales figures that massive, it made sense that EA would shell out over 1.5 billion yen every year just to retain FIFA's exclusive naming rights, aggressively defending the brand from competitors.
Of course, just having naming rights wasn't enough. If the ga wasn't actually fun, players wouldn't stick around. So credit where it's due—FIFA's gaplay did have its rits.
And speaking of gaplay, another company deserved ntion.
Back in Japan, Konami had also developed a football ga called Winning Eleven (Pro Evolution Soccer internationally).
Winning Eleven held a special place in Takayuki's childhood mories.
Over ti, many players gravitated toward FIFA because Winning Eleven stopped innovating. The AI beca clunky, the chanics stale, and sotis the difficulty was artificially inflated—players even accused the ga of "digital cheating refs." It just got worse year after year.
Yet in the early days, EA's FIFA couldn't hold a candle to Winning Eleven.
It wasn't until EA began studying Winning Eleven's strengths, removing its weaknesses, and carving out its own path that FIFA beca the global juggernaut it is today—at least by the ti Takayuki crossed over into this world.
FIFA was now the world's most successful football ga, with over 10 million copies sold annually. Around 70% of those were digital—aning EA directly pocketed that revenue. Then there were the infamous microtransactions.
Those let players buy card packs containing famous players to build their dream team, which earned EA a fortune.
That whole microtransaction system had left a strong impression on Takayuki—though a rather negative one.
If he were to develop a ga like that himself, he wouldn't necessarily eliminate microtransactions, but he'd prefer to go the League of Legends route: purely costic content, like skins that didn't affect gaplay—"pay if you want," no pressure.
"President," Matsuhiro continued, "besides football, I also think racing gas are really popular. So if possible, I'd like us to develop three different types of gas. Use three top-tier titles to conquer the European market."
There was a look of determination in her eyes.
She'd already achieved success in Arica, and now that she'd arrived in a new market, she was hungry for another victory. But to succeed here, the gas had to suit local tastes. Japanese-style RPGs didn't perform well. Even Mystic Dragon's Treasure, a Western-style RPG, hadn't been well received.
Instead, it was that trio Takayuki always ntioned—shooters, racers, and sports—that really resonated here.
Now that market research had made that clear, Matsuhiro hoped Takayuki would lend a hand to help the company move forward.
Everything she did was for the betternt of the company.
To her, letting the European market slip away would be a trendous waste.
Takayuki nodded silently. What she said made a lot of sense.
He had indeed thought about developing a football ga before.
But perhaps a football ga alone wasn't enough to capture the hearts of most players.
He'd need to swing all three "trump cards" at once—shooter, racer, and sports.
So... develop three gas? And all three being top-tier entries in their respective genres?
Did the company even have enough manpower for that?
That was the real problem.
Those genres might seem like the classic trio, but they consud enormous resources.
As those ga types matured, it was no longer just about gaplay—it beca a competition in realism.
To make players feel like these virtual worlds were real.
To get as close to reality as possible—while still offering sothing fantastical—required massive data support.
And that data changed constantly. It wasn't sothing static.
It was all incredibly complex.
Take football gas, for example—each real-world player had their own personality and play style.
In the early days, players weren't too picky. As long as they could control their favorite stars on the field, they were happy.
But if developers could accurately capture player stats and styles? That would significantly enhance imrsion.
The more detailed the data, the more likely it could even serve as a reference for official football leagues. There had even been cases where real players complained publicly about how their stats were portrayed in FIFA.
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