In May, the month Bayonetta was released, the ga sold over 5 million copies in just one month. Reaching 10 million total sales was now only a matter of ti.
In June, Surrey Electronics released their newest IP: Divine Apostle.
This ga was a bold, ambitious move from Surrey, and it was warmly received by players.
The reason? The ga's female lead was... exceptionally large.
Many gars have simple preferences—if sothing looks beautiful, they're naturally drawn to it.
Soon after, many other ga companies followed this trend and began announcing their own titles featuring attractive character designs.
So older gas even updated their character visuals, and were imdiately welcod by players. Gas that had been struggling saw a sudden boost in sales.
Of course, beautiful character designs alone can't make a ga top-tier—but they can revive a fading title, and if developers take that opportunity to improve the rest, players are usually forgiving.
...
Takayuki watched ga after ga embracing "fan service," and couldn't help but smile.
He had won this round.
But it was just one victory.
The politically correct crowd would never stop criticizing and attacking pop culture. They always found new reasons to go after gas and movies.
So he needed to keep pushing forward.
In July, Gastar Electronic Entertainnt released their next major title: NieR: Automata.
In the original world, this was technically the second ga in the series. But knowledge of the first ga wasn't necessary. What most people rembered was 2B, the lead character—more than the story itself.
It might sound a bit shaful, but fan service beca a main selling point, while the plot was secondary. Takayuki didn't mind. Every ga survives in its own way. If this kind of ga was well-received, then it clearly had a place in the market. There was no need to avoid it out of pride.
After the success of Bayonetta in May, players had even higher expectations for NieR: Automata.
This ga had a heavier tone, and its story promised more emotional depth.
Still, most players were just looking forward to 2B—the black-dressed android.
As expected, during NieR: Automata's launch week, no other company dared release gas on the sa day. No one wanted to be crushed by Gastar's massive presence.
These smaller companies couldn't afford the risk.
By now, no one could truly compete with Gastar. In the gaming industry, they had already crushed their rivals—thoroughly, and without complaints.
In fact, sothing unusual happened when NieR: Automata launched.
Many ga studios actually gave their employees ti off during its release window.
The ssage was clear: "Go buy NieR: Automata and enjoy it for a few days."
After all, these employees were also passionate gars. If they didn't get ti off, they'd be distracted at work anyway. Better to just let them play.
At midnight, the ga unlocked digitally in Japan and the U.S.
Digital sales were becoming mainstream, and NieR: Automata's digital version sold over 500,000 copies worldwide on day one. Physical editions made up the rest.
For Gastar, hitting 1 million on launch day had beco an easy benchmark.
anwhile, most other companies still prayed to hit 500,000 in a week. For Takayuki, that number was already unimpressive.
"Midnight's here! Let's go! 2B, we're coming for you!"
As the clock struck twelve, thousands of players were already waiting by their consoles.
The ga had been preloaded, so anyone who preordered digitally could play the second it went live.
On Facebook's livestream platform, a female strear—who had quit her job at Facebook to stream full-ti—started her broadcast right at midnight.
She had originally stread gas just to et company requirents.
But her streams unexpectedly went viral, sothing even she didn't expect.
Soon after, she realized it was a huge opportunity and resigned, becoming one of the first full-ti strears.
Thanks to her striking appearance and genuine love for gas, she quickly beca one of the platform's top strears.
Her first big break ca during the release of Titanfall. Many viewers who watched her back then beca gars themselves.
They finally understood how amazing gas could be.
"Wow, my favorite strear's live too! Should I play or watch?"
"Obviously watch the stream. You can play the ga anyti—but if you miss the stream, it's gone!"
"True. I'm going to watch now!"
At midnight, her stream viewer count shot up—reaching 100,000 live viewers instantly.
And these weren't inflated numbers. Facebook's platform prioritized accuracy, so these were real.
Only a few strears could reach that kind of live audience today. She was now one of the best.
"The ga's starting! Wait... why is everything so yellow?"
"That's because it's a post-apocalyptic setting. Humanity doesn't live on Earth anymore—they're on the moon. The planet is now full of androids and alien invaders."
"Wow, all androids? That sounds really cool. They look just like real people."
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