Gastar Electronic Entertainnt's mobile ga division was now firing on all cylinders.
It remained the smallest team among all the company's developnt groups—just over 500 people even now.
But they were by far the most energetic.
On one hand, this was a brand-new departnt filled almost entirely with employees in their early twenties. On the other hand, they all wanted to prove themselves—to show that the mobile ga division was just as capable as any other team.
In this kind of atmosphere, developnt of Candy Fun Match levels progressed rapidly. Takayuki barely needed to monitor it anymore. The team was constantly coming up with new gaplay ideas on their own—pushing the limits of what a match-3 ga could be.
Seeing this, Takayuki felt comfortable letting the mobile team experint freely.
Mobile gaming was still in an early stage of developnt.
In his previous world, it had seed like every so often a breakout mobile ga would appear, instantly becoming a hit, as if success was guaranteed the mont it was released.
...
...
But in reality, those gas only thrived because they appeared at the right mont—built on the groundwork laid by those who ca before.
Takayuki still had a few hit titles up his sleeve, but he didn't think the timing was quite right yet. He decided to wait a little longer. Until then, he'd let the mobile team continue doing their thing.
Thanks to Candy Fun Match, the departnt no longer had to worry about losses.
With mobile temporarily stable, it was ti to refocus on the company's main business: ho consoles.
Developnt of the Switch had now entered the chipset negotiation stage.
Gastar's internal experts had already been in talks with multiple chip manufacturers for a while.
This stage was long and tedious, but Takayuki trusted the team to find the most suitable partner. All he had to do was wait.
anwhile, the current-gen GSX console was finally getting a major title: Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core.
After extensive buildup and promotion, the ga was now launching.
The release date was tid perfectly—late November, during the holiday shopping rush in the U.S.
In Japan, the U.S., and across Europe, long lines had ford on launch day.
Even in a world where digital distribution was becoming more common, many players still preferred to buy physical copies.
Because physical copies felt more "real."
And more importantly, physical gas could be resold.
Many gars without collector's habits would sell their completed gas and use the money to buy sothing new.
As a result, their actual spending on gas was quite low.
Video gas were still considered one of the most affordable forms of entertainnt—sotis even cheaper than a movie ticket.
A movie lasted a couple of hours at most, but a video ga could keep you engaged for days. The amount of content far exceeded any film.
"Aiko, why did we have to line up so early... yawn..."
In front of Gastar's official store in Akihabara, Tokyo, the familiar trio—Kazumi, Oto-chan, and Aiko—stood sowhere in the middle of a seemingly endless line.
Kazumi couldn't stop yawning.
She'd been dragged out of bed at 5 a.m. by Aiko, who insisted on getting in line for the latest video ga release.
Kazumi didn't get it. Why go through the trouble of lining up in person when online shopping was so convenient?
Even physical editions could be ordered online—sure, you'd wait a few more days, but still.
There was no need to be standing in line.
But Aiko insisted.
"Because if you line up here, you can get the developnt team's autograph. Don't you want an autograph from the Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core dev team?" she said.
Kazumi hesitated. "I an... yeah, but I'm so sleepy. Couldn't you just co on your own?"
Aiko replied, "Each person can only buy two copies of Crisis Core, and only one autograph per person. So obviously it's more efficient if all three of us co, right?"
Oto-chan chid in, "Exactly! I've been waiting forever for Crisis Core to release. There's no way I'm missing out on a signed copy! Kazumi, you lazy pig—don't you want a signature too?"
"Of course I do! But... but... wait, did you just call a lazy pig? You're the lazy pig!"
"Heh, whoever's yawning is the real lazy pig."
"You little—!"
Aiko ignored their bickering and craned her neck to look toward the store entrance.
The doors had finally opened, and people were being let in in an orderly fashion.
In her line of sight, Aiko noticed quite a few older folks.
So looked to be in their thirties—others maybe even forties or fifties.
Their shiny foreheads gave their ages away easily.
The crowd had a surprisingly high average age.
"Ladies, are you fans of the Final Fantasy VII series as well?"
While Aiko was scanning the area, a middle-aged man—maybe around forty—turned around and asked the group.
Aiko nodded. "Yeah, I love it. The story is amazing. Do you like it too, mister?"
"Of course! This ga helped rediscover the feeling of youth. There was no way I was going to miss this launch."
Aiko glanced around. "I see a lot of older people in line."
The man smiled warmly. "Yup, most of them are like . Just shows how powerful this series really is."
A soft gleam lit up his eyes as he spoke—he couldn't help but recall the first ti he'd played Final Fantasy.
He rembered when Aerith died—it was nightti.
That morning, he'd overheard people talking at work about "soone dying," and that evening, he hogged the console from his son just to see the scene for himself.
That mory—the mont Aerith died—left a mark he could never forget, like watching his own youth fade away.
After finishing the ga, his wife had lovingly made him a bowl of instant seaweed soup to cheer him up.
He was deeply moved.
The only downside that night was not getting any dinner—probably because his wife had forgotten.
Aiko said, "This ga was personally overseen by Takayuki. With him supervising, the quality is guaranteed. That's why Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core is going to be amazing too."
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