During the farewell ceremony, Hayakawa and Takayuki ended up having a long conversation.
Even Hayakawa himself didn't expect to talk with Takayuki for so long.
They mostly talked about video gas. Hayakawa brought up a suggestion from one of his subordinates: expanding the developnt team to try creating more standardized, industrialized gas.
He had been hesitant. Even after playing Assassin's Creed and being impressed by its polish and short developnt ti, he wasn't sure if the developnt model really worked.
Takayuki was the perfect person to ask.
Takayuki didn't hold anything back. He explained the traits of industrialized ga developnt clearly. The key was scale.
One person couldn't do it alone.
In his previous world, even the biggest ga companies needed over 10,000 employees to support industrialized ga developnt.
You needed a lot of people.
Takayuki could tell Hayakawa was struggling. Big companies don't usually expand quickly, and hiring large numbers of staff wasn't easy. Most were cutting back. Surrey Electronics was likely in that situation too.
But suddenly, Takayuki had an idea.
"Hayakawa, if you're having trouble hiring, there's a workaround. Just acquire existing studios. They already have experienced teams. Buy enough and you'll have the numbers."
"Acquiring studios? That could work... but good studios are rare. Even if we find them, they'll be spread across the world."
"Do you need them all in one place?" Takayuki asked.
"Of course. You think we can make gas with people scattered around the world?"
"Why not?" Takayuki replied.
Hayakawa was stunned.
"Gas are just 1s and 0s. They're digital. Unlike physical products, you don't need to worry about shipping or logistics. So why can't teams work together from anywhere in the world?"
It felt like a whole new door had opened.
No one had really done this yet. Even Takayuki's company mostly worked in one place.
But it wasn't necessary.
Takayuki hadn't bought many studios yet either. Most of his hiring was still in Japan and the U.S. But he knew this kind of global collaboration was the future.
Hayakawa was limited by his company's board. He couldn't expand freely, but acquisitions were easier to approve.
"Takayuki, can a ga like Assassin's Creed really be made by multiple studios around the world?"
"Not can—it absolutely can. The ga itself isn't even that hard to make."
Hayakawa wasn't sure he believed that. Maybe it wasn't hard for Takayuki, but others? Definitely not so easy.
Still, this kind of developnt model would make it easier for others to create gas like it.
Hayakawa took a deep breath.
"Takayuki, thank you. Without your advice, I'd probably waste a lot more ti."
"Don't ntion it. We're kind of allies now anyway. We have a common enemy, right?"
"Common enemy?"
Hayakawa thought for a mont, then nodded.
Yes. Myron Case was trying to undermine gaming with other forms of entertainnt.
Fine. They would show him the power of top-tier gas.
Myron used mass-produced smart devices to expand. They'd use industrialized gas to fight back.
After the funeral, Surrey Electronics quickly beca active again.
Hayakawa started reaching out to small but reputable studios worldwide, negotiating acquisitions and investnts.
At first, the board opposed it.
But they changed their minds once Hayakawa showed them how Assassin's Creed had perford.
It was the perfect template for an industrialized ga. With enough people, Surrey could make similar gas—safe bets that wouldn't lose money and might even earn big.
With Hayakawa's promises, the plan passed quickly.
Everything was kept secret—for now, not from other ga companies, but from Mycroft, to catch him off guard later.
Even the handheld console division, previously shut down, was quietly revived.
anwhile, Takayuki began planning his next moves.
Industrialized, formula-based gas had proven their value. Dedicated teams of a thousand people would keep the Assassin's Creed series going yearly.
But Takayuki wasn't going to rest.
In his office, on the large planning whiteboard, two new goals were written.
First: push the developnt of the Switch, aiming for release before next year.
Second: a brand-new project.
In big, bold letters:
Cinematic Narrative Benchmark
Assassin's Creed had set the model for sandbox gas. Once it trained enough talent, they could start making even more ambitious projects.
But before that, it was ti to release a cinematic-style narrative ga.
Takayuki had already experinted with this in gas like tal Gear Solid, even using real actors, but those weren't full cinematic experiences yet.
Now it was ti to create the gold standard.
Under "Cinematic Narrative Benchmark," Takayuki wrote:
Uncharted.
Reviews
All reviews (0)