"By the way, we should also have games coming out soon, right? What kind of returns are you expecting? What's the profit margin?"
Myron Case asked the head of game development beside him once again.
"Boss, according to our estimates, it's been two months since Cyberpunk 2077 launched, and online discussion about it is gradually cooling down. More players are starting to shift their attention to other games. Releasing our titles at this time would be a very good choice.
Originally, we had several games scheduled for release around Christmas at the end of the year, but releasing them earlier can both win player goodwill—players really like games that release earlier than planned—and also allow us to earn solid profits during the gap as Cyberpunk 2077's popularity declines."
"I just asked how much profit you expect," Myron Case interrupted. "Those details are for your department to worry about."
"Oh—right. Based on projections, the two major titles we're about to release should each achieve returns of at least 130% to 150%."
"So a 30% to 50% return," Myron Case said, nodding. "That's still a pretty good result."
To this day, his ability to judge whether a game was actually good or not hadn't improved much. He still relied entirely on professional developers to explain things to him.
"There won't be any surprises, right?" Myron Case asked again, still a bit uneasy. "What about Suri Electronics? Could they also decide to release games around this time? Competition with them would affect our sales."
"You can rest assured, boss," the development head said with a smile. "Suri Electronics has strict rules for product release schedules. The Japanese really like that sense of ceremony. Once a date is set, it can only be delayed—never moved forward. Releasing early could affect their quarterly financial reports and shareholder evaluations.
We're much more flexible by comparison. After all, you still basically have final say here, boss. Minor fluctuations in fiscal-year revenue won't threaten your position."
Myron Case's mouth twitched slightly when he heard this.
On the surface, it sounded like a decent piece of flattery.
But to his ears, it wasn't particularly pleasant.
Why did he insist on maintaining majority control of the company in the first place? Because he had once been ruthlessly kicked out of a company he himself founded.
That experience had made him afraid.
He no longer dared to hand over majority ownership to outsiders, fearing the loss of absolute control.
Although he had previously given up his full 51% stake to ensure stable growth—reducing his share somewhat—he still retained absolute decision-making authority.
In this regard, he was indeed much better off than Suri Electronics.
"Mm. That's our advantage, then. So Suri Electronics won't interfere at this time, right?"
"Correct. Brown Entertainment is a bit of a variable, but historically they never participate in direct competition with major peers. They always wisely avoid releasing games at the same time as others. I believe that as long as we give them a hint of our plans, they'll obediently avoid this release window. After all, they're basically on our side."
"Good. Then go ahead and do it."
After saying that, Myron Case looked up at the young man standing there awkwardly.
The young man had already been standing at the presentation area for more than twenty minutes.
During that time, no one had asked him a single question. He had already said everything he could, so he could only stand there stiffly, feeling extremely uncomfortable.
Only then did Myron Case seem to remember him.
"Kid, your concept is very good," Myron Case said. "I discussed it with my people, and we think there's an opportunity for serious cooperation. Here's how it'll work: my team will contact you soon. I'll allocate funding for your game development, provide you with resources and a team. How far you can take this project will depend entirely on you."
"Yes! Mr. Myron Case!" the young man said excitedly. "I won't let you down!"
He was overjoyed.
Securing investment from a major corporation was no easy feat.
His game had finally caught the eye of a big shot.
To be honest, he had originally wanted to approach Gamestar Electronic Entertainment directly, because in his mind, that company was the holy land for all game developers.
However, Mickford was equally aggressive when it came to recruiting talent. Myron Case was eager to use video games to generate massive profits and was willing to spend heavily to attract developers.
Faced with the promise of significantly more money, the young man ultimately chose to follow the money.
After all, once he became famous through this game, it wouldn't be too late to go to Gamestar Electronic Entertainment to fulfill his dream.
After this small internal meeting ended, Mickford's official gaming website released an announcement.
Several well-known games that had originally been scheduled for release around December would now be released early—specifically in five days, ten days, and fifteen days respectively.
Players who pre-ordered now would also receive bonus in-game virtual items. This was the final chance—miss it, and it would be gone.
Opportunities didn't come twice.
The announcement was extremely sudden, catching many gaming media outlets off guard.
But players who loved video games were delighted.
New games were coming.
And they were from a major company. While they weren't on the level of Gamestar Electronic Entertainment's titles, they were still standard industrialized games—no matter what, they wouldn't be that bad.
Good enough for casual entertainment.
Just like the earlier analogy: people are thrilled when they get to eat gourmet delicacies, but burgers and cola—mass-produced fast food—never lack customers.
People don't completely reject industrialized, assembly-line products.
As a result, in the short term, pre-orders for Mickford's upcoming games suddenly surged. Myron Case was very pleased as he looked at the data.
It seemed his subordinates' predictions had been correct.
Suri Electronics hadn't released any new games. Brown Entertainment wisely avoided the time window. Other companies didn't even need to be mentioned—their competitiveness simply couldn't compare.
As for Gamestar Electronic Entertainment…
They had just created the century-defining title Cyberpunk 2077. By normal logic, they would now enter a period of recuperation, slowing their release pace. There was no way they'd launch a new game during this period.
This truly seemed like the perfect window.
Players had just finished Cyberpunk 2077 and were feeling an emotional void, desperately needing more games to fill it—and Mickford's titles arrived at just the right time.
Myron Case leaned back leisurely in his executive chair, feeling extremely satisfied.
However, while he was enjoying himself, the long-hyped Cyberpunk: Edgerunners animation officially went live on both Facebook and Tokyo Television at the same time.
Facebook's streaming platform saw a sudden surge in traffic, and Tokyo Television's afternoon ratings skyrocketed.
But none of this caught Mickford's attention.
They only monitored Gamestar Electronic Entertainment's console sales and game sales.
Peripheral industries—like animation—were completely outside their field of view.