A forty-eight-hour, nonstop game development competition was, for developers, nothing short of a video-game-style marathon.
And Takayuki had been continuously watching every single game they developed, even personally stepping in to experience many of them.
However, Takayuki did not give too much advice during the process. At most, he would casually remind them of a few potential issues they might encounter in development, so they could take precautions in advance.
When the forty-eight hours finally ended, the judging process officially began.
It was only then that the other judges realized Takayuki had not closed his eyes for two full days.
The rumors were indeed true—Takayuki not only possessed extraordinary game development talent, but also astonishing stamina.
That said, judging the games was the real priority.
Across the three major categories, nearly fifty judges in total conducted careful and detailed evaluations. On the evening of the third day, the final results of this year's competition were announced.
One game in particular left a deep impression on Takayuki.
It was developed by a young team from the United States. The game type was very similar to Terraria—a 2D side-scrolling sandbox simulation.
With "wings" as the core theme, they created a boundless world of floating sky islands.
Each island could randomly generate different ecosystems and resources. Through continuous gathering and construction, players would eventually build a massive floating city.
However, because they had only forty-eight hours, the game existed merely as a rough prototype. Even so, Takayuki had already seen its potential.
During judging, however, the game failed to win any awards. Its scope was simply too large—far more than could be completed in forty-eight hours—leaving it a half-finished product.
The young team took it in stride. They explained that they were already employed at a game company and had come mainly to experience the on-site atmosphere and exchange ideas with other developers. Winning awards was not important to them.
Next, as the most senior judge of the competition, Takayuki naturally became the award presenter for the three main categories.
He awarded honors to the developers of the outstanding games, and at the same time announced his plan to establish a dedicated game crowdfunding platform.
Some developers had been feeling disappointed for not winning any awards. They believed their games were quite good, and some had even gained online support by sharing development progress in real time.
If given more time and resources, they might truly be able to create a great game.
Unfortunately, everyone still had to survive. Creating indie games purely out of passion was not a sustainable long-term solution.
This time, however, the crowdfunding platform Takayuki announced was designed specifically for game developers.
If you believed your game had real potential, you could promote it on this platform.
This would be a paradise for indie game developers.
Here, many players who genuinely loved indie games would gather. They could learn immediately which games were being developed and which creative ideas might soon be realized.
And this was more than just a crowdfunding platform—it was also a partner recruitment platform.
Anyone could propose an idea on the platform. If other developers found the idea appealing, they could directly contact the proposer and collaborate on game development.
In today's highly developed internet era, even people separated by oceans could easily communicate online. Distance was no longer an obstacle to game development.
This also provided indie game enthusiasts with a better place to connect.
It would become a hub for communication, fundraising, and attracting fan support.
To set an example, Takayuki then revealed an indie game he had personally been developing.
The game was called The Binding of Isaac.
The name sounded a bit strange, but since it was developed by Takayuki, it immediately drew massive attention.
Takayuki himself served as a powerful traffic magnet.
His reputation could attract attention from the very beginning, allowing the crowdfunding platform to gain strong visibility early on.
At the same time, Takayuki promised that over the next few years, he would continue to regularly release indie games developed by himself.
Each time he finished one project, he would prepare the next, ensuring that his fame would continuously draw players' interest toward indie games.
With Takayuki's commitment, the developers present all showed expressions of delight.
They truly needed a platform like this.
With enough traffic, even highly niche indie games might be able to earn money—or at the very least, give independent-minded developers a chance to realize their dreams and make a living doing what they loved.
A few days after the Game Developers Competition ended, the BattleNet platform opened a new section dedicated exclusively to indie games.
This section would be managed and operated by the Game Developers Alliance, while BattleNet would provide network service support.
In return, all indie games were required to prioritize launching on BattleNet. Launching on other platforms was allowed, but revenue sharing would be reduced accordingly.
For example, if developers originally received 90% of the profits, refusing platform exclusivity would reduce their share by 20%.
This was nearly identical to Gamestar Electronic Entertainment's early strategy.
Developers felt this was completely reasonable. Gamestar Electronic Entertainment provided the platform, the traffic, and generous revenue sharing—requesting platform exclusivity was only natural.
And even if a developer did not want exclusivity, Gamestar Electronic Entertainment did not impose draconian terms like seizing copyrights; the only difference was a slightly lower revenue share.
Taking only 10% of profits from indie developers barely covered the basic operating costs of the indie section. This was essentially Takayuki subsidizing game developers to a certain extent.
So the choice was obvious—become exclusive to Gamestar Electronic Entertainment.
Indie developers, after all, did not have overly complicated considerations.
The moment the crowdfunding section went live, the very first crowdfunded indie game was announced and prominently displayed at the top.
That game was Takayuki's own indie project: The Binding of Isaac.
The game even included a playable demo. Takayuki had no interest in flashy marketing tricks—he simply put a polished demo in front of everyone.
Whether it was fun or not, players could find out by playing it themselves.