The frizzy-haired young man didn't agree—but he couldn't come up with any real rebuttal either.
Money.
They really needed money.
As a small team with big ambitions, they had no choice but to join Mickford and accept its investment.
Accepting investment meant being constrained by others.
The only consolation he had was that, in order to keep the copyright firmly in his own hands, he had given up an additional ten percent of future profit sharing.
He felt that abandoning his life's work entirely for the sake of that extra ten percent would be far too great a loss.
In the end, he returned alone to his workstation and continued working.
He made up his mind—over the coming period of time, he would give everything he had to finish this game.
Even if it meant overtime, sleepless nights, and grinding himself down to the bone.
This was his creation—like his own child…
"GTA 5 is coming along pretty well."
"The annual Assassin's Creed release pace feels a bit too fast. They should slow it down. The team is a little too eager for quick results. Even if it's a standard 'formula' game, it still needs to be a high-quality formula game. Static NPC conversations and boring territory-capture mechanics won't cut it."
"The concept for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is quite solid. It looks like they're really thinking seriously about making a fun game now, instead of relying solely on me."
At Gamestar Electronic Entertainment's Japan headquarters, Takayuki was reviewing the recent development progress reports from several game departments.
The games he had just looked over were among the company's key projects for the past year.
Of those, GTA 5 and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom were the most important.
Each focused on something different.
GTA 5 emphasized rich interactive gameplay alongside a carefully structured three-protagonist main storyline.
Tears of the Kingdom, on the other hand, expanded upon the classic "rescue the princess" narrative, shifting the core toward gameplay and adventure, aiming to let players discover endless fun within the world of Zelda.
The two games targeted different age groups, and releasing them together would appeal to players both young and old.
Still, Takayuki felt that just these titles weren't quite enough.
The technological level of this world was already quite advanced—hardware performance was a full generation ahead of the world he'd come from.
That meant far more could be done.
And that also meant there were many more opportunities to really make bold moves.
Takayuki pondered for a while but couldn't immediately think of any new titles to release.
Since nothing came to mind, he decided to go back and review all the games he had developed so far, from beginning to end, to see if there were any gaps he could fill.
And once he did, he realized there really were a few.
Two of them stood out to him the most.
One was the final pinnacle of stealth-action games: Metal Gear Solid V.
Metal Gear Solid V returned its story to the pre-millennium era, telling one last tale about war and hatred.
In terms of narrative, it served as a strong conclusion.
After that, stealth-focused games gradually declined. Players increasingly gravitated toward open-world experiences and were less willing to invest the extra mental effort required by stealth gameplay.
Before stealth games faded, strategy games had also gradually lost popularity.
And in this world, stealth games had followed the same trajectory—brief brilliance before fading away, as players became completely absorbed in the endless freedom of open worlds.
"Then it's time to give Snake a proper ending."
The main story didn't need much alteration—Hideo Kojima's storytelling in Metal Gear was already excellent.
The gameplay, however, could be pushed a bit further. That part could be left entirely to the team. Takayuki only needed to review the final results.
The other game was an unresolved regret within the Final Fantasy series.
According to the company's current development schedule, Final Fantasy had already reached its thirteenth mainline entry, along with several spin-offs like Crisis Core and Final Fantasy Tactics.
But Final Fantasy XIII still lacked the true conclusion to its Crystal Mythos.
Originally, Final Fantasy XIII had both mainline and side entries.
The mainline story was intended as a trilogy—an ambitious plan by its director to build a complete new crystal mythology.
Unfortunately, the project ultimately fell victim to the publisher's short-sightedness and the director's own shortcomings.
As a result, many regrets remained unresolved.
So perhaps, in this world, those regrets could finally be addressed.
In the original world, for various reasons, the final entry of Final Fantasy XIII had been transformed into Final Fantasy XV.
And XV had completely distorted the world view that XIII was meant to establish.
Takayuki wasn't an insider on that project, and he didn't fully know what the original final story was supposed to be.
But building upon Final Fantasy XV's framework and strengthening the narrative—that was something he could do.
He could also release story DLCs that had once been cut for various reasons, finally giving the series the closure it deserved.
The more Takayuki thought about it, the more excited he became.
Once he had a rough outline for both games, he immediately stood up and headed toward the game development departments.
Fifth Development Division.
This department had long been dedicated to developing the Final Fantasy series.
From the very beginning, they had followed Takayuki in creating stories filled with dreams, conspiracies, politics, and emotional intensity.
The people in the Fifth Division truly loved the Final Fantasy universe.
They believed its worldbuilding had far more depth than most other games.
They were even willing to call the entire Final Fantasy series a work of art.
And over time, that reputation had gained widespread recognition among players.
Not long ago, a world-class organization had even invited the series to be included in a global catalog of renowned cultural IPs.
That was a tremendous honor—one that only a handful of video game franchises had ever achieved.
"Where's Uesugi Yuki?"
After entering the Fifth Division's office area, Takayuki grabbed someone nearby and asked where their department head was.
"You're looking for the director? He's—oh? It's the president!"
The young man Takayuki had grabbed hadn't reacted at first. When he realized it was the company president standing in front of him, his expression immediately shifted to surprise and excitement.
Even though they worked in the same building, someone at his level rarely had the chance to speak with someone like Takayuki.
Back when he joined Gamestar Electronic Entertainment, it had been out of admiration for Takayuki.
Now that he was actually meeting his idol, he couldn't have been happier.
"Hello, President! My name is Andō Mitsuyuki. It's an honor to speak with you. If you're looking for the director, he should be working on a new Final Fantasy project right now."
"A new project? You already have plans for one?"
"Yes—well, it was your idea originally. But it hasn't been finalized yet. The director said he still wants to study it more carefully."
"In that case, I definitely need to take a look."
Takayuki briefly encouraged the young man to keep making great games—leaving him practically electrified with excitement—before heading off to find Uesugi Yuki.