There was once an internet social networking company in Japan called YOO.
Takayuki had long since forgotten the name of its boss. Back then, they had boldly claimed they were going to enter game development, throwing money around to acquire numerous game studios, looking every bit like they were aiming to become a world-famous game company.
Unfortunately, the company's valuation was inflated. When the internet bubble burst, it collapsed instantly. With additional behind-the-scenes pressure from Japanese financial conglomerates, YOO—a rising star that had just begun to shine—fell apart overnight.
The game division that Mikufu later created was somewhat similar, but also very different.
Mikufu's game division followed a traditional, in-house development route instead of expanding by acquiring other studios.
In terms of original creativity and intrinsic value, it was far stronger than YOO's former game teams.
Takayuki had never been interested in YOO's collapse; in the end, it was carved up cleanly by companies like Suri Electronics.
This time, however, Takayuki had the idea of acquiring Mikufu's game division.
The potential of that department was genuinely quite good.
What they lacked was a proper opportunity.
An opportunity for strong marketing and the right release timing.
Mikufu's game division was somewhat comparable to Blizzard's scale in Takayuki's previous life—not quite on the level of Activision Blizzard combined, but already on par with Blizzard as a standalone company.
Acquiring such a team and folding it into the North American game division would be a solid move.
"Mikufu's game division… their main leadership is actually decent," the Infinite World producer answered seriously. "It's just that they were held back by Mikufu's headquarters and missed a lot of growth opportunities."
In his impression, Mikufu's game division really wasn't bad.
Team members got along reasonably well, and when development problems arose, they were generally willing to communicate and solve them together.
The real problem was Mayron Kess.
That genius-with-a-bad-temperament was infuriating—but also, in a way, worthy of some respect.
At least in the fields he cared about, he truly had achievements to his name.
In chip design and manufacturing, he had carved out a unique position. Even when facing Facebook's brute-force capital pressure in smartphones and tablets, he hadn't been completely crushed.
Instead, his high-end positioning had earned the favor of people who valued style and taste.
But when it came to fields he didn't like, he treated them purely as tools—cold, ruthless, and without the slightest bit of sentiment.
"I've looked into that department head," Takayuki said. "He's neither outstanding nor incompetent—but that kind of person isn't really suited to be in charge."
If an acquisition happened, that person would have to go and be replaced with someone of Takayuki's choosing. Otherwise, problems would inevitably arise sooner or later.
"I think so too," the Infinite World producer nodded. "But Mikufu clearly couldn't find a better head for the game division."
After all, no one wanted to be mistreated.
Talented game managers could get the same position and salary at other companies—there was no need to endure Mikufu.
The current game director simply didn't match the role in terms of management ability.
At this point, the Infinite World producer suddenly realized something. He looked at Takayuki in surprise.
"Boss… you're not thinking of acquiring Mikufu's game division, are you?"
"That idea has crossed my mind," Takayuki replied calmly. "The games they've developed are quite good. There may still be value there."
Good games deserved to be cherished.
Seeing that Mikufu's games were genuinely solid, Takayuki didn't want them to simply fade into obscurity.
In his previous life, there were many games he still felt regret over.
Games with good quality that just never sold well—abandoned mercilessly by capital in the end.
Yet sometimes, if those games were given a bit more patience, the returns could be unexpected.
Those returns were long-term, though—and required patience.
Most capital had none.
But he did.
He didn't have to care about anyone else's expectations.
The game that left the deepest impression on him was a live-service title called Otherworld Maze.
Its setting was very similar to World of Warcraft from his previous life, and also resembled Dragon Treasure, developed by Brown Entertainment in this world.
Recently, however, Dragon Treasure's development direction had become confusing, with several poorly received updates in a row.
Fortunately, it had no real competitors, so it could continue raking in money.
Otherworld Maze, though, had the potential to surpass Dragon Treasure.
It just needed one opportunity.
A full multi-platform release—and a more approachable control and design philosophy—to win over more players.
Coincidentally, Gamestar Electronic Entertainment didn't yet have a long-running online RPG.
This could neatly fill that gap.
As for Final Fantasy XIV, it could be developed at a steady pace. Two games of the same genre could grow and compete side by side.
Takayuki had already planned out many of the follow-up steps.
Now the only missing piece was acquiring Mikufu's game division.
There were definitely talented people in there.
The Infinite World producer studied Takayuki's expression for a long while and finally confirmed that he wasn't joking.
He sighed.
"Mikufu's game division really was born at the wrong time. If their team had been established a few years earlier and grown to this point, I think they could've gained much more recognition."
"Or," Takayuki added, "if Mayron Kess hadn't been so rigid and had allowed those games to launch on all platforms, the outcome might've been very different."
"Huh?"
The producer's expression changed.
All-platform release?
Of course!
It suddenly clicked.
Up to now, all of Mikufu's games had been released exclusively on Mikufu's own platform.
And that platform had severe limitations—its market was small and capped.
But if those games launched on Morgan Group's operating systems, on Gamestar Electronic Entertainment's consoles, on Suri Electronics' platforms…
The result would be completely different.
Takayuki had never been obsessed with exclusivity. He wanted games to reach as many players as possible.
Platforms were just channels.
If conditions allowed, he was perfectly willing to release his games everywhere.
"Boss… you're saying you want Mikufu's games to go multi-platform?" the producer said, excitement rising in his voice. "That… that could be an absolute gold mine."
He was so excited he almost wished he had enough money himself—to buy Mikufu along with its IPs outright and then dump all those games onto every other platform.
Most of those games were built on Unreal Engine. With similar underlying code, porting wouldn't be especially difficult.
In the end, it could mean massive profits.
The God of Games…
…might just be the God of Investment as well.