To ascend, I had no choice but to create games-Chapter 512 - : 301

Chapter 512: 301

After watching the demo released by the Fang Cheng Studio, executives at Druid Entertainment were lost in thought.

Recently, Druid Entertainment’s stock price had been climbing, and many investors who had been watching from the sidelines had begun to buy in, further driving up the stock price.

Although it appeared to be thriving, only the company’s executives knew that this was merely the effect of positive news.

Landick had recently been saying, he’d already made initial contact with Fang Cheng Studio (sent an email), the other party was very interested in our proposal (read but did not reply), we’re preparing to negotiate the acquisition soon (unilateral agreement also counts as agreement), and we believe we’ll make substantive progress in the near future (let’s discuss the definition of ‘soon’).

Under a series of euphemistic expressions, the intelligence that Druid Entertainment was about to acquire Fang Cheng Studio seemed to be a done deal, and North American gamers commented that Landick had personified the act quite well this time, he actually managed to do something human.

But only the top brass knew, these were all lies.

...

The acquisition wasn’t even on the agenda, nothing was concrete, it was all just Landick’s wishful thinking, with none of the prerequisites met.

And now, having seen the new game demo from Fang Cheng Studio, some gamers who still nurtured fantasies about Druid Entertainment started leaving messages on Twitter:

[Landick, didn’t you say you were preparing to acquire Fang Cheng Studio? Why haven’t you started promoting the new game then?]

[At least release some news about it, we really want to see.]

[Right, what’s the gameplay like, is it online or single-player, is there any connection to previous games, why aren’t you announcing these details?]

[Indeed, there’s been no news so far, don’t tell me you actually have no plans to bring it over?]

[Speaking of which, the ban hasn’t been lifted yet, how have you been negotiating?]

More and more voices of doubt emerged, to the point where even controlling the comments was unmanageable.

If the quality of the recent demo had been mediocre, gamers wouldn’t have had any expectations for an average game.

However, even if Druid Entertainment’s executives viewed the demo with the most critical eyes, they had to admit, it was a game that easily sparked interest.

Especially since its platform was the gaming capsule, this novel gaming method seemed inherently suited for such highly immersive games, making other games seem like merciless destruction when it came to chopping trees.

Some executives were ready to get one for themselves after watching the demo, since they had channels to bypass the ban.

Facing this situation, Landick was out of options.

On one hand, he needed to stabilize the stock price, on the other, he had to maintain the ban. However, calls to lift the ban were becoming louder, reaching levels that even Landick couldn’t ignore.

Yet, he knew full well he really didn’t have any relevant games, so he looked at the other executives and asked, “Do any of you have any good ideas?”

The conference room fell silent, everyone mutely gazed at each other, unable to think of a single useful idea.

With a heavy sigh, Landick knew he had probably reached a perilous juncture.

Most of Druid Entertainment was his people, which allowed him to sit in the CEO’s chair for decades, regardless of any blunders along the way.

But if everyone’s core interests were compromised, Landick knew he would definitely be the first to be sacrificed, with no alternate choices.

Therefore, he must devise a strategy that could bypass the current ban while also allowing domestic gamers to obediently be harvested like leeks, even allowing himself to make a tidy profit.

Unfortunately, the people before him were unreliable; thus, he had to come up with a good idea on his own to pull this off.

After announcing the end of the meeting, he asked his secretary to stay.

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He personally poured a glass of rum for his secretary and asked with concern, “Leon, are you married?”

The secretary took a wary step back and said earnestly to Landick, “Landick, I must tell you, our relationship hasn’t reached that level. If you continue to invade my personal space, I will consider calling the police.”

“… Last time it was you who said you liked Huaxia culture! So what’s wrong with me trying to get closer to you following Huaxia culture?”

“I don’t think I need to get closer to you, and the part you chose to use happens to be the one I least appreciate.”

Looking at his young but resolute secretary, Landick wondered if he had chosen the wrong person.

But he didn’t understand games, knowing only profits, so he needed someone who understood games to help him strategize and make sense of the current gaming environment.

Therefore, even though the other party was too forthright, he had no choice but to pinch his nose and accept it.

After coughing, he said to Leon, “You have seen the situation at the meeting just now. You also understand the current crisis of the company.”

“Yeah,” Leon nodded, “What I saw was a bunch of guys who brought it upon themselves, thinking about how to make their mistakes less obvious. But it’s like a silent fart in an elevator, no matter how well you hide it, eventually, it becomes evident from your gradually yellowing pants.”

The straightforward statement gave Landick a chest pain, and it took him a long while to recover.

Taking a long breath, he said to Leon, “So here’s the situation, I hope to release a game that will make everyone believe it’s a forthcoming game from the Fang Cheng Studio.”

“You can get the approval, but you better lift the ban first.”

“I am someone with a reputation to uphold, I should…”

“Pfft… sorry, I couldn’t hold it in. Continue…”

“…I should maintain my dignity in a more gentle manner. And besides, the Fang Cheng Studio will ultimately be ours, so don’t worry about the timing. Back to the original issue, the game is not made by the Fang Cheng Studio, but I need others to believe it was made by them.”

Leon looked at Landick, “What you mean is, you want to create something similar based on this demo.”

“You don’t understand what I mean, what I mean is…”

Raising his hand to interrupt Landick, Leon said, “I’m quite sure of your meaning, the method is actually very simple—first, register a studio called Fang Cheng Studio.”

Writing down the two characters on paper, Landick looked at it for a long time, then asked, “Isn’t this the same word? Fang Cheng and Fang Cheng, what’s the difference?”

“Good, that’s exactly the effect we want. For the second step, extract each item from the demo’s images one frame at a time, re-analyze and model them, and then make a similar game. According to the promotion, it’s a farming game, so we might as well make a farming game too.”

Hearing this, Landick sighed in relief, “Right, you got my point. That’s precisely what I mean.”

Patting Leon’s shoulder enthusiastically, he said, “Good job, lad. I have high hopes for you. Proceed with this plan. I’m counting on you. The budget and the new studio are under your control, and I expect to see the product as soon as possible. Ah, I have a charity auction to attend to now. Make sure this task is done well and show the Fang Cheng Studio what we are made of.”

Putting on his suit, Landick hurriedly left but stopped at the door, looking back at Leon, “Remember, what we’re doing is a new game creation method with Druid Entertainment’s characteristic, not imitation.”

“…Yes, sir.”

As Landick left, Leon sighed and started to prepare his project proposal.

Farming games are not that difficult, but the flow experience is the most important aspect, summarized as the pace of the game. For farming games, the pace is crucial.

Modeling and the like could be found in Druid Entertainment’s art asset library, and there were plenty of related resources that allowed him to pick and collaborate with game artists to create a product resembling the games from Fang Cheng Studio by eighty to ninety percent. This gap could be glossed over with a North American special edition, and how long that would hold was not something he needed to worry about.

But replicating the rhythm was tricky, especially after Leon compared it with the numbers from “The Forest’s Second Son,” making him realize that whoever produced such values was definitely a genius.

He used to think that only Fang Cheng in Fang Cheng Studio was a genius, but now it seemed that there were quite a few outstanding individuals there.

With this thought, Leon couldn’t help clutching his head, wondering how much confidence Landick must have to believe he could surely acquire a studio teeming with talent.

However, the task was already assigned, and there was no turning back.

He had no choice but to continue working.

If the salary weren’t high, he would have left this job long ago.

Leon knew his innovative abilities were lacking, but he had one trait that was particularly suited for game development.

His analytical skills were quite strong; many things he looked at for a short while and he could discern their logic, like in a math competition, where he could see three solutions to the final question at a glance, or even a particularly simple, efficient, and elegant method.

Analyzing the contents of the demo, he utilized the available resources and existing templates to recreate a set of values and managed to produce a PC version and Xbax version of “Forest 3” in an extremely short amount of time.

“Forest 3” was set to be released before Fang Cheng Studio, but right before the launch, he approached Landick, hesitantly saying, “Is it really okay for us to do this?”

“There’s nothing wrong with it,” Landick replied, filing his nails carelessly, “I’ve already cashed out my shares at a high. If this works, the stock will soar, and if it fails, I can buy back in at a low. I think there’s no problem.”

“You really are a hopeless, corrupt CEO,” Leon sighed.

“But this CEO can offer you a salary you simply can’t refuse,” Landick said with a smile.

Watching the confident Landick, Leon could only shake his head, preparing to release “Forest 3.”

Fate is inescapable, thought Leon helplessly.