Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 87 Fate Staying Tonight

In 2016, did you seek out Type-Moon to purchase IP licenses?

At first glance, this seems like a fantasy, since Type-Moon had already licensed FGO, and there was no reason for them to license it to a second company.

But in reality, this is not a pipe dream.

Players who follow FGO know that the previous version of FGO was not smooth sailing; the initial version after its launch in 2015 could even be described as disastrous.

The plot is rambling and disjointed, the gameplay is fragmented, the character models are poor, and even the artwork of the Servants is inconsistent in quality.

The entire game relies on its IP to sustain itself. In the first few months after the server launch, it generated hundreds of millions, or even billions, of yen in revenue each month, but the developers were unwilling to use that money to improve the servers.

It's been almost a year since the server launched, and it still crashes every few days. There's no pity system for gacha pulls, and when new banners are released, you might not even get a single card after spending real money!

After a year of ups and downs, by early 16, FGO's revenue had plummeted from easily over a billion yen at launch to around 3 million yen.

By April, it couldn't even sustain 300 million yen. Overall, revenue, active players, and reputation were all declining. This is a typical example of a "garbage mobile game" that relies on an IP.

The fate-defying transformation of FGO in its previous life.

It started in May 2016. At that time, the boss of DEW, the developer of FGO in the previous life, was frequently subjected to three things by Shoji Akihito, the mother of Asuka.

The first thing is clear to most people.

That is, they found Yanchuan and carried out reforms. This is a living example of "not knowing that reform was necessary, but having no choice but to reform because they were about to die".

After taking office, Shiokawa made many fundamental changes, including server framework optimization, combat optimization, and giving away popular characters.

This transformed FGO from an unplayable piece of trash into a playable, ordinary game.

Of course, Shiokawa's biggest reform was bringing Nasu Kinoko back to write the story.

Before Shiokawa took over, the script quality of FATE/GO was notoriously low, except for the prologue written by Kinoko Nasu.

At the time, Akira Shoji understood FATE/GO as a lightweight "mobile game," and thought there was no need to create so much plot or provide so much explanation.

After Shiokawa took over, FATE/GO invested significantly more in the storyline, and the quality improved as a result.

Speaking of the plot, this has to do with Shoji Akihito's struggle to survive.

The second thing I did in my previous life.

After Shiokawa took over, in order to improve the quality of the story, DEWORK and Type-Moon renegotiated the revenue sharing ratio after persuading Akihito Shoji.

A very interesting detail.

Before Shiokawa took over, Kinoko Nasu didn't exactly care much about the storyline of FGO; in fact, he completely ignored it.

Aside from an introduction and a framework,

Other mushrooms are ignored.

Have you ever thought about why?

The answer is actually quite simple: Akihito Shoji of DEW obtained the copyright from Takashi Takeuchi in 14 through personal connections.

Since the mobile game market had not yet reached a certain scale at that time, Takashi Takeuchi directly used the licensing method he used for FATE to license other single-player games.

The copyright for the FATE mobile game was given to Akira Shoji.

Their share of the profits is only 5%, plus a copyright fee.

At first, the revenue sharing ratio wasn't a big deal, but when FGO was launched, its outrageous revenue made Takashi Takeuchi feel that he had made a bad deal.

Although I couldn't say anything out of consideration for our so-called friendship.

But expecting Takashi Takeuchi and Kinoko Nasu to help? That's wishful thinking. After Shiokawa took over, he convinced Akihito Shoji that FGO still needed Kinoko Nasu to survive.

Only then did the two sides renegotiate the revenue sharing, and only then did Mushroom start writing the main storyline.

But then again.

In the current timeline, Li Suhao, through a series of unexpected events, pulls Shiokawa into the Starry Sky.

So, after the butterfly effect, FGO was still under the leadership of Akihito Shoji, although there were rumors that DEW wanted to recruit a producer.

The problem is that there are only so many big names in this industry.

I couldn't find it right away.

As a result, FGO showed no improvement in June of this year, and its revenue and popularity continued to decline.

Finally, after Shiokawa took over DEWORK in his previous life, he did a third thing: in August 2016, Shiokawa felt that DEWORK's development was really useless, so he upgraded its technology.

He persuaded Akihito Shoji to accept the acquisition proposal from MIRACLE.

There's no other way; there's only one Shiokawa. If we want to quickly reset FGO, we have to seek help from outside.

Therefore, theoretically speaking, the previous version of FGO was already acquired by MIRACLE in August 2016.

of course.

From the perspective of its long-term operation in later generations, this acquisition was more akin to a merger than an acquisition.

but no matter.

These three things, at this point in time, correspond to three interesting facts.

First: DEWORK did not reach a deep cooperation agreement with Type-Moon, and Type-Moon may have been dissatisfied with DEWORK at this time.

Second: Because Shiokawa did not join, DEWORK was still like a headless fly at this time, helpless in the face of FGO's declining revenue and collapsing reputation.

Third: At this point, DEWORK already had the idea of ​​retreating, otherwise they would not have accepted the acquisition from MIRACLE in their previous life.

These three conditions are something that, at present, probably only Chu Chen is aware of.

So Chu Chen initially wanted to acquire DEWORK directly. After all, if DEWORK could accept the acquisition of MIRACLE, why couldn't it accept the acquisition of Starry Sky?
However, after two talks, even though Chu Chen had the "heavenly eye," he couldn't change the will of others. DEWORK seemed to be very wary of China Capital.

When faced with Xingchen's acquisition proposal, they didn't even discuss the details with Xingchen. They simply asked for 100 billion yen.

Actually, you could say, how about just buying FGO for 100 billion yen?
This deal was indeed profitable.

However, Chu Chen lacked the cash flow, and the other party's offer of 100 billion was not sincere at all; even if he offered it, the other party would not sell.

In this situation.

Chu Chen chose a roundabout tactic. Why should I talk to you? Can't I just go directly to Type-Moon?

In Chu Chen's view, the chances of success are actually higher if they try to acquire the copyright from Type-Moon.

From the perspective of a time traveler, Type-Moon should also be dissatisfied with FGO at this time. Therefore, at this point in time, as long as Chu Chen's share of the profits is higher than FGO's...
Is there really no hope?
So, Chu Chen asked Yosuke Shiokawa to use his connections to find an acquaintance of Takashi Takeuchi, and through this person, he submitted a letter of intent for cooperation.

That's how we ended up meeting today.

~~~
Having communicated beforehand, the three of them finished their omelet rice, rested for a while at the maid cafe, and then, just in time, left the cafe and arrived at the fifth-floor office area where Type-Moon was located.

After entering the main gate, Chu Chen, guided by the receptionist, led Li Suhao and Yan Chuan into an office on the left.

Soon, Chu Chen met the legendary Takeuchi Takashi.

"Hello, Professor Takashi Takeuchi!"

"Oh, you must be Mr. Chen from Starry Sky Games, right? I know you. Please have a seat."

Takashi Takeuchi didn't recognize Chu Chen, but he knew about "Final Battlefront".

Or rather, in the Japanese gaming world right now, everyone knows *Final Battlefront*.

After all, it's terrifying to break into the top ten of the bestseller list on the first day, but what's even more terrifying is that once "Final Battlefront" goes up there, it can stay in that position.

I've been here for almost half a month now.

Furthermore, in the past two weeks, the "Pinduoduo"-style sharing mechanism of *Final Battlefront* has begun to take effect, although many Japanese players feel that it's a bit "too much" and "forced social interaction."

However, thanks to the game's high reputation, the entire mechanism works quite well.

This is essentially the same as Mixue Ice Cream using the lemon incident from the previous day to cover up some of the flaws that players could tolerate.

This point is quite impactful.

After sitting down, Chu Chen didn't beat around the bush. Just like he had told Yan Chuan, he directly stated his terms, even though the two of them had no prior relationship.

The reason we were able to meet was because of Xingchen's "sincerity".

"A one-time buyout of one billion yen, plus a 5% cut of global revenue. Is that right?"

Even though it was the second time he had heard it, Takashi Takeuchi still felt his heart racing. As he said before, FGO was still making money at this point.

However, the actual earnings were far less than in later years, with a monthly revenue of only around 5 million yen, but this was FGO's revenue.

Excluding the 30% channel fee and other costs, FGO's actual monthly revenue is only around 100 to 200 million.

And this was DEW's money.

In the current contract for FGO, the other party's share is the standard 5% in Japan, which is based on profit, not revenue sharing.

Therefore, Type-Moon only receives about 10 million yen per month from the FGO project.

This amount was hardly of any interest to Takashi Takeuchi.

Moreover, this income has actually been declining in the past two months. Compared to these conditions, and then hearing about the 1 billion yen buyout and the 5% global revenue share, it's quite a contrast.

This offer is very tempting.

You should know that 5% of the revenue is no small amount.

In China, the revenue sharing between some developers and agents is roughly 90% and 10%, respectively.
Of course, don't misunderstand, 90% are from agents, and the developer's share is 10%.
Although it seems outrageous, it is actually a fairly reasonable return.

Because the developer receives a share of the total revenue.

for example.

Hmm... let's just take game X as an example.

It is said that the revenue sharing between the development and operation of Game X is 1 to 9.

Then, if Game X's revenue in its first month is 1000 million, then Game X's developer can directly take 100 million.

While it may seem like the operator received 9 million, this 9 million has to cover advertising, operations, and channel revenue sharing, so the actual amount they receive is probably only around 2 to 3 million.

A 10% commission on revenue actually corresponds to roughly 25% to 30% of the profits.

This is assuming the operator has strong distribution channels and can attract most players to download the game from the official website and play it on the official server.

Even if a lot of marketing and promotion is done, but the final revenue doesn't meet the target, the amount received will be even less. This is actually a common situation for many game developers.

Having understood this, let's look at the cooperation proposal Chu Chen submitted to Xingyue Society: a 5% revenue share, compared to the 5% profit share of "FGO".

Both are 5%, but the difference is at least five or six times.

That can certainly be described as full of sincerity.

This is also why Chu Chen felt he might be able to influence Type-Moon.

(End of this chapter)