Tokyo Video Game Tycoon.

This class-action lawsuit gave him an opportunity for revenge, but Yuxing Electronic Entertainment acted as if nothing had happened, continuing to develop games and make a fortune despite the high frequency of lawsuits.

Now, seeing the original litigation alliance gradually disintegrate, he has joined a new group.

This time, the team's overall strength is clearly greater than before.

Two prominent US industry associations joined, along with several state legislators and members of Congress, including a US governor who also came to help.

This is a very powerful force. It would be very difficult to fight against a group of this size with just a team of lawyers.

No matter how much money you spend, it's useless; this is an absolute right.

“Congressman John, don’t be angry. The reason we’ve joined forces this time is to find a way to deal with Youxing Electronic Entertainment again, right? This time, we’re going to use an even more drastic approach to deal with them. We absolutely cannot let them continue to be so arrogant.”

Congressman John nodded grimly, then asked, "So, do you have any good solutions now?"

“Of course.” The person who answered was one of the presidents of the Software Association, and his tone was full of confidence. “Our Software Association is going to deliver a decisive blow this time, which is to force Youxing Electronic Entertainment to open up the source code of their game console.”

"what?!"

Many knowledgeable people were quite surprised. This software association was trying to do something big, forcing an electronics company to release the source code of its products. This was practically like taking a plucked chicken and then doing whatever they wanted with it.

"Mr. Chairman, are you just testing us? How could Yuxing Electronic Entertainment possibly agree to such a request? Some of the more impolite requests might provoke an even stronger backlash, and we don't want to pay an unexpected price."

The president of the Software Association smiled and shook his head: "That's because you lack vision. I'm not testing you; I really intend to do this. What is Yuxing Electronic Entertainment's biggest advantage in the US right now? Naturally, it's their game consoles and games. Many game companies have been struggling with a lack of direction in game development and have no way to copy others' work. So let's simply find a way to publish the perfect examples so they can learn from them. This is also 'promoting' the development of the industry. This is for the benefit of the entire industry; it's a matter of great importance."

This is a necessary action to ensure the vigorous development of the entire industry and to prevent a single company from monopolizing everything and causing the industry to shrink.

Monopolies are a very sensitive issue in the United States. Even powerful telecommunications giants were forcibly broken up under the strong power of the US government. Monopolies are not allowed.

And now, Yuxing Electronic Entertainment is showing signs of a monopoly... no, it should be said that it is already implementing a monopoly.

"This time, I also found a few friends in the Department of Justice and got a clear response from them. As long as we can confirm that Yuxing Electronics Entertainment is a monopoly, their Department of Justice's Antitrust Bureau can take action and force Yuxing Electronics Entertainment to release its source code. Those guys are above the law, and no matter how good your lawyer is, it won't help."

The chairman was quite pleased with himself when he spoke.

He specifically emphasized his friends in the Department of Justice, highlighting the importance of such connections.

The people from the Film and Television Association were just there to join in the fun. Not everyone in the film and television industry is hostile to Youxing Electronic Entertainment. They were just brought in by a few wealthy bosses to keep things in order.

The real offensive force comes from people within the gaming industry, as well as those in the software and electronics associations.

They were the ones truly involved in this matter, and naturally they wanted to see Yusei Electronic Entertainment die so they could climb onto the giant's corpse and devour the wealth he left behind.

After hearing the chairman's explanation, the people's eyes gradually lit up. This matter seemed to be feasible!

Chapter 296 Two Mountains

On June 3, 1998, the U.S. Congress formally passed the Internal Revenue Service's proposal to raise tariffs on video games, and the process has begun.

On June 7, 1998, the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Bureau launched an investigation into Yuxing Electronic Entertainment. Unlike the previous case where a state governor proposed an investigation, this time the agencies targeting Yuxing Electronic Entertainment were much more aggressive.

There are several powerful and untouchable forces in the United States, including the IRS and the Department of Justice.

This is a symbol of American authority.

This time, they've joined forces to suppress Yuxing Electronic Entertainment.

Under such absolute authority, even Yuxing Electronic Entertainment had no way to change it.

The process of raising tariffs was finalized in a short period of time.

From now on, all video games shipped to the United States will be subject to an additional 20% tariff.

This inevitably leads to an increase in the price of imported games.

Conversely, video games developed by Americans themselves will have an advantage.

Next came the antitrust investigation.

After extensive investigation, it can be confirmed that Youxing Electronic Entertainment possesses several technological patents that play a decisive role in the video game industry.

For example, the D-pad, or a light gun.

Yuxing Electronic Entertainment does not accept any form of authorization for these two patents, keeping them firmly in its own hands. This forces other companies to bypass the patents and develop similar products, but the results are not satisfactory.

Under mandatory requirements, Yuxing Electronic Entertainment must disclose the authorization of relevant patents, and is also required to ensure that the patent authorization fees do not exceed a certain amount.

This also includes some technical details of first-person perspective production, all of which must be made public.

Then, the United States unilaterally made even more outrageous demands.

That means it is necessary to release all the development source code of the four game consoles: GB, GBC, SFC, and FC.

The reason for opening it up is to promote the development of video games worldwide. We should no longer allow a single game company to monopolize all the knowledge; it should all be made public.

If they do not agree to go public, then the U.S. Department of Justice would not mind using an even stronger weapon to beat Youxing Electronic Entertainment so badly that it cannot raise its head.

This is already quite domineering.

After learning the news, Matsuhashi Minoru was so angry that he couldn't sleep for several days.

Their company, Youxing Electronic Entertainment, has always abided by the rules of the United States and has been making money and developing within those rules.

But suddenly the rules change, and you're forced to accept the new rules.

This is clearly targeting Yuxing Electronic Entertainment.

Matsuhashi Minoru could accept failure in normal business competition, but she couldn't accept this kind of oppression.

At this point, the relationships that Matsuhashi Minoru had established earlier began to take effect.

For example, the governor of California, as well as other state legislators, and even two or three members of Congress, have all become good friends with Minoru Matsuhashi.

At least these orders were not immediately implemented, thanks to the lobbying of these individuals.

But even that's all they can do.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Matsushita, we've done our best. This time, the Department of Justice and the IRS are serious. Even with the help of some good friends, we can only delay the implementation date of the new rules at most."

On the phone, a member of Congress spoke apologetically.

On the other end of the phone, Matsuhashi Minoru could only suppress his anger and thank them repeatedly for their help, saying that Yusei Electronics Entertainment would never forget their assistance.

Since arriving in the United States, Matsuhashi Minoru has had a relatively smooth life for most of the time, except for being annoyed by those department store owners at the beginning.

The gaming industry is developing very rapidly.

It seems that Matsuhashi Minoru's good luck has finally run out, and she feels powerless and a little lost.

Just then, her phone rang again.

Matsuhashi Minoru glanced up and saw that it was a call from Japan. She quickly composed herself and answered the phone.

"Hello, is this the president?"

"It's me," came Zhu Youxing's voice from the other end of the phone.

During the more than half-year-long lawsuit, Takeyusei did not participate. After planning the special effects team, he returned to Japan to continue his main job of developing games.

Without his leadership of the team in Japan, the first-party game team at Yusei Electronics Entertainment would not have been so productive, nor would they have maintained such high quality while being so productive.

When it comes to lawsuits and litigation, Takeyusei just needs to pay up the money, and then let Matsuhashi Minoru set up the legal department, preferably a top-notch team.

Zhu Youxing, a member of such a team, does not believe he will lose in the lawsuit.

But when the US government, especially agencies like the IRS and the Department of Justice, got involved, he realized that the team of lawyers was probably useless.

Their methods are on a completely different level; you simply can't compete with them.

These are like two huge mountains.

After the two organizations made their rulings on Yusei Electronic Entertainment, Takeyusei finally called Matsuhashi Minoru.

Upon hearing Takeyusei's voice, even the usually strong-willed Matsuhashi Minoru felt a rare tingling in his nose.

However, she quickly recovered, and her tone remained unchanged, so Zhu Youxing didn't notice anything amiss.

"President, I'm sorry to have disappointed you. I will come to you in person to apologize. I failed to protect our child."

Zhu Youxing: "??? Huh?"

"No, no, no, President, they are our company's property, our game consoles. I treat them like my own children." Matsuhashi Minoru realized that he had blurted out the wrong thing.

This is really not right.

But this is indeed her true feeling.

Upon hearing Matsuhashi Minoru's explanation, Takeyusei pretended not to have heard anything before and said, "I already know what happened in the United States. It's not your fault. You actually did a very good job. However, with the two major law enforcement agencies in the United States involved, the nature of the situation is different. It's normal that you couldn't handle it."

"It was my fault for not handling things properly at first, and I am willing to apologize..."

Zhu Youxing interrupted, "Alright, I didn't call you just to hear you apologize. This has nothing to do with you. No one, including me, can do better than you. You've already done an excellent job. I didn't call you to criticize you. I have something important to ask you."

"President, what is it?" Upon hearing that it was something important, Matsuhashi Minoru immediately changed his mood.

“Please tell me the details of the sanctions imposed on us by those two law enforcement agencies. I’ve only seen some rough news reports before, but I certainly don’t know the details as well as you do as I do. I need to understand them thoroughly so I can find a solution.”

Chapter 297 Turning a Bad Thing into a Good One

Looking for solutions? What solutions are there now? Is it possible to circumvent US regulations through some unorthodox methods to avoid the disclosure of source code and patents?

However, such a thing is almost impossible; these two law enforcement agencies will not give you any opportunity to exploit loopholes.

Even if there is a loophole, they will immediately plug it and make you pay back even more with interest. They are quite domineering.

However, Minoru Matsuhashi honestly explained all the sanctions that the two organizations have imposed on Yusei Electronics Entertainment.

Firstly, it's convenient for the tax authorities, who have decided to uniformly increase tariffs on video games and game consoles by 20%. Unless you plan to build a factory in the United States and sell the products, they can turn a blind eye, as mentioned before.

Essentially, the IRS hopes to bring a large factory to the United States to increase employment, so that the IRS can still collect taxes from the employed workers and reduce public discontent—a win-win situation.

However, the cost of building a factory in the United States is very high, with labor costs being the biggest expense. Currently, the hourly wage for industrial workers is at least twenty dollars.

For skilled workers, wages must be increased, and on average, each worker's daily wage will exceed two hundred dollars.

Such a daily wage is terrifying; it's better to accept the 20% tariff increase.

Zhu Youxing didn't say anything about this requirement.

The tax bureau simply wants more money, which is a minor issue. Fluctuations in tax rates are normal. They're not really killing the goose that lays the golden eggs; they're just raising tariffs to a slightly higher level than normal.

What's truly annoying is the Department of Justice.

Their antitrust agency used various pretexts to force Yuxing Electronic Entertainment to disclose multiple patents and also to release the source code of their game consoles.