Tokyo Video Game Tycoon.

Matsuhashi continued, “The company’s overall revenue and profit have been very stable. President, don’t you really want to make further breakthroughs? Some game companies have recently been expanding into microtransactions and have come up with many ways to make a lot of money. We don’t lack the ability in this area, so we can explore it further.”

Zhu Youxing casually said, "Aren't we doing this too? Dead or Alive Xtreme sells characters, and Candy Crush Saga sells items. Aren't we making a lot of money from this?"

These two games generate hundreds of millions of dollars in profit each year, which is roughly the revenue of a game with tens of millions of sales. This is quite an impressive achievement.

"But we can go even further..."

Zhu Youxing said, "There's no need. Money can never be earned enough. Our company's style right now is to only make meaningful and high-quality games. As for money... do we really need it?"

Everyone smiled.

There is definitely no shortage.

Moreover, video game revenue only accounts for a portion of the current entertainment industry.

The amusement park has begun to move towards profitability.

The game's strong brand influence is also starting to take effect, and the derivative products of each game are selling like hotcakes.

This is the most influential series of cultural IP works ever compiled worldwide.

Among them, Yuxing Electronic Entertainment occupies five of the top ten spots, all of which are big IPs that can bring in over 10 billion US dollars in revenue, and several of these series have not yet fully explored their potential.

Companies that make money through microtransactions may not actually earn as much as Youxing Electronic Entertainment.

If we abandon our high standards and force ourselves to become a pay-to-win game, we might actually lose the revenue from peripheral merchandise and positive word-of-mouth, which would be counterproductive.

"Okay, I understand." Matsuhashi Minoru didn't insist. What Takeyusei said did make sense, and she had no reason to refute it.

"Alright, that concludes the company overview. You guys report on the game development progress, especially the key projects. Yuki Kiuchi, you're in the first development department, so you'll start."

Yuki Kiuchi cleared his throat twice and said, "Ahem, President, we are making steady progress in the game development. Several planned expansion packs for Cyberpunk 2077 and more character identities are under development, and the progress is quite good. You can rest assured about that."

Takeyusei nodded, then prepared to look at the others to ask. Takeyusei was well aware of what was going on with Kiuchida Yuki. With the solid foundation of Cyberpunk 2077, even without him, they could still create an excellent game. There was no need to worry about that.

But Kiuchida Yuki clearly hadn't finished speaking; he seemed a little excited: "President, there's something else. Did you check the official backend data yesterday?"

"Official backend data? What data? You mean Cyberpunk 2077?"

“That’s right.” Kiuchi Yuki nodded vigorously. “After two months of release, Cyberpunk 2077 should have already seen a significant drop in sales, but just yesterday, the number of concurrent players surged, and the game’s sales jumped to a new level.”

Zhu Youxing immediately realized: "Is it because of that Cyberpunk Edgewalker cartoon?"

"Yes, President, you are really amazing. Your promotional tactic has actually revitalized a game that has only been released for two months."

Chapter 1088 is finally here.

It seems this animated film has a lot of staying power.

Cyberpunk 2077 was gradually forgotten by people later on.

But the sudden airing of an animated film about Cyberpunk 2077 has given the game a glimmer of hope for a revival.

Later, some players even shouted that the game development company should at least kowtow to the animation production company, because without the animation production company, the game would probably have died long ago.

In this world, this momentum is even stronger.

The game itself is of very high quality, and the animation is also of very high quality, so players and viewers can get very positive feedback.

And how does this translate into sales volume?

That is, when sales were gradually sluggish, the Cyberpunk Edgewalker animation saw daily sales immediately return to the million level as soon as it was released.

And today's momentum looks equally impressive. According to Battle.net platform statistics, Cyberpunk 2077 had already sold over 400,000 copies just minutes before their meeting.

Over the past two months, Cyberpunk 2077 experienced an initial sales explosion, surpassing 10 million copies on the second day of release, reaching 15 million copies a week later, before rapidly declining in sales, and finally successfully surpassing 20 million copies in two months.

This is also the fastest-grossing game in the gaming industry to date.

Previously, a game that reached the 10 million sales club within a year was already considered a masterpiece.

This work, which entered the 20 million sales club in just two months, can no longer be described as a simple masterpiece; it has already gained unanimous recognition from the public.

In the past two days, sales have rebounded rapidly again, which is quite alarming.

"President, I can even optimistically predict that this game may surpass 30 million copies this month, which is simply a feat!"

Matsushita shook his head on the video screen and said, "No, the number of gamers is there. Twenty million in sales has already covered almost all core gamers. This time, the explosive growth in sales has added some users outside of core gamers, but these users are definitely not as many as core gamers. At least for now, based on the original price of the game, it shouldn't be too many."

Takeyusei nodded in agreement: "Matsuhashi is right. Core players are our foundation. Although we are still trying our best to expand our core player base, it is still very slow. Most players are either considering the price or are not interested in this in the first place, unless... we offer a discount."

Discount?

Everyone smiled.

There's no way this game will be discounted right now; at least, it's definitely not going to be discounted.

Given the current state of the game, so many people are still buying it at full price, so offering a discount now wouldn't be appropriate.

"Of course, I was just saying that casually. Discounts now can easily hurt players who bought at the original price. These players who bought at the original price are our greatest asset. We can't let small things cause us to lose big ones."

“Okay, I understand.” Kiuchida Yuki sat back down in her seat.

He was a little overwhelmed by the sudden sales surge of Cyberpunk.

Sales figures are indeed the best indicator of a game's value, but one cannot judge a game's success solely by its sales figures.

"Don't worry, this game will last much longer than you think. We can play the long game and gradually enrich the game's content. This cyberpunk treasure has only just been unearthed."

In Bamboo Star's vision, there is an online mode similar to Cyberpunk 2077. This mode can be compared to the online mode of Grand Theft Auto, which is considered one of the best examples of the trade-off between buy-to-play games and online modes.

Then there are various expansion packs for 2077 and role-playing gameplay.

For Youxing Electronic Entertainment, which already has AI assistance, developing subsequent expansion packs and identity-based gameplay based on the large framework of Cyberpunk 2077 is not difficult.

The total development cost of an expansion pack comparable to a typical big-budget game is probably only 30 to 50 million US dollars.

Finally, once completed, the expansion pack can be sold for around thirty dollars, which can bring in a lot of additional revenue.

He currently has a game development team comprised entirely of professionals, and he has great confidence in the game they develop, Bamboo Star.

The framework is there; if they still do a terrible job, then these people will really have no face left to live in the industry.

Following that, at the meeting, Takeyusei inquired about the progress of several other games.

There are sequels to classic games.

Sequels to Metal Gear Solid, Forza Motorsport, and Uncharted, among others.

Each of these games has a very loyal fan base, so making them guarantees profitability; it's a no-brainer not to do them.

Actually, even if we lose a little money, it's not a big problem. We can treat it as training new people so that they can quickly get started with game development projects and build up talent reserves for other big projects in the future.

The game that Zhu Youxing is most interested in is the latest installment of Grand Theft Auto.

This time, the game is the most classic one, where players take on the roles of three different characters in Los Santos and try to survive in this chaotic city.

The development of this project also received some support from the Cyberpunk 2077 team.

Teams with experience in cyberpunk development can easily develop a new Grand Theft Auto; no matter how complicated the technology, it is no longer a problem.

After all the game progress reports were completed, Zhuyouxing began to estimate the release schedule of each game. Everything was still within the plan, so the company could continue to push things forward step by step.

Then Zhu Youxing looked at another newly formed department, which was also a temporary department.

The head of this department is a director hired by Takeyusei who is skilled at organizing opening ceremonies for large-scale events and is also a well-known figure around the world: Ono Saeyuki.

"Mr. Ono, do you have time to give a briefing on the Olympic Games projects now?"

"Yes, Mr. Zhuyou, I have prepared the relevant materials. I didn't disturb your meeting. Now I will give a brief report."

Ono Saneyuki opened a document and began to read its contents aloud.

"After several discussions with the Japanese government, they finally agreed to our conditions and were willing to help us produce an Olympic opening ceremony that incorporates video games, traditional Japanese culture, and the animation industry. Several directors, including myself, will serve as the chief planners, and I will assist the Olympic opening ceremony committee in planning the game-related opening ceremony content."

"It's finally here."

Zhu Youxing thought to himself

Chapter 1089 Olympics and Games

"First, we will provide a sufficient number of video game cultural IP licenses. I have already contacted several designers to jointly design a set of sports logos that combine games, anime, and traditional Japanese culture exclusively for the Olympics. Then, video games will dominate the opening ceremony, with the Japanese Prime Minister making the first appearance. He has already promised us that he will once again play Mario to enter the stadium, and then we will..."

Ono Sano spoke for about half an hour, basically outlining his original plan for the opening ceremony.

It is now the second half of 2019, and there is less than a year left until the Tokyo Olympics.

It may seem like there's plenty of time, but to put together a truly successful Olympic opening ceremony requires a significant investment of time and effort.

The process for the Olympic Games opening ceremony needs to be basically finalized now, and then rehearsals will begin in early 2020. At least three large-scale rehearsals will be held to ensure that the entire opening ceremony is perfect.

Ono Sayuki has organized several large-scale events, including several national-level celebrations.

Furthermore, he is a person who is very open to new things and loves video games. Zhu Youxing carefully selected him to be the director of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.

This is also a candidate from our side.

"Yes, I'm very satisfied."

Ono Saneyuki's arrangements were quite good. He used various IP characters to represent different countries, and each country's exclusive music was played when they entered. Each piece of music was related to games and anime, which was the best way to promote his video games.

"President, are we really not planning to make any efforts in the Olympic Games? Right now, many gamers really hope that video games can become an Olympic event."

Zhu Youxing shook his head: "No need. The Olympics are meaningless. Using the Olympics to increase influence and prestige is a good method, but allowing video games into the Olympics is not a good thing."

In his previous life, Zhu Youxing witnessed something similar.

At the time, many young people hoped that video games would be included in the Olympic Games, which was seen as a milestone by many.

They believe that once video games become an Olympic sport, they will become mainstream in society.

However, Zhu Youxing knew that there were many requirements for an event to become an Olympic sport.

First, there can be no violent, bloody, or inappropriate content, which would directly exclude more than 90% of video games.

The remaining games, which seem very positive, such as racing games, football games, and basketball games, should have a chance to become Olympic events, but the IOC will reject them for various reasons.

Zhu Youxing had no way of guessing the specific reason, but the only reason he could think of was: the right of final interpretation.

The games developed by the video game company belong to that company, and that company has the right to modify a game anytime, anywhere, without even the Olympic Committee being able to interfere.

This kind of thing, which is frequently modified and adjusted, is full of uncertainty, which is one of the reasons why Zhu Youxing believes it is the most reasonable.

“We have our own World Cup for tourists, so let this World Cup become a world-class competition that is no less than the Olympics. It is meaningless for it to be included in the Olympics.”