Tokyo: Being coveted by my wife, I just want to play games

A Western-style open-air banquet at the top of the SATE building.

The night is charming. Looking out through the railings, you can see the bustling night Tokyo with flashing neon lights.

Wearing a backless scarlet evening gown, Kaori Akiyama leaned against the railing with a glass of wine, enjoying the soothing night breeze.

At this moment, she looked very lazy, with her slightly curly shoulder-length hair gently swaying in the wind, and her sexy body gently leaning on the railing. But in contrast to her lazy look, her bright and sharp eyes were carefully scanning the guests attending the dinner.

"It looks like Dongchuan is going to have a hard time tonight."

Her eyes swept over the industry leaders in suits and ties, Kaori Akiyama took a sip of wine, and shook her head secretly.

She wanted to talk to Executive Director Kuriyama about something today. However, although the capital strength of their Akiyama family was not inferior to that of Fuyukawa Tetsu, Executive Director Kuriyama and Fuyukawa Tetsu were equals, and he was not attracted by Fuyukawa Tetsu's capital, but by Fuyukawa Tetsu's ability and character.

SATE's revenue from games and related departments alone exceeded $20 billion and its net profit exceeded $3 billion the year before last. If all business sectors are included, SATE Group's total revenue last year exceeded 10 trillion yen, equivalent to more than $70 billion, and its net profit exceeded $7 billion.

Even so, because SATE's new PH console and various accompanying masterpieces were not launched the year before last, last year's profit must have exceeded 10 billion.

To put it bluntly, whether it is Fuyukawa Tetsu who is worth nearly 1 billion US dollars or Akiyama family, they are just bigger grasshoppers in the eyes of SATE. The only difference is that Fuyukawa Tetsu has the creative ability that SATE needs very much, while Akiyama family is a hardware processing factory that SATE can replace at any time.

Obviously, whether Akiyama Kaori can meet with Executive Director Kuriyama to discuss things today depends on luck. And whether Fuyukawa Tetsu can make SATE give in and whether he can obtain equal status when cooperating with SATE depends on whether Fuyukawa Tetsu can provide cooperation value, whether he can provide irreplaceable cooperation value.

In the previous cooperation, Dongchuan Che met these conditions, but when Dongchuan Che planned to bring SATE into the partnership to build a game platform together, the effect of this condition would be weakened, because Dongchuan Che also needed SATE's game library accumulated over decades.

When both sides need each other, SATE's huge financial advantage and deep network advantage will be reflected. However.

Although for other manufacturers, it would be more convenient to negotiate terms with Dongchuan Che if they form a group with SATE.

But the problem is that SATE is too strong. If SATE is allowed to completely suppress Fuyukawa Che, the current Hawaii Gaming Alliance will appear, and Juyin will completely control Sugimu and thus have complete control over the entire alliance. This is actually not what these manufacturers want to see.

To put it simply, all the game manufacturers present today are not on the side of Dongchuan Che or SATE, they are only on the side of their own interests. If they want to satisfy their own interests, they must make the final situation today a balance between the Holy Light Society and SATE.

However, there is no perfect balance in this world, so in the end, will more people help SATE to suppress Fuyukawa Che, or will Fuyukawa Che win more support and suppress SATE? This depends on the terms and chips given by both parties, the abilities they have demonstrated in the past, and whether their character is worthy of more trust.

"In terms of capabilities, although Dongchuan's production level of stand-alone games is very high, the gaming platform needs online games that can retain players for a long time. As for contract bargaining chips and trust, it is also at a disadvantage."

Contractual leverage and trust are actually the same thing.

The main business of GOGO platform is stand-alone games, and the production time of stand-alone games is two to three years, four to five years. At the same time, the cooperation contract cannot be signed for decades. Other manufacturers are also afraid that Dongchuan Che will sign them a five-year high-quality contract now, and then use their past games to promote GOGO platform, and then turn his back on them when their new works are produced.

This kind of thing has happened to NICO, SATE, and Juyin. Especially NICO, when the United States experienced the Atari collapse in the early years, the newly started NICO came up with a royalty system to unite a group of manufacturers, and was also very friendly to the third-party game studios below, but when NICO rose to become a giant, it began to exploit.

When the NICO handheld game console was at its most exaggerated, the commission rate for all fees added up to more than 70%.

Although the bosses present today all know that the tigers in the west mountain eat people, the tigers in the east mountain also eat people. When they are weak, everyone is easy to talk to, but after becoming the overlord, everyone wants to exploit others.

They understand this, but they still hope that day will come later. Therefore, whether the contract terms tonight are good or not is crucial, and whether the words can convince the public is also very important. And in this regard, Fuyukawa Tetsu is indeed at a disadvantage. After all, Executive Director Kuriyama has been active in the Japanese business world for more than 40 years, and his reputation has always been very good, and he has the endorsement of SATE.

"This is also a good thing for me. He will be more motivated to make handheld games because he is suppressed on the PC side. However."

Blowing the gentle night breeze, Akiyama Kaori drank wine, her mind was empty. For her, the smaller the voice of Dongchuan Che on the GOGO platform, the better. After all, if Dongchuan Che focused his main energy on the PC platform, the handheld side of the matter would be delayed. However.

Thinking of this, she saw the crowd in front of her begin to surge and move towards the stage with a microphone in the center. For some reason, the confident smile of Dongchuan Che emerged in her mind.

"It would be a shame if a man with such a pleasing smile turned into a serious and miserable middle-aged boss."

"Tsk, what are you thinking? It's really the male chauvinism that harms people."

Smiling and shaking her head, Akiyama Kaori finished the wine in one gulp, put the glass on the table, then followed the crowd to the stage in her sharp red-soled high heels and found a seat next to the stage and sat down.

It was almost as she thought. Not long after she sat down, she heard the chattering of two men in suits next to her.

"I heard that Mr. Kuriyama is planning to set up a V5 council. There will be five seats in the council, and all matters concerning the GOGO platform will be decided by voting at the meeting."

"It's not as good as you think. The GOGO platform was created by Dongchuan Che. How could he give the operating rights of the platform to others? This V4 meeting is held every three years to bring everyone together to discuss the commission ratio of the platform. In fact, the GOGO platform is still completely managed by Dongchuan Che, and he takes all the commission."

"Then isn't this V5 equivalent to the trade unions in Europe and America?"

"That's about it. But now I'm afraid that Mr. Kuriyama will drag us into a fight against Fuyukawa Tetsu while secretly reaching a favorable agreement with Fuyukawa Tetsu. Then we will all be used as guns."

"That's for sure. SATE is still in the honeymoon period with the Holy Light Society. If the benefits weren't huge, why do you think Kuriyama would take the lead now? The current situation is that either you follow Kuriyama to get some benefits, or you are sure that Tohru Tohru can suppress Kuriyama and join his team early, so that you can definitely get preferential terms."

Two middle-aged men in suits were discussing in a low voice.

Strictly speaking, except for Dongchuan Che, the interests of everyone present were the same because in this cooperation, Dongchuan Che was equivalent to the capitalist, and they were the office workers working for Dongchuan Che.

The logic is very similar - they produce goods, and then a portion of the so-called "surplus value" is taken away by Dongchuan Che.

Under normal circumstances, they would definitely unite to fight against Dongchuan Che, try to keep the commission as low as possible, and would not even consider standing on Dongchuan Che's side, but... now there is an external enemy - OTTO.

Now that the GOGO platform has collapsed, they will either return to OTTO or start their own business.

The former is in dire straits, the latter is as difficult as ascending to heaven.

From the Chinese New Year last year to now, Toru Fuyukawa has invested a huge amount of money in both animation and music. "Elden Ring" has sold 30 million copies worldwide, but now its peak popularity on the GOGO platform is only half of OTTO, and its daily active users are only one-tenth.

Therefore, as long as GOGO's commission rate is lower than OTTO's and the platform traffic is large enough to bring them enough profits, these manufacturers will spontaneously worry that the GOGO platform will collapse in the competition with OTTO due to too thin profits.

The ability to make online games, contract terms, and past reputation.

Not only the two men in suits were discussing this, but almost everyone at the banquet was discussing this. Just as Akiyama Kaori ran to pick up two grilled sausages and returned to her seat, the crowd became restless.

She chewed the tender and smooth sausage with her bright red lips and stretched her white neck to look. Amid everyone's greetings, she saw Toru Fuyukawa, who was wearing a black casual suit, and Managing Director Kuriyama, who was also wearing a suit, walked into the crowd.

Dongchuan Che is no different today from before, still wearing a casual suit, but his jet-black hair is pulled back and combed into a neat but not greasy slicked back hair, which completely highlights his delicate and handsome facial features.

The handsome and tall young man made several female bosses' eyes moisten. But it was obvious that Dongchuan Che had no such thoughts in his mind at the moment.

The night breeze blows.

When he came to the microphone on the stage, he looked at the bustling night view of Tokyo outside the railing, and then looked at the bigwigs of the Japanese game industry gathered in front of him. Especially after seeing the unpleasant expression of NTsoft's Asai, he couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth slightly.

After two and a half years in Tokyo, he finally went from being an ordinary office worker to a trendsetter in the Japanese gaming industry!

Although the wave is not big enough at present and it is uncertain how long it can last, the joy of success still makes him very happy.

After calming down a bit, under the gaze of Chika Ohara who was leaning against the railing not far away and drinking with eyes full of admiration and appreciation, and under the [interested] gaze of Kaori Akiyama who was sitting in a corner of the stage that was not taken seriously, Toru Fuyukawa leaned over to the microphone and said with a smile: "Welcome everyone to attend the Japan Game Coordination Conference hosted by Mr. Kuriyama tonight. I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to everyone here."

"Haha, no, no, if it weren't for you, brother Dongchuan, who would come to see me at my age so late at night?"

Executive Director Kuriyama was very good at making jokes, and he could make the audience laugh with just one sentence. As for some SATE employees, they looked at Fuyukawa Tetsu and were secretly shocked. After all, Executive Director Kuriyama was known for his strong and iron-fisted manner in SATE, and it was rare to see him making jokes in such public places.

It is obvious that Executive Director Kuriyama gives face to Toru Fuyukawa.

This was noticed not only by SATE employees but also by many people present.

The same went for Kaori Akiyama. She widened her eyes slightly as she watched Toru Fuyukawa, who was chatting and laughing with Executive Managing Director Kuriyama on the stage, exuding a confident and strong aura, without any trace of the lazy look he had on the beach last time.

To be honest, Dongchuan Che was a famous person, and she had heard of him countless times before. But after all, when they first met, Dongchuan Che was just a lecherous and lazy beach man, so she didn't feel any distance at first. Dongchuan Che made her feel more like a boy next door.

But she never expected that the contrast between Dongchuan Che, who had completely started to get down to business, would be so great!

Men like girls with contrasting glasses, and women are similar.

Although she was not immediately moved, Kaori Akiyama was also very surprised and became more interested in Toru Fuyukawa.

Her eyes gradually became hotter, which she herself was not aware of, and Dong Chuan Che did not know either.

There were too many people paying attention to him at this time, so how could Fuyukawa Che notice the gaze of Akiyama Kaori in the corner? After a brief opening speech with Executive Director Kuriyama, Fuyukawa Che did not talk too much as usual, but went straight to the point.

He supported the podium with both hands and said, "I know why you are here today, so I won't waste my words. There are three things you are most concerned about right now. First, whether my future works can support the daily activity of the GOGO platform. This is related to the commission figures and the tone of your mind when you negotiate with me."

Dongchuan Che spoke eloquently, and as soon as he said this, the audience fell completely silent, with many people staring at him with wide eyes.

Many people in the industry have heard that Dongchuan Che is straightforward and decisive in doing things, but it is indeed rare to find someone who speaks so directly.

In everyone's slightly shocked and surprised eyes, Dongchuan Che clapped his hands. After seeing Chika Ohara put down her knife and fork and led the employees of Shengguangshe to distribute materials to each table, he continued: "To support NHK, my idea is to integrate animation, music, and film and television. I have already done this, and you should all have seen it. But you must be more concerned about whether I can come up with an excellent online game, or a game that can retain players for a long time. The answer is in this document, you can take a look."

Dongchuan Che's voice echoed in the wind, and along with his voice also floated the sound of flipping through documents.

For a moment, the entire open-air dinner scene on the rooftop fell completely silent. But soon, a man in a gray suit widened his eyes, his body unconsciously straightened, and turned his head to look at Dongchuan Che with wide eyes: "Masaka! A cost of 300 million US dollars?! Mr. Dongchuan, are you kidding?! You are going to spend 300 million US dollars to develop this online game called "World of Warcraft"?!"

Three hundred million US dollars!

Online game!

As soon as these words came out, the whole place was boiling, and many people turned the pages quickly. When they saw what they wanted to see, everyone was stunned, but not everyone was talking about "World of Warcraft"!

"A 20% commission?! This commission is one third lower than OTTO's!"

"Spending 300 million US dollars to make an online game in this era! He even showed the business plan??? My God, he actually dared to show such a business secret directly."

"Why are you so excited? Look at the launch date. Before April next year. The game will be on the shelves within a year. Even if someone knows what he is going to do at this time, it will be too late to target him. It's really exaggerated. A production of this level is confident that it can be completed within a year!"

"Or Tony?! If the daily active users of FGO are less than 200 million after its launch, the commission will be reduced by 2% for every million less?!"

"Is this true? A mobile game with 10 million daily active users would be in the top tier in China, right?"

"Does he have confidence that FGO can enter the Chinese market?!"