Video Game Tycoon in Tokyo-Chapter 914: Good News

Hayakawa took a deep breath. "I see. So for now, this entire genre is basically monopolized by Gamestar Electronic Entertainment?"

"Most likely, yes. Although I suspect other studios might still try their luck. They may not be as cautious as we are—they'll just see Gamestar making money and want to imitate it. We could observe them first to see how they stumble."

Right after that, another development team lead added, "In any case, President Hayakawa, now is not the right time for us to jump into this genre."

"Hmm... then so be it," Hayakawa said with some resignation.

The unexpected success of Sekiro had truly caught him off guard.

If a big open-world game like Ghost of Tsushima did well, he could understand why—polished worldbuilding, high player freedom, stunning visuals. Those alone could win over any gamer.

But without his team's explanation, he still wouldn't know what made Sekiro enjoyable in the first place.

Now, not only was he unable to make a similar game—he couldn't even copy it.

Still, if even his team wasn't confident they could profit by imitating Sekiro, other companies would probably struggle even more. That gave him some sense of relief.

After all, they were currently still in an alliance with Gamestar.

Wait... alliance?

Couldn't they leverage that partnership to request development insight into Sekiro?

Yes, that was definitely worth exploring. He made a mental note to follow up on it.

Sekiro's momentum hadn't slowed.

Two or three weeks had passed, and just as Ghost of Tsushima's hype died down, Sekiro made a sudden comeback—catching the industry by surprise.

Several companies had been planning to release new games after a delay, deliberately avoiding a direct clash with Gamestar's releases. They thought the heat would die down in a couple of weeks.

But then Sekiro suddenly blew up again, and no one could explain why.

Some studios began to complain bitterly.

Among them, the team suffering the most was from MicFort.

They'd just finished developing a few solid titles, carefully timed to release two weeks after Gamestar's dual-launch strategy. Marketing was done, the games were live, and they were bracing for strong sales.

Player interest was initially high.

But Sekiro's resurgence crushed their hopes—sales plummeted.

What had been projected at one million copies per game was now expected to drop to just 500,000 before Christmas—cut in half.

Naturally, Myron Case was the most frustrated of all.

He had given up equity and invested heavily, only to get blindsided by Gamestar's unexpected smash hit. It was painful.

Still, Myron wasn't one to quit.

If 500,000 was the new benchmark, then so be it. Life had to go on.

Seeing Sekiro's revival, Myron decisively ordered one of his dev teams to start working on a similar title. Every member was instructed to spend at least 100 hours playing Sekiro before development began. Then, they'd analyze and study how to create something like it—and get a piece of this new market segment.

At the same time, Brown Entertainment followed suit.

That studio had always mirrored Gamestar's direction closely.

This follow-and-mimic strategy had paid off for them before. Their MMORPG Mystic Dragon's Treasure was currently one of the hottest online titles and their biggest moneymaker, so they weren't afraid of risk.

Thus, the year 2013 came to a close under the double dominance of Ghost of Tsushima and Sekiro, and a new year quietly arrived.

And just as the year began, Takayuki received great news.

The Gamestar Theme Park project had officially been approved by the Japanese government. In fact, the land originally allocated for a foreign amusement park was reassigned directly to Gamestar.

The land would still require payment, but taxes would be fully exempt for the first five years, cut in half for the following ten, and then adjusted as needed in later years.

And that wasn't all—thanks to efforts by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the Japanese government would also fund the construction of a dedicated road to the park, offering maximum support for this domestic venture.

It was, without a doubt, the best news Gamestar had received to kick off the year.

Takayuki immediately made the call to divert part of the company's operational funds toward purchasing raw materials and beginning construction. He didn't want to wait a second longer—he was beyond eager to see the birth of a theme park dedicated entirely to video games.