After resting at home for a while, Ichin and Haruno wasted no time heading out to the studio.
Meanwhile, Ichin's mom didn't sit still either—once she confirmed Utaha and Yukino weren't too tired, she took the two girls out shopping at a nearby mall.
On the way to the studio, Haruno sat in the passenger seat and glanced at Ichin.
"Now that we're going over, do the people at the studio know?"
"They don't. I only told Umiko, no one else. And Umiko wouldn't say anything either."
Shaking his head with a smile, Ichin added, "Don't worry, even without advance notice, everyone at the studio has a solid work attitude."
"That's good. The more I hear you talk about it, the more I look forward to seeing it."
Stretching lazily, Haruno looked out at the scenery. "With the three projects you're developing right now, how confident are you in each game's sales?"
"Sales, huh… it's hard to say at this point. At best I can only make some rough estimates."
After thinking for a moment, Ichin said, "For BattleBlock Theater, considering the production cost and scope, I'd say it could reach maybe one million copies at most. But even then, it would more than recover its cost and still turn a good profit. Plus, since the engine is self-developed by one of our own members, that cuts down expenses. Nene's engine will be useful for plenty of future projects too.
"Then there's Dark Souls. I plan to develop another installment later. And given the type of game Dark Souls is, I could also create several more works with different world settings and slightly altered combat systems. At first, a game like this might be a bit tough to gain traction, but I'm certain it will earn the players' favor. For this Dark Souls, I'm estimating sales of over five million copies—but that's across multiple platforms."
"And the last one, Titanfall?"
"Titanfall… that one's harder to pin down." Ichin shook his head. "Even though it looks like just a single project, there's a lot packed in there. Besides the single-player campaign, we also need to develop plenty of gameplay for the multiplayer mode that comes with it. Then, separately from the main game, there's Apex, which I plan to launch as a free battle royale. Apex will be a long-term service game. For this kind of title, the early planning is crucial—I intend to prepare at least six months to a year's worth of updates before launch. That way, every season players will have fresh content to keep them engaged and drive in-game purchases."
The loot box system and season pass that originally existed in Apex would still be retained—that was its main source of revenue.
In Ichin's memory, when Apex first launched, its player count instantly exploded, skyrocketing to global popularity. Streamers across platforms worldwide, both domestic and overseas, were playing it live—the hype was unprecedented.
But after the initial boom, the update schedule and live service management weren't great, and cheating ran rampant, leaving the game stuck in a slump for a while.
Thankfully, those issues were later fixed, and with new modes and the introduction of battle passes, the game managed to sustain a stable level of popularity.
Now, with Ichin in charge, he definitely wasn't going to repeat those early mistakes—especially with an online battle royale of this scale.
After he finished sharing his outlook on Apex, Haruno began to ponder.
"I know about PUBG and Fortnite—both are hugely popular. If you want to carve out a spot in that market, the game's quality has to be top-notch."
"Quality is one thing you won't have to worry about, Haruno."
Hearing Ichin's confident tone, Haruno nodded in agreement. "Mm, that's something I do trust you with."
Since the company wasn't exactly close to Ichin's house—and there was some traffic—it took over forty minutes before they finally reached the tech park where the office was located.
After parking, the two walked straight into the building and took the elevator to the third floor.
As soon as they entered, they came across a few employees taking a break, sipping coffee and munching on snacks.
They hadn't met Haruno before, but of course they all recognized Ichin.
"Boss? What brings you here?"
Their voices instantly drew the attention of everyone else. The office suddenly buzzed with excitement.
Ichin waved them down with a smile. "Just back from vacation for a couple of days. Brought along one of the company's shareholders to have a look. Carry on with your work or rest—don't mind me."
Shareholder?
Everyone immediately turned curious eyes toward the young and beautiful Haruno.
Although the Tokyo and Shanghai branches didn't interact much, everyone knew the company had outside investors. There were only two shareholders, and they had no decision-making power, just financial backing.
None of them ever expected that one of those shareholders would be such a young and stunning woman.
After greeting the team, Ichin led Haruno around the office for a tour. Before long, they ran into Umiko working with the programming team.
"Umiko, long time no see."
Swiveling her chair toward them, Umiko smiled. "It really has been a while. Haruno too—it's been ages. Where's Yukino?"
"She didn't come. She's resting at Ichin's place. Right now, auntie's probably taking her and Utaha shopping nearby."
Hands behind her back, Haruno looked around the office. "Not bad. Looks like you've gotten used to things here, Umiko."
"At first, I was a little uncomfortable, but I quickly adapted. Everyone's capable, and communication's smooth."
Stretching as she stood, Umiko asked, "How long are you staying here?"
"About five days. Besides visiting the company, I'm also planning to attend a high school reunion. Everyone's just finished college entrance exams."
"A reunion with your high school classmates?"
Umiko gave Ichin a surprised look, then chuckled. "If you go, won't it be like crushing them from another dimension? No one could possibly compare with you."
Ichin spread his hands. "I'm not going there to show off. It's just a meal with classmates. Everyone already knows what I've been up to—if they were worried I'd flaunt it, they wouldn't have invited me in the first place, right?"
"Well, that's true."
Not lingering on the topic of the reunion, Ichin looked at Umiko. "Umiko, want to come over for dinner tonight? Haruno and Yukino are here too. Come join us, make it lively."
"Sure, I'd be glad to. Thanks for having me."
*
RedX43's Note:
➤ Want More? Get up to +70 Extra Chapters on Patreon!
➤ [email protected]/RedX43
➤ +300 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter Drop!
➤ Thanks for the support! 🙌