On January 10, Lucas returned to the company.
Even though it wasn't a workday, aside from the staff on duty, Rachel, Anna, and Hector were all there.
Everyone crowded around, chatting excitedly as they looked at the trophies being brought into the company.
"Lucas, you're amazing!"
"Sure enough, it's much more exciting to see this trophy in person than on the screen!"
"Are these trophies silver-plated or pure silver?"
"What are you thinking? How could they be pure silver? If they were, just touching them would bend them. Alright, help me put the trophy in the display case. If everyone's free tonight, dinner's on me," Lucas said with a smile.
Everyone cheered.
That evening, they all went to the restaurant Lucas had booked.
It wasn't a big group, mostly because Lucas hadn't posted about it in the work group.
After all, this wasn't some company team-building or official dinner.
Since Nebula Games was founded, aside from celebration banquets, they hadn't really done this sort of thing.
And with today being the weekend instead of a workday, if he invited everyone, most would probably come. But there'd also be a few who didn't really want to, yet would feel pressured to show up because he was the boss and they didn't want to leave a bad impression.
So Lucas just called Anna, Rachel, Hector, and a few others.
At the table, they stuck to Nebula Games' usual tradition—no alcohol.
Drinks were either plain water, cola, herbal tea, juice, or corn juice.
"NetDragon's Star God really got wrecked, huh? Total side character material," Hector said with a sigh.
"Yeah, they didn't even get a consolation prize," one of the staff chimed in.
"Marcus is actually a pretty friendly guy in private, so let's not talk about this," Lucas said, cutting the topic short.
"What are you looking at, Anna? So focused?" Rachel asked curiously when she noticed Anna staring at her phone and smacking her lips.
Anna put down her phone. "Reading the news! This one's ridiculous—says a couple got their marriage license in the morning, and by the afternoon, one of them already regretted it."
"That's… something else," Rachel said, scratching her head.
"Marriage isn't a joke! You can't just rush into it. The divorce rate in our country keeps going up every year because a lot of people don't think things through before marrying. Marriage isn't just about love—it's about responsibility too," Hector said seriously.
"Oh, come on, Hector, you're still single and talking like a relationship expert," Edward, who was sitting next to Hector, teased.
"Single or not, Hector's got a point. And this actually ties into our next game—he's got a pretty deep understanding of it," Lucas said with a smile, putting down his chopsticks.
"Huh?"
"Our next game!?"
Everyone immediately turned to look at Lucas in surprise.
Something to do with marriage?
"Alright, we'll talk about it in the meeting tomorrow. For now, let's eat," Lucas said, raising his glass and ending the topic.
The table buzzed again as everyone moved on to other fun topics.
Even though they were really curious about the new game, they figured they'd naturally find out at work tomorrow.
......
The next day, at Nebula Games.
In the meeting room, Anna, Rachel, Hector, and the others were all present, looking forward to hearing Lucas announce the next stage of development.
He had already brought it up last night at dinner.
But what they wanted to know most was how exactly the new game was related to marriage.
A simple concept draft appeared on the big screen—It Takes Two.
Seeing the name, everyone froze for a moment.
From the name alone, was this going to be a co-op game?
They had questions, but no one spoke yet, waiting to see more.
The first page of the draft showed the game's art style—a concept image of two cartoon dolls, one made of clay and the other of wood.
That got people talking.
"A co-op game?"
"The art style is cartoony, kind of like last year's Overcooked!"
Lucas cut in to explain, "That's right, just like you guessed, this will be a two-player co-op game, and the art style will be just like you see here—cartoonish."
"As for gameplay, to put it simply, it's a two-player co-op puzzle-solving action-adventure game. Since it's co-op, you might think of Overcooked, which we made last year, but It Takes Two is different."
"This will be a cinematic co-op game. The story and puzzle-solving will be just as important as the gameplay, and the scale will be bigger than Overcooked."
"In this game, players will experience many different types of gameplay—FPS, platforming, and more."
"Because of the timeline, before the New Year, our main focus will be producing the art assets. Core development will start after the holiday. Any questions?" Lucas asked, looking around.
"Sounds pretty interesting! Feels completely different from Overcooked," Anna said, looking at the concept art on the screen.
"A cinematic co-op game? Feels like it won't sell that well." Hector scratched his head.
"Any guess about sales before the game is finished is meaningless. Sure, co-op games are kind of niche, so of course it won't be like Fall Guys or Dark Souls. But there are still plenty of players who love this kind of game. As long as we make it good, it can still sell well."
"Plus, the main goal is to surprise our fans. After the intense experience of Dark Souls, It Takes Two will feel like a sweet dessert. The only pity is we probably can't make it in time for next Valentine's Day."
"Otherwise, who knows? Maybe some players would even get closer and end up together because of this game!" Lucas said with a hint of regret.
But as soon as he finished, he noticed Hector, Anna, Rachel, and the others all staring at him with strange looks.
They didn't say anything, but their eyes seemed to say: Do you even believe that yourself?
Wasn't this the same thing you said when Overcooked came out at the start of this year!?
And now, next year, here comes It Takes Two—and this time the theme is marriage.
To be honest, Hector and the others were worried it might turn into "It Takes Divorce."
Seeing their faces, Lucas was speechless. He shook his head and said,
"Alright, that's it for now. Anna and Rachel, stay behind. I'll go over the different scene themes and the art requirements with you."
"You'll see what this game is really like when it's ready."
(End of the Chapter)
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