After finishing the lunchbox made by the housekeeper, which tasted great and was well-balanced, William felt completely satisfied.
While clearing the containers, Cynthia suddenly paused and said, "Oh, I forgot to tell you—I'll be going out this afternoon."
"What for?"
"I'm meeting an old coworker. Marketing stuff."
"Got it."
William didn't need her to explain—he already knew what she was going to do.
"I probably won't be back for dinner either. I'll let the housekeeper know to just make dinner for you."
"Alright."
Once Cynthia left, William was alone in the studio.
Perfect time to think about game engines.
He had already earned enough reputation points yesterday to download the Unity engine, but he didn't do it right away. Even Unity had its limits. But on the internet from his Earth, he could download any engine from any game—no restrictions.
In other words, he had the chance to grab some exclusive engines.
Ubisoft's Anvil, Snowdrop, Dunia.
Naughty Dog's in-house engine.
Rockstar's RAGE.
EA's Frostbite.
And of course, CryEngine—the one that powered the legendary GPU killer Crysis.
...
Each engine required a different number of reputation points to download. The top-tier ones needed 1,000 points, while some could be downloaded for just 100–200.
Technically speaking, they might not be better than Unity in every way, but having access to those engines meant he could fully recreate some of the greatest game series.
Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, GTA, Red Dead Redemption, Call of Duty, Uncharted...
Every one of those series had masterpieces that were widely praised. These were the games people called true works of art—the real pillars of the ninth art.
William had the chance to go big. With the money he had, he could easily kick off one of those series. But it would be a huge gamble. There were too many unknowns, and he couldn't guarantee the team could deliver the required quality.
After thinking it over for a while, he gave up on the risky option. As tempting as it was to remake a legendary title, he had to be realistic. Right now, mobile games had to remain the focus. Whether from a technical or market standpoint, it just wasn't the right time to make a PC or console game.
He downloaded Unity.
His reputation points were nearly wiped out.
Unity's interface already looked much more professional than cocos2dx, and the number of free assets available was dozens of times more, including official Unity demo projects.
If all went as expected, this engine would become the studio's main tool for a long time. Even if he downloaded something more powerful later, it probably wouldn't replace Unity, because nothing was better suited for mobile games. And besides, Unity could handle other platforms too.
Just as William eagerly began working on the Honor of Kings game map, a guest arrived at the studio—Claire.
Claire was dressed simply. She had slightly yellow-toned skin, straight bangs, and thick glasses. At first glance, she was the kind of person you wouldn't notice in a crowd. But once she stood on a stage, it was hard to take your eyes off her.
As a researcher in the film industry, her daily routine included analyzing new movies, doing technical reviews, and attending meetings.
She was still young, but already had a solid reputation in the field. It was a small niche, mostly filled with top university grads and high achievers.
Their technical reviews didn't just count how many pixels were in a frame. They looked at everything—from the director's filming style and the actors' performance techniques to the post-production effects. If you wanted to make it sound fancy, you could say they knew the film industry inside and out.
William learned all this bit by bit while looking into Claire's background. At first, he thought she was just a regular office worker—turns out she was a big shot behind the scenes.
"Hello, I'm William." He greeted her personally at the door—though, to be fair, he was the only one at the studio anyway.
Claire softly said, "Hello."
She seemed a bit shy—nothing like the confident, professional vibe she gave off in her online videos.
On the way to the office, William explained, "Everyone else is a bit busy and not around."
"Oh."
"Want some water?" William held a cup near the water dispenser and asked.
"No, thanks." Claire waved her hand and turned it down. She placed her bag on her lap and looked quite nervous.
Since she didn't want water, William didn't push it.
"So, why do you want to join our company?" He figured she wasn't the type to make small talk, so he got straight to the point.
Claire looked down. "The game caught my interest."
"Uh, you mean because it's fun?"
"No, I mean the tech behind it." Her eyes lit up.
William was a bit startled by her sudden enthusiasm. She was like a completely different person once they started talking about something she cared about.
"So what kind of position do you think you're good for?"
When William first saw her resume, he thought she could assist Chris with the game engine development. But after learning more about her background, he wasn't so sure anymore. It felt like putting her in any specific role would waste her potential. So he wanted to hear her own thoughts.
"Um…" Claire gradually went quiet.
Yeah, she didn't really have any ideas either.
Which probably meant she didn't think much before sending her resume—maybe she didn't even expect to get the interview.
Moments like this made William really wish Cynthia were here. As long as she was around, the mood never felt awkward, and she often came up with helpful and unexpected ideas.
Tech… filming… acting… visual effects…
William tried to connect the things Claire could do, looking for some kind of link between them.
Got it!
He suddenly thought of a role that would suit her well.
"If I gave you a team to develop a game, do you think you could lead it?"
For someone with a wide range of skills, the best fit is often the role of a producer. They don't need to be an expert in every technical area, but they need to understand each one well enough to know what every department does and coordinate between them. That's their main job.
"Me…" Claire looked unsure. "I think if I understood how to develop a game, I probably could…"
"So what do you think?"
"Huh?" Claire was a bit shocked. "You're saying… you want me to make a game?"
"Exactly."
"But…"
"Not right away, of course. If you want to become a producer, there's a lot you'll have to learn first."
William wasn't confident in leading a studio because he knew everything about being a producer. He was confident because he knew exactly what kind of game he wanted to make—and what the final product should look like.
But making a brand-new game is a whole different challenge. Whether it turns out well or not depends completely on the producer.
Once those classic series are finished, William wouldn't be able to personally handle every single one. That's when someone else will need to take over, maybe even start new studios. So training producers now was a good idea.
Claire pressed her lips together, clearly torn. After hesitating for quite a while, she said, "Can I go home and think about it?"
"Of course."
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