That afternoon when Cynthia returned to the studio, she saw everyone gathered around Chris and couldn't help but ask, "What's going on?"
"Manager?" Claire, standing on the outside of the group, was the first to notice her.
"Ah, the manager's back."
"Didn't the manager take time off?"
"Yeah, manager, why are you here?"
Everyone was talking at once, but no one actually answered Cynthia's question.
Cynthia slowly walked closer, just as William came out of the office.
"What's going on?"
Seeing the scene, William looked just as puzzled. He glanced at Cynthia in surprise. "You're back already?"
Cynthia was about to answer, but her attention was drawn to the screen on Chris's computer.
Seeing how jumpy everyone was, William walked over behind Chris. The moment he saw the screen, the truth became clear.
The Sims was running perfectly.
Even though the first game's graphics and art style clearly belonged to an older era, for people on Blue Star who had never seen an advanced game industry, just being able to control little characters on a computer was already amazing.
The original goal of simsys was to make The Sims run on the current computer systems, and Chris had achieved that. Things like replacing textures, making new models, and other upgrades weren't part of his initial plan.
William didn't come out right away, but he wasn't too late either.
Chris had just finished picking a family. After choosing a pre-set house, he was fumbling with arranging their daily schedules.
In The Sims, each character has their own traits, and those traits can be trained. With the right traits, they could take on different jobs, and the money from those jobs would let them enjoy a better material life.
For example, they could buy furniture, redecorate, buy a house, or raise the next generation.
The gameplay couldn't be called extremely rich, since the first game came out back in the last century. But compared to the games currently on the market, it still had a huge advantage.
The only drawback was the graphics, which looked like something out of a 90s cartoon. On Earth, people would just call it retro.
But on Blue Star, there was no "old," so how could there be "retro"?
So while William saw it as outdated, the others in the studio found it new and interesting, even a bit charming in its own way.
And in the end, the main strength of the game was still its gameplay.
After Chris awkwardly played for a while, Marcus, who had been holding back for too long, finally pushed him away, rolled up his sleeves, and jumped in himself.
Talent really makes a difference. After just glancing through a few guides, Marcus understood how the game worked. He started arranging the family's daily life in the game and even added furniture to meet the characters' needs.
William stood behind him, nodding repeatedly. He hadn't played the first game, but with his experience from playing the fourth one, he knew the basics. The fourth game's core mechanics came from the first, and compared to that, the first was simpler. So it didn't take long for him to grasp the gameplay.
Marcus played for over half an hour, completely immersed, while the others just stood behind him watching for the whole time.
Cynthia watched for a bit before going back to her office, but William didn't leave. After all, the success of The Sims would have a huge impact on the future of the gaming market.
"Wow, this is way too fun."
Marcus finally let out a long breath. He couldn't believe the game he just played was from the same series as the old ones. It felt like a completely new experience. Playing on a computer crushed mobile games in every way—whether it was controls or gameplay depth.
Bigger screen, smoother controls, more complex systems, stronger mechanics, and deeper storytelling.
None of that existed on mobile, and it gave him the feeling that this was what the future should look like.
Seeing this, William nodded in satisfaction at Chris, then walked straight to Cynthia's office.
He knocked, and when he got permission, he walked in.
"Why are you back already?"
Without looking up, Cynthia said, "Got the authorization, so I came back to work."
"That fast?" William pulled out Zach's chair and sat down. "What do you think about Tiffany?"
Cynthia raised her head, confused.
"I'm thinking about setting up a music department, one that focuses on game soundtracks, and maybe even music for trailers and CG animations."
Cynthia frowned. "Are we moving into the film industry now?"
"You don't need to make movies to need a music department. Games need music too."
"Then why not just work with a music company?"
"Working with others is never as convenient as doing it yourself. It's like working with Tencent—I'd rather have our own music department."
"If you've already decided, why are you even asking me? Fine, I get it." Cynthia sounded pretty unfriendly.
That didn't make sense. Wasn't her bad mood supposed to be gone by now?
William thought her attitude was odd, but he didn't reject the idea. After returning to his office, he immediately picked up his phone and called Tiffany.
Her mature, confident voice came through the line. "What's up?"
"I want to talk about a new deal."
"Oh? Didn't we just talk about one?"
"This is something different."
William explained his idea: he wanted Tiffany to handle music for their future games. Not by joining the company directly, but by working together to create a new company. Tiffany would manage the team and daily operations, Earth Games would cover the expenses, and their only job would be creating music for Earth Games' games and related projects. In their free time, they could take outside projects, splitting profits fifty-fifty.
"You're really looking out for me, huh?"
Just hearing Tiffany's voice made it easy to picture her sweet smile.
"Working together is how we both win."
"Haha, then when should we sit down and talk about it properly?"
William thought for a moment. "How about tonight?"
"Sure, but let's not go to a restaurant. Come to my place—I'll cook."
"Uh, won't that be too much trouble?"
"No, I'll send you the address."
"Alright, see you tonight."
"See you tonight." Tiffany's tone was cheerful. "Oh, and make sure you come after six, or you'll just be waiting for me to cook."
"I can help out."
William had years of living on his own. He wasn't a great cook, but he could definitely lend a hand.
"Really? But I won't be home until after five."
"No problem. I'll come after five."
When someone invites you to their home, you can't just show up empty-handed. At first, William wanted to ask Cynthia for some advice, but after remembering her attitude earlier, he gave up and turned to Aunt Lisa instead.
Aunt Lisa's answer was simple and clear: don't bring any gifts, just play a couple of piano pieces.
It was a good suggestion, but William still felt it wasn't thoughtful enough. So he asked the other three women at the studio, and based on their advice, he finally decided to bring a bouquet of flowers.
"Feels like I'm going on a date."
Standing at Tiffany's door, William felt a little nervous.