When Utaha and Yukino finally had their fill of fun at the Fall Guys dev team and came back, Ichin was already back at work, and at this moment he was deep into making Velvet's 3D model.
Looking at Velvet's character design on Ichin's screen, Utaha tilted her head thoughtfully and said,
"This outfit is pretty torn up, huh. And those black stockings on her legs are practically see-through. Tsk, tsk, tsk, once this design is released, I guarantee it'll attract a whole bunch of pervs."
"Isn't that the point?"
Ichin didn't feel embarrassed at all, calmly continuing his modeling while replying,
"A heroine's design has to grab attention and stick in people's minds. I can't exactly make her look like a random NPC with no distinct traits, right?"
"That's true."
Utaha nodded, then glanced at the screen again.
"What about the other two playable female characters in the game?"
"Them? Their styles won't be as bold as Velvet's."
Ichin opened a drawer, pulled out a stack of written notes, and handed them to her.
"These are just some preliminary settings I drafted—basic backstories, personalities, things like that. The detailed designs aren't started yet, so no rush."
Taking the notes, Utaha quickly flipped through them.
"Mmm~~ all the main party members look pretty interesting. Combined with the story bits you told me yesterday, I've already got a rough idea."
She snapped her fingers, immediately grabbed her laptop, and sat down at the side to jot down her inspiration.
Even though Ichin hadn't given her a full outline of the main plot yet, she could still build subplots based on these character profiles. With their personalities intertwining, she could create plenty of fun little side stories.
Glancing between Ichin and Utaha, Yukino realized she couldn't really help much with game development. So she simply pulled out her law textbooks and immersed herself in study.
Once she graduated and became a licensed lawyer, she'd be able to handle the company's legal affairs herself.
After afternoon tea, the rest of the workday slowed into its usual rhythm. Everyone was used to this: after a break, they quickly threw themselves back into focused development.
Aside from dropping by the programming team once to help solve a small issue, Ichin spent the rest of his time in the office working on modeling.
Near closing time, Hazuki came into Ichin's office.
"Ichin, Nintendo has confirmed the Fall Guys collab skins. Basically no problem anymore."
"Oh? That fast, already got a reply?"
Ichin paused his work and looked at Hazuki in surprise.
"So, do you guys have any ideas for the skin designs? Nintendo must have given some requirements, right?"
"Yeah, they did."
Hazuki nodded.
"The Zelda and Mario skins will only be available in the Switch version of Fall Guys. They can't be logged into on PC or other consoles."
"Knew it."
Ichin scratched his head, not particularly surprised.
"Really not possible to put them on other platforms?"
Hazuki sat down beside Utaha with a smile.
"Well… not entirely impossible. On PC, Nintendo isn't that stingy. It can still be released there."
At that, Ichin understood.
"In other words—"
"Mainly—"
Both of them were thinking along the same lines. If one platform had collab skins but the others didn't, it would be hard to keep things balanced for players.
"Alright then, Hazuki, reach out to them again. See if we can arrange another collab IP to balance things out."
"Got it. I'll get in touch and see what we can line up."
After Hazuki left, Utaha asked curiously,
"So what skins are in the Nintendo collab? Zelda and Mario really made the cut?"
"As long as Nintendo agrees, at least a Link skin and a Mario skin are guaranteed. If they're feeling generous, we could even split it into two waves—one themed around Zelda, since Breath of the Wild alone has tons of characters to pull skins from. And Mario? That's endless—Luigi, Princess Peach, Toad, even Bowser could all work."
Honestly, Nintendo had a ridiculous number of IPs. If they were lenient, Ichin could ride their catalog for twelve straight months, churning out collab skins nonstop.
But of course, that was impossible. Once or twice, sure. More than that, Nintendo would never be that generous.
Still, there were plenty of other publishers to collaborate with.
"First let's secure Zelda and Mario. As for others, we'll eventually have to talk with Capcom anyway. Might as well ask about collab skins too. Capcom loves crossovers—just look at Monster Hunter, they've done collabs with both their own series and plenty of outside IPs."
And that wasn't all. Ichin's public collaboration inbox had already received proposals from domestic developers too. For example, the creators of Gunfire Reborn had reached out asking if he'd be interested in a collab skin. Ichin was still considering it.
But right now, his games had far more hype than most small or mid-sized studios in China. That meant the terms wouldn't be equal—details of such collaborations would have to be negotiated carefully.
Stretching lazily, Ichin smiled.
"No need to rush the collab skins. We'll take our time. So, do you two have any skins you'd like to see? You can tell me."
Utaha and Yukino exchanged a glance, thinking it over.
Utaha spoke first: "Pokémon! Maybe Pikachu or Gardevoir?"
Then Yukino chimed in: "I'd like Doraemon."
…Well, that was unexpected. Who knew Yukino had such a childlike side?
Then again, it made sense. Doraemon was still a cat, after all. Of course Yukino would like it. And honestly, who doesn't love Doraemon? Probably not many.
Hmm… maybe it was worth negotiating for.
---
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