After hanging up the call, I had some time to think about it before the scheduled launch of SyncStrike.
'Receiving an offer from the Federation, while it could be a great burden for me if I fail to meet their expectations, as long as I can control how much I show of my potential, it could become a great opportunity for me.' I thought as I sat on the sofa with my legs above the small coffee table in the living room while looking up at the ceiling.
'At the same time as I'm going to have to show the potential they're looking for in me, probably related to my use of False Neurological Feedback for F Rank games due to the Runestone, I'm also going to have to control myself not to show it as something easy so as not to attract their attention even more.' I thought.
The Neurological False Feedback alone was enough potential for them to take an interest in me, but if they knew about my ability to do whatever I wanted in the real world with my imagination alone, my desire to research it would be multiplied dozens, if not hundreds of times over in their hands.
I know the legends of American scientists and I know how dangerously curious they can be when they discover something with potential, and I don't want to be that something in their eyes.
Looking at my new ring and feeling the Mana it was consuming, a total of 0.2 MP per hour, as well as the Runestone's False Neurological Feedback that was active the whole time I was awake, this amounted to my MP cost just to keep it at an acceptable value.
The problem was that it was still draining my MP, something that would be noticeable to the more Mana-sensitive Supernaturals.
And considering that I hadn't made an option to turn the ring off, it would try to actively drain my Mana constantly like a little black hole.
'It's better to just use this at home, at least this ring I didn't think to make an option to deactivate the Neurological False Feedback...' I laughed realizing the blunder I had made in creating this ring.
But I didn't regret it, after all, you only learn from your mistakes.
Feeling my mood improve after the heavy and important call I received from the director, I finally felt in the mood to launch SyncStrike and enjoy the players' reaction.
Looking at the clock and seeing that the appointed time was approaching, I waited anxiously for a few minutes and when the clock finally struck 06:00 pm I clicked the button to launch the game on the Federation server.
After clicking it, I checked FrostHaven Entertainment's social networks to make sure that everything I had planned had been posted.
[The wait is over!
FrostHaven is pleased to announce that SyncStrike is now available to all players of F Rank and above!
After months of development, adjustments and feedback from the community, it's finally time for you to experience everything we've prepared.
SyncStrike brings dynamic combat, an innovative sync system and an immersive world with lots of new features for those who come to play.
We can't wait to see how you explore, compete and create your own stories within the game.
Don't forget, for FrostHaven Entertainment, your fun is our priority!]
That last sentence was something I realized would fit perfectly as my game company's slogan.
A slogan that not even the companies of my previous era had the right to use, with so many companies only focused on profit and ignoring the average player's experience.
In this world I'm proud to say that.
Sure, some sacrifices had to be made along the way, like not focusing all resources on just one game, but that didn't diminish the Players' enjoyment, just perhaps the efficiency of their training.
"But their fun is guaranteed haha." I laughed as I answered a few comments, looked at the other social media pages, before switching to the live game data on the computer screen.
|-----------------------------------------
| Game Status: SyncStrike
|-----------------------------------------
| Total Players: 0 -> 7,135
| Average Players Online (24 hours): 0 -> 7.134
| Game Rank: F Rank
| Mana per Hour (Players): 1 unit
| Mana Stored in Game Core: 0 -> 18 units
| Mana Yield (24 hours): 0 -> 18 units
|------------------------
"Only 10 minutes into the game's release and 7,000 people have already downloaded SyncStrike, not bad..." I said to myself excitedly. "That way, even if the game doesn't grow any more, I'll already have guaranteed the extra 2 MP per day on my maximum MP through Game Core!"
That's the difference between releasing a game as an unknown Game Creator and already having a fan base.
Not just a Game Creator with a fan base, at that moment I was one of the 10 most popular F Rank Game Creators in California.
With every second that passed, more and more Players downloaded SyncStrike, increasing the maximum number of Players rapidly and with the game climbing like a rocket up the Federation's website Rankings.
7.1k...
8.3k...
9.5k...
10.7k...
13k...
15k...
17k...
20k!
At the end of the night, SyncStrike hit a peak of 20k downloads!
Sure, at this point a large number of players had already disconnected from the game, since many only had 2 to 4 MP, but that didn't discourage me one bit.
As SyncStrike didn't compete with Runestone directly, but actually added in a training method that it couldn't provide, instead of me competing with myself, it was as if I was selling a Sandwich and French Fries combo.
One could live without the other, but the combination of the two was complementary, so Players didn't have to look for other games to make up for what one didn't deliver compared to the other.
"Today I'm going to have another barbecue to celebrate!" I said excitedly.
Even though it was late at night, I lived alone, so who cared what time the lights were on?
Smiling as I put charcoal on the barbecue, I took a sip from my glass of wine and celebrated the launch of my game by myself.
"May this be only the second of many more FrostHaven Entertainment game releases." I said excitedly.
-
While I was happily celebrating the release of my game, someone wasn't getting a good night's sleep on the other side of Los Angeles.
"Are you telling me that all of a sudden the number of Players in our Warrior and Mage training centers has dropped because of one little Game Creator's game?" A man wearing luxurious silk pajamas was pacing back and forth in the large living room of his mansion while holding a state-of-the-art telephone handset to his ear.
"Yes, sir. The first game released by this Game Creator had already been included in our list of potential competitors after the explosive growth this has had in recent months, but considering that the game's niche hasn't severely affected our Player Base, we didn't feel that this would be a crisis for us. It's just that the game that this Game Creator has now released is not only a direct competitor for our games, but he's proving to be a major competitor with the risk of taking our places in the State Rankings." A slightly nervous female voice came from the other end of the line.
"And how are the national ranks?" The man asked sullenly.
"The ranks of the other states remain stable. This Game Creator doesn't have the right to post his games nationally yet, so his game isn't affecting us in the rest of the market." The woman said a little hesitantly.
Noticing her hesitation, the man asked. "Speak up, what are you thinking about this?"
"Considering this Game Creator's rapid growth and the fact that he's already set up a games company, it's likely that he'll soon get the right to post his games nationally." She said quietly.
This made the man's eyebrows furrow.
"Okay, our Game Creators are optimizing the games for which Rank at the moment?" The man asked.
"Just a moment, sir..." She said while making computer keystrokes on the other end of the line. "30% of our Game Creators are optimizing games for the C Rank while the remaining 70% are optimizing, developing and updating games for the B Rank."
"So take a C Rank Game Creator and transfer him to F Rank, his job will be to optimize the code so perfectly in F Rank that Players will have no choice but to play our game." The man said dryly.
"Yes sir." The woman replied.
"In addition, form an R&D team whose sole job will be to analyze the reasons for the success of this little Game Creator's games and copy everything useful from there to our games. There's no way that a simple F Rank Game Creator can do things that our B Rank Game Creator can't." The man said in a cold voice.
"Yes, sir!" The woman replied even more seriously, writing down all the man's orders before starting to prepare everything he ordered.
Being the secretary to the CEO of Ubiverse Interactive, Daisy knew perfectly well when her boss was furious.
And with the way he was acting, even if he ordered their company's A Rank Game Creator to focus on competing with this little Game Creator she wouldn't be surprised.
Fortunately, the boss wasn't yet so enraged as to do that.
Although their games were more optimized than games made by Game Creators of that rank, they didn't waste resources on games that already dominated the market.
As the Game Creator's use of Mana became more efficient with each rank he rose, while an F Rank Game Creator spent 10 MP to do something, those with higher ranks could do the same thing with less Mana.
The higher the Game Creator's Rank, the more efficient his use of Mana, meaning that even if the game was F Rank, the amount of total resources in the game could be increased without overloading the Game Creator.
Putting a C Rank Game Creator in competition with an F Rank Game Creator was like using a cannon to hit a mosquito, but since this was an order from her boss, Daisy didn't think twice about following it.
The only thing she could do was feel sorry for the little Game Creator who had decided to compete with Ubiverse Interactive...