"What do you mean you didn't bother to think of anything as interesting as that F Rank kid?!" Daisy asked angrily and disappointedly to the R&D team.
"Calm down Daisy, even without thinking up any new strategies, I'm sure that just by absorbing this kid's good ideas we can make our game much better than his..." Jamie, the C Rank Game Creator assigned to study SyncStrike said dismissively.
Daisy was angry at how lightly he was taking all this, but she knew there was no point in stressing about it, not while they hadn't even started copying SyncStrike yet.
'It's better to let them test their idea before reporting it to the CEO...' Daisy thought a little frustrated.
From what she had analyzed of SyncStrike and Runestone, FrostHaven Entertainment's two games, Daisy realized that the big factor that made Players want to play was the fun they felt while playing these games.
So to try to help the newly formed R&D department, she came to them to leave the results of her research.
What disappointed her was that no one was too concerned about this factor, just believing that by using FrostHaven's ideas and editing it slightly so that it didn't look like a copyright infringement to the Federation they would already have even better results than the two up-and-coming games.
'My fear is what the CEO's reaction would be when this goes wrong...' Daisy thought worriedly.
Sighing, she said no more and left.
- Theo POV -
The success of SyncStrike was being even more resounding than I'd imagined!
If with Runestone I was swimming against the current and forcing a new and unique style of game on the players that I had to convince them was interesting, with SyncStrike I was taking full advantage of the current that already existed and using a propellant to go even faster in that direction.
In the ranking of new games released in the last 30 days, SyncStrike had climbed to first place without much difficulty.
|-----------------------------------------
| Game Status: SyncStrike
|-----------------------------------------
| Total Players: 20,214 -> 39,321
| Average Players Online (24 hours): 20.214 -> 28.431
| Game Rank: F Rank
| Mana per Hour (Players): 1 unit
| Mana Stored in Game Core: 1,505 units
| Mana Yield (24 hours): 1,705 units
|------------------------
Sure, the number of total Players and the average number of Players were no longer equal, since the Players didn't have infinite Mana to play with, which didn't affect me one bit.
With the game already having so many Players online and with the new data I had available, I realized that I would have to set up a new way of analyzing this data.
Having to look at the SyncStrike and Runestone data every time and calculate the performance of the two games manually wasn't feasible for how much I liked looking at it.
So I decided to make a new interface screen.
|-----------------------------------------
| FrostHaven Game Status:
|-----------------------------------------
| Total Players: 0 -> 112,825
| Average Players Online (24 hours): 0 -> 67.945
| Game Rank: F Rank
| Monetary Income (24 hours): $9,784
| Mana Income (24 hours): 4 MP
|------------------------
This screen added up the data from the two games and gave me the most important information I needed.
The only problem with this screen is that it was impossible to differentiate between Players who had downloaded both Runestone and Syncstrike, which could cause a single Player to increase by 2 units in the Total Players tab.
But with that in mind, I wouldn't be fooled by the numbers.
Seeing my monetary income reach $10,000 in the last 24 hours, a huge smile was on my face.
Runestone's income alone was already incredible, with SyncStrike's income now I wouldn't have to worry about money anymore.
From what I had researched, it was hard for a solo Game Creator to get a game as popular as mine, only big companies and guilds had games with so many Players online earning them such large sums.
That was a seven-figure income! An amount capable of sustaining a medium-sized company, but which was being paid in full directly to me!
With a turnover like that, I knew I was getting closer to having my own game studio.
With Runestone's potential, I was sitting on a pile of invisible money, just waiting to emerge into reality.
'The problem is that I don't want to test and hire individual game developers... The best course of action for this would be to pool money and buy a small studio already formulated... what will the cost of this be?' I asked myself as I started researching.
The figures were a little higher than I had imagined...
To buy an already functioning studio, with a few portfolio games developed and with a staff of 5 to 10 employees, the price ranged from $200,000 to $500,000 depending on how successful the studio had been with games in the past.
But that didn't matter to me.
Usually the success of the games that studios had was much more based on the ideas of the games than on the quality of the game itself.
Sure, I'd still look for the best studio with quality for a lower price, but when the quality is similar, I don't need to worry about past successes.
After a lot of research, I found a studio here in Los Angeles with decent quality for an acceptable price of $350,000 and decided to give them a call.
"Hello?" A low, slightly despondent female voice came from the other end of the line.
"Hello, is this Arcadia Games?" I asked.
"Yes, this is the Arcadia Games number, what can I do for you?" The person on the other end of the line asked, concerned but curious.
"I'm a Game Creator and I'm interested in making a digital version of my game for ordinary people, who can I talk to about it?" I asked politely.
I could say that I wanted to buy the studio outright, but before that I felt it would be better to see how they would handle this situation before deciding how I would deal with them.
Hearing what I said, the girl on the other end of the line became visibly more animated and answered. "Right, I'm Evie, the CEO of Arcadia Games. We've remade two Game Creators games in the past, I think working with our company will be enjoyable, what's the Rank of your game?"
Hearing that the caller was directly the CEO of the studio made me a little worried and confused about their situation, but I still kept my voice polite as I answered.
"My game is only F Rank." I said without giving too many details.
Her voice was slightly disappointed after hearing the game's Rank, I think because she thought I was just an arrogant newbie Game Creator. "Right, the other games we've made have been an E Rank Game and a D Rank Game, which is usually the minimum threshold we choose for making a digital game, but considering that we don't have a lot of work available right now, we might look into making your game."
Despite the disappointment, she still remained very professional, treating me courteously and listing the important points that the company had to consider in order to accept me, which would raise their company image a little in my view, as if them accepting me was a good opportunity for me.
'She's got a bit of talent in that...' I thought contentedly.
"Right, how about we set up a meeting to discuss this further? Preferably at your studio, so I know what the working environment is like at the place I intend to make my game?" I asked interestedly.
Surprisingly, she became very alert when she heard this. "Are you sure it has to be here? We can meet at a café nearby."
"I'd prefer it to be in the studio." I said confidently and calmly.
Hearing my tone, she sighed on the other end of the line and agreed. "Okay, we can meet up this afternoon, is that all right with you?"
"That's fine with me, just send me the address and I'll be there at 3pm." I said.
With that decided, we disconnected the call and I continued researching information that would be important for this meeting while I got ready.
Although I didn't have the $350,000 that was the estimated value of their studio, I had around $70,000 in my account and in 30 days I would have accumulated the rest of the money, which I believed would not hinder our negotiations.
I just wonder if they knew that the game I wanted to make a digital version of was Runestone, one of the most popular games of the moment, how they would react haha.