Chapter 109: Puzzle Bobble

While Las was introducing hamburgers into this world, Meta Soft’s Casual Team completed both Bubble Bobble games. Bubble Bobble itself was finished first, but the difference was only three days.

This result showed that Casual Team 2 was also fully capable of functioning as an independent development team. The quality had already been confirmed through the prototype and the continued reports afterward, and even the development speed did not differ much from Team 1, which was packed with experienced veterans.

“It’s definitely fun.”

Garazt had already become fairly familiar with the controls during the prototype stage, so he played the game quite skillfully. It was an extremely simple game, yet precisely because of that simplicity, it possessed a unique kind of game feel.

The female team members also liked the cute Bubble Dragons quite a lot.

Another advantage was the low level of violence. After all, nothing was being smashed apart and no blood was flying around. The enemies simply floated upward while trapped inside bubbles, so very few people found it objectionable.

That said, unlike in the early stages, the game was more difficult than expected, and many people died quickly.

“Ah... I died again.”

Pana rubbed her face repeatedly as she looked at her character, who had failed to respond to the rapidly charging red whale and died.

Still, the game possessed a quality that made players unable to give up even after dying. Pana grabbed the controls again and focused.

Of course, even aside from the gameplay, she still had to keep testing because it was work.

Everyone already understood what kind of game it was from the prototype stage, so they no longer felt much freshness from it. However, they could clearly tell that the level of polish was different. The balanced speed and responsiveness felt extremely good.

In any case, the employees kept pushing forward, continuing even after dying over and over while steadily clearing stages. They had to check whether there were any bugs, after all.

Fortunately, it seemed the development team had done their work thoroughly.

Once Bubble Bobble finished testing, it was immediately handed over to Barbal Soft.

And Las immediately instructed the IP Management Team to look for a factory capable of producing plush dolls.

“A plush doll factory?”

Even while picking up the phone to relay Las’s instructions, Ella unconsciously repeated the words because the request was so unexpected.

“Yeah. Remember what I mentioned before? About making merchandise using game characters.”

“Ah! Then you mean the dragon from that ‘Bubble Bobble’ game you just made?”

“Exactly.”

“That actually sounds pretty cute. Got it. I’ll contact them right away.”

Unlike Ella, however, the IP Management Team had already discussed merchandise of this sort beforehand, so they accepted the instruction without much surprise.

After all, one of the first possibilities Las had mentioned was stuffed dolls for crane games.

Still, Georg, the manager of the IP Management Team, seemed slightly hesitant before moving forward with the project. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠He came to Las’s office, cautiously observing his mood before finally opening his mouth.

“Um, President.”

“Yes? Go ahead.”

Georg was a dwarf in his mid-twenties. His physique was solid and muscular, fitting someone in the prime of his life, and the sight of such a heavily built man with a thick black beard nervously reading someone’s mood was not particularly graceful.

Still, Las did not dislike the fact that someone was carefully watching his reaction. And since the department was still a newly formed team pushing ahead with many projects but lacking any clearly visible achievements so far, he understood that speaking frankly to the company president would not be easy.

So he smiled and waited for Georg to continue. Georg hesitated once more before finally voicing his thoughts.

“I think it would be more effective to produce the plush dolls after the arcade port of ‘Bubble Bobble’ is completed.”

The primary purpose of the dolls was to place them inside crane machines anyway. Of course, Las did not intend to release them only as cheap prizes. He was also considering producing separate product lines with different sizes or higher-quality versions for direct sale.

In any case, Georg’s point made sense. If the arcade itself featured a game containing those characters, more people would naturally want to win the dolls.

If the order were reversed, the impact would probably feel weaker. However, Las had already thought this through.

“We don’t plan to port this one to arcades in the first place.”

“Ah!”

Las had seen Bubble Bobble in arcades before. But in his judgment, this type of game did not suit arcades very well. If a player performed poorly, it was fine, but skilled players could drag out play sessions for far too long.

For arcade games, where turnover speed was critical, that was a fatal weakness.

“That doesn’t mean I’ll completely prevent a port. But we have no intention of requesting one ourselves.”

“Understood. Then we’ll start looking for factories immediately.”

As an arcade owner, Las was not completely satisfied with the situation, but if a port eventually happened anyway, he still planned to install one or two cabinets in Arcade Game Land for variety’s sake.

Besides, Las was already satisfied simply seeing the game recreated in this world. And thinking about the future, it might actually allow more people to enjoy the game and extend its lifespan if it were released on PC instead.

And if they absolutely had to port it somewhere, he thought consoles like Talados would be a better choice than arcades.

“Hmm...”

Thinking about it, the idea did not seem bad at all.

To be honest, he had not been particularly interested in porting games to Talados before. The first games he tried there had frankly felt rather crude, so his expectations for the console itself had remained low.

That was why he had only vaguely considered making their own console someday in the distant future.

But unexpectedly, the overall level of games had risen dramatically. By now, it genuinely felt like Meta Soft’s games could compete alongside them.

If Talados continued at this pace, there might not even be any need to enter the console market directly.

Not only were the games satisfying, but competing against a strong rival would only make the competition harsher and profits harder to secure. It might be better simply to cooperate with Talados’s developers and establish a presence in the console market through partnership instead.

Besides, they were already planning development on a next-generation computer, so there was no need to unnecessarily divide their development capabilities.

Now that he was thinking about the console side of things, he wondered whether it might be worth contacting Talados directly.

Initially, he had only intended to consider it if they approached first. But the more he thought about it, the less likely such a request seemed.

When Metallic Jumper released, he had expected something like that. At the time, the game’s gameplay had been so overwhelmingly unique that he assumed they might request a port in order to prevent users from migrating away.

But Joy Systems’ capabilities turned out to be far more impressive than expected. Instead of chasing after Metallic Jumper, they had countered by releasing Run & Break, a game fully capable of rivaling it.

Afterward, they continued producing high-quality games one after another, actually increasing Talados’s sales in the process. Las had honestly been impressed by that. It made him think, So this is the level needed to become the first company in this world to create and sell a console.

And that FPS game which had surprised him recently had also come from one of Talados’s development studios.

After thinking for a while, Las decided they should at least open discussions. However, he chose not to contact them personally.

It was not about playing hard to get.

He simply did not want to appear desperate.

They also lacked personnel capable of handling Talados programs or managing console ports directly. And there already existed a distributor they continually paid commissions to precisely for this sort of work.

“Is it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠possible?”

“Ah, yes. It can be done.”

When Las contacted him, Paul Roxy answered immediately without even checking whether the company had personnel capable of handling porting work internally. By now, Barbal Soft’s influence had grown so large that acquiring such personnel would be easy regardless.

As a powerful distributor, countless software companies were eager to build connections with them. Among those companies were plenty willing to take subcontracting work as well.

“Then please discuss it with Joy Systems.”

“Ah, yes. Leave it to us.”

In a sense, it felt almost like running an errand, but Roxy did not feel offended at all. He was not an arrogant man to begin with, and in fact, he found it reassuring that Meta Soft was requesting Barbal Soft’s assistance.

Meta Soft was growing into a gigantic corporation far faster than Barbal Soft itself. Since Barbal Soft depended heavily on Meta Soft’s power, there had always been lingering anxiety about whether the relationship might someday end.

But now that Meta Soft was making requests like this, it felt as though they still recognized Barbal Soft’s necessity and considered the relationship close.

“Right?”

“Yes. If they were planning to cut ties with us, they wouldn’t make requests like this.”

Jennifer appeared to share the same judgment.

The relationship with Meta Soft was not just Roxy’s personal concern. Everyone working at Barbal Soft understood how important it was. Recently, some employees had grown somewhat dissatisfied because of the situation involving Panchi Games, but even then, nobody thought severing ties would be acceptable.

That was why many employees likely viewed this incident positively, just as Jennifer did.

Not long afterward, Roxy contacted Joy Systems.

“You want to port your games to our system?”

Kokaten of Joy Systems had tensed up when Barbal Soft contacted him. Since there were so many games that resembled copied versions of existing titles, he had worried they were calling to raise complaints about that issue. So when he instead received a completely unexpected proposal, his eyes widened unconsciously.

Of course, since it was a phone call, only his slightly raised voice carried through.

“Yes. Titles like ‘Metallic Jumper,’ the upcoming ‘Bubble Bobble,’ and earlier releases like ‘Tetris’ and ‘Pac-Man’ would fit your system ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠very well.”

“Ah... yes...”

Kokaten trailed off, but the grin spreading across his face was impossible to hide.

Every single title mentioned was one he had coveted.

Especially Metallic Jumper.

They had eventually managed to release Run & Break as a game capable of competing against it. But perhaps because of the initial shock it gave him, he still could not erase it from his mind.

At times, he even wondered whether people refused to buy Talados specifically because of that game and instead chose only to play computer games.

Still, because he viewed Meta Soft as a rival competing for market share, the idea of a port had never even crossed his mind.

Yet now the proposal had come from the other side first.

“Yes. After sufficient internal discussion, we’ll contact you again.”

Kokaten had already decided internally to accept the offer. He merely phrased ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠things this way in order to negotiate better conditions. If he looked too eager, they might demand excessive royalties.

And the following month, Gamers magazine published an article announcing that a large number of Meta Soft games would be ported to Talados. Talados users naturally celebrated the news enthusiastically.

Bubble Bobble also launched overseas simultaneously, including in the Brunyad Federation, the Pluta Constitutional Kingdom, and the Nuchin Kingdom.

Simultaneous worldwide release had not originally been the goal. The game simply contained almost no text, which allowed localization to happen extremely quickly.

Aside from a few disappointed smugglers, gamers across every country enthusiastically welcomed Meta Soft’s new title.

Kiljizan from the Pluta Constitutional Kingdom felt the same way. Kiljizan was a forty-year-old man and a devoted fan of Meta Soft. He operated a small furniture shop and had originally purchased a computer only for store management purposes.

But since he already owned a computer anyway, he wanted to try various things with it, and after hearing that games were fun, he decided to give them a shot.