Chapter 74: Finally Expanding Overseas
Chapter 74: Finally Expanding Overseas
“But they probably won’t give it to us for free, right?”
“Probably not?”
Snati answered with a slightly uncomfortable expression. He knew the president was a miser, but even he thought this was a bit much. Of course, Denji only said it because he still felt some lingering attachment after hearing that it had originally been free.
If a company, rather than ordinary players, intended to use it for commercial purposes, then at minimum, showing some sincerity to the creators would be normal.
“Still, try to make it as cheap as possible. They translated and distributed it for free because they wanted many people to enjoy the same thing as them, right? If we officially import and sell it, that means just as many people will be able to enjoy it, so try to explain that part well.”
“Yes...”
Snati answered his Orc president with an expression that was half admiration and half criticism.
Ras was thinking about the structure of the game magazine.
Since this was a type of magazine that did not exist in this world, there was nothing in particular to use as a reference, so Ras, as the founder, had no choice but to think it through himself.
Existing computer magazines did have game-related articles. However, most of them were simple introductions or reactions. If he filled the pages with that kind of thing, there would not be much volume, and it would not be very entertaining either.
I guess I need to include strategy guides after all.
Ras was the type who believed it was proper for players to learn and enjoy things on their own.
But seeking instruction from skilled players was also one form of human wisdom. In the end, the concept of strategy guides was bound to appear anyway.
In that case, it was better for Ras to occupy that space first.
And strategy guides were fairly good content in their own right. Not every player could display smooth skill.
There was also definitely a kind of pleasure in clearing something that seemed impossible after seeing the answer in a strategy guide.
Aside from strategy guides, articles about overseas reactions to exported games or games popular overseas also seemed good.
Ras did not particularly like this world’s closed-off atmosphere. He hoped that through articles like those, games, at least, could become a trigger for freer exchange between different places.
Of course, this was also something Ras could imagine because he was confident that his games would work well elsewhere too.
Just as he was imagining selling his games to other continents, the phone suddenly rang.
“It’s Barbal Soft.”
After hearing Ella’s words, Ras picked up the receiver on his desk.
“Yes. This is Epek Ras.”
“Ah, this is Paul Roxy.”
As always, it was Roxy.
Barbal Soft had reportedly grown quite a bit by now, so the president still personally calling him as before made him pleased, but it also felt slightly burdensome.
“Yes. I hope you’ve been well.”
“Yes. I heard the game tournament was a huge success. Congratulations.”
“Ahaha. Thank you.”
Since they had now become close enough to be called firm partners, the two first exchanged friendly greetings for a while.
“Ahaha. Anyway, I’m not sure if this is too late.”
Ras felt puzzled by Roxy’s somewhat sudden words. But at what Roxy said next, his face immediately brightened.
“A distributor from the Brunyard Federation has officially requested to import Meta Soft’s games.”
“...PC games, right?”
“Yes. PC games.”
Ras punched the air repeatedly.
At that, Ella’s eyes widened as if wondering what had happened. Ras showed her his palm with an apologetic expression, then briefly sank into emotion.
Until now, he had felt complicated while watching arcade games enter other markets.
Those were also based on his originals, and part of the profit certainly entered his account whenever they sold, so it was not as though he was unhappy. But something about it felt lacking.
Now that games stamped with his company’s name would finally be exported, that lingering dissatisfaction melted away completely.
“Thank you.”
“No. In truth, it’s not that we did anything. They contacted us first. If anything, I’m only sorry for making you wait this long.”
“Not at all. By the way, what’s the company’s name?”
“Ah. I didn’t mention it. It’s Lorong Soft.”
Ras wrote the name in his notebook.
After that, people from Barbal Soft continued visiting and calling as the contract moved forward.
He did feel annoyed because Lorong Soft seemed greedy and kept trying to drive the price down far too much.
If Barbal Soft had not mediated and he had tried to contract with them directly, he might have simply dropped the whole thing.
Barbal Soft really did seem to have grown a lot.
In the old days, his image of them was of people putting diskettes in bags and going around electronics stores one by one to sell them.
Perhaps they still conducted business that way even now, but after experiencing how they skillfully negotiated terms with an overseas company, Ras felt like he understood what it meant for times to change.
And one month later, Meta Soft’s games began to be officially distributed in the Brunyard Federation.
The response was tremendous.
There were already Meta Soft games that had entered through peddlers or illegal distribution, but because they were in the Aran Language, many people felt frustrated.
There were translation clubs, but this world did not have the internet.
Their ability to distribute translations was bound to be very poor. And because they were not official translations, the patching method was complicated, and resource usage was high, so even among those who obtained translation patches, most could not actually use them.
In that situation, once products translated into the Brunyard language came out, people had no choice but to welcome them.
“Hey. Look at this.”
“...What is it?”
The ten-year-old Elf boy with blue hair, who had been sulking because he fought badly with his older brother over computer usage the previous day, answered bluntly.
His older brother, the twelve-year-old Pallas, found that attitude irritating.
But if his younger brother, who shared the same room with him, kept acting this way, it would be even more exhausting, so he forced himself to smile.
“Didn’t you really like Land of Adventure?”
“I did, but I already cleared it.”
“This is 2.”
Only then did Tono turn toward Pallas.
Then he saw the game package in his older brother’s hand and quickly rushed over to take it.
“Really? Uh... But this is in our language?”
Tono’s excitement instantly cooled.
There was a reason Tono reacted this way.
Meta Soft’s games had not been officially distributed, but Brunyard’s game developers had already been influenced by them and were producing many similar games.
If those games were fun, that would have been fine.
But most of them failed to copy the originals properly and were simply crude.
And Pallas remembered being fooled by those kinds of games several times before.
“This isn’t a knockoff. It’s in our language because it’s the official imported version. Look.”
Pallas checked the package again with a doubtful expression.
Then he confirmed both what his brother had said and the name Meta Soft boldly printed on the lower part of the package.
“It’s real?!”
After that, Pallas excitedly tore open the package and ran the game.
It was somewhat different from the first game, but he could definitely feel the same atmosphere.
No, it was even more fun.
It was not just about fighting. There was fishing, hunting, and crafting things, and it made him feel as though he had truly entered the world of Land of Adventure.
And best of all, the story and character dialogue were in the Brunyard language.
He did know the Aran Language, so he had managed with the first game well enough. But still, a foreign language felt distant somehow.
Tono watched Pallas get completely absorbed in the game and sighed.
It seemed things would finally become a little more peaceful.
The power of translation was strong.
Unlike Tono and Pallas, there were also many people who bought games again simply because they wanted to enjoy them once more in their own language, even if they had already played them before.
That did not mean Tetris, Pac-Man, Beat Heater, and similar games, which did not really need much translation, sold less.
No, rather, those types sold even more.
The reason was simple.
It was because people could enjoy games from arcade machines at home. As for gameplay quality, that had already been proven through the arcade versions, so there was nothing more to say.
There was some difference in quality, but people who already used 8-bit computers had no real reason to feel greatly disappointed.
However, sales of Fighters’ Club were weak.
In truth, this could not be helped.
After all, the Hammer 1 Computer had not been officially released in the Brunyard Federation.
But the computer manufacturers of the Brunyard Federation were also working hard to copy the Hammer 1, so perhaps sales would begin once that happened.
In any case, Meta Soft’s games showed considerable sales overall.
And there was an even greater achievement than that.
The name Meta Soft became planted in the minds of gamers in the Brunyard Federation.
It had already possessed considerable recognition before.
But with official distribution, far more people naturally encountered it. Moreover, official distribution itself was extremely rare in the Brunyard Federation, so it left an even stronger impression.
“Ha ha...”
Thanks to that, Ras could not help making that sound after checking his bank account.
It was about a month after the export deal had been finalized.
The Brunyard Federation was certainly smaller than the Republic of Smite in population and weaker in economic power, but it was still a country large enough that it could not be completely ignored.
Several software titles had been released there at once, and every one of them showed strong sales.
This is almost like releasing one whole game.
Compared to Korea, where digital sales existed, overseas distribution in this world lost a considerable amount to middlemen along the way. So his income per copy was not that large.
But because the overall sales volume was so high, he still received profit equivalent to selling around six hundred thousand copies in the Republic of Smite.
In terms of money, it amounted to roughly fourteen million Del, a huge sum equal to ten billion Korean won.
For Ras, who had started many businesses and was even developing a computer, meaning he needed available funds in various ways, this was an extremely welcome income.
Moreover, what made it even better was that this was not money earned from doing something new, but revenue generated from products he had already created.
It was definitely not free money, yet somehow it felt like free money.
And only one month had passed since the export deal had been finalized.
According to reports from over there, there was no particular sign of sales falling, and although things would differ somewhat, judging by the case in the Republic of Smite, the games would likely continue selling for at least two more months.
“Export really is a good thing.”
Ras leaned back in his chair and muttered with a satisfied expression, while Ella turned to look at him, wondering why he was saying something so obvious.
Establishing the magazine company was not difficult.
Newspapers required government permission, but magazines only required registration, so he simply had to process the paperwork through a lawyer.
Of course, if the contents encouraged crime or seriously harmed public morals, sanctions would come in.
But this was a game magazine.
Well, games like that will probably appear someday too.
For the time being, there should be no trouble caused by the contents.
In any case, aside from that, once he found an office and hired reporters, the company at least took on its basic form.
There was no more space in the building he currently used, so he had to look elsewhere for an office.
Originally, Ras planned to simply rent a nearby building.
But midway through, he changed his mind and bought a small two-story building instead.
He remembered the Orphan Gang incident.
Such things probably were not common, but it still made him uneasy.
In truth, the development office and his other businesses were already occupying rented spaces and were settled there, so he had no choice but to keep using them.
If he followed his own wishes, he wanted to buy one large building and move everything there.
No. Since I’m already thinking about it, should I just put up a building myself?
It did not seem like a bad idea.
He did need to save funds, but lately, his businesses were slowly growing larger.