Chapter 96: Investment

Moreover, since they were in the same industry, it was easier for Parallel Soft to distinguish gems from stones. By now, not only Seongcheol but even Hyein had developed a certain degree of discernment.

And investments like these were also one of the ways to expand influence within the industry.

As their influence and connections grew, they would be able to escape the isolation that came from being a foreign development company. They could also obtain various kinds of information, exchange technology, and even exchange personnel, so from a business standpoint, it was unquestionably better to have such connections.

“What did you say you came here for?”

That was why, even though a stranger had suddenly shown up, Hyein and Seongcheol were not particularly flustered.

“I came because I was hoping we might be able to receive investment.”

The man who introduced himself as Leon Hyden spoke fairly calmly, but perhaps because he was extremely nervous, sweat dripped down his face. No matter how warm LA was, October still had cool autumn weather, so it was not hot enough for someone to sweat because of the temperature.

“Please come this way first.”

Since he had personally come all the way to the company, they at least needed to hear him out. Hyein guided the man named Leon into the reception room.

“You run a game company?”

“Yes. Since starting in 1991, we’ve developed a total of three games, and we’re currently developing an RTS title.”

(Translator’s Note: RTS / Real-Time Strategy — Strategy game genre where players control units and resources in real time without turn-based progression.)

He operated a small game development company called Christforge, but contrary to his original ambitions, they had not achieved explosive success. It seemed they repeatedly earned development funds through porting work and outsourced programming jobs before returning to game development again.

(Translator’s Note: Porting — Development work involving adapting a game to run on different hardware platforms or operating systems.)

That was actually fairly common among development studios founded during this era.

People like them had the judgment to recognize that the game market would grow during the spread of computers, along with the passion to create games. But not everyone could succeed instantly like Insu.

Without extraordinary talent, luck, or cheating-level advantages like Insu possessed, most people endured like this while waiting for opportunities.

“This current game is our big gamble.”

But while they endured and waited for opportunities, they could not spend endless amounts of time doing so.

Especially recently, as computers rapidly advanced and innovative games began pouring out, Leon started feeling a sense of crisis that if they merely endured, they would simply be swept away and disappear. So this was the game into which they poured everything.

However, although their momentum had been good, the more effort they invested into the game, the more development fell behind schedule, and eventually, they ran out of money.

In the past, they would have simply taken more outsourcing work to gather development funds again. But lately, PC game technology and quality were improving day ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠by day, so Leon felt a crisis that if they spent more time, the game might become outdated before it even launched.

So they borrowed every bit of money they could, even rotating credit cards to squeeze out development funds, but they had finally reached their limit near the end of development.

After hearing the circumstances, Seongcheol nodded.

“Let’s take a look first.”

“Yes. Thank you very much.”

Hyein and Seongcheol tried the previous titles and alpha versions Leon had brought. More precisely, Seongcheol played while Hyein watched from the side.

The quality is higher than I expected?

Because Leon had said they had never achieved major success, Seongcheol’s expectations had not been very high, but the level of the previous games was better than expected.

Thinking about it, though, if they lacked skill entirely, they would not have been able to handle outsourcing jobs in the first place. And their abilities must have improved while accumulating that experience.

Still, the originality feels a little disappointing.

Leon had mentioned they did a lot of porting work for different platforms, and perhaps because of that, the games strongly resembled console titles. In particular, they felt like Japanese games interpreted through a slightly American lens.

This one feels like a Japanese arcade game mixed with Palace Tragedy, and this one is basically Cartoon Kart with a Mad Max skin?

Here, Palace Tragedy was a game similar to Prince of Persia, while Cartoon Kart was this world’s equivalent of Mario Kart.

Seongcheol did not necessarily view borrowing characteristics from other games negatively. Not every developer created purely original things. Even his own son, Insu, had achieved massive success by adding several new elements to the already popular RPG genre.

And Leon’s company had managed to create high-quality games with their own distinct flavor instead of making crude imitations.

Still, something felt slightly lacking—or perhaps the direction was just off somehow. In any case, Seongcheol felt he understood why the games had not become major hits.

Because of that, he had been somewhat negative ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠toward investment right up until he played the alpha version of the game currently in development.

Oh?

However, once he launched the file titled The Others, the dark-toned illustration and heavy narration that appeared immediately felt different from the previous games.

Orcs?

It was the familiar fantasy scenario of several non-human races, including orcs, invading what appeared to be a medieval fantasy world from another dimension. But instead of feeling cliché, it created anticipation for how the concept would actually unfold.

“The atmosphere is good.”

“Ah. Thank you. We originally planned to include a video at the beginning, but we lacked the funds. Haha.”

“Well, now that people are using CDs, adding videos really does seem to have become the trend.”

Seongcheol imagined in his head what it would look like if the illustrations were replaced with video. It certainly seemed as though it would increase immersion.

Even the title screen had a strong atmosphere. The tension-building sound, along with the flashy colors contrasted by darker tones, created a sense of depth.

Then, once the game started, a dark medieval fantasy world rendered in pixel art unfolded before him.

This is pretty good?

The art style shared similarities with the previous titles. The contrasting colors and emphasis on distinctive visual traits were combined with refined color usage, and on top of that, the depiction of movement was excellent.

This had not felt like a major advantage in their earlier works, but because RTS as a genre required massive amounts of resources and therefore needed relatively low resolutions and small ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠characters, it became an extremely powerful strength here.

Seongcheol had also played an RTS called Iron Reign released the previous year. The genre itself had very fresh gameplay, but due to graphical limitations, many units had been difficult to make out, and the science fiction atmosphere had not been conveyed properly.

So his expectations had not been high, but this felt much better.

[Thud! Thud!]

The combat was also quite good. Because Iron Reign was science fiction, it focused on ranged attacks like guns, but due to the low resolution and tiny units, the action had lacked impact.

This game, however, featured melee combat, making everything much easier to see, and especially the sound effects were excellent.

Breathing, battle cries, the sounds of weapons clashing—all of it enhanced the sense of presence.

And finally, the blood splattering and corpses remaining briefly on the battlefield were truly the finishing touch.

“This game is really fun.”

“Ah! Thank you!”

Leon had been extremely nervous while watching Seongcheol play the game with a blank expression. So when he finally heard a positive opinion, relief flooded through him.

“How much investment do you need?”

After quietly discussing things with Hyein for a moment, Seongcheol turned back toward Leon and asked.

At that question, Leon’s face brightened, but he could not answer immediately. He hesitated again as though calculating something in his head, then cautiously opened his mouth.

“We need about three hundred thousand dollars for now.”

Hearing that answer, Seongcheol inwardly gave a bitter smile. By now, he had accumulated quite a bit of experience in the gaming industry himself. He had watched Insu and his team develop games all this time, and he had also heard many stories and circumstances from other developers.

As a result, he knew that Leon’s phrase “for now” probably did not represent the true total amount required to finish development.

“Please tell me the amount based not on the first plan, but on a schedule that can guarantee quality.”

Leon flinched at that, but realizing the other party was also a game developer, he rolled his eyes for a moment, swallowed hard, and spoke again.

“If we make it according to the original plan, and assuming delays happen due to bad luck, we’ll probably need around five hundred thousand dollars.”

“The original plan includes things like opening videos too, right?”

“Yes. There are also additions planned for events and the ending. We gave them up midway through development because the costs became too large, but if they’re included, they’ll definitely improve the game’s overall quality.”

That five hundred thousand dollars probably was not an exact number either. Seongcheol estimated it would really end up closer to six hundred thousand.

“And what are you thinking of offering in exchange for the investment?”

At first glance, because the previous titles had not been particularly successful, and because the company had already lost equity and accumulated debt while gathering investments, it might seem wiser to demand rights to the game currently in development.

But that was not a very wise choice.

The biggest problem was that it would crush the motivation of the company head and the developers. If they fought desperately to create something only for it to be taken away by someone else, there was no way they could stay motivated.

So Seongcheol left the choice to the other side.

Leon fell into thought again. But realistically, he probably did not have many options. As both a developer and a company head, he naturally did not want to hand over the game, leaving only one remaining option.

“We’ll hand over company shares.”

Naturally, he did not want to give away equity either, but it was still better than surrendering the game into which he had poured the fate of both the company and himself as a developer.

Still, for a company in their current situation, offering equity equivalent to five hundred thousand dollars could be a very dangerous proposition.

“If you don’t mind, could we know the current status of your company shares?”

“...Twenty-seven percent is divided among various investors, and we currently hold seventy-three percent.”

“And how much of that remaining seventy-three percent are you willing to hand over?”

“We’re prepared to transfer sixty percent.”

When Seongcheol heard “sixty percent,” he thought the valuation itself was fairly appropriate. The problem was that it exceeded fifty-one percent.

“Then are you saying you’re willing to hand over the company?”

“Yes. If you can meet a few conditions, that’s what I intend to do.”

The conditions were all within expected bounds.

They wanted a certain degree of autonomy in development, continuation of employment for a limited period, guaranteed management autonomy for at least two years, restrictions on reckless exploitation of the IP, confidentiality regarding development direction and financial matters, and the right of first refusal if Parallel Soft later sold the shares again.

(Translator’s Note: Right of First Refusal — Contractual right allowing an existing shareholder the first opportunity to purchase shares before they are sold to others.)

“Some adjustments will be necessary, but fundamentally, we agree. We’ll discuss this internally and contact you again afterward.”

“Yes! I’ll be waiting.”

Parallel Soft had certainly achieved considerable success, but they were not chaebol-level rich, and they were simultaneously running two projects that consumed enormous amounts of money. They could not simply throw around hundreds of thousands of dollars on impulse.

Above all, Seongcheol wanted to hear Insu’s opinion too.

Of course, matters like this could be handled entirely by Hyein and Seongcheol as company executives. But Seongcheol wanted to do his utmost by incorporating the knowledge and insight Insu possessed as well.

“An alpha version?”

After being called into the office and hearing the story, the first thing Insu felt was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pity.

As a developer himself, he could empathize with how painful it must have been to reach the alpha version stage only to end up having to sell the company because they lacked development funds.

But he did not remain trapped in that sentiment for long.

This was not the first time he had been brought in to test something like this, and although not identical, he had already heard many stories about people struggling because of financial difficulties.

Insu skipped over the supposedly mediocre earlier titles and immediately launched the alpha version of the game called The Others, which his father had found interesting.

More than anything, the fact that it was an RTS caught his attention.