Chapter 25
Chapter 25
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: id Software
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"The reaction to Byte Line is hotter than we expected."
After wrapping up our discussion on Village Maker's official release, Scarlett came over to my desk and began her report on Byte Line.
"That's only natural. Our must-watch female executive personally handled the sales pitch."
"Honestly, that was pretty much all thanks to you, President."
Scarlett waved her hand shyly, telling me to cut it out.
-Must-watch female executive.
After her presentation at COMDEX, Forbes—an economics magazine that usually featured big names from the business world on its cover—had shockingly selected Scarlett as this month's cover model.
Forbes's unprecedented and bold choice was due to her COMDEX presentation.
They'd requested an interview, saying they were deeply impressed by the female CAO who delivered a groundbreaking talk in friendly, casual attire.
'Feeling a bit guilty now.'
I was the one who'd specified her outfit for the presentation, so I silently apologized in my mind to Waffle's CEO, whose future spotlight she'd stolen.
"Waffle and MiniSoft threw a huge fit, but I never expected IBM to step in and help."
"IBM probably sees those two as thorns in their side, so they figured helping us would be better."
The most intense backlash after Byte Line's reveal came from Waffle and MiniSoft.
Not only did they accuse us of ripping off their chat programs—WaffleTalk and MiniPopup—but they also raised issues with external programs' stability and security, practically forcing their partners not to use it.
It was so petty, it could serve as a counterexample to anyone who thought America was a free competitive market.
-IBM has adopted Byte Line over programs that can't even transmit text properly. As a result, we've saved a whopping $2 million in annual budget, and our work efficiency has skyrocketed beyond comparison.
We might have faced roadblocks in Byte Line's expansion from those two giants—companies Savior couldn't even challenge yet—but surprisingly, IBM stepped up and advertised its performance and efficiency on a massive scale.
Now, companies were adopting Byte Line on their own without us needing to sell it.
Of course, IBM wasn't doing it because they liked us; they just wanted to stick it to Waffle and MiniSoft, the super underdogs in the personal computer market. Still, it was a huge help to us.
"But it's spreading faster than we thought, so we might need to rush development on the expansion programs."
"You're right. Byte Line was built with expandability in mind from the start."
Byte Line, now virally sweeping across the U.S., was a free program.
That was why it had exploded like this, but we couldn't keep it free forever.
Moreover, the current version was only for corporate intranets. To fulfill its original purpose—letting everyday people chat in real-time over the internet—we'd need to set up servers too.
Scarlett and I had planned to launch paid expansion programs in about 1-2 years to monetize and boost revenue.
The problem was that Byte Line was spreading much faster than we'd anticipated.
It was almost laughable how we'd thought it'd take 1-2 years minimum to build a solid user base.
With that in mind, there was no reason to delay the expansions. Launching them a year from now—once users were hooked—seemed ideal.
"That's why I recommend splitting the development department into two: a game development team and a software development team."
"We'll need to hire more people."
Savior currently embodied the classic one-man-band startup, where game devs doubled as software devs.
But now we needed a dedicated team to refine and maintain the spreading Byte Line, plus more hands for new programs.
"Just half a year ago, this building was just you, Jackson, and me. It'll be packed soon."
"That's exactly why I came to Savior."
I glanced around the office.
Jason and Rogers were bickering over something.
Nearby, Jackson and two new designers huddled together, deep in late-stage graphics work.
Across from them, the two business support staff Scarlett had hired were frantically juggling phones.
Hearing Scarlett suggest splitting development and graphics teams—and expanding business support too—I realized we might soon need not just the second floor, but other levels as well.
Development and graphics should stay on the same floor for efficiency, but business could go on the third—no issues there.
"I'm also thinking of opening a pop-up store on the first floor after Village Maker launches."
"A pop-up store? To sell not just the game, but merch from all our titles so far?"
"Yes. The Village Maker character figures from the demo limited edition have been surprisingly popular. They seem to have real merchandising potential."
The character figures bundled with Village Maker's demo limited edition had been a massive hit.
Even before official release, the cute designs had fans clamoring, with business proposals pouring in daily.
"Great idea. Not just Village Maker—Dead Hills RE introduced new characters that got good reactions too. Let's include those."
Without missing a beat, Scarlett said she'd pick a solid proposer from the bunch and remodel the first floor for pop-up store vibes.
"By the way, what's the completion status on Village Maker right now?"
"Hmm... Even being strict, I'd say it's over 90% done."
"Then shouldn't we move up the release date?"
Scarlett looked a bit anxious at my response that it was nearly finished.
"Because of Demon Slayer?"
"Yeah. Releasing a week after Demon Slayer feels like a loss."
When I'd set Village Maker's official release a week after Demon Slayer's, Scarlett had seemed pretty unhappy.
"Casual gamers usually buy one game per quarter. With Demon Slayer and ours as the only big PC releases this fall, giving up even a week of first-mover advantage hurts."
Scarlett had a point.
Whether PC or console, hyped games were announced months in advance by industry custom.
Consumers spaced out purchases, so launching alongside a blockbuster often meant even good games got buried.
Demon Slayer had been billed as 1993's top anticipated title before Village Maker's announcement, so its impact wouldn't be small.
Thus, Scarlett wanted to rush ahead for that first-mover edge.
"Don't worry. That's exactly why I picked that date."
"Huh?"
"You'll see why when the time comes."
Scarlett gave me a puzzled look, clearly not getting it.
But I'd spoken the truth.
A week after Demon Slayer's release really would be the perfect launch day.
"Welcome to the University of Wisconsin!"
"Thanks for lending us the server, Deter."
"No problem at all! It's an honor that our computer lab gets to host the world premiere of Demon Slayer."
A beaming middle-aged man welcomed id Software's president John Romero and John Carmack.
He was David Deter, the university's systems administrator.
A year ago, Deter had stumbled upon id Software's development logs for Demon Slayer on an internet bulletin board and couldn't contain his excitement.
'This makes Deadzone Survival 3D look like a joke—it's revolutionary!'
A diehard fan of id's previous hit Deadzone Survival 3D, he'd fallen head over heels for Demon Slayer's concept the moment he saw it.
A space marine slicing demons from hell with guns and blades.
Desperate to play it ASAP, Deter jumped at id's recent bulletin board post.
-Game publishers are all pigs! All they do is suck developers dry—they never give us a fair cut!
John Carmack had vented frustration over contract disputes with publishers for Demon Slayer distribution.
'I'm David Deter, sysadmin at University of Wisconsin. If you're thinking of hosting your game on our servers, I'll support you.'
Unable to watch his beloved Demon Slayer in peril, Deter convinced the school it was great PR and secured server access, then informed id.
And so...
'What do you think, Romero?'
'Like Savior—make the demo free to download, but charge for keys to unlock the full game! We can sell without publishers.'
id's geniuses—the so-called 'Johns,' Romero and Carmack—saw no issue with internet sharing and sales if Wisconsin provided the server. They ditched traditional distribution for direct online sales.
"Too bad for Savior. They probably wanted to beat us to release even by a little. Sorry about that."
"Good riddance. Lots of guys trashed us last year because Dead Hills outsold Deadzone Survival. After today, everyone will know id Software makes the best PC games."
December 10, 1993.
Today was id Software's official Demon Slayer launch.
They'd announced midnight upload, so Carmack and Romero arrived early at Wisconsin to prep the installer.
As preparations wrapped up, their talk turned to Savior.
Savior had burst onto the PC scene like a comet with the Dead Hills craze last year, making them id's rivals.
Especially Carmack and Romero, id's core duo, harbored fierce rivalry toward Savior.
'Better than us... no, better than anyone.'
Even Carmack and Romero—who saw all other devs as beneath them—had to admit Dead Hills proved a superior game maker existed.
Not just polish, but a system architecture even they, hailed as geniuses, struggled to comprehend.
"But we'll win with Demon Slayer this time."
Perhaps because of that?
They'd poured everything into perfecting what they saw as their masterpiece.
Plus, releasing a week before Savior's Village Maker meant snagging that first-mover boost.
Carmack and Romero brimmed with confidence—they wouldn't lose this time.