Chapter 75
Chapter 75
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Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: Uni
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"Burns Soft has rejected our proposal."
"Sigh... So it really happened."
Uni Games.
It was the name of the new subsidiary established within Uni following the massive success of their first console, the GameStation.
And Agaraaki had taken the role of inaugural president of Uni Games.
He believed the future of Uni Games was brighter than ever.
That made sense, given that Uni had dominated the fifth-generation console market while its rivals Nendo and Seton had stumbled on their own.
This positioned them to start the sixth-generation console wars from an incredibly advantageous spot.
Gamers rarely switched consoles easily once they'd settled on one.
Familiarity.
Each console had different controllers and different games, so most users stuck with what they knew.
Of course, that held true only without major issues; if a console screwed up big time, users would jump ship without a second thought.
In that regard, Uni had been incredibly lucky with the GameStation.
Nendo had alienated developers and launched without any third-party support, crashing spectacularly. Seton, meanwhile, clung to outdated 2D graphics performance and missed out on two landmark 3D titles.
Those were Last Fantasy 7 and Soul Hunter.
Both shattered sales records with over ten million copies each, rewriting gaming history. GameStation's capture of both allowed it to conquer the fifth-generation market.
Uni had witnessed firsthand how Nendo and Seton, the former kings of consoles, had fallen. They were already preparing to avoid those same mistakes.
GameStation 2 was designed with the full might of headquarters' tech to avoid Seton's performance pitfalls.
This resulted in a console far superior to the original GameStation Pro, so performance was no issue.
That left third-party support.
"North American developers are drawing a line with us like they've coordinated it."
"It looks like Savior has already made their move."
The last major hurdle, third-party support, was giving Agaraaki a massive headache.
The North American and European markets are growing bigger by the day. At this point, overseas markets matter more than Japan...
In previous console eras, Japan had been the most crucial market.
With half of all sales coming from there, console makers had no choice but to prioritize conquering Japan.
But that was the old days.
The gaming industry was undergoing revolutionary changes, with the U.S. and Europe at the epicenter.
The U.S. market, brimming with potential from the start, had exploded exponentially. Its game and console sales now easily outpaced Japan's on their own.
Europe and South America, once overlooked, were expanding rapidly, while Japan's status had slipped to just one of many important markets.
Japan was still huge, of course, but conquering the console market now required targeting overseas—especially North America.
Aware of this, Agaraaki had rushed to contact North America's top developers.
Three in particular were must-haves for Uni's third-party lineup.
AE, Id Soft, and finally Burns Soft.
Securing these three was essential for North American success.
AE dominated sports game licenses, having driven GameStation sales in North America previously. Even with their growing publishing arm, their sports titles alone made them invaluable.
Id Soft, creators of Demon Slayer—now a national pastime in North America—would bring hardcore gamers.
Burns Soft lacked their fame, but...
Anyone who knows Eternal Ring can't help but covet it.
During a U.S. business trip last year, Agaraaki had gotten a preview of Burns Soft's upcoming Eternal Ring.
In that moment, he knew instinctively.
This was the game changer that would revolutionize the struggling FPS genre on consoles.
Since Id Soft's groundbreaking Demon Slayer, FPS games had built a solid fanbase with steady releases. Yet they remained weak on consoles.
Nendo's 007 GoldenEye was the only notable console success, but even that paled against blockbusters. FPS was seen as a PC genre.
But Eternal Ring was different.
It fixed clunky controls with dual-stick— one for movement, one for aiming.
It opened up narrow, closed maps to compensate for pad limitations.
Plus multiplayer elements, the next big thing. Agaraaki felt it would dominate consoles.
But all that analysis was for naught.
Savior got all three first.
It wasn't just those three.
Most major North American and European developers were shying away from exclusive supply deals with Uni.
Despite Uni's offers being far from bad.
Savior was the reason.
"Savior is handing out insane contract splits, like they're fine taking losses!"
Nobuyuki, head of Uni's console distribution team and Agaraaki's direct subordinate, spoke in frustration.
He'd gone overseas himself only to come back empty-handed, so his rage at Savior was justified.
"Savior's swimming in cash lately, so they're prioritizing market conquest first."
Just like Uni's aggressive pricing with GameStation.
"We knew they were doing well, but this level of loss is too much..."
Agaraaki wasn't so sure about Nobuyuki's words.
Savior had practically monopolized office software, and that wasn't enough—they were invading CPU and GPU markets too.
No wonder Intel and Nvidia had teamed up against Savior.
Though their track record made consumers—and even the U.S. government—dismiss it with a scoff.
It's mostly my fault. I fed meat to a sleeping tiger and lured it from its cave.
Savior entering console manufacturing was no longer a secret.
Their dev kits had spread to overseas developers and even some Japanese ones—it was infamous.
When Agaraaki first heard, he could only blame himself.
He'd long suspected Savior's moves.
After Soul Hunter, he'd proposed a massive deal for a GameStation 2 launch title, but Savior's CEO Seon Woo-hyuk dodged it.
That offer was unprecedented in gaming, so rejecting it raised red flags.
They have the tech, produce key components in-house—why wouldn't they challenge it?
Agaraaki had seen Savior's console capabilities via stolen GameStation Pro blueprints, but never thought they'd actually enter.
Savior was already too big to bother with consoles' risks.
Projections had them surpassing even top Japanese giants like Uni in a few years. Risking that on hardware? Unthinkable.
But the unthinkable happened. Now it was time to respond.
"From what we've gathered, Savior's console is called Nexus, slated for the first half of 2001."
"Our GameStation 2 launches October next year, so they're half a year ahead?"
"Yes. Considering manufacturing timelines, showing a real unit and demo footage at E3 2000 is nearly impossible."
"True. Even Savior can't rush production that much."
"So we're planning a drastic price cut and supply blitz at E3 to seize the market before Savior arrives."
Not a bad plan.
First-mover advantage was crucial in consoles.
Plus, while Savior could only announce a date at E3—the gamers' biggest event—Uni could showcase actual hardware. Even if Savior brought something amazing, Uni could win.
GameStation 2 was a masterpiece two years in the making by Agaraaki and all of Uni Games.
Knock knock.
As they discussed countermeasures against Savior's console, a knock came from outside.
"We're in an urgent meeting. Come back later."
Agaraaki told whoever was knocking at his office door to return later, but...
"You need to see this right away!"
The ominous reply sent chills down his spine.
"Leverage your Seton experience, he says... meaning dredge up those painful memories."
Scarlett recalled her conversation with Seon Woo-hyuk in her office.
Six months.
A full half-year launch gap. Seon Woo-hyuk had suggested using her Seton know-how to overcome it.
Scarlett hadn't understood at first, but his explanation left her stunned and impressed.
Hyper Drive.
Seton's ambitious entry into the fourth-generation console wars.
It achieved the best results among Seton's lineup, earning its title as their masterpiece.
Yet its initial launch was a disaster.
"That was truly absurd."
Scarlett still got furious thinking about how Nendo crushed her back then.
But as Seon Woo-hyuk said, she'd learned from it—and no one could wield those lessons better than her.
Unlike Nendo, Savior held truly powerful weapons.