Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: CGW
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“What an arrogant punk.”
Hudson, the president of AE, felt his mood sour as he recalled what had happened in the meeting just moments ago.
‘Royalty at 30%, no advance needed, but we can’t hand over the IP. That said, this game definitely has potential for success…’
The moment he heard Greg’s report, not just Hudson but the entire AE executive team had stared in disbelief.
Royalty at 30%.
It was an utterly unacceptable figure.
In fact, even the year’s biggest hits, like Deadzone Survival 3D and Remus VII, were only pulling in 20-25% royalties.
‘Demanding 30% royalty for their debut title…
They really are clueless greenhorns who don’t know how the world works.’
Hudson decided it was time to teach this naive little Caltech kid a harsh lesson about reality.
No legitimate publisher would accept those insane terms, so they’d surely come crawling back begging to renegotiate.
‘And when they do, I’ll hammer them with a deal that’ll make me rich.’
Of course, there had been some reservations mixed in.
Lately, more and more developers were grumbling about contract terms, so there were occasional calls to loosen things up for mutual benefit.
But at this stage, no matter how polished the game was, distributing a debut title from an unknown studio on those terms was a non-starter for anyone with eyes.
In the end, the meeting wrapped up just like that.
‘Savior… was it? They made a decent game, which is a shame. Still, we’ll make good use of your IP, so at least your legacy won’t die out completely.’
Hudson erased the name of the ‘Dead Hills’ developer from his memory, as listed in Greg’s report.
After all, they’d either crash and burn or get swallowed up by AE—nothing more than that.
In 1990s America, ‘magazines’ were an incredibly vital medium for sharing information.
Fashion, comics, cars—you name it, magazines covered every field and were flying off shelves by the millions weekly or monthly. It was the golden age of print.
Gaming magazines were no exception.
“What the hell is this?! This month’s CGW comes with a game bundled in!!!”
“For real? You get a free game with the magazine?!”
“Someone swept up every copy of CGW at the big bookstore! Who the hell did it?!”
Unlike other magazines that came out weekly, gaming mags were often monthly.
And if you named the top three representing 90s American gaming magazines, first up was Nendo Power, which specialized in Nendo titles and doubled as an official guidebook.
Second was EGM, reviewing games across Nendo, Seton, and other consoles.
Last but not least was CGW—the smallest of the trio but with a loyal PC gaming readership thanks to its focus on that niche.
Of course, ‘smallest’ was relative; CGW still sold half a million copies monthly and wielded real influence.
This month’s issue was causing an even bigger stir than usual.
– Dead Hills Demo Version –
The reason? The giveaway tucked inside.
CGW usually bundled cheat code sheets, quick strategy guides, or the occasional poster at best.
But this issue came with a floppy disk containing an actual game demo—a shock to readers.
Buy the magazine, get the game free! Word spread like wildfire, sending people scrambling to snag copies.
Even in 1992, games cost as much as they would in the 21st century.
Anywhere from $20 to $50.
A steep price for the student-heavy gaming crowd, so snagging a freebie with a cheap magazine was explosive.
“Hah… I figured it’d do well, but not this well.”
CGW Editor-in-Chief Rexom muttered to himself after hanging up with the printer, requesting an extra 200,000 copies.
“Told you we should’ve aimed for a million from the start.”
“It might just be a flash in the pan. Even these extra 200k copies are a huge gamble for us.”
Reporter Jamie shot a covert glare at his boss Rexom, inwardly griping about his small-mindedness.
‘Dead Hills is a genre we’ve never seen before. And it’s insanely polished.’
He recalled the call from his cousin Jason about a month back—Jason, the prodigy who’d been the family golden boy since childhood.
‘Bro, check out this game my friend made. It’s no joke. You gotta play it!’
The game Jason had hyped up was none other than Curse of Los Altos Hills.
Now retitled Dead Hills, which Jamie thought suited the vibe better.
‘How long’s it been since I took a vacation day for a game…?’
Jamie got the floppy with the Dead Hills demo from his cousin on Friday.
By Monday morning, after a weekend lost to it, he had to call in sick.
He’d meant to just dip in lightly, but he got hooked and played nothing else all weekend.
Deep into it, he reached day 14—the demo’s end—multiple times but couldn’t clear it.
‘You bastard developer!!! The zombie waves on the last day are brutal enough, but then you throw in special ability freaks?!’
The game’s difficulty was a first for him—diabolical, even.
Thanks to his reporter’s vast gaming experience, Jamie had a rough idea how to beat it.
But the structure demanded not just skill but a hefty dose of luck to even reach day 14, forcing endless retries.
After pouring every minute of Monday into it too, he finally cleared day 14 and hit day 15.
– To be continued –
Only then did he realize it was just a demo, and his mind filled with burning desire for the full game ASAP.
“We’re loving this, but… is Savior okay with it?”
“Huh?”
Rexom’s voice snapped Jamie out of his Dead Hills reverie.
“Handing out the full demo for free like this—will anyone still buy the full release?”
Rexom was a grizzled industry vet with years under his belt.
His concern wasn’t baseless.
Piracy was already rampant among students, plaguing the biz.
Free demos in this climate? Utterly baffling marketing to Rexom.
“You haven’t played Dead Hills yet, have you, Chief?”
“You think I have time for games? Just proofreading and edits eat up my weeks.”
“Give it a shot. You’ll drop those pointless worries.”
Jamie pulled something from his shopping bag and handed it over.
“Dead Hills?”
“I held back a few demos just in case.”
“You lunatic! Production’s already short on demo disks!”
“C’mon, take it as a bribe and look the other way?”
“How many’d you swipe, anyway?”
Rexom started to scold him but ended up chuckling at the guy’s gall.
Peeking in the bag, he saw more demos inside.
“Oh, these? Saving ’em for autographs from the dev later.”
“What?”
“This’ll be a legendary debut from a genius dev someday. Signed demo? Worth a fortune!”
Jamie blabbered excitedly.
Rexom stared, thinking it was nonsense.
‘Game packages aren’t antiques… They’ll be landfill fodder, not rising in value.’
No need to look far.
Just look at the E.T. cartridges for Atari 2600 from a decade ago that shocked the industry.
They’d printed 2.5 million expecting a smash, only to bury them in the New Mexico desert.
‘Still… it’s been ages since Jamie raved about a game like this.’
Rexom pocketed the demo, figuring he’d try it after work.
The AE headquarters conference room was packed with the full staff.
‘Full’ wasn’t saying much for a still-growing small company.
Most had been there since the early days, making all-hands meetings feasible.
“How many copies of CGW have sold so far?”
The distribution exec hesitated before answering Hudson, seated at the head.
“…Not sure on the latest, but it passed a million a week ago.”
Hudson closed his eyes and nodded slowly.
“From the usual 500k to double….”
The execs’ faces darkened.
CGW, the go-to for PC game reviews, was key to AE.
Their only ad outlet, and their readers were AE’s core customers—movements there mattered.
“Heard Broderbund and Apogee already made moves?”
The distribution head reported cautiously at Hudson’s question.
“Pretty much confirmed. Not just them—rumors say mid-tier publishers like Sierra offered deals too.”
The room buzzed instantly.
“Apogee’s not content with gobbling up Lost Kingdom?”
“Heard it was hot, but… other companies jumping in this fast?”
“Ugh… Retailers are already hounding us for Dead Hills. Losing it could hurt.”
AE led PC distribution, but rivals abounded.
Broderbund and Apogee, the Big 3 alongside AE.
Plus self-publishers like Sierra—plenty of threats to the top spot.
“If we let this slip, it’ll bite us later.”
The room fell silent at Greg’s words from Support Division Head.
He’d been the sole voice pushing the Dead Hills deal amid the nationwide hype.
“I’ll handle it myself.”
Hudson, AE’s president, had no choice but to step in personally.