Chapter 155
Chapter 155
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 155
Chapter Title: Countdown (1)
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“The fire has been contained. Director, please focus solely on development.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
“It was necessary for us as well, so it’s only natural.”
The call with Ayado Goro ended.
I took a deep breath and assessed the situation.
‘Things are getting distorted.’
From the release date of *End of Us 2* to the announcement of the PS5. The entire future was getting distorted.
It would be utterly impossible now to apply the future I knew directly to the industry.
That was because my own stature had grown large enough to exert influence over the industry.
But it wasn't all bad.
My gaze fell to my smartphone.
‘I didn’t expect it to come out like this.’
The time Ayado and the PS side were supposed to announce the PS5 was in June, when E3 was scheduled and then canceled.
Of course, everyone was expecting the PS5's release, but an official statement and a release window were another matter entirely, weren't they?
But that future had twisted, and now the issue of ‘cross-generation package compatibility’ was on the table before the console's launch was even announced.
It was just a rumor, but most gamers knew.
That when just the right information is leaked to the market at just the right time and in just the right way, it means there's a corporate move behind it.
Furthermore, if the company's response to it is silence, the possibility becomes even higher.
In effect, the industry was already accepting package compatibility between the PS4 and 5 as a foregone conclusion.
Besides, it was a future that came to pass, so I had no worries about it.
It was a smart move on Sona's part.
With this rumor, they had essentially demolished any purchase resistance for their three major titles before the PS5 was even announced this year.
They could push for more aggressive sales figures, and for me, it was another step closer to GOTY.
Now for my own preparations.
Another year had passed. Late January 2019.
“Implementation's done.”
Myeong-gyu said.
His face, which had been gaunt since the end of last year, now looked practically mummified.
It showed just how hard he'd been working.
“You worked hard. Thank you.”
“Don't mention it… The art team took care of the implementation. We have to start bug hunting now.”
“Still.”
The shell of *Hellic 4* was complete.
It had been a massive project that brought in additional manpower.
All that remained was debugging and optimization.
And finally, system balancing.
“Let's just tough it out for another six months.”
“So, Yeon-ho, what are you going to do now?”
“What else?”
Now that the shell was built, there was only one thing left to do.
“Time to hit them with the ads.”
First up… yes.
Let's start with an in-game play trailer.
* * *
The confirmation of *Hellic 4*'s release date and Sona's rumor about cross-gen compatibility.
At a time when the community was already ablaze with various issues, Flare Soft confirmed the release date for *Seiro*.
It was a different date from the one Yeon-ho knew.
『TimeForPoppysWalk: Seiro confirmed for September 9th!!!』
In the history Yeon-ho knew, *Seiro* was originally released in the spring.
It was only natural that various interests were entangled in the disruption of that plan.
To put it simply, it was like this.
*End of Us 2* had confirmed a March release.
Considering the short-term spending limit of customers, having two of Sona's main titles overlap would have a negative effect on sales, so they postponed it.
Of course, delaying the release could be a disadvantage for Flare Soft.
But no company in the world sets out to only take losses.
There was clearly a calculated reason behind Flare Soft's decision to delay the release by half a year.
The essence of their calculation was simple.
“We profit no matter what. If the first two titles sell well, anticipation for our game, the next in the lineup, will rise. All we have to do is meet those expectations.”
Overwhelming confidence.
“If both of them bomb, we still profit. It means we'll be the undisputed best of the year, no matter what.”
“What if only *End of Us 2* succeeds?”
“Our pride as the originators will be firmly protected. In fact, it could even boost our relative evaluation.”
“And if only *Hellic 4* succeeds?”
“It will create an influx of new players to the Soulslike genre. Their game is definitely lighter than ours. Once players have adapted to the genre, the chances of them delving into our work increase. We can steal a larger piece of the market pie.”
That wasn't all.
“I don't know what kind of strange coincidence this is, but... the 'Execution' in the newly released in-game trailer for *Hellic 4* uses a similar presentation mechanism to the 'Deathblow' in *Seiro*.”
“So that will lower the barrier to entry for *Seiro*?”
“Yes, that's exactly it.”
Flare Soft was completely confident in this regard.
They didn't entertain the thought that their game could be anything less than spectacular.
Critical success was a given.
From a calculated perspective, then, this setup—regardless of whether the previous two games succeeded or failed—was nothing but a golden opportunity for Flare Soft to boost its sales.
And was that all?
“The debugging and optimization schedules have become more relaxed. We'll be able to nail down any quality issues for sure.”
In this life, Rewind had earned overwhelming infamy to claim the number one spot among the world's "black company" developers, but originally, there had been several other candidates for that throne.
Among them, Flare Soft was a heavyweight black company that wouldn't lose to anyone when it came to its infamous, murderous schedules.
And now, these very people had bought themselves more time for optimization and debugging.
Such words were spoken in the executive meeting.
“Make it perfect, so no gameplay issues can possibly arise.”
Here, beyond the peninsula and across the archipelago, were pitiful employees awaiting a future filled with pain and screams.
* * *
2019 is Sona's year.
At this point, with the year just beginning, those words were already sweeping through the industry.
『The Bloodlord of Bangbae: Seriously, the PS lineup this year is just overwhelming.
*End of Us 2*, *Killing Stranding*, *Bio Hazard Re2*, *Seiro*, and *Hellic 4*—all the anticipated titles are on PS, lolololol.
WaitingForHellic4: Forget the rest, can't they just bring out Hellic...?
FutureIsntBright: Bye-bye, my beautiful bank account....
FailedMyBoards: Mom, I'm sorry in advance!!! Sorry for failing my exam again!!!!
OneMoreMoveKing: When is *Demon's Relic 2* coming out?』
That's five major titles in the lineup.
Three of them were sequels to already proven IPs, raising expectations to the max, while the other two were games that had users buzzing with excitement thanks to the trust they had in their creators and studios.
In comparison, other platforms unfortunately lacked such a blockbuster lineup.
And was that all?
There were definite industry trends indicating that Sona's 9th generation console would be announced this year.
The fact that the packages bought now would be compatible with that console couldn't be overstated.
Regarding that, a user who was quite adept at reading industry trends commented on the community forums.
『TimeForPoppysWalk: I think they're trying to squeeze out PS4 sales until the very end.
Both this rumor about console compatibility and the sudden announcement of this year's blockbuster lineup seem to be aimed at selling as many PS4s as possible while removing any resistance to buying them!
It's definitely not a bad thing for us users! As long as we can play the games... and besides, some of them will be sold on Steam at the same time!
Of course, I'll be playing on console! The feel of the *Hellic 4* controller I tried at E3 was just too good... ^^
WaitingForHellic4: What's so great about the controller that he's gushing like that... Well, I have the console anyway, so I'll probably buy the physical copy.』
In many ways, it was a festive atmosphere.
To be sure, last year's lineup with titles like *Ready Dead Redemption 2* and *Legend of War* was excellent enough to earn endless praise, but that season had only produced two or three major hits, which made this year seem exceptionally bountiful.
Of course, among the five main titles, what users were really focused on was the three-way battle unfolding each quarter between *End of Us 2*, *Hellic 4*, and *Seiro*.
Who would truly be the best game of the year?
How long would these games, destined to empty their wallets, keep them entertained?
The anticipation showed no signs of dying down.
And so,
『WaitingForHellic4: What????? Hellic 4 is holding a preview event with outside journalists??????
TimeForPoppysWalk: ^^』
Time passed.
* * *
Apart from its external notoriety, Rewind was one of those companies with very little public information about its internal environment or development process.
The reason being that Rewind rarely, if ever, opened its doors to the public, aside from official interviews.
In fact, the only Rewind developers known to the public were Yeon-ho and the few others who had gone on stage at the awards ceremony.
In a way, you could say their security was ironclad.
It was this company-wide policy, known throughout the industry, that led to the current situation.
“Hello.”
“Haha, hello.”
The testing room at the Rewind company building.
Twenty game journalists from all over the world gathered in one place, exchanging awkward greetings.
Of course, most didn't even bother with greetings; some were even busy handling other work that was piling up.
However, they had all gathered for the same purpose.
They all shared a sense of anticipation that needed no words.
What was it?
It was the anticipation of being the first to play the initial complete build of *Hellic 4*.
“Good afternoon.”
Yeon-ho stepped forward, accompanied by an interpreter.
The journalists' eyes were fixed solely on him.
First, that he was far too handsome for a director.
Second, the unfamiliar feeling of seeing Cheon Yeon-ho, known as the industry's irregular, this close up.
As if unbothered by their gazes, Yeon-ho began to speak in a voice that betrayed no hint of nervousness.
“Thank you all for coming today. The schedule for the preview playtest is…”
The details followed standard industry practice.
The preview playtest would run for a total of 18 hours over three days.
The information embargo was staggered by date, with set limits, contracts, and warnings about violations.
He finished with a request for their cooperation and swiftly stepped back.
It was rare for a company to hold an external preview this early.
It was also rare to request a staggered lifting of the embargo.
From this alone, one could feel just how serious Rewind was about this year's GOTY season.
In any case, it was a good thing for the journalists present.
‘Finally, I get to play this thing!’
The concerns about its short development period, coupled with the rave reviews of the demo version, naturally made *Hellic 4* the industry's hot topic.
And the breed known as game journalists are usually classified as hardcore gamers.
They didn't waste any more words.
Early adopters.
Their job was to judge and form an opinion for themselves before anyone else's verdict was in.
[Screeeaaam!!!]
[press to start.]
For the first time, the completed form of *Hellic 4* was revealed to the outside world.
* * *
Four days after the preview, at the end of March.
*End of Us 2* was revealed to the world.
The first batter of the year.
Released amidst a chorus of anticipation and thirst, the game… was unfortunately in a slightly different form than what the users had expected.
『The Bloodlord of Bangbae: Fucking hell』
It was the beginning of a turbulent spring.