The impending crisis in the isekai gaming industry was palpable.
But as Jiren said, it could simply be my overthinking.
Indeed, the Yura Republic was teeming with developers capable of creating games like Speed Rabbit, and it was entirely possible that their magical engineering could lead to such mass production structures.
It was a truly horrifying thought for me, but still, I found some comfort in the notion that if it were like that, it wouldn’t be so bad.
The Irene School and the Edward Consortium might have to step down from the throne of the gaming industry, but if we think about the results, there would be more fun games overall, and the number of gamers would increase, leading to a happy future for all.
So I suggested to Sylvia that we check out the next game and then take action.
It was a simple idea.
If the next game developed by the Magical Engineering and Gilbert folks evolved into an improved sequel like the saga series I knew, it would be fine.
If not, we could start taking action from there.
Two weeks went by, and the day arrived.
The release day of ‘Speed Rabbit Turbo’ coincided with the publication of the Zers Gamer magazine, and I was able to see the evaluations of the magazine along with the game.
[ A game that improves upon the shortcomings of Speed Rabbit, but that’s all there was to it. ]
[ If this had been Speed Rabbit, I would have applauded. But… ]
[ Is this really all there is? ]
Speed Rabbit Turbo turned out to be a version that simply added the bugs and two hidden stages from the existing Speed Rabbit.
However, its price was the same as Speed Rabbit at 60,000 gold, and not only that, but it even introduced Rails from Speed Rabbit 2, which meant you couldn’t control it at all.
The implication was clear: if you wanted to play, you should buy Speed Rabbit 2 two weeks later.
“Yuren, I feel a sense of déjà vu playing this game.”
“I feel it too. Yuren-senpai.”
“Me too. My disciple.”
We, the players, were experiencing something new.
The scene of everyone joyfully playing Speed Rabbit a few months ago was unfolding right before my eyes again.
It was almost uncanny how similar Speed Rabbit Turbo was to the original.
I had been frustrated playing a boring game before, but this was the first time I was bewildered by just how identical the game was.
“How can they charge 60,000 gold for this? Do those Gilbert folks have no conscience?”
Jiren seemed upset that a game like this would be sold for 60,000 gold.
And rightly so.
To us, it would be like if they added just one stage to Super Thomas and sold it at the same price; I’d never allow such an act. It was no wonder Jiren was pissed off seeing them make money so easily.
“Yuren, disciple, won’t gamers get immediately angry about this?”
The Master seemed to think that gamers would react angrily right away.
In theory, that was true, but… it wasn’t that simple.
Because the crisis in the gaming industry comes a beat late.
*
There’s a term called cognitive dissonance.
It refers to the discomfort people feel when they face a situation that contradicts their intentions—people experiencing cognitive dissonance will either blame the cause or attempt to persuade themselves, notable in two ways.
What would a user think when a game they expect to be new and exciting turns out to be exactly the same as one they’ve already enjoyed?
While some users might get angry, speaking from my past life experiences, gamers generally tried to persuade themselves.
“Eh, maybe they didn’t pay much attention since they hurriedly developed it.”
“Yeah, that must be it! After all, it’s the Magus Society people who made Speed Rabbit and Unreal Fighter, so let’s trust them a bit more.”
In an effort to preserve their cherished memories of the good times they had, the gamers persuaded themselves and sided with the Magus Society.
Thus, negative opinions didn’t arise immediately and the game continued to sell.
Sales figures dropped slightly compared to before, but that was a number both the Gilbert Consortium and Magical Engineering had anticipated.
“Ha ha ha! It’s alright! Since it’s the same game, a slight drop in sales is unavoidable. Instead, let’s hurry and prepare for the next game release! We still have plenty of games left to launch.”
“Yes!”
Overall, in the situation where Speed Rabbit’s game sales were declining, the sales began to rise again, leading to an increase in revenue.
From the Gilbert Consortium’s standpoint, this result was highly satisfactory, and the same applied to the Magus Society.
“As expected, the sales of our Speed Rabbit Turbo have been quite decent in the Empire’s gaming market.”
“Congratulations, Dean.”
Had a problem arisen with this game, Dean Einhardt might have thought that he had made a mistake.
That would have presented an opportunity to prevent a tragedy.
However, thanks to the gamers’ understanding, they succeeded, and Dean Einhardt gained confidence that his speed strategy had worked.
“Professor Smith, how’s the development progress of the game going?”
“Yes, Dean, it’s proceeding without issues. Speed Rabbit 2, King of Beasts 2, Silver Axe, Unreal Fighter Plus have all been completed.”
Professor Smith, who was appointed to supervise game development in place of Professor Howard, was a capable talent known as the Dean’s right hand.
He had used the points indicated by the Dean to set up a process for each team to develop and manage the games in a mass production manner.
He was competent, and the game development was completed on schedule, now only awaiting QA and release.
The games created according to textbook points were important because they adhered to the schedule.
Right now, that was what mattered.
“Good, let’s keep developing so that no other schools in the Empire can intervene.”
“Yes!”
Having tidied up the good news, the Dean now began to address the less favorable information.
That being Professor Howard, who had originally led the game development team.
Professor Howard had opposed Dean Einhardt’s mass production approach until the very end.
But now that this outcome had occurred, he had no excuse left and couldn’t even meet the Dean’s gaze.
“Professor Howard, how’s the new game coming along?”
“Um… we’re still working on the prototype.”
Professor Howard’s team was creating a racing game called Out Racing based on a dream Sora had, wherein they rode carriages and raced.
However, crucial personnel had already been transferred to other teams, and the few remaining, including Sora, were struggling. But no matter how much of a genius Sora was, it would take time.
Yet Dean Einhardt found it hard to understand why Professor Howard was consuming so much time.
“Get it moving quickly. Once you match the form of entertainment, they’ll buy it on their own.”
“Yes…”
With the success of this game, the Dean was confident.
What was vital in this business was speed, not quality.
“Let’s not forget that speed is life in this plan.”
“Yes!”
Some professors were already sensing it.
Is this how it should be done?
Does it seem like it’s going to fail?
But no one said anything.
Even if it was success thanks to the gamers’ leniency, success was still success.
In fact, some professors thought this way.
‘Games are not a big deal; we can just follow along loosely.’
When others start to go crazy, the sane become the mad ones.
Professor Howard felt like he had become that one.
*
Meanwhile, in the Edward Consortium’s Royal Road branch conference room, a significant meeting was taking place.
“Wait!? From today, we shouldn’t purchase Gilbert’s game Crystal Balls?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
Having received advice from Yuren, Sylvia made the decision and called together the key branch managers involved in gaming business.
The agenda of the meeting was to halt the purchase of Gilbert’s game Crystal Balls.
“But Lady Sylvia, our sales for the Edward Consortium’s games are steadily declining. Isn’t it better to purchase Gilbert’s games to make some profit right now?”
Since Super Thomas 2 and Puyo Puyo, the Irene School had not produced any new games.
As a result, the declining Irene School and other contracted schools’ games were being replaced, and the Edward Consortium was buying and selling games from the Gilbert Consortium.
Though not incredibly profitable since they weren’t their own games, a profit was still a profit.
Now, however, they were being told not to do that anymore.
“If Gilbert continues to create good games, I would do just that. But have you all seen the newly released Speed Rabbit Turbo?”
Everyone present were those involved in the Edward Consortium’s gaming business.
Naturally, they had played all the popular games and understood what Sylvia was saying.
“Of course, there are issues with that game, but isn’t it selling well?”
“Do you honestly believe that? Are you certain, Green, that such games can continue to sell to gamers whose expectations have become unreasonably high?”
“That’s…”
It could sell once.
But what about the next time? What about the time after that?
Can it really keep selling?
Everyone fell silent at Sylvia’s words.
“I’ll speak frankly. Gilbert’s game isn’t a product; it’s a scam.”
While doing business in games and mingling with Yuren, Sylvia had encountered many games and developed a fondness for them.
From her perspective, Gilbert’s actions were an outright scam that toyed with gamers.
“As long as I’m here, there won’t be a day when we sell scam products in our branch. Please firmly remember my words.”
“Yes! Understood.”
The meeting concluded, and as people left, only Sylvia and Thomas remained.
Sylvia wore a more fatigued expression than ever.
“I’m tired, Thomas.”
“Business isn’t always smooth sailing, after all. How about some black tea for stability? Lady, we just received some good tea leaves today.”
Everyone wants to guess the correct answer.
But until the future arrives, no one knows.
That’s why the burden of responsibility is heavy, and pride can be dangerous.
Feeling the weight of responsibility for the first time in a while, Sylvia’s head began to ache.
