Game development begins with destroying Girls' Frontline.

"Sigh, FATE players are really unlucky. They've run into a developer who doesn't even know how to make money, and Yosuke Shiokawa isn't around anymore. I wonder if DEwork can ever find a suitable producer again..."

Lin Li has mixed feelings about FATE/GO right now.

It's like one day you suddenly discover a girl with excellent temperament and everything else, and you're about to go up and chat her up, only to find out that she's already married.

A married woman is perfect in every way, except for having a husband. If that husband is handsome and capable, then it's fine.

The problem is that the husband standing next to the beautiful wife has crooked eyebrows and slanted eyes, which is completely unacceptable.

"What a pity, such a great IP, if only I could have done it..."

"Um...wait!!"

With a single thought, the world becomes vast.

As Lin Li thought about this, his mind started popping like popcorn.

At first glance, acquiring the developers of FATE/GO seems like an impossible thing.

After all, FATE/GO was incredibly popular in 2016, 2017, and 2018.

Who would sell their company at this time?

Furthermore, DEwork is not a publicly traded company, so there is no possibility of changing ownership through the acquisition of shares.

For the acquisition to proceed, Shoji Kenji must be willing to sell.

It wasn't until 2022, after the FATE/GO craze had subsided, that Aniplex successfully acquired DEWorks.

However, this fact is based on the premise that FATE/GO will become a huge hit in the future.

Can FATE/GO still be a hit without Yosuke Shiokawa?

May be.

Maybe not.

Even if he could, Lin Li would make it impossible for him.

If Lin Li can do this, FATE/GO will collapse in 2016.

As a businessman, if Shoji Akihito can sell the company to Aniplex in the future, he can also sell it to Spark Games when FATE/GO is not profitable.

"So, the goal is now very clear."

"Wouldn't it be wonderful to destroy DEWorks, take over FATE/GO, and remake it from beginning to end according to our own ideas?"

With this goal in mind, Lin Li instantly became excited.

This seems to be the best opportunity to acquire the copyright to FATE.

He immediately planned two timeframes.

One is the upcoming Chinese server for FATE/GO, which will be released in September; we need to find a way to slow it down.

After all, DEWorks is not in the same state as before. With its reputation in the Japanese server already collapsing, especially after Battlefront Girls started to become popular, its revenue has plummeted in the past few days.

Therefore, the opening of the Chinese server may very well be DEWorks's lifeline.

Secondly, we need to find ways to continue to suppress DEWorks and prevent it from making a comeback.

A two-pronged approach.

This made DEWorks realize that they weren't really suited for game development, and then Spark Games completed the acquisition...

Neither of these two conditions is easy to meet.

But it's not necessarily a bad idea to give it a try.

We can start digging at the corner of the wall first; what if we accidentally knock it down?

Chapter 80: Will they just make empty promises?

Although Spark Games' Tokyo studio has been established for half a year.

But this was Lin Li's first time here.

My first impression of the company was that it was spacious and impressive.

These two feelings are mainly due to...

On the one hand, there are relatively few people here.

Secondly, when Yao Meng arrived, Xinghuo Games' cash flow had already entered a positive cycle.

At the same time, Yao Meng was exaggerating the company's strength.

Therefore, the company invested heavily in both its location and its interior design.

Everything was modeled after major European and American companies. The company even had a coffee room, a media room, and a rest area. They even hired models for the front desk.

These superficial efforts certainly cost a lot of money, but they did achieve very good results.

Many people who come to Spark Games for an interview, even if they have never heard of the company before, are drawn in by the scene, the beautiful receptionist, the high-spec computers, and the lavish decor.

I immediately felt that this company was reliable.

Perhaps it was precisely because of this work environment that they were able to attract a talent like Yosuke Shiokawa.

Lin Li strolled around here for a while.

My biggest takeaway is...

I want one too!

~~~

"Brother Lin, this way, your office is here."

"I still have an office?"

Lin Li followed Yao Meng to an office.

"Of course, we've kept it for you since the day we started the renovation."

Yao Meng opened the door while laughing.

They didn't mention it. They didn't notice it during the renovation, and the renovation company just set up a chairman's office like this, as is customary.

"Yes, I'm interested."

Lin Li arrived at the office under Yao Meng's guidance.

Although he decided to acquire DEWorks on a whim, Lin Li did not forget his purpose in coming to Japan: to appease people.

Therefore, as soon as he arrived and sat down on the soft sofa, he asked Yao Meng.

"Tell me, how do you want me to cooperate? Should I give everyone a red envelope, or should we gather them together for a talk?"

"Well, you can just sit in the office."

“…”

Yao Meng looked at Lin Li, who had a blank expression, and scratched his head.

"Mainly, boss, you don't speak Japanese, and we're still updating our system, so everyone's quite busy. Setting that up will take a lot of time..."

"Is this okay?"

Lin Li expressed doubt that he could generate a morale boost simply by sitting in his office.

"Yes, the top half of the glass in this office is transparent."

After Yao Meng finished speaking, he pointed to the glass wall of the office.

"As long as the employees know that the big boss has come in person, everything will be fine. Of course, if you have time later, Mr. Lin, you can go out for a stroll; that would be even more effective."

"It's fine if we don't go through formalities. Let's talk about it over dinner tonight. Let's get down to business first. Here's what you'd like to do: call Yosuke Shiokawa over. I want to have a chat with him."

"Okay, I'll translate for you."

Sitting in the office.

Lin Li was still a little unaccustomed to it.

This doesn't feel like my own company; it feels more like someone else's.

~~~

However, this awkwardness did not last long.

A man wearing black-rimmed glasses followed Yao Meng in.

"Hello, Mr. Lin!"

A standard bow.

Lin Li waved his hand, gesturing for him to sit down.

"Yosuke Shiokawa, right?"

"I didn't call you here today for any other reason than to ask you one question: Can you make empty promises?"

Lin Li was straightforward, and Yao Meng translated it truthfully.

Then Yosuke Shiokawa was completely confused...

Looking at Yosuke Shiokawa's blank expression.

Lin Li also realized that his expression needed to be clearer.

"Well, to put it simply, I need to create a very interesting and impressive demo, then build a cool-looking world and game framework around that demo, and make the game look fun through a promotional video..."

The so-called "drawing a cake" (or "drawing a picture of a cake").

In fact, it is a basic skill for many entrepreneurs.

As soon as Lin Li explained, Yosuke Shiokawa understood.

Then his eyes became even more confused.

Clearly, he didn't understand why Lin Li was saying this.

"Here's the thing, our company has a key engine that needs investment..."

Lin Li's expression was extremely sincere.

But none of what they said was true.

His only purpose in making empty promises was to put pressure on DEWorks.

For Lin Li, relying solely on the frontline girls is not enough to put pressure on DEWorks.

It's not that Battlefront Girls is of poor quality, but rather that there isn't enough overlap between Battlefront Girls and FATE/GO players.

Don't be fooled by the heated debates on Japanese social media right now.

But in reality, even this current FATE/GO version, which is as bad as garbage, is still managed by Akihito Shoji himself.

Based on the FATE IP alone, FATE/GO will definitely survive for another year.

But Lin Li clearly couldn't wait that long.

After all, this time span is too long, and problems can easily arise in the middle.

Therefore, at the very beginning, Lin Li really intended to release a game of the same type or similar gameplay as soon as possible to squeeze the current FATE/GO market.

Extending this idea, Lin Li came up with two solutions.

Option 1 is to start from the big picture. Most of the core players of FATE/GO are actually players who have followed the original FATE series all along.

These players are most likely fans of the other two of the three major fan fiction groups.

For example, Touhou Gensokyo.

If we can acquire the copyright to Touhou Gensokyo, we can develop a mobile game based on it.

It probably won't be too difficult for games like Monster Strike, White Cat Project, or Pokémon.

But it will definitely squeeze FATE/GO's living space.

After all, they were one of the top three fan fiction authors at the time.

At the exhibition, there was a significant overlap between players who liked Fate and those who liked Gensokyo.

Of course, if Lin Li really manages to get his hands on Touhou Gensokyo, that nuclear bomb, it won't just squeeze FATE/GO, but the survival space of almost all anime-style mobile games.