The fantasies of the carnival

Takayuki's office was large enough that even with five or six hundred people gathering for a meeting, it posed no problem, after all, the entire floor belonged to him alone.

All the senior and mid-level executives in the company had gathered here.

Before coming, they already knew what Takayuki was going to announce, but they still looked forward with anticipation.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sure you all understand what this year means for our company, right?"

Sayuri immediately responded without hesitation, "Of course, it's the company's tenth anniversary. Just think, I've spent ten years here, it really feels like I've dedicated my entire youth to this place."

Others nodded in agreement, many showing nostalgic expressions.

Many of them had been with the company for at least five years, and each one had developed a deep attachment to the company, just like a real family.

This was also thanks to the gentle management style Takayuki had always practiced, of course, this was also based on the premise of the company's very good performance, which was the result of their hard work.

The company's rapid growth was also a reward for them, whether in terms of money, status, or spiritual fulfillment.

Takayuki nodded with a smile, "That's right. I started arranging for the tenth-anniversary celebration at the end of last year, and today is the moment I've made the decision. I'll outline the general process of the celebration, but the details will be up to you."

"Details?"

Some people looked slightly puzzled.

This was something they hadn't expected.

What details needed to be decided by them?

Wasn't it just about screening a film, inviting some well-known musicians, actors, etc., to perform, and then announcing the end of the program in a grand manner?

What other elaborate arrangements could there be?

Seeing the puzzled looks of the others, Takayuki knew they clearly hadn't thought that far ahead.

It was a good opportunity for him to give them a lesson and tell them how to truly celebrate.

Takayuki said to the crowd, "The celebration I want to hold isn't just a formal one. I prefer to call it a 'carnival,' a carnival event for all players."

"A carnival?"

That was easy to understand.

Some countries' national celebrations took the form of carnivals, with countless people participating, creating a lively atmosphere.

But how do you organize a carnival about electronic games?

No one knew.

The previous Blizzard carnivals in another world had accumulated experience through successive events, reaching their peak in 2016 and 2017.

Those were really good years.

"In simple terms, it could be equivalent to a super-large exhibition dedicated to our company. This time, we won't just have one booth in the exhibition. This time, I'm preparing two booths."

At this point, Takayuki took out a map from the side.

The address where the carnival was to be held had already been marked on the map.

It was a very large sports stadium in Tokyo, which had once hosted world-class events.

There seemed to be plans for renovation in the future, and preparations were being made for possible future Olympic Games.

"This stadium will be our main venue. I plan to hold an e-sports event here. This event will belong to our official organization. If possible, I even hope to use countries as divisions instead of using club names. I would like to call it the Electronic Game World Cup."

The Electronic Game World Cup?!

Everyone widened their eyes.

They had never dared to think about this before.

The World Cup.

This was a quite long-established event.

It was one of the most famous competitions in football.

Its prestige was almost comparable to that of the Olympic Games.

At this point, Takayuki intended to elevate e-sports competitions to the same level of recognition as traditional sporting events.

This was truly a very radical move.

But the developers who had initially participated in the development of classic e-sports games such as Street Fighter and StarCraft were very excited.

These were games they had developed themselves, and the fact that games they developed could potentially become world-class competitive events in the future was there anything more prideful than this?

"I am willing to hold this event at the highest level. And I have some new ideas about e-sports that I would like to discuss in detail in our upcoming meetings. Furthermore, besides the main venue for e-sports events, there is also this place. I intend to use it as the venue for the carnival facing the players."

At this point, Takayuki picked up a pen and drew a circle on a vacant lot near the sports stadium.

"I plan to negotiate with the government to temporarily use this piece of land and then hold a carnival. I can handle the negotiations with the government, but as for the content of the carnival, it will be up to you to decide."

"Up to us? What specifically should we do?" someone asked.

"Of course, it will be your expertise, all your plans regarding future game development, and you can also hold some interview programs during the carnival, discussing your ideas about game development with players up close, and discussing your views on each game character. These are all very interesting things."

Takayuki began to describe in detail everything about the carnival.

These details were enough to make them envision it immediately.

They would sit on the stage, then have discussions about their ideals about electronic games and some directions for future game production.

"But Mr. President, didn't you say before that if a game development hadn't reached a certain level, it's best not to announce it?"

Regarding this question, Takayuki answered straightforwardly, "Didn't I also say that it's best not to announce it? But it's not an absolute prohibition. In the past, our game development cycles were relatively short, so it was more reasonable to finish the game before promoting it, but now, as the game development cycle extends, gradually promoting it is one of the most effective ways to stimulate player interest."

In fact, this could also be called drawing a big pie for players.

But as long as the rhythm was controlled properly, this big pie would be extremely sweet.

In the future, a AAA game would often take three to five years or even seven to eight years to develop. If there were no rumors or leaks from start to finish, it would affect the promotional effect of the game.

In Takayuki's view, the promotion of 2077 was actually very appropriate initially. Unfortunately, the game did not ultimately fulfill their promised content, leading to a collapse in reputation, which was a very great regret.

But part of the reason was that the developers of 2077 had to be accountable to shareholders. If they continued to delay the game until it was completely finished before releasing it, those shareholders would probably go berserk. This was the result of being controlled by capital.

But Takayuki didn't have to be accountable to anyone, so he didn't have to set a game for release between certain points, when it reached a satisfactory level, release it. Wasn't that great?