Not long after returning to Japan, Aoki Haruhi received a call from across the Atlantic.
After David Brevik and the Skaff brothers returned, they initiated a vote.
Ultimately, they decided to accept Pokeni's acquisition offer with a unanimous vote.
Aoki Haruhi hired professionals to appraise the current value of Condor.
After some negotiation, Condor was finally acquired by Pokeni for 1 million US dollars, becoming the Pokeni's first base in pokeni America.
In the 1990s, although pokeni America had strict restrictions on Japan's semiconductor-related industries, the game industry was relatively lenient; otherwise, Nintendo and Sega would not have been able to establish branches in pokeni America.
Therefore, the entire process was not particularly complicated. As long as the relevant documents were submitted to the relevant departments for review, and both parties signed the agreement and then reviewed it again, the acquisition was more or less complete.
After the acquisition, Condor Company was officially renamed "pokeni America."
...
The outside world did not pay much attention to Pokeni's acquisition of Condor Company.
Only a small magazine in Japan mentioned it briefly—
"Pokeni acquires a pokeni America company called Condor for 5 million US dollars.
According to relevant investigations, this Condor Company had no previous game works..."
A very small handful of game players saw this news and were quite surprised.
Furukawa Hirozawa and his companions were among them.
"Pokeni actually acquired a pokeni America company? What's the reason for this? I don't see this company having any works."
"It should be for convenience."
Mu Shang, who was next to him, explained, "If the Pokeni were to set up its own company in pokeni America, it would have to rehire people and go through a lot of registration procedures. By directly buying a team to take over, they can establish a foothold in pokeni America right away.
From this perspective, Aoki Haruhi's ambition is quite grand."
"But if the company's team itself isn't very good, wouldn't buying it bring more trouble?"
Hayamikawa, who was next to him, held a different opinion, "What if something goes wrong over there, and they're not people Aoki Haruhi personally trained? Coordination and communication between the two sides could lead to disagreements and conflicts, wouldn't that be even more troublesome?"
"Hmm... it seems that's right."
"In that case, it can only depend on Aoki Haruhi's judgment."
"What kind of judgment can Aoki Haruhi have? This team doesn't even have a decent work. No matter how good your judgment, you can't tell anything.
The people in this team also have no prior experience in successfully developing game.
Can you judge a team to be excellent just by what others say?
If that's the case, I feel like I could also be a CEO at Pokeni or something."
"Uh... is there a possibility that Aoki Haruhi has just been living by luck until now?
After encountering Furuhara Tsubaki, he completely handed over the company to Furuhara Tsubaki to manage, which is why he is where he is today.
But when he acts on his own subjective judgment, he's very likely to do something like buying an incomprehensible company?"
"Hahaha... what you said might actually be true."
Regarding the Pokeni's acquisition of the company, it was mainly because Condor had no reputation. If they had acquired an Europe and America giant like Westwood or EA, the topic would have undoubtedly exploded.
Industry insiders who saw this news would at most think that Aoki Haruhi had too much money and was bored, with nowhere to spend it, so he wanted to buy a company to play around with.
Of course, there were also some small fanboys, for example, Hiruta Masato, the president of Elf Society, who would think that the Pokeni must be playing a big game.
It doesn't matter who this pokeni America company is, nor does it matter if the team is powerful. What's important is that from now on, the Pokeni will have a foothold in pokeni America, and then use this as a fulcrum to radiate throughout Europe and America, and in the future, the Pokeni might flourish in two directions.
In fact, Pokeni is currently flourishing in two directions. One part of the game audience is mainly in Japan, focusing on galgame or Japanese-style RPGs. Although patema inverted has a high degree of innovation and is popular among players in Europe and America, the art style is still relatively Japanese.
The other part is Europe and America style, mainly Diablo.
As for whether the subsequent works of The Witcher will develop along this path, it's hard to say.
However, the Pokeni's acquisition was only discussed by a small group for two days when it first appeared.
It didn't even make a ripple and was quickly forgotten by players.
...
"President, look, people don't care about our acquisition of Condor at all."
The next morning, HR-chan placed a coffee cup in front of Aoki Haruhi.
And didn't forget to mock him.
Aoki Haruhi looked unfazed, even so happy he wanted to laugh, laughing so much that Ayase Akane felt her scalp tingle, only wondering if the President's mind was alright?
Was he traumatized after being robbed in pokeni America?
What was that illness called?
Oh right, PTSD.
"This is perfect," Aoki Haruhi smiled faintly, picking up the coffee to sip it slowly.
It must be said that HR-chan's coffee brewing skills were becoming more and more refined.
If she wasn't an HR, she could totally open a coffee shop.
Thinking of this, Aoki Haruhi was even preparing to get a new set of coffee tools and have Ayase Akane learn how to do latte art.
"Oh, right, where were we talking?"
Aoki Haruhi looked up slightly surprised, "Oh right, the acquisition."
"It's actually good that no one cares. High popularity is bad," Aoki Haruhi said with a smile, "In ancient times, warfare emphasized 'crossing the old ford in the dark.' The more they look down on us, the more they don't understand what we're doing, and the less they care about what we're doing, the more time we can gain to lay the groundwork for our future strategies."
Tsk tsk.
Ayase Akane wrinkled her small nose.
President, you can brag all day long.
And this is a strategic groundwork? If you had some amazing plan, you would have already announced it to the world, wishing everyone knew about it.
"Besides, we're not Sony, developing game consoles and avoiding their sharp edges to prevent being targeted. What's there to hide about making game?"
Aoki Haruhi frowned deeply upon hearing this.
Shallow, so shallow.
If you weren't an HR but operations, I would have fired you already, okay?
"By the way, President, does pokeni America need an HR?" Ayase Akane asked casually.
Aoki Haruhi couldn't help but look at her with some surprise.
"What? You want to go?"
"Hmm... I haven't experienced pokeni America. If there's a need, I'll follow the President's arrangements," Ayase Akane said playfully.
This guy, what she's thinking is completely written on her face, isn't it?!
Do you really want to leave here so badly?
"No need, I'll recruit a new HR there then," Aoki Haruhi said.
Uh...
HR-chan clutched her chest, almost spitting out a mouthful of old blood.
...
Players were more concerned about the Pokeni's upcoming new game, "LIFE-LINE."
On November 8th, Pokeni's new game, "LIFE-LINE," was officially released.
This time, as a long-time fan of Pokeni, Furukawa Hirozawa didn't hesitate at all and had been queuing at the store's entrance early.
Yes, today they actually had to queue.
It was both unexpected and reasonable.
When the previous game was released, the store entrance was dead quiet, but this time it was exceptionally popular.
Mainly because CL's PV made players lose confidence, but then the word-of-mouth exploded, and the mid-game reversal made the game popular again.
After the previous CL incident, no one dared to underestimate CL's PV anymore.
It's as if they made the promotional video or even the poster look like a pile of shit, and everyone has to first wonder if it's really a pile of shit or if it's a pile of shit on the outside but actually very delicious chocolate?
To achieve this level, it can be said that it once again proved the strength of Furuhara Tsubaki and the talent of Hayao Miyazaki.
It can be said to be quite remarkable.
What's more, this time LL's PV was not a pile of shit.
The PV content alone could evoke countless players' memories of CL.
It was precisely because CL was so excellent, bringing countless players to tears, and once again becoming Furuhara Tsubaki's masterpiece, that this new twin game LL was so highly anticipated by players.
Furukawa Hirozawa came for this reason.
Of course, more importantly, CL gave him confidence. Furuhara Tsubaki + Hayao Miyazaki was simply a royal flush.
It was indeed his own ignorance to have misunderstood their work back then and said that CL might be an upset.
Furukawa Hirozawa later bought three more copies of CL's game discs as atonement and also gave many positive reviews on Pokeni's official forum.
Now, any player who has experienced CL is full of extremely high expectations for LL.
The players in line had very mixed feelings.
"To buy or not to buy, that is the question," one of the boys in line said.
"You're already queuing here, why are you still agonizing over this? No matter what your mind thinks, hasn't your body already made a decision?" a girl said loudly.
Furukawa Hirozawa looked over and didn't expect there to be a girl in the queue.
She was thin and small, but her voice was loud, forming a clear contrast with her physique.
"You boys are not as decisive as girls," someone behind them chuckled.
"You don't understand," the boy said with a wry smile, "It's mainly because Furuhara Tsubaki's game works have too powerful an impact on the heart. I don't know if LL will be like CL."
Although the latter part of the sentence wasn't directly stated, everyone's expressions dimmed simultaneously.
Pain, too much pain.
Just thinking of Nagisa, thinking of Ushio, made their chests ache so much they couldn't breathe.
Everyone here had been through it; who hadn't shed tears like a tough guy?
So no one should laugh at anyone else.
Who among those standing in line today would dare to say that they didn't cry while playing CL?
Probably not a single one could be found.
Everyone knew it well; thinking about it, weren't they themselves like this? Wanting to get LL, yet not daring to get it.
"It's only because Old Thief Furuhara isn't human; his knife-wielding skill has become more and more refined."
"That's for sure. The happier you are in the beginning, the more miserably you cry later."
"This time with CL, to achieve the hidden ending, I actually had to watch Nagisa die three times in a row. Can you guys understand that feeling?"
"Don't, don't say it. I don't want to remember..."
"Fortunately, the old thief had a final bit of compassion, so he left us a happy hidden ending. Otherwise..."
"Otherwise, I'd probably be at Pokeni headquarters by now."
"Hahaha..."
A burst of laughter erupted around them.
Furukawa Hirozawa also laughed along.
But after the laughter, everyone fell into a deathly silence again, their expressions even more somber.
"Hey, hey, do you think LL will be the same type?"
"The same type, in what sense?" a big brother asked, puzzled.
"It won't be as painful, will it?"
Everyone was startled simultaneously, revealing meaningful and elusive expressions.
"Honestly, I'm now afraid it will be painful, and also afraid it won't be painful enough. In short, my feelings are very conflicted."
"But if we don't get it, we might regret it and feel even worse, right?"
"Exactly. Pokeni's game, especially Furuhara Tsubaki's game, would be too regrettable to miss. But if we don't miss it, it feels quite regrettable too."
"From now on, a sad memory will inexplicably be added to life, something you dare not recall, and once recalled, becomes unbearable."
"This is probably the charm of Old Thief Furuhara."
"And didn't the official statement clearly say that although LL's entire story setting, background, and characters have no relation to CL and it's a completely independent game, it's considered a mirror and supplement to CL?"
"If the official says so, how can we not buy it?"
After some discussion, everyone's resolve to purchase finally solidified.
Furukawa Hirozawa stood in line, only hoping to experience the LL game sooner.
...
There were many people in line, and once someone opened the floodgates of conversation, they couldn't stop.
Moreover, everyone was a fellow enthusiast, meeting here today with the same goal.
After chatting for a while, one of the boys asked:
"By the way, why are girls also buying LL? Isn't this a harem-oriented bishojo capture game?"
"Who said that? The official didn't give a definite answer," the girl was clearly displeased, feeling that these guys were discriminating against her. "Many of Pokeni's galgames are single-female romance now.
Even if it is a bishojo capture as you say.
But in each timeline, isn't there only one female protagonist who accompanies the male protagonist forever?
Oh no, to be precise, it should be achieving a romantic relationship, but whether they can accompany each other forever is a question mark."
"Ah, this..."
Simply a divine understanding.
Every route is pure love. Everyone nodded, indicating, "I finally get it."
"However, many of the game the Pokeni made before were actually single female protagonist ones, like Mermaid Heart, reverse degree person, Quilt Man, patema inverted..."
"Yes, strictly speaking, CL is also a single female protagonist to some extent. Old Thief Furuhara clearly favors Nagisa, so the entire subsequent chapter revolves around the future life with Nagisa."
"You can tell from the names, Nagisa and Ushio. Without Nagisa, there would be no Ushio."
"Hmm, that's really true."
"It's just that I don't know who the female protagonist of this LIFE-LINE will be, or how many female protagonists there will be."
"Of course, the more the better," the girl at the front of the line said with a smile.
Everyone couldn't help but be stunned.
Good heavens, are you really a woman?
Why do you seem more eager than us?