Video Game Tycoon in Tokyo-Chapter 733: Population is a Necessity

The current handheld gaming market could only be described as utterly dismal.

Once upon a time, Gamestar Electronic Entertainment had controlled the largest market share. Their GSL handhelds had sold over 100 million units — a dominant No.1.

But that milestone had already been reached more than two years ago. Since then, handheld sales had plummeted — a full-on cliff dive.

Surie Electronics had tried to take advantage of Gamestar's strategic pivot toward home consoles, hoping to seize some of the handheld market while Gamestar was focused elsewhere.

Unfortunately, Takayuki hadn't even needed to directly compete with Surie. Out of nowhere, the sudden rise of smartphones had bombarded the entire handheld market into ruins.

Surie eventually had no choice but to retreat back to home consoles, slowly abandoning handhelds altogether.

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As for the other handheld makers? They were even smaller — barely making ripples. If the two industry giants couldn't fight off smartphones, there was no way these minnows could survive either.

...

...

Now, the handheld console market had no future to speak of.

Economists were already predicting that handheld gaming devices would eventually be completely replaced by smartphones — that they'd vanish entirely.

But Takayuki completely ignored such talk. Having lived through this era once before, he trusted his own experience more than any economist's forecast.

That was one of the "cheat codes" he brought with him to this parallel world.

Handhelds would survive. The dominance of smartphones was just another kind of temporary explosion.

Smartphones, too, would eventually hit their ceiling.

In Takayuki's original plan, he was going to lie low — keep strengthening his grip on the home console market, stabilize Gamestar's foundation, and then wait until smartphones plateaued. At that point, he'd unleash his trump card: a flood of top-tier handheld games that would storm the market.

But now? Takayuki wasn't going to wait anymore.

He'd come to this world. He had grown to this point. What reason did he have to hold back?

None.

There was no reason to retreat. No need to avoid confrontation.

He was going to go head-on.

His staff had been itching for a full-scale battle anyway. Now that the handheld market was in such shambles, it was the perfect time to show the world what they were capable of — what the ninth art, video games, were truly made of.

Art wasn't so easily defeated by a passing wave of consumer electronics.

Just like film, fine art, or music — true creative mediums endured.

With that conviction, Takayuki thought of his first major move: accelerating the industrialization of video game development.

It was finally time to bring out the gold standard of the next decade in gaming — open-world games.

This was no longer just about technology. It would be a head-to-head battle between video games and Myron Case — that man who scoffed at the entire industry.

Takayuki picked up the phone and dialed Bob's number across the Pacific.

Even though it was the middle of the night in America, Bob would always answer immediately and respectfully whenever he saw who was calling.

"Mr. Takayuki, you're a god among men!"

Bob couldn't help but gush the moment he picked up.

Takayuki had advised him well in advance to begin developing a smartphone operating system — and to prepare for the coming smartphone era.

After over a year of development behind closed doors, Bob's team — a powerhouse in its own right — had finally created a highly refined, universal OS. It just hadn't been publicly announced yet.

As for the hardware itself, smartphones were actually easier to make than the OS. Initially, Bob hadn't even planned on making their own chipsets — they were using existing processors to save time and cost. Chip development would come later, after scaling up.

His strategy? Practically flawless.

Takayuki, unfazed by Bob's flattery, simply asked, "How's the OS and hardware coming along?"

"Almost done! I'm already planning the launch event. As long as you're still willing to release your games on our system — just like you promised — I'll immediately hold a launch that'll make Myron Case's events look tiny in comparison!"

In terms of public influence and network reach, post-bubble Facebook still outclassed McFo in every way.

If they wanted, they could even get the president to help promote it.

McFo might've been a first-tier company, but it wasn't a top-tier enterprise. Not yet.

Bob was confident. His authority inside Facebook had skyrocketed.

Previously, the shareholders were conservative — unwilling to let Bob pour billions into a market they thought wouldn't catch on. They preferred sticking to tried-and-true platforms.

Now? They looked at Bob like he was some kind of prophet.

He'd seen the future. Predicted it. Nailed it. Again.

They weren't going to interfere with him anymore. The man was a business savant.

But Bob knew the real genius behind the curtain: Takayuki, the hidden major shareholder.

All of Bob's "insights" had come from him. Without Takayuki, Facebook wouldn't be where it was today.

Takayuki said, "Get ready for the launch. Myron Case is getting arrogant — time to give him a splash of cold water."

"Got it! I'll get started right away!"

Even though it was still night, Bob instantly threw on clothes and left the house. It was time to plan the biggest product reveal of his life.

Back in Japan, Takayuki summoned his ever-reliable assistant.

He asked, "Who's been in charge of the game development lectures lately?"

The assistant checked. "That would be Uchiyama Ei from Dev Group Nine. He's been using the Resident Evil series to teach students how to make a brutal and scary survival horror game."

Takayuki raised an eyebrow. Was Uchiyama turning into a masochist? Or maybe he'd always been one?

"Pause the current curriculum," Takayuki said. "I'm going to teach personally this time. One full week. And I want our partner universities to sync up too — I'll deliver the same course across all of them."

The assistant blinked in surprise. "But sir, you're already so busy..."

"Teaching comes first now," Takayuki replied. "I need more people to understand what game industrialization really means — and join us. I can't do this alone. This is going to be a brutal war, and in war, manpower is everything."