Video Game Tycoon in Tokyo-Chapter 977: What’s There to Be Afraid Of?

Facebook's Bob—there's really no need to say much about him.

Facebook's rise had always been closely tied to Gamestar Electronic Entertainment.

Takayuki's various suggestions and insights had played a critical role in helping Facebook flourish into what it was today.

Facebook Live, Facebook smartphones, Facebook's video platform...

Several of these departments were now key revenue generators for the company.

At this point, Facebook needed no outside investment—it had already become a tech giant in its own right.

And yet, even such a giant remained incredibly humble in front of Takayuki.

If it weren't for all the people around, Bob wouldn't have minded bowing even lower.

To him, Takayuki was almost like a second father—a figure he owed his success to. There was no such thing as over-the-top admiration.

...

...

There were also many other company executives from both inside and outside the gaming industry at the event.

Each of them had found new paths of business development through the video game world.

Some were toy company owners who had earned huge profits through IP licensing from Gamestar Electronic Entertainment. They had willingly become loyal partners, now solely producing merchandise and spin-off products based on Gamestar's IPs, abandoning all unrelated product lines.

Others were from the film industry... oh, and there was one rather unique person among them.

"Hey! Takayuki, my old friend—we haven't seen each other in, what, four or five years? There's no way I'd miss the opening of your theme park!"

A tall, heavily bearded Western man—his facial hair so thick it practically covered the bottom half of his face, looking just like Santa Claus—greeted Takayuki with great enthusiasm.

This was Tukarev.

A film company owner.

Well, now it was more accurate to say he ran a full-fledged film group.

His studio had firmly established itself in the U.S. film industry and had secured a meaningful voice in the American movie market. Barring some kind of national catastrophe, his foundation wouldn't be easily shaken.

Tukarev was also someone deeply tied to Takayuki.

Thanks to collaborations with Gamestar Electronic Entertainment on various IP integrations, his studio had become a fan favorite among gamers.

Gamestar had adapted more of Tukarev's films into games than anyone else.

In the realm of IP adaptation, Gamestar had its own unique approach—painstakingly recreating everything from the films, then layering it with familiar open-world gameplay.

For movie buffs, just exploring a massive, near-identical world based on a film was already worth the price of admission. They didn't even care if the gameplay was that innovative—though, of course, it helped if it was fun too.

These games typically cost $30–40 million to develop, but regularly earned double or triple that amount in profit. Some, like the adaptations of Tukarev's Starsea Infinite sci-fi films, had achieved 5–6x return on investment.

To Tukarev, Takayuki was nothing short of a bringer of fortune.

With Takayuki, his various business ventures were secure and thriving.

A person like that? Tukarev would proudly call him a lifelong friend.

Not to mention, they had once shared something even deeper—a bond forged in near life-or-death circumstances.

Takayuki had once pulled him out of a desperate situation. Tukarev had never forgotten that.

"Still the same as always, Tukarev. One of these days, I might turn your look into a game character—it would definitely leave an impact," Takayuki said with a slight grin.

Given his build, no one would ever guess Tukarev was the head of a major film group.

He looked more like a powerlifter or a full-time gym rat.

That hulking figure, the thick beard... shave his head, and he'd basically be a real-life version of Kratos from God of War.

Huh?

God of War...

Wait a second.

He really had forgotten about that game.

Well—maybe not forgotten, but in this world, the names and details of mythological figures were slightly different from the original world. That's why Takayuki hadn't rushed into adapting any myth-based or historical games. Every project was approached with extreme caution.

Still, God of War was a truly excellent game—arguably the pinnacle of Western action titles.

In Japan, there was Capcom—the king of action games. In the West, it was Santa Monica Studio.

"You want to put me in a game? I'd love to cameo as a character," Tukarev said, laughing heartily—until he noticed Takayuki had gone quiet, seemingly deep in thought.

"...You're not seriously considering it, are you?" he asked.

"Hm? Oh—I actually am," Takayuki replied with a faint, unreadable smile.

"You really are? You already have an idea?"

"Yeah. A game based on myth and legend. And your image—I think it would make a perfect protagonist."

"Really?" Tukarev raised his eyebrows, clearly intrigued.

A myth-based game, where his appearance would be the lead? He hadn't expected that.

Who would've thought he'd inspire Takayuki so strongly?

Had he known, he would've visited sooner. Maybe by now, he'd already be seeing his game character come to life.

"What kind of character would it be? Can you tell me now, or is it still just a rough concept?"

"The concept's already fairly developed," Takayuki said.

"Tell me about it." Tukarev leaned in, genuinely interested.

As expected of a true genius in the gaming world—barely any time had passed, and he'd already built out a new protagonist and game framework.

That kind of ability was almost inhuman.

"I'm thinking of a god-slayer. A character who tears through mythology, slaying the gods one by one."

"Uh..."

Tukarev was stunned for a moment.

That sounded... intense.

"Takayuki, don't you think that's a little extreme? Won't people criticize it?"

Takayuki tilted his head slightly. "Afraid of what? You think those people can tear us apart?"

"Well, no... I'm just worried it might affect your company's image. Turning mythologies into games is one thing, but making a story where the player kills all the gods? That doesn't sound very kid-friendly. Can a game like that even sell?"

"It will sell. Trust me. And speaking of mythology—don't you think Western myths are already plenty violent and chaotic? Half the gods are each other's cousins or lovers, and it's all so messed up you could make the entire thing an adults-only title."

"You're not wrong... Western mythologies really are a disaster. Nothing in them is remotely clean."

"Exactly. So going wild with a god-slaying storyline doesn't feel inappropriate at all. And don't worry about the critics—if I cared what people said, I wouldn't be here today. I've thrived under pressure my whole career."