Video Game Tycoon in Tokyo-Chapter 984: A Positive Cycle

On Day One, Gamestar Park remained open until midnight.

With a final burst of farewell fireworks lighting up the sky, the grand opening day of Gamestar Park officially came to a close.

Starting from the second day, the park would begin normal operations, fully open to the public. The daily maximum visitor capacity was set at 100,000 guests—any more, and the overall experience would be compromised.

This also meant that expansion efforts would need to begin soon to accommodate future growth.

"Total revenue from opening day was 1.3 billion yen—around 13 million US dollars."

"President, that's a fantastic first-day result!"

The management team beamed as they delivered the earnings report.

The executive director in charge of park operations was especially thrilled.

He had previously worked as the operations head at another theme park. But after an economic downturn severely affected business, he had become the scapegoat and was the first among management to be laid off.

...

...

If even the managers were let go, the fate of regular staff didn't need to be said.

That was when Gamestar Electronic Entertainment stepped in and took them all in.

These employees hadn't failed due to incompetence, but because during an economic downturn, people stopped going out to play. Most preferred to save money—unless something truly compelling came along to draw them out.

And the world's first theme park dedicated to video games? That was more than compelling.

Add in promotional backing from the Prime Minister of Japan, and the buzz created during the Rio Olympics, and Gamestar Park quickly became the hottest destination.

On Facebook, ever since the park's opening date had been announced, related search terms consistently stayed in the top three.

At the same time, international flights to Japan saw a more than 50% increase in average passenger volume.

With the scale of Gamestar Park, it was more than enough to absorb the laid-off theme park workforce—and help Japan's government avoid a spike in unemployment criticism. That's why many of Gamestar's applications received the green light without question.

Takayuki merely gave the revenue report a glance and didn't dwell on it.

He wasn't worried about money.

In his original world, the top theme parks were all highly profitable.

Their success came largely from leveraging strong IPs.

Universal Studios had Transformers, Harry Potter, DC Comics...

Disney had Mickey Mouse, Disney Princesses, fairy tales, Marvel, and more.

Thanks to those IPs, those parks could break even simply by attracting loyal fans.

As for Takayuki, in this world, he owned more top-tier IPs than any other company.

Super Mario, Final Fantasy, Pokémon, Street Fighter, Uncharted...

These were once split among various legendary studios—but now, in this world, they were all under one roof: Gamestar Electronic Entertainment.

Even if the company stopped making new games entirely, it could survive for decades just by licensing out these IPs and selling related merchandise.

Takayuki had even thought about adapting epic literary IPs like The Lord of the Rings into this world.

But his energy was limited, and he'd only read those books once or twice—not nearly as thoroughly as he'd played and replayed the games he knew so well.

For the first week, Gamestar Park saw peak average attendance—100,000 guests per day.

According to internal projections, if that momentum continued, the park could break even within just three to four years—a figure almost unheard of in the current global economy.

Even the Tokyo city government was a little envious.

When they first negotiated with Gamestar, they had agreed to waive all taxes for one year to support the park's construction and early operations.

At the time, their most optimistic revenue estimate had been $100 million annually, considering the economic downturn.

But they had clearly underestimated gamers' spending power.

These visitors were not only happy to spend—they seemed enchanted by the park. As if video games held a kind of magic.

Or maybe it was that Gamestar Electronic Entertainment knew exactly how to please gamers.

Their games were consistently the best. And this theme park—unlike any other—had been designed around what gamers actually dreamed of.

And when the experience matched their imaginations, they opened their wallets without hesitation.

Many guests thought, "Since I've come all this way, I might as well go all out. I'll just be frugal for the rest of the year."

So when the city saw Gamestar's reported revenue—and realized that all of that clean, hefty cash flow was tax-free for the entire year—their tax department was beyond envious.

But the city soon came to terms with it.

While they couldn't tax the park itself, the tourists it attracted didn't only spend money there.

They booked hotels. They ate at restaurants. They explored other parts of Tokyo.

All of that generated taxable income—and that meant the city still benefited.

Once they understood this, Tokyo's government doubled down on promoting the park, recognizing it as their biggest new opportunity to grow revenue.

And after a year, once the tax exemption expired, they would finally get a piece of the park's earnings.

With more revenue came more possibilities.

Meanwhile, Gamestar Electronic Entertainment had already formed a dedicated theme park management division.

They were now preparing for Phase Two and Phase Three of the park's development.

All current profits would be immediately reinvested into expanding the park.

Their goal? To complete all expansions in time to capitalize on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Takayuki had already outlined the Phase Two theme: Final Fantasy.

With total game sales comparable to Super Mario, and with titles like Final Fantasy VII and its successors each selling tens of millions of copies, it was a franchise with massive global appeal.

Phase Three and beyond?

Those would be decided by public vote, allowing gamers from around the world to cast ballots online to determine the next IP to be featured in future theme park expansions.