Chapter 1 We Make Games


Translated: Sei, MTL-sensei-tachi
Edited: Sei, Grammarly no Danna

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Part 2

    The story goes back to three days ago.

    When I found out that Tsurayuki was having trouble with his school expenses, I immediately made an appointment to meet with someone. By chance, she replied that she was free the next day,

    "I didn't expect you to contact me. It's a rare thing."

    I met Keiko-san at Spade, a coffee shop on campus.

    "I'm sorry for calling you. To be frank, I want to make a game and I need your cooperation."

    Suddenly, Keiko-san smiled.

    "Oh! So you're going to join our staff? Yeah, I'll introduce you to our members..."

    "...You’re wrong. The staff is just us, and we'd like to ask Keiko-san to cooperate with us."

    Keiko-san's smile returned to a straight face.

    "What do you mean again?"

    "To be frank, we want money. Money that we could make on our own."

    The smirk turns into a grin.
   
    "What happened, did you fall for some strange woman? The guy who introduced himself as your father was obviously not from our side, or you were suddenly locked up in a suspicious basement store on your first date, or……"

    As if to interject into Keiko-san's strangely happy words.

    "Tsurayuki’s tuition fee "

    I told her straight away the original reason.

    "...That's something that cannot be joked about."

    Keiko-san's expression became serious again.

    "I heard that the deadline for payment of school fees is the end of April or the beginning of May at the latest. By then, we will need about 1 million yen. Currently, Tsurayuki has about 200,000."

    The other conditions were that Tsurayuki was not looking for any kind of support and that he wanted to use his power to make money.

    "800,000 left. Even if we all gave a little of what we earned to Tsurayuki-kun, the total would be 3 million yen. In terms of sales, that means we'd need about 4.5 million."

    When it comes to sharing with everyone, that would be the case.

    I remembered the hellish situation I was in ten years later. We had five employees, but the money coming in was just barely one million yen. Yet, the debt was over 20 million yen. It is very difficult to make money. At that time, I realized this in my bones.

    "As you know, it's hard to make money. It's even more difficult to do it with only amateurs in a doujin game. Didn't you think of another way?"

    Naturally, I knew it would be asked.

    Even though I was invited by Keiko-san, I was only an amateur at best in the field of game production.

    And now I am suddenly going to make a new game and sell it to make money. If I were in Keiko-san's position, I'd be so reckless that I'd just shut up and let her read a summary article on doujin game cruelty stories.

    ……But this time I know it and I have a reason to do it.

    "I'll...... explain the situation"

    We talked about Tsurayuki's family situation and the situation he was facing.

    I explained how he had earned his tuition money and that he was now on the verge of collapse, and that he would probably not accept any donations because of his personality...

    Above all, it was important for him to earn money from his own work. It would give him confidence and help him convince his parents.

    "I see. Well, he seems to have high pride, and although it's quite reckless, I think it's understandable."
   
    For the time being, she got an understanding of this unreasonable premise.

    "So, do you have any ideas for clearing this strict condition?"

    I knew that this was also something that would be asked.

    Hallucigenia Soft which Keiko-san belongs is a popular circle. She told me that she has sold thousands of copies of her games. But that doesn't mean it smooth for all works.

    The production period is about 4 months, and the staff is full of newcomers except for the experienced director. To be honest, it is quite difficult to make a sales forecast with this.

    "I have a request for Keiko-san."

    "Hmm, what?"

    "Can you tell me what the Circle's sales have been so far?"

    It was a very rude and in-depth question.

    The sale of a circle is a black box, and it is not something that can be easily taught to others. This is because the numbers can cause trouble and unnecessary criticism.

    But Keiko-san is easily,

    "Okay, but please don't post it on the Internet."

    She chuckled and gave me an OK.

    "O-of course, thank you very much."

    Keiko-san opened the laptop she was carrying and launched spreadsheet software.

    "It's really confidential. A list of sales in our circle."

    The titles issued by Hallucigenia Soft and their sales are written in real numbers.
Realistic numbers were lined up for each of the sales venues and doujin stores.

    "Recently, the software released by our circle seems to be selling about 4000 to 5000 pieces."

    That's what I expected from a major circle. It must be difficult to keep up with such a large scale of sales every time, even if you combine distribution at venues and stores.

    "What percentage of sales do you get from the first distribution?"

    "It's about 80%. The rest will come out slowly and steadily in the long tail*."
(*is one of the methods or concepts of selling goods using the Internet, and it has a wide range of items even for products with few sales opportunities or increases the total number of target customers. This will increase the overall sales)

    The fan base seemed to be fixed.

    It's 2006 now. Around this time, doujin games were still in high spirits. The names of the creators and their circles had brand power.

    Think. How to make a game with only newcomers at this time, and how to sell it? What kind of choices do we have to make in order to put it together in a good way.

    "Can you listen to my plan?"

    I managed to put together a framework.

    "Go ahead. Say it."

    "The first thing we need to do is to hurry up and plan our new work in the next few days. We're going to finish the title and one image illustration put them together on paper, and hand them out at Winter Comic as information about the new work of Hallucigenia Soft. "

    I borrowed Keiko-san's laptop to check the next distribution plan.

    "Hallucigenia Soft will not be releasing a new title this time, but will be releasing a boxed set of their previous titles. In other words, if we announce a new work here, the level of expectation and attention will go through the roof."

    "But you're newbie, aren't you? How are you going to get the numbers?"

    "There is one more request. I'd like to get your approval. It's a new work by a young staff member of the Circle that has been approved by the main staff."

    "……I see"

    Keiko-san nodded.

    "So you'll have our creators write recommendations for your works and put them on the paper in large letters to reassure your customers."

    "Yes, that’s right"

    Of course, this is a dangerous move that can be a double-edged sword.

    If it's good, it'll go away, but if it's bad, it'll be a disgrace to the circle, and our reputation as creators will fall to the ground.

    However, in order to make an appeal in a short period of time, we had to be this adventurous.

    "Since this is an experimental work, the price will be 1,500 yen instead of the usual 2,000 yen. I think it's reasonable considering the scale of the project."

    "As for the distribution time, the first doujin event called Comic Zero will be held at the end of April. We have already participated in its predecessor event, so I don't think there will be any confusion."

    "We will launch the site at the same time as the winter comics. We will update the site once a week, and keep it up to date with fresh information. This is the key to success."

    Relying on my past experiences and memories, I thought about what I needed to do based on the situation 10 years ago and made a plan for production and sales promotion. It was a difficult task, but also a very enjoyable moment.

    "How…… about that?"

    Keiko-san, who heard the whole story, grinned and said,

    "You're that right? A cunning planner despite 18 or 19 years old, aren't you."

    I was a little nervous, but,

    "I used to have a senpai who knew a lot about this stuff, and then..."

    The tea was cloudy.

    "I have no complaints. That's fine. Of course, you'll have to prepare something of good quality so as not to embarrass the Circle."

    "……Yes, of course"

    "So, since you're thinking about it this far, you must be thinking about what kind of project you're going to make, right?"

     ……That's right. That's the most important thing of all.

     At this time, at this period, with this staff. Through the medium of doujin.

    If I made a mistake here, all the plans I had made so far would be ruined, so the planning was an important point.

    "The project this time is--"

    After a moment, I started talking about what I was thinking.

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