Warcraft's World
"Welcome! Of course you're welcome!" Mike took the drink and stammered to the others, "Allen! Frank! Stop pretending to be dead, come here! It's Mr. Nakayama!"
Alan Adhan emerged from a pile of waste paper, his eyes wide as saucers.
Frank Pierce frantically tidied up the trash on the table, trying to make room for the legendary figure.
After a warm greeting, Nakayama Takuya finally explained the purpose of his visit.
It wasn't an audit; he saw a PC game that Blizzard was developing.
He gestured for everyone to relax and helped themselves to their own Cokes.
The cool touch cooled the excitement of the tech geeks slightly, and the atmosphere became more relaxed.
Nakayama Takuya looked around, his gaze sweeping over the pixelated orcs and humans on the screen, as well as the mountains of pizza boxes and coffee cups.
"You guys have a bit of a homey vibe here," he joked with a smile.
Mike Morhaime scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed. "Please excuse my rudeness, Mr. Nakayama. Once we get involved, we don't care about anything else."
"This is what creative work should be like." Nakayama Takuya waved his hand, indicating that they didn't need to be so formal.
He cut straight to the point. "I'm here mainly to talk to you about something, especially the project you're currently working on." His gaze returned to the screen, which displayed a top-down view of a battlefield, with countless tiny units moving within it.
Nakayama Takuya's words immediately dispelled their apprehension.
"Sega invested in Blizzard because they value your talent and creativity, not because they want to turn you into assembly line workers," he said firmly. "While the PC gaming market and the console market overlap to some extent, their respective advantages and characteristics are quite different. Console games pursue the ultimate audio-visual experience and smooth operation, while PC games have a wider scope for development in terms of depth, strategy, and player interaction."
He paused, then continued, "Recent hardware development trends also indicate that the PC gaming market is a rapidly expanding sector. The unique operating logic of PCs, such as the precise control of the mouse and keyboard, and local multiplayer online battles, are currently difficult for game consoles to replace. As long as Blizzard continues to develop good games and make money, Sega has no reason to interfere. What we hope to see is that you can fully leverage your strengths and create more excellent works."
Nakayama Takuya's words brought a sigh of relief to everyone present.
They had assumed that Sega would, like other large companies, interfere with their development direction and even force them to port their PC projects to the console platform.
But now it seems that Sega's attitude is far more enlightened than they imagined.
"Of course, that doesn't mean there's absolutely no room for discussion between us." Nakayama Takuya changed the subject without making the atmosphere tense. "Regarding the cooperation method, we might be able to make some breakthroughs to benefit both sides. Otherwise, if one party is harmed to benefit the other, the cooperation cannot be pleasant or long-lasting. This doesn't align with Sega's investment goals, nor does it serve our shared interests."
Seeing that the group still wanted to continue chatting, Nakayama Takuya waved his hand, signaling the group surrounding him to disperse.
"Alright, stop standing around. Those who need to code, code; those who need to fix bugs, fix bugs. I'm not a supervisor, no need for formalities."
The crowd burst into laughter and dispersed, though the sound of keyboard typing was noticeably lighter than before.
Nakayama Takuya pulled up a fairly clean chair, sat in the corner, and opened the thick binder <Warcraft: Humans vs. Orcs> internal development plan.
Compared to the few-page business plan sent to Sega Headquarters, the one in their hands was clearly the culmination of this group's hard work.
The edges of the paper were slightly curled, and it was covered with notes, even including a few hand-drawn sketches stained with coffee.
He flipped through the pages slowly. Looking at the familiar unit names: Footman, Peon, and the original concepts about resource gathering and unit counters, Nakayama Takuya felt a sense of temporal dislocation.
This is not just the prototype of an RTS game; it is the dominant force that will reign supreme in PC internet cafes for the next twenty years, and the starting point of countless people's youth.
However, Azeroth is still very immature.
The setting bears a strong resemblance to Warhammer, with humans representing good and orcs representing evil—a simple and brutal binary opposition.
But that's enough for the current game.
Half an hour later, Nakayama Takuya and turned his gaze to a young man with a buzz cut who was gesturing to an artist not far away.
"Mike, and that guy over there drawing, Chris, right? Come over and let's talk."
Chris Mason paused for a moment, pointed to his nose, and only when Nakayama Takuya nodded did he awkwardly put down his pencil and follow Mike Morhaime over.
The three of them sat down at the conference table piled high with pizza boxes.
"I've finished reading this internal development document." Nakayama Takuya tapped lightly on the folder cover, getting straight to the point. "The gameplay logic is very solid. As long as the program doesn't malfunction, this game is sure to be a hit." Mike breathed a sigh of relief, and was about to say something smug when Nakayama Takuya changed the subject.
"But I don't think your ambitions are big enough." Chris Mason looked up, his eyes filled with confusion. "Ambition?"
"Yes, ambition." Nakayama Takuya opened the folder and pointed to a sketch depicting a human castle. "Are you making a game where red and blue characters fight each other, or are you creating a world?" Mike and Chris exchanged a glance.
"Right now, this is just a battlefield." Nakayama Takuya into Chris's eyes; he knew what was going on in this young man's mind. "Humans fight for survival, orcs for slaughter. The reasons are valid, but only valid. After a player finishes a game and shuts down the computer, they might only remember that the green-skinned monster had a lot of health."
"I want to do more than that," Chris couldn't help but interject, his tone urgent. "I've conceived of orc clans, and the division of human kingdoms—"
"Then go deep into it, go through it thoroughly." Nakayama Takuya interrupted him, leaning forward and lowering his voice as if sharing a huge secret, "Why are the orcs green? Did they originally live here? If not, where did they come from? Who taught them to build that portal?" Chris's pupils contracted sharply.