A Way to Break the Deadlock?

Enix was completely different.

Their headquarters maintained only a core planning and producer team of around thirty people.

The actual development work—art, programming, music production, and the like—was all handed off to external partner studios.

This "core + outsourcing" model allowed Enix to keep administrative costs extremely low and operational efficiency extremely high.

They had accumulated rich experience in quality control and project management, and could push forward the development of multiple projects at the same time.

"In the 16-bit era, the Super Famicom's development tools were extremely mature, and there were large numbers of outsourcing teams on the market familiar with 2D assembly language for you to command." Nakayama Takuya peeled back the surface and analyzed the underlying logic. "But in the 32-bit and 64-bit eras, the market environment changed. The N64's complicated 3D architecture and harsh programming requirements shut the vast majority of small and medium outsourcing teams outside the door."

He paused, watching Honda Keiji's reaction.

"Where are you going to find that many outsourcing companies capable of skillfully mastering N64 microcode? Before the installed base rises, the answers to these questions are foreseeable." Nakayama Takuya threw out the lethal question. "Managing three thousand internal employees and managing three external studios require completely different administrative structures. Enix has established a strict set of review standards for outsourced quality control. But on the N64 platform, due to the closed nature of the microcode, your reviewers cannot even effectively test externally submitted code in the early stages. This will lead to project schedules going completely out of control. If you cannot find a suitable technical execution team, the new Dragon Quest can only remain on the planning document, stuck in difficult labor indefinitely."

Honda Keiji fell silent.

Nakayama Takuya had precisely stepped on Enix's fatal weak spot.

The break