Thanks to UE's flexible feature options and exceptionally friendly payment structure, the startup capital threshold for small and mid-sized studios had been driven infinitely low, below the floor itself.
No multimillion-US dollar commercial engine licensing fees were needed, nor was there any need for a massive core R&D team to painfully reinvent the wheel.
Sparks of creativity exploded throughout this once-marginal exhibition area.
This year, the small and mid-sized developers were no longer presenting the same old flat 2D games, but first-person shooters, 3D action-adventure games, and complex management simulations.
Gameplay mechanics bloomed in a hundred different ways, and the quality even rivaled second-tier titles from major studios!
The representatives of investors and venture capital firms were utterly dazzled by the choices.
They had originally only planned to stroll around, pick up a few cheap IPs, or poach a few promising programmers to work for them.
Now, they had no choice but to frantically call headquarters to request larger investment budgets, terrified that if they were a step too late, their competitors would snatch away these cheap yet enormously promising talents.
David and Paul were squeezed amid the crowd, their backs already soaked through with sweat, until even breathing felt difficult.
"Sony's unveiling several third-party exclusives over at the main stage. Aren't you going to take some pictures? Ken Kutaragi paid a fortune for them," David said casually, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he asked a veteran editor from Electronic Gaming Monthly beside him.
"Pictures, my ass!" The editor raised the recorder in his hand and pointed at the fanatical crowd around them, his face full of contempt. "Over there, it's just a bunch of assholes in suits reading press releases and painting castles in the air! They don't even dare show actual gameplay! This is where the