On the last day of September, Kato Yusuke finally finished writing all the plans for the "Fate" series, so he immediately summoned all members for a meeting.
As I said before, the planning of the Fate series is divided into three parts. In order of priority, they are -
"Fate/StayNight" (Galgame+animation)
"FateZero" (+animation)
"FateGrandOrder" (mobile game)
Studio conference room.
Yoshida looked at the plan book in his hand and asked in confusion: "Kato, didn't you tell me that you wanted to make a mobile game? Why do you still want to make a text adventure game?"
Kato Yusuke was well prepared for this and started to explain in an orderly manner.
"It is true that we are going to make a mobile game, but before that we need to make some necessary preparations. The two works "Fate/Stay Night" and "Fate Zero" play this role."
Yoshida asked again: "Uh... what about animation production? Do we have to do animation ourselves in the future??"
"Of course not." Kato Yusuke couldn't help but smile.
"Our studio is still focused on making games, and the animation will be taken care of by Hongzhu Planning.
In fact, whether it is Galgame or mobile games, our purpose is to promote the concept of "heroic spirits".
Animation has a natural advantage in publicity and can bring huge influence and traffic to our works, so the three are complementary to each other."
"Oh, that's it." Yoshida nodded, finally understanding.
Shiyu listened to their conversation and said thoughtfully: "But Yu-chan, if you regard mythology and history as the selling point of the game, won't the education cost for players be too high?"
"Well, Xiaoshi, you are right, but this link is necessary." Kato Yusuke did not deny it.
He looked around at the expressions of everyone present and spoke in detail.
"FateGrandOrder" is different from other games in that its core competitiveness lies in its characters.
In other words, it lies in the vitality that a complete and detailed plot brings to the character.
Its worldview is somewhat profound, but not complicated.
The greatest heroes in human history, legends and literary works responded to the call and came to the world in the form of seven different "classes".
In order to realize the wishes of the "Master" and their own ambitions, the "Servants" will engage in a brutal fight.
The final winner can get the universal wishing machine-"Holy Grail".
To put it bluntly, this is a battle royale game between teams, except that the participants become magicians and heroic spirits.
As for its gameplay and highlights…
Don’t you like Heroic Spirits? Do you want to be a Master? Come to FGO and you’ll be done with krypton gold!
Taking a step back -
It doesn't matter even if some people don't understand these, or are not even interested in historical legends and myths.
The worst case scenario is to ask the original artist to make the characters look better, and then just trick the people into it first.
Kato Yusuke spoke vividly, basically explaining everything from settings to scripts to game mechanics.
Everyone heard the importance in his tone, and they all restrained their casual attitude and decided to take a closer look at the plan when they got back.
After the meeting ended, Nakano Ryoko stayed for a while.
"Yu-kun, you didn't seem to say anything about the budget just now. How much do you plan to invest in these three projects?"
Kato Yusuke did not hide his thoughts and answered happily: "Everything."
"Huh?" Ryoko Nakano was slightly startled: "Everything?"
"Yes." Kato Yusuke nodded heavily, "On the premise of ensuring the normal operation of the studio, as long as there is money in my account, you can invest it."
Ryoko Nakano was a little surprised, "I looked at the previous production costs of "Clannad" and found that the total cost was about 70 million yen, so does this project have to be based on this standard?"
"It's not that absolute. It depends on the situation." Kato Yusuke shook his head and said.
"In terms of games alone, my budget for "Fate/Stay Night" is about 50 million, and with "Fate Grand Order" it is truly unlimited."
Nakano Ryoko looked into his eyes and didn't understand where his confidence came from, but Kato Yusuke knew exactly what he was doing.
No one understands better than him how much money FGO made in its previous life.
This game came out in 2015, which is not too early in terms of time, but it later managed to earn US$5.5 billion in revenue, ranking eighth on the list of total mobile game revenue in history!
Other honors, such as dominating the App Store best-selling list, are also commonplace, and even provided an agency company with nearly 90% of its annual revenue!
Even if its gameplay later became a bit backward, it still caused heated discussions on the Internet every time a new chapter was updated.
For this kind of hen that lays golden eggs, Kato Yusuke will certainly not be stingy with his investment.
Nakano Ryoko stared at him for a while, finally determined that he was not joking, and suddenly smiled.
"I see, I understand what Yu-kun means. It's rare to see you so motivated, and I always feel like I've been infected too~"
Kato Yusuke scratched his cheek, "No, actually I can't say that I'm not motivated. I just want to make a game that can sell well, which is quite tacky to say."
The smile on Nakano Ryoko's face became even bigger.
"Really? But I think Yu-kun is very good. You should take what you want to do seriously and carefully. I like your pure attitude very much~"
"Uh...then thank you for the compliment, senior?" Kato Yusuke was happy but also felt a little embarrassed.
His purpose in playing games was simply to make money, but in the end, this senior sister recognized and supported him even in this kind of thing, which made him very happy.
The two were talking here, and the next second Hui suddenly opened the door and entered the office, and said to them somewhat uneasily:
"Well, Yusuke, Nakano-senpai, I'm sorry to disturb you. The staff from the tax bureau came and said that someone reported that our studio has tax problems and asked us to cooperate in the investigation."
Kato Yusuke was stunned for a moment when he heard this, then immediately stood up and walked outside decisively.
He quickly came to the entrance of the studio, and there were indeed three unfamiliar faces here, including two men and one woman, about 30 years old.
They were wearing suits, carrying briefcases in their hands, and looked old-fashioned and serious.
Seeing Kanoko whispering something to them, Hassan accidentally caught sight of Kato Yusuke, and gave him a subtle wink, indicating that he didn't need to come over.
Kato Yusuke's steps hesitated slightly, but he still walked up, and the tax officer immediately noticed his presence.
The three of them were startled when they saw him, and it took them a few seconds to react.
The man in charge asked Hasumi Kanoko: "Representative Hasumi, who is this...?"
"Hello." Kato Yusuke took the initiative to extend his right hand, "I am the founder of this studio, Kato Yusuke, nice to meet you."
The leading male narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at him from head to toe, then shook his hand and said in a formal manner:
"Kazuhito Kondo, prosecutor of the National Tax Agency's Inspection Section, these are two of my colleagues. We received reports from enthusiastic people that your company has hidden tax problems. Please cooperate with our investigation."
Perhaps due to professional reasons, Kondo's speech was a bit inhumane, as if he was investigating a prisoner, which made people feel very uncomfortable.
But Kato Yusuke didn't mind this at all and responded quite naturally:
"Of course, you are welcome to come to the house for inspection and guidance. If you don't mind, please move to the conference room, and we will prepare all the accounts."
After he finished speaking, he turned his head and looked at the friends who were alerted and watching from a distance. He waved to Mayu Sagara and said, "Mayu, go and make a cup of tea for the three prosecutors."
"——No need."
Kondo Kazuto interrupted him abruptly, "We have regulations that prohibit any form of bribery from the company, including tea and drinks."
Kato Yusuke couldn't help but be stunned.
Seeing Kanoko on the side, Ren quickly spoke to calm down.
"Ah, that's not the case. Prosecutor Kondo, you misunderstood. We didn't mean that. If the three of you can accept it, is it okay to serve it with boiled water?"
Kondo Kazuto nodded without a smile and said yes.
At this time, Nakano Ryoko and Kei also came to the door and happened to hear the conversation between them.
Nakano Ryoko thought for a while, walked up to Kato Yusuke and whispered softly: "Yu-kun, the rest of the matter will be handled by Hasumi-sensei and I. You can go and appease everyone."
After speaking, she stepped forward, briefly introduced herself to Kondo and Kazuto, and then led them to the conference room.
Hasumi Kanoko called Mayu Sagara, and together they went to prepare accounts and boiled water.
Kato Yusuke looked at the closed door of the conference room, thoughtful for a moment.
People came to him one after another and started chatting in all directions.
Kei asked worriedly: "...Um, Yusuke, are you okay?"
Eirili said angrily: "Yusuke, what do those people mean by what they just said? How could we hide tax issues?"
Shiyu said calmly: "Sawamura, didn't you listen to what others said? We were reported."
Although Yoshida and Mishima Yuba did not speak, they were also very concerned about this matter, with worried faces on their faces.
Kato Yusuke took their reactions into consideration, pondered for a moment, then deliberately put on a relaxed expression and said frankly:
"Okay, don't worry, I'll be fine.
This matter from the tax bureau is nothing to make a fuss about. If others want to investigate, let them investigate. We have done nothing wrong and have no reason to feel guilty.
Everyone, stop wasting your time here and go back to work."
After hearing what he said confidently, everyone finally felt relieved and went back to work one after another.
Mainly because Kato Yusuke had nothing to do.
You can't just push back when the tax bureau wants to audit your accounts, right? Wouldn't that be the same as telling others that there is something wrong with me?
So no matter what thoughts you have in your heart, you still have to cooperate on things that should be cooperated.