Gu Sheng didn’t care how CloudPower in the United States adjusted or tried to recover its stock price.

He didn’t even care whether CloudPower, embarrassed and angry over his and Little Nezha’s previous arrogance, would resort to dirty tricks again.

Right now he had only one concern—

Could Melancholy Blues pull off It Takes Two?

Yes.

For his old company in his past life and his new subordinates in this life, Gu Sheng decided to start by entrusting this daunting task to Connor and the Melancholy Blues team.

There were two reasons for this.

First, Melancholy Blues urgently needed a fresh title to prove that they were not worthless only under Konik, but could soar and thrive under Golden Wind—rescuing their reputation from the bottom of the barrel.

But the problem was that it wouldn’t be wise to blindly hand them a mega-IP like Assassin’s Creed or The Division right now.

As for The Division, a multiplayer online shooter, its similarity in genre would quickly tire players.

And Rainbow Six—don’t even mention it.

Releasing R6 now would be like waiting for disaster; he didn’t want to make his two studios face off immediately after Overwatch.

So Melancholy Blues became the perfect candidate to make a reputation-winning title like It Takes Two.

That was the first reason.

The second reason was a personal one.

He wasn’t making It Takes Two merely to earn money.

This work carried a far more serious surprise mission.

And surprises need secrecy.

Though, in theory, both Golden Experience and Steel Chain Fingers were his inner circle, always following his lead, he knew not to forget that people like Jiang Shan from Golden Experience or Yuki from Steel Chain Fingers could potentially be leaks.

Besides,

Golden Experience was swamped—there were thousands of follow-up matters for Overwatch that needed arranging, leaving no time to calmly develop It Takes Two.

As for Steel Chain Fingers…

Whether they had time or not was ambiguous.

It was puzzling.

At this moment even Gu Sheng found it hard to predict exactly when they would get busy.

Yes.

Steel Chain Fingers, under Moriya’s lead, were negotiating with a mysterious contact from Neon.

If that deal succeeded, they would immediately land the most heavyweight, eagerly anticipated project in their history!

Meanwhile, the investigative journalist Miles—the key link through Golden Wind’s eerie universe—would set off again.

So!

“I’m going to boldly give the new project to Melancholy Blues and see what they can do.”

In the chairman’s office, Gu Sheng told Shen Miaomiao.

Brilliant!!!

Shen Miaomiao wanted to raise both hands and feet in agreement!

I knew I picked them right!

Melancholy Blues really are my lucky team!

Not only do they have terrible reputations, but Old Gu must be on some kind of drug.

He’s going to hand the It Takes Two project to them right away!

According to Old Gu, the total investment for this game would even exceed Sekiro’s!

My heavens!

Sekiro’s total investment was a full $181 million—the largest they’d ever poured into a game, their undisputed 3S-level super title!

And now, just the initial projected investment for It Takes Two already surpasses Sekiro, instantly becoming Golden Wind’s biggest-funded project, with total costs expected to top $200 million!

Shen Miaomiao nearly laughed herself silly.

This was insane.

She couldn’t imagine what Old Gu was thinking—skipping verification and handing such a massive investment to a studio that was a garbage fighter among studios.

In some ways, the ten-person Melancholy Blues crew was actually more formidable than the original seven Renegade Ninjas of Steel Chain Fingers when they first formed.

Back then, when Steel Chain Fingers was newly founded, Gu Sheng had only given them a small Plants vs. Zombies project to practice on.

“I have no objections! I support it! I agree! I believe!”

Shen Miaomiao laughed maniacally, her smile stretching almost to the back of her head.

What hammer could I possibly have to object?

My only opinion is the investment isn’t big enough!

Although our company’s books aren’t as massive as Konik’s or CloudPower’s, we’re comfortably a mid-to-large game company.

We may not be able to throw out tens of billions, but a few hundred million is nothing.

If you could shove all that money into this single project, now that would be something.

“But what exactly is this project...?”

Of course Shen Miaomiao didn’t care about the quality per se—she was just curious what kind of project could burn more money than Sekiro.

Gu Sheng couldn’t reveal too much:

“It’s similar to our prior title Escape from Hell—also a forced two-player cooperative game.”

Wow—!!!

Shen Miaomiao crushed the lollipop in her mouth with a crack!

Her excitement was obvious; little stars lit up in her wide eyes!

This… finally—does my era begin now? Will it make up for the losses OW caused me?

Woohoo!

Shen Miaomiao rejoiced inwardly.

Heaven is smiling on me!

It Takes Two’s format is similar, practically identical, to Escape from Hell.

That meant It Takes Two could be positioned as a derivative project of Escape from Hell!

When Escape from Hell was approved as a GDC showcase project, she had the foresight to lengthen the rebate period by 90 days, and its rebate multiplier jumped from tenfold to a hundredfold!

This project…

Shen Miaomiao took a deep breath.

Who would’ve thought—the sweet payoff from nowhere, while all the effort felt like nothing.

Of course!

Aside from the juicy money, there was another point that excited her—

“Does this mean we can play together again?!”

She had cleared Escape from Hell with Old Gu before and even saved the cinematic-style final cut.

She loved games like that.

Or rather, she loved playing games with Old Gu.

Forced co-op games were the perfect fantasy experience for her.

“Of course,”

Gu Sheng smiled:

“After all, I can’t finish it alone. I need you to clear it with me.”

“Pfft—you only say that to coax me—”

Hearing this, Shen Miaomiao made a face at Gu Sheng:

“The last time we played Escape from Hell, you secretly started a new save with Lu Bian; don’t think I didn’t notice!”

“Ah...”

Gu Sheng stammered:

“I did that because... I wanted to experience another person’s perspective.”

“Wow—”

Shen Miaomiao applauded:

“What an irrefutable reason.”

With that, she took a coconut-flavored lollipop from her drawer and tore off the wrapper:

“Here, a reward for your cleverness! Ah—”

Seeing this, Gu Sheng stood, opened his mouth wide to take the lollipop from Shen Miaomiao’s hand: “Ooh—”

“Ouch! You scared me!”

Shen Miaomiao giggled and slapped Gu Sheng:

“You almost swallowed my hand. So annoying. Go, go, go—leave, I want to watch a drama.”

They bantered and laughed for a while until Shen Miaomiao “kicked” Gu Sheng out of the office.

Click.

After the office door closed, Shen Miaomiao propped her face in her hands and pursed her lips, chewing softly:

“Old Gu, Old Gu... what are you waiting for?”

After a moment she shook her head and shrugged, a little helpless.

How long will this ostrich keep burying his head in the sand?

That drunk embrace that night almost choked my bones and he clung to me as he slept—how can his mouth be so tight-lipped?

If I make a fortune from this, maybe I’ll make the first move.

A $200 million investment.

Add a 25% cut.

To break even the game would have to generate an unprecedented $270 million in sales.

At $60 per copy, $270 million means selling 4.5 million units within the designated rebate period.

That’s basically impossible.

After all, even with a huge PR push, presales, two motion-sensing pod platforms supporting it, and three streaming platforms hyping Overwatch, its sales within the allotted window were only around 3.1 million copies.

So if It Takes Two’s rebate period were under two weeks, without presales, and not participating in big campaigns like the Golden Bull Challenge, this project would be guaranteed to lose money—no doubt about it.

Thinking of that made Shen Miaomiao frown.

Sigh—

But I’ve always been the one who receives love letters.

How do I confess...

I don’t have experience...

“...Not having experience is exactly why you have to learn it.”

Meanwhile, inside the Melancholy Blues project office.

As Golden Wind expanded, the project department where they initially worked had become Golden Experience Studio’s workspace.

Steel Chain Fingers and the newly joined Melancholy Blues were assigned to two other equally large office spaces.

After all, an entire floor of this giant CBD belonged to Golden Wind, and they had just filled it up.

Gu Sheng was sitting in the Melancholy Blues project office now.

The studio’s ten members gathered around him.

Today’s meeting wasn’t overly formal; they had already attended the previous conference where Chairman Shen Miaomiao welcomed them on behalf of the company.

And when Chairman Shen made an offer—

It was the same as always.

It stunned Connor and the others.

Whether it was salary, project investment structure, or employee benefits...

Frankly, even someone like Connor, who had spent decades at Ubsoft and had rich experience at a world-class company like CloudPower, found himself humbled after hearing Chairman Shen’s pitch.

When she said something, they all went “oh my god—”

But precisely because of that, the Melancholy Blues members felt the weight of the responsibility.

Their reputation was in tatters.

In truth, they wanted this project.

A $200 million 3S-level super project!

An heir to the prestige of Escape from Hell, which had stunned GDC and the world!

It was their best chance to reverse their public image.

Connor genuinely wanted to take it and believed he had the capability to develop for motion-sensing pods.

After all, Ubsoft had firmly chosen the pod route because of decisions he helped make.

But the issue was—

This time,

Gu doesn’t just want a pod game. More precisely—

He doesn’t intend to make only a pod game!

Yes!

This title was Gu Sheng’s statement to every player in the industry he loved.

So he decided to maximize the platforms it could support!

Pods and PC—he wanted both!

Besides, games like Escape from Hell and It Takes Two are actually suitable for PC play with controllers.

Their unique split-screen perspective and stunning dual-view narrative are signature features!

Escape from Hell was limited by conference constraints and a deliberate strategy to target the pod market, so Gu Sheng had abandoned the PC version and launched it solely on pods.

But now the situation was different.

He wanted the immersive pod first-person experience and its bizarre, dazzling immersion.

He also wanted the refreshing PC split-screen overview and the thrilling camera switches.

However, that presented a major technical challenge for Connor and the team.

Pods use a first-person perspective.

But, according to Gu Sheng’s broad outline, on PC they needed to realize third-person “over-the-shoulder” follow views, tracking shots, and bird’s-eye views—multiple camera modes.

And!

These PC camera behaviors had to match up with the pod’s first-person perspective!

“I know this is hard,”

Gu Sheng nodded:

“Not just for you—this is the first time our company, which loves innovation, will attempt a simultaneous pod+PC launch.”

“You have no experience, I have no experience; nobody has experience. But...”

At this point Gu Sheng’s tone shifted, becoming grave and earnest:

“I need this game. It means a lot to me.”

“You need this game too—to make a brilliant comeback.”

“We don’t have any other choices.”

“So,”

“From project initiation, Lu Bian, Xu Dajiang, and I—the three driving forces who founded Golden Wind—will be temporarily merged into the Melancholy Blues project team.”

“We’ll work together to give the game world a small golden shock—”

He extended his hand.

Connor, stirred, didn’t hesitate and reached out.

Everyone stacked their hands together.

Gu Sheng spoke in a low voice:

“Melancholy Blues—”

Everyone shouted in unison!

“Will win!!!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com