"Um, Takayuki, actually I have one more small, slightly shameless request," said Tokarev after cheerfully agreeing to all of Takayuki's licensing terms.

"What kind of request? No need to be so formal between us — just say it. Though I can't promise I'll agree."

"Hehe, it's nothing major. I was wondering if you had any IPs you'd be willing to license out. I'd love to adapt some of your game titles into films. It'd be such a shame for your games not to get movie adaptations — you'd be leaving a lot of money on the table."

"My IPs, huh... now that you mention it."

Tokarev's eyes lit up.

Was this a yes?

"You knowResident Evil, right? I'm thinking of making some movies based on that game."

"Resident Evil? Oh, that one! I've heard of it — it's pretty well known in horror circles."

It wasn't just "pretty well known."

Resident Evilessentially pioneered a whole new direction in this world. Before it, zombies were usually rooted in religious or mythological folklore. Films in that genre were often low-budget gore-fests with no depth — just aimed at a niche audience with a thing for blood and guts.

ButResident Evil? It completely reinvented the genre, introducing a modern bio-science infection narrative that was far easier for contemporary players and viewers to accept.

So whenResident Evillaunched, it quickly spread through fan communities thanks to its unique setting.

Now that online video platforms were becoming mainstream, fans had even started producing their ownResident Evil-inspired short films.

The game basically became the blueprint for the genre — even people in the film industry were taking notes.

There was even a famous director who once said publicly that he would waive all fees just for the chance to direct aResident Evilfilm.

Sure, he could have created something similar from scratch — the zombie infection theme wasn't exactly copyrighted — butResident Evilalready had a compelling, complete world. Few creators had managed to go beyond what the game had already done.

That made adaptingResident Evilinto a film all the more appealing. And the director was a huge fan of the setting.

The only reason nothing had come of it was that Gamestar Electronic Entertainment had never responded.

Not because they weren't interested — Takayuki had just forgotten about it.

Back when he developedResident Evil, Takayuki had originally planned to merge it with the story ofWorld War Z. That film, in his opinion, had pushed the sheer terror of zombies to its peak. Few zombie movies had surpassed it since.

His idea had been to blendWorld War Z's scale into theResident Evilnarrative — and given how loose theWWZplot was, it wouldn't be hard to integrate.

But between developing games nonstop, he simply hadn't had time to think about it.

Until Masaru Ota's visit jogged his memory.

If not for Masaru, Takayuki might've gone on forgetting about the treasure trove of IPs he owned. That conversation had been a real eye-opener.

In the original world, adapting anime and film into games was the easiest way to get fans of those properties interested in video games.

So now, Takayuki finally realized just how many IPs he had that could be adapted into films.

He was even considering building a Pixar-like in-house animation studio, along with expanding his VFX department. It used to be only 100–200 people — now he wanted to scale it up to 500 to handle future projects.

Back on the call with Tokarev, Takayuki said, "I actually already have a script for aResident Evilfilm. If you're interested, you can take the project. I won't ask for much in licensing fees — just five percent."

This was a return gesture of goodwill.

Tokarev had generously offered his own IPs at symbolic rates — so Takayuki figured it was only right to do the same.

Tokarev was delighted.

He had just secured a goldmine.

"You already have a script?! That's fantastic! And since it's written by the game's original creator, I'm sure it's amazing. When can I read it?"

"Give me a few days — I'll clean it up and send it to you."

"Okay! I'll be waiting. And hey, come visit me in the States sometime — it's been ages since we had dinner. We need to catch up properly."

Takayuki smiled. "Absolutely."

After hanging up, Takayuki sat back and reflected.

He mulled over Masaru's grassroots promotion idea and the direction for his game adaptations.

Tokarev's studio had war films, sci-fi blockbusters, and even some action-packed crowd-pleasers — all perfect candidates for game adaptations.

And now that theUncharted-like game was well into development, the team was gaining valuable experience.

OnceUnchartedwrapped up, they could immediately pivot to these more formulaic industrial-style games.

These games weren't about breaking new ground or setting records in quality. Their goal was simple: grow the player base. As long as the quality hit a solid 3.5 stars or more, that was enough.

Other teams were doing the same. At this stage, these adaptations were like XP fodder — giving teams more experience in industrial-scale game development while also gently hinting at Takayuki's future plans.

On his desk sat a new top-tier project waiting to begin development — a title well-known in the original world:

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Since the Switch was on its way, it was only natural to make this one of the console's flagship titles.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com