Is it not a galgame?

……

As Final Fantasy became popular in the gaming industry, the successful Sakaguchi Hironobu did not slow down his exploration of unknown areas. He began to make drastic preparations to shoot the movie of the same name in the "FF" series and to enter online games.

Sakaguchi himself has always been an avid movie lover, and a large part of the creative inspiration for the first "FF" came from the science fiction film "Terminator" directed by James Cameron.

He has always longed for the opportunity to convey another aspect of his talent to more people in the world through film.

In 2000, Square and Columbia Pictures collaborated on "Final Fantasy - Soul Within", which became the largest venture investment in the history of SQUARE Corporation.

This huge project, which cost more than US$1.5 million, lasted four years and involved more than 150 people;
In order to ensure its success, SQUARE went to great lengths, and many game development plans were suspended or changed.

It can be said to be Square's ultimate masterpiece.

Although Qing Zhiyuan doesn't quite understand what's so good about gambling, it has to be said that some Neon people have really great gambling habits, just like Masayoshi Son. Unexpectedly, Masashi Miyamoto is also a desperate gambler.

But it seems that it can be understood from Miyamoto Masashi’s perspective:
First of all, the games in the Final Fantasy series have always been very popular, especially in Final Fantasy 9, with the blessing of pokeni, they did a good job directly on the Dandelion game platform, with more than 1000 million copies of the game sold. It will all be a little bit floating.

At the same time, it’s not like they just went in and fucked in a flash. After all, pokeni, the forerunner, has explored the way. It’s so cool to have a video game linkage.

This set of P Club is really fun.

Beginning with Princess Mononoke and being tied to Ghibli, both games and movies blossomed. Later, Moon River Group founded by Qing Zhiyuan, although it seems to be burning a lot of money every year, it is also making a lot of money. ah.

Who doesn’t want to make hundreds of millions of dollars from a movie?
Who doesn’t want games and movies to complement each other and earn hundreds of millions of dollars?
Everyone would be jealous, right?

What's more, the technology of "Final Fantasy - Soul Deep" is really awesome. Across the world, animated movies can be made to this level just through 3D modeling and special effects. Just Square.

but……

Miyamoto Masashi may not have thought clearly. It stands to reason that P has long had the necessary technology, so why hasn’t it invested in the field of full 3D animated movies yet?

As long as he thinks about it carefully, he will find the pitfalls here.

The first is pure 3D animated movies. Apart from Pixar, there is really no other company that has invested a lot of money to try it. After Pixar was acquired by Disney, although it has also been running on this road, it is actually quite tricky every time. It is a fairy tale and a path for the whole people to have family fun.

The Final Fantasy movie will obviously be more mature and in-depth, and the audience age requirements are also higher.

What's more, this is a Japanese way of telling science fiction, which may not be liked by audiences in the Omi region.

The story itself is not particularly outstanding, it can only be said to be average. Under such circumstances, the sci-fi feel and full 3D CG have become the biggest selling points of the movie.

Since this market has not yet been developed, Square is completely a pioneer.

Who would have thought that there would be nothing but concrete underneath?

Square took a mouthful of old blood and almost fell to pieces.

On July 2001, 7, under the enthusiastic expectations of all parties, "Final Fantasy - Soul Within" was officially released.

However, viewers who were full of expectations were disappointed to find that the plot of "Inside the Soul" was cliched, delayed and inexplicable.

The total box office of the film after three weeks of release was only 3020 million US dollars, and SQUARE suffered a serious loss of 165.5 billion yen that year.

……

In order to pursue management responsibilities, SQUARE's three operating giants were all demoted. Hironobu Sakaguchi was transferred from vice president to technical director in charge of software development affairs.

So under such circumstances, Miyamoto Masashi sent an urgent call for help to Sony.

After hearing that there was a situation at Square Enix, Ken Kutaragi, the president of Sony's SCE, was immediately entrusted with full authority to conduct acquisition negotiations.

"The top priority now is to allow Square to have the funds to start the project and get over this hurdle."

At the negotiation table, Ken Kutaragi persuaded him earnestly, "We are planning to acquire some of Square's shares."

This move is actually not a loss for Sony, it can even be said to be quite profitable.

Being able to purchase a large number of Square shares at a low price will not only successfully become a second shareholder and carry out deep bundling, but also expand Sony's territory.

Winning over Square now is equivalent to getting an extra boost, and it will have an extra bargaining chip when fighting against pokeni in the future.

After finishing speaking, Kutaragi Ken pushed the acquisition plan in front of Miyamoto Masashi.

Due to the sudden incident, Sony also held a meeting overnight and drafted an acquisition proposal. The content was not too much and was almost the same as in the previous life.

It's just that the acquisition price will be less. Sony hopes to acquire 1130% of Square's shares at a price of 20 yen per share.

In other words, it ended up being almost $1 million.

Miyamoto Masashi frowned fiercely.

At this time, I feel regretful. If I had known this situation, I might as well have sold it to Microsoft for US$20 billion.

1 million and %. Is Square shrinking so seriously now?

In fact, Miyamoto Masashi really didn't have many good choices.

Especially after the movie suffered huge losses and was affected by the 1211 incident in the United States, the Neon stock market was also affected. In fact, if this proposal is not accepted in a short period of time, it may lead to bankruptcy.

Miyamoto Masashi felt very helpless.

"Can you increase the price to 1500 yen?"

"1200. No more," Kutaragi said. "President Miyamoto, I understand your mood, but please also consider Square's future.

After joining Sony, the stock price will also rise in the future.

The top priority now is to solve the deficit problem. If Square wants to buy back later, it is not impossible. "

Miyamoto Masashi gritted his teeth.

Looking back now, it's like a ghost hitting a wall. How could you be so obsessed with believing that Sakaguchi Hironobu would make a 3D movie?
A closer look will reveal that this is completely unwise behavior.

It's a pity that there are no do-overs in history. Even if we regret it again, we have already reached this point. Square is equivalent to being tightly controlled by Sony.

Kutaragi Ken completely hit his weak spot.

If you don't accept it, you will go bankrupt.

"Please give me some time to think about it. We need to discuss it internally."

"Please hurry up. Please also trust us. After all, we have cooperated for so many years. Even if Final Fantasy 9 is not released on the PS2 platform, won't we rescue your company as soon as possible?

Who is a friend and who is an enemy? I hope President Miyamoto can open his eyes. "

Kutaragi Ken stood up, bowed to him, and then left the conference room with Sony's team.

Miyamoto Masashi was left worried for a while.

……

As soon as Sony left, the president of Pokeni, Qing Zhiyuan, arrived.

Miyamoto Masashi was surprised when he heard Qing Zhiyuan's name.

As soon as they met, Qing Zhiyuan said straight to the point, "I'm very sorry that this visit is a bit unexpected, but I heard that your company's funds are somewhat tight and it seems to be in a big crisis. As a partner, Dandelion Game Platform's It works well thanks to the help of Square Enix.

So, please let us contribute a little bit to your company this time. "

Miyamoto Masashi was a little confused.

He suddenly remembered what Kutaragi Ken said, who is the friend and who is the enemy?

It seemed quite clear at first, but now after Qing Zhiyuan arrived, it became a little confused.

The speed of P Club is so fast that Miyamoto Masashi himself did not expect it.

After welcoming Qing Zhiyuan and accompanying Satoru Iwata and others into the conference room, Satoru Iwata placed an acquisition plan that had been drawn up long ago in front of Miyamoto Masashi.

After a cursory look, Miyamoto Masashi was a little dumbfounded.

Comparing Sony's rush to work, it is obvious that pokeni is quite well prepared, and all the detailed terms have actually been written in great detail and in place.

The most amazing thing is——

The price given by P Agency was actually similar to that of Sony, purchasing 1.32% ​​of Square's shares for US$20 million.

And no more, no less, just a little more than Sony's quote.

Miyamoto Masashi has so many mixed feelings in his heart.

Are we, Square, really worth just this much?
On the other hand, Miyamoto looked at Qing Zhiyuan with a hint of horror in his eyes.

How did P Club calculate this?
Can it happen to be just a little more than Sony?
This level of calculation and negotiation is simply intimidating.

Although the representative of P Company at the negotiation table was Satoru Iwata, Masashi Miyamoto knew very well that all this must have been planned by Qing Zhiyuan.

When he thought about pokeni's development over the years, and how he had almost never made a single wrong judgment on a major decision, he couldn't help but gasp.

……

Qing Zhiyuan saw the expression on his face and smiled coldly in his heart.

This is probably the confidence of the reborn.

After Qing Zhiyuan got the trump card, it was actually easy for him to bid.

Even though Sony's specific price cannot be estimated, Qing Zhiyuan estimated it to be around 1.3 million.

To be on the safe side, let’s call 1.32 million first.

If Square wants to make a counteroffer, Qing Zhiyuan's bottom line can be almost US$1.5 million.

After a round of gaming, the price finally discussed was fixed at US$1.45 million.

This is actually much more than Sony.

This is only the first round of negotiations.

Miyamoto Masashi responded seriously, "Please give me some time to think about it. We need to discuss this internally."

"no problem."

Qing Zhiyuan stood up with a meaningful smile on his face, "President Miyamoto, please consider it carefully, because this matter is related to the future of your company.

I also hope you can see the potential of pokeni in the future. "

To put it bluntly, you don’t have to take sides.

But, you must at least have a basic sense of judgment, right? Who represents the future.

Is it pokeni or Sony?

Qing Zhiyuan's words are similar to those of Kutaragi Ken. They have the same purpose, but they are all knocking Miyamoto Masashi.

……

……

After Qing Zhiyuan left, Miyamoto Masashi was so shocked that he broke into a cold sweat.

Oh my God……

The wolf is on the left and the tiger is on the right.

No one is easy to mess with.

The key is that Square is now the fish on the chopping board and has no power to fight back.

Miyamoto Masashi once again deeply felt the cruelty of the capital world.

The law of the jungle, where the jungle prevails over the strong, is most vividly demonstrated in the capital field.

"President. We may have a third option."

Just when Miyamoto Masashi was feeling extremely distressed about his choice, Wada Yoichi spoke next to him.

As a graduate of the Tokyo University School of Law who doesn't care about game production, Yoichi Wada's career in the game industry is undoubtedly rosy.

He was poached from a securities company and came to Square in 2000. He was promoted to chief financial officer in less than two months. At the end of 2001, he became the CEO of Neon's most NB game company at the time.

And if nothing unexpected happens, Miyamoto Masashi should actually transfer the position of president to Wada Yoichi this year.

Therefore, Miyamoto Masashi almost obeyed his words and truly trained him as his successor.

Especially after Sakaguchi Hironobu made such a big mistake, Miyamoto Masashi looked around and realized that this young man was probably the only one worthy of his trust.

In these negotiations, Miyamoto Masashi also brought Wada Yoichi with him, so Wada Yoichi was very clear about the entire situation.

"Huh?" Miyamoto Masashi asked doubtfully.

"It's better than..."

Wada Yoichi blinked and made a unanimous decision similar to that of the big families in the history of the Three Kingdoms:
"Three companies placing bets at the same time?"

"Eh?"

Wada Yoichi came over and lowered his voice and said, "Transfer part of the company's stock to Sony, then another part to Pokeni, and the last part to Rentendo, and at the same time repair the relationship with President Hiroshi Yamauchi."

Miyamoto Masashi was completely shocked.

Ah this...

have to say,

You are really a talent!

...(End of chapter)