Parallel World Game Developer

Chapter 19: Chapter #19: The Beginning of a Partnership

Hello there!

Don’t forget to leave a comment and tell what you think of the story! Also, a review would help. Enjoy reading!

— — — — —

"Your studio space is quite impressive," Carter said with a warm smile, making himself comfortable on the sleek leather sofa in Ethan’s office.

Marcus Shaw hurried in, carefully setting down two cups of freshly brewed coffee on the glass table before quietly excusing himself.

Sprout Studio was running lean; they didn’t have dedicated administrative staff or receptionists to pour drinks for guests.

Every person in the building was focused entirely on development.

"I’m told that developers in this region prefer to get straight to the point, so I won’t waste your time with corporate runaround," Carter said, taking a deep breath and gently setting his coffee cup down. "I want to lock down a long-term partnership with Sprout Studio. We can draft an entirely new revenue-share contract right now. My absolute bottom line is a ninety-ten split. Ninety percent for you, ten percent for Steam."

Carter didn’t try to hide his eagerness or wrap the offer in corporate jargon.

He laid his cards flat on the table.

He was offering a deal so heavily skewed in the developer’s favor that there wasn’t even room to negotiate, which proved he was one hundred percent serious.

Ethan stared at him. ’You’re offering me the Holy Grail of publishing deals straight out of the gate... what’s the catch?’

"What exactly does this partnership entail on my end?" Ethan asked, his voice steady. He knew better than to believe in free lunches.

He wasn’t about to let his newly minted studio fall into a massive corporate trap just because the bait looked shiny.

"I’ll tell you my situation, and it will all make sense," Carter sighed, his tone dropping into something far more weary and unguarded. "I ended up managing this specific regional indie division because I lost an internal corporate power struggle back at headquarters. Our primary performance metric—our ticket up the ladder—is scouting and distributing high-quality, globally successful games from our assigned territories."

Carter let out a helpless, frustrated laugh. "I’ve been stuck in this position for five long years. In that time, I’ve gone from ambitious and hopeful to completely despairing. The market here has been stagnant."

He leaned forward, looking Ethan dead in the eye. "You are, without question, the most talented game developer I have seen during my entire tenure. If we can reach an agreement, my only request is that you seriously commit to making your next game a hit."

Carter’s strategy was transparent but brilliant. "As the current regional director, I have the executive authority to sign a long-term, ironclad contract with you on behalf of Steam. Even if someone else takes over my post later, they won’t be able to break it. I just need you to build another game. Obviously, the higher the quality, the better."

If Ethan agreed, Carter would hold two massive winning hands: the runaway success of Dead Cells, and Sprout Studio’s highly anticipated next project.

That leverage would finally give him the ammunition he needed to submit a transfer request, get promoted out of this dead-end division, and return to corporate headquarters.

"That’s it?" Ethan asked, looking at the executive with a slightly bewildered expression.

He knew the indie scene in this parallel world had been in a creative depression, but he hadn’t realized the drought was so severe that a high-ranking regional director was desperately plotting his escape.

Carter’s exhausted eyes seemed to scream: Do you have any idea what I’ve had to playtest over the last five years?

"That’s it," Carter nodded emphatically. "This arrangement benefits both of us. You secure a top-tier, twenty-year distribution contract with an unbeatable revenue split, and I finally get the metrics I need to leave this division."

"No problem," Ethan replied, a sincere, bright smile spreading across his face.

He didn’t hesitate for another second.

He had absolutely no reason to second-guess a deal this good.

The guy just wanted a promotion; how did that negatively affect Sprout Studio?

Getting a massive financial advantage handed to him on a silver platter was something anyone would love.

"Let’s draft the paperwork right now," Ethan said.

"Excellent. We can sign today, but I need to know a few specifics for the terms," Carter said, pulling a sleek tablet from his briefcase. "What genre is your next project, what is the estimated development cycle, and can a playable build be completed before the end of the year?"

Carter wasn’t trying to micromanage; he just needed concrete milestones to anchor the contract.

All he truly cared about was that Ethan was actually building something.

"The next game is roughly three months out from completion," Ethan answered calmly. "In fact, we could probably push out a second project before the end of the year if we scale up properly."

"Haha! I don’t know the first thing about writing code, but I trust your pacing completely," Carter laughed.

Honestly, given the staggering, multi-million-dollar revenue Dead Cells was currently generating, Carter already had enough leverage to request a transfer to a more prestigious department.

Securing Ethan’s future lineup was just an insurance policy.

As for the absurdly generous ninety-ten revenue split? By the time the higher-ups fully scrutinized the financial loss of that twenty-year lock-in, Carter would already be promoted and sitting in a different office.

It would be his successor’s headache to deal with. Did that bother him? Not in the slightest.

After the two finalized the specific milestones, Carter emailed the pre-drafted contract files directly to Ethan’s inbox. Carter had come incredibly well-prepared; every legal clause was perfectly structured.

Looking at the twenty-year lock on a ninety-percent revenue share, Ethan couldn’t help but feel a quiet sense of awe at the executive’s sheer determination.

He forwarded the PDF to Marcus Shaw and patiently waited in the office with Carter for the physical copies to be printed.

Out in the main bull-pen, Marcus received the file without knowing what it was. He routed it to the heavy-duty laser printer nestled in the corner of the open-plan office.

As the machine hummed and spat out the warm, freshly printed A4 pages, Marcus casually glanced down at the bolded revenue-sharing clause on the second page.

"Holy shit!" Marcus gasped out loud.

The printer was stationed in a high-traffic area, meant for everyone to use.

Hearing their co-founder’s sudden exclamation, several nearby developers popped their heads up from their monitors, looking over with curious expressions.

"Marcus, what are you looking at?" one of the junior animators asked, leaning over trying to get a peek at the document.

Marcus immediately slammed his hands down over the text. "It’s nothing! Get back to work, and stop snooping around confidential paperwork." He glared at the animator until the guy awkwardly retreated to his desk.

The printer continued to churn out the rest of the pages. Marcus stood there, gripping the slightly warm stack of paper, his heart hammering against his ribs.

He wasn’t entirely sure if this specific clause was under a strict NDA, but the fact that Ethan had casually asked him to print it meant his roommate trusted him implicitly.

But was this actually real? A ninety-ten split in their favor?! Steam’s legal department had to be completely out of their minds to sign off on something like this.

Marcus knew exactly who was sitting in the executive office with Ethan right now. It was Carter, the regional director for the platform.

Ethan had briefed him on the meeting that morning, casually mentioning that he had no idea what the guy actually wanted.

Looking down at the staggering numbers on the contract, Marcus felt dizzy.

If he hadn’t personally Googled Carter’s corporate profile beforehand and verified that the man in their lobby matched the headshot, he would have genuinely believed Ethan was getting scammed by a con artist.

Taking a deep breath to compose himself, Marcus gathered the two identical copies of the contract and carried them into the private office.

Ethan and Carter took the documents. Ethan only needed a brief, practiced scan of the pages before he uncapped his pen and smoothly signed his name on the dotted line.

"Mr. Vale, to a very happy partnership!" Carter said, his voice practically vibrating with excitement as he looked at the executed document in his hands.

The contract explicitly stipulated that Sprout Studio would release a new title before October of that year, and that it had to hit a minimum sales threshold of 300,000 units.

If they failed to hit that mark, the generous revenue split would be voided.

But if Ethan delivered—and Carter was absolutely certain he would—then Carter’s transfer out of this division was one hundred percent guaranteed by the end of the year.

"To a happy partnership," Ethan smiled, reaching out and shaking Carter’s hand firmly.

"I eagerly look forward to seeing your next masterpiece, Mr. Vale."

"You will."