Parallel World Game Developer

Chapter 41: Chapter #41: The Shockwave

Even as the ink dried on the final signature, Ivan still felt like he was floating through a surreal, corporate fever dream.

The contract was officially sealed.

"Now that the paperwork is locked in, your upcoming titles will be strictly console-exclusive to our platform, alongside your standard PC distribution," Ivan said, looking directly at Ethan.

In all honesty, the current catalog of Sprout Studio games wouldn’t actually drive massive hardware adoption, even if they were immediately added to the Xbox Game Pass library.

They were phenomenal titles, but they weren’t massive system-sellers.

"If you don’t mind, I’d like to hear a lot more about Bloodborne," Ivan said, spreading his hands openly. "After all, I’m essentially betting my entire executive comeback on it." The gothic concept art had an undeniable, magnetic appeal, and Ivan was deeply fascinated by the project.

Ethan tilted his head, looking at the Xbox CEO with a faint glint of confusion in his eyes.

"Wait, rely on it for your comeback? Why would you do that?" Carter blurted out, equally bewildered by the comment.

Ivan stared at his oldest friend, completely dumbfounded. "Didn’t you just negotiate for the flagship launch title spot? How else am I supposed to secure a hardware launch?"

"I never said Bloodborne was going to be the flagship launch title," Ethan corrected calmly.

"Yeah, he literally never said that," Carter nodded in agreement.

A thick blue vein practically bulged out of Ivan’s forehead, and he clenched his hands into tight fists.

"Then what game are you planning to use?!" he demanded.

"We have exactly eighteen months before the next-generation console hits the retail shelves. What else do you possibly have in the pipeline besides Bloodborne?"

A gaming console wasn’t a smartphone; it wasn’t something consumers upgraded every single year.

A new hardware generation only cycled roughly once every five to seven years.

Before a new console launched, the marketing division needed a massive arsenal of gimmicks to drive hype.

They needed next-gen graphical showcases, shocking AAA blockbusters, or massive breakthroughs in competitive pricing.

If a platform holder didn’t have an absolutely phenomenal, exclusive masterpiece to compel gamers to buy in, the raw appeal of the plastic hardware was completely worthless.

"I already have the perfect answer for that specific launch window," Ethan replied, completely unbothered by the executive’s rising panic.

Since Ivan was officially a corporate partner now, wanting to know the granular details of the software pipeline was completely justified.

"If you want to know right now, I can only give you a single title," Ethan smiled. " Dark Souls."

Ivan honestly couldn’t remember how he left the luxury hotel suite.

He pressed a hand against his stomach, the bloating tension feeling like a blunt knife slowly carving into his flesh.

He had just spent an hour listening to Ethan meticulously break down the core mechanics of Dark Souls, and he had been entirely consumed by the pitch before he even realized it.

The moment he finally stood up from his chair, his entire body actually trembled.

"Carter... I finally understand exactly how he managed to brainwash you," Ivan muttered, leaning heavily against his friend for support as they walked.

"The concepts are absolutely incredible, right?" Carter beamed, looking at his exhausted friend.

Every single time he sat down to listen to Ethan pitch a game, he couldn’t help but fall completely under the designer’s spell.

There were simply too many groundbreaking, revolutionary ideas packed into the young developer’s head.

Sometimes, the sheer volume of rich, complex design information was entirely overwhelming.

Yet, whenever Carter raised a technical question, Ethan was able to instantly deconstruct the mechanics and clarify them with surgical precision.

"But why did you agree to his contract before he even pitched you the game?" Carter couldn’t help but ask. Knowing Ivan’s corporate personality, he was the furthest thing from a reckless gambler. If he was prone to making blind bets, he never would have climbed the corporate ladder to become a CEO in the first place.

"I didn’t believe in him. I believed in you," Ivan sighed, patting his oldest friend heavily on the back. "Carter, we’ve known each other for over twenty years. We’ve been friends since college. Just like you know how my brain works, I know exactly how yours works."

"The absolute second he demanded the flagship launch spot and you didn’t immediately shoot him down, I had already agreed to the deal in my heart." How did a genuine friendship survive the brutal corporate meat grinder for two decades? It required keeping pace with one another, maintaining a shared drive, and offering absolute, unwavering trust when the chips were down.

"The fact that you were willing to put him in front of me meant that you had fully vetted his ability. It meant that, in your professional opinion, he was perfectly capable of meeting my impossible requirements," Ivan explained. The two executives walked side-by-side down the quiet street. They had definitely eaten too much at dinner, and the slow walk was helping to settle the heavy meal.

"The only reason I pushed back and made the negotiations difficult for him was because my blind trust was reserved for you, not for him," Ivan said, glancing up at the sharp crescent moon hanging overhead. When they had first walked into the hotel, the sun was just beginning to set. Now, the night sky was pitch black, illuminated only by the silver moonlight.

"That specialized contract was the absolute largest financial concession I am legally authorized to offer during my tenure," Ivan sighed, spreading his hands in defeat. "But anyway, if this launch fails, I get fired, and the contract becomes completely void. I basically have no way out."

Early the very next morning, Microsoft and Sprout Studio jointly published a massive press release.

[Official Statement: Xbox and Sprout Studio have formally established a strategic partnership today.]

[Effective immediately, the current and future catalogue of Sprout Studio titles will be integrated into the Xbox Game Pass ecosystem. Furthermore, Nova will officially lead the flagship software launch for the next generation of Xbox hardware.]

The moment the press release hit the internet, it was like a massive boulder crashing into the stagnant waters of the gaming industry. The resulting shockwave was deafening.

[GoonSlayer99: wait did I miss a Chapter??]

[LoreMaster: Did someone just clip my memory? When the hell did Nova start talking to Microsoft?!]

[CasualScrub: the sheer scale of Sprout Studio’s growth is actually terrifying right now.]

[xX_Sniper_Xx: The sadist is an absolute legend!]

[Salty_Tears: There is no way Xbox just bet their entire next-gen launch on Bloodborne, right? Come on, you can’t evaluate a game based on one piece of concept art!]

[ConsoleWarrior: If Microsoft is actually putting their future in the hands of an indie dev, who is going to risk buying their new hardware?]

Given the sheer absurdity of the news, it was entirely unsurprising that millions of players were actively questioning the decision.

The Xbox ecosystem commanded a massive, global audience.

Across countless forums, fans were loudly expressing their outrage and skepticism in a dozen different languages.

"Ivan! Stop messing around! I absolutely refuse to clean up this catastrophic mess for you!" a furious voice screamed over the phone.

Ivan had already disabled his external corporate contact number.

Knowing exactly how the industry was going to react, he had aggressively shut down his mobile data and severed his public network connections.

Even with the blackout, he couldn’t avoid a secure internal communication ping from Microsoft headquarters.

"Lambert, this is still my active tenure, and I am the current CEO of this division," Ivan replied calmly, balancing the phone on his shoulder as he prepped a quick lunch in his kitchen.

If a corporate division was thriving, there was naturally zero need to frequently rotate out executive management.

But when a brand was bleeding market share, the board inevitably demanded fresh blood.

They always hoped the next guy in the chair could miraculously steer the sinking ship back to prosperity.

And Lambert was the executive officially poised to take Ivan’s job.

"You are making the situation infinitely worse! What the hell am I supposed to do after the board fires you?!" Lambert continued to yell.

He honestly didn’t believe he could save the Xbox division either, but he certainly didn’t want to inherit an even deeper, smoldering crater.

"Bullshit! I’m reporting this directly to the board! Just you wait and see, I am going to stop this contract!" Lambert screamed furiously before violently slamming the receiver down.

Listening to the dead dial tone echoing from the speaker, Ivan just curled his lip into a dry smirk.

"Good luck with that," he muttered.

"Who knows? Maybe the ecosystem is actually going to thrive in my hands. And if that happens, I’ll be keeping this office for a very long time, and you won’t even get a turn in the chair," Ivan said smoothly to the empty room.

He collapsed onto his plush living room sofa and pulled up the latest gaming news on his tablet.

He was currently reviewing the latest global sales metrics for Dead Cells.

Unless a genuine miracle occurred, it was mathematically guaranteed to sweep the Best Independent Game category at the TGA later that year.

But the absolute second he tossed his phone onto the coffee table, the piercing corporate ringtone flared up again. Glancing at the caller ID flashing across the screen, a massive, throbbing headache instantly bloomed behind Ivan’s eyes.

The blowback had arrived way faster than he anticipated, and this time, the pressure was completely real.

Blinking aggressively on his glowing phone screen was an incoming call notification from [Global Corporate Headquarters].

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