After arranging a suitable time, John met Steven at the restaurant inside PixelPioneers Games. Contrary to the rumors circulating throughout the industry that Steven was arrogant and difficult to approach, the moment he saw John, he warmly stepped forward and gave him a hug.
"This place has a wonderful atmosphere. It reminds me of the early days when Power Storm was just getting started," Steven said as he removed his hat, revealing his smooth bald head. Looking around the offices of PixelPioneers Games with obvious admiration, he continued, "Back then, we rented space in a shared office building. Not only our employees but dozens of other companies worked there as well. Every day felt exciting. New ideas were constantly being born, and every morning felt like the beginning of another adventure."
John paused slightly while holding his coffee. Although it sounded like praise, something about the comparison felt oddly uncomfortable.
"The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim is truly an incredible game," Steven continued enthusiastically. "The freedom it offers players, the structure of its quests, and the way its narrative unfolds make you feel as if you're genuinely living inside that world. And Metal Gear Solid: The Phantom Pain was equally impressive. The cinematic presentation, especially the extended tracking shots and the way scenes are choreographed through depth-of-field and camera movement, was breathtaking. It's one of the finest examples of visual storytelling I've seen in a game."
To John's surprise, Steven was exceptionally enthusiastic. The moment they sat down, he launched into a series of compliments without hesitation.
"The performance of Epic Continent was also remarkable," John replied politely. "The amount of effort invested into developing each character left a strong impression on me. I learned quite a few things from it as well."
Steven smiled. "To be honest, I already wanted to meet you when Metal Gear Solid: The Phantom Pain was released. Last year, I originally thought Epic Continent would win Game of the Year based on its overall performance. But I have to admit that The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim completely surprised me."
He paused before continuing. "And the storytelling techniques you used in Metal Gear Solid: The Phantom Pain actually forced me to rethink parts of Epic Continent 2, which was already in development at the time."
Steven leaned forward slightly. "I'm genuinely happy that a game like Metal Gear Solid: The Phantom Pain exists. You're an exceptional game designer, John. I look forward to competing against you in the future. Although it's a bit unfortunate, we probably won't get the chance to face each other this year."
Originally, John had thought the industry's rumors about Steven were exaggerated. But after hearing those words firsthand, he suddenly realized the rumors weren't entirely baseless. Why did every sentence sound so overwhelmingly confident?
While Steven continued speaking enthusiastically, John's thoughts wandered elsewhere. After spending an entire day touring PixelPioneers Games and discussing game development, Steven finally departed in high spirits, thoroughly satisfied with his visit.
That evening, after filling the dog's bowl with food, John recounted the day's events.
Luna looked genuinely puzzled. "He traveled all the way here just to chat with you and shower you with compliments?"
"It seems that way," John replied helplessly.
Initially, when he heard Steven wanted to meet him, he assumed Power Storm was interested in discussing some sort of business partnership or strategic cooperation. But as the day unfolded, it became clear that Steven had come entirely on his own initiative. Just as he had said, he simply wanted to talk.
"But there's one thing I can definitely say," John added while loading dishes into the automatic dishwasher. "He's an incredibly talented developer."
After spending an entire day discussing game development philosophies and production techniques, John had gained a deeper appreciation for Steven's abilities. Many of Steven's insights were genuinely inspiring.
Of course, throughout most of the conversation, John relied heavily on knowledge from his dream memories. If he had depended solely on his own experience, there would still have been a considerable gap between himself and someone like Steven.
"Warcraft?" Luna asked curiously as she glanced at the unsaved design documents on John's laptop. "Is that your next project?"
"That's right." John reopened the dishwasher, carefully rinsed the already-clean dishes one more time, and placed them inside the sterilization cabinet.
At the same time, under the hopeful gaze of the dog, he picked up the freshly washed bowl, ran water through it thoroughly, and returned it spotless. The dog immediately stuck out its tongue and began licking the bowl. A moment later, it let out a disappointed whine as every trace of food flavor was gone.
While the dog mourned the disappearance of its dinner's lingering taste, Luna continued reading through the Warcraft design documents.
"An RTS game?" she asked. "Something similar to Red Alert?"
John sat down beside her on the sofa and shook his head. "Not exactly. Red Alert focuses more on entertainment and spectacle. Warcraft will lean much more heavily toward competition and strategic depth."
He smiled. "And RTS won't actually be the only core element."
Luna raised an eyebrow.
Over a decade after release, Warcraft III still maintained hundreds of thousands of active players worldwide in John's dream memories. Considering how outdated its graphics, physics systems, and technology eventually became, such longevity was almost unbelievable. Yet Warcraft III had achieved precisely that. The reason wasn't merely nostalgia, its greatest strength was the game itself.
And more importantly, its revolutionary map editor. The editor allowed creators to transform the game into almost anything imaginable.
RPG adventures.
Tower defense games.
Arena battlers.
Simulation titles.
Custom strategy games.
Even FPS projects.
The only limitation was the creator's imagination.
"That sounds somewhat similar to the modding community for The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim," Luna commented thoughtfully.
John coughed lightly. "Not quite. The situations are very different."
Originally, when developing the modding tools for The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, John had hoped creators would use them much like Warcraft's map editor, completely transforming gameplay experiences and creating entirely new worlds.
Reality, however, proved somewhat different. Although the tools were incredibly powerful, many creators preferred using them to modify character appearances rather than fundamentally redesigning gameplay systems.
Of course, there were still plenty of talented creators producing large-scale gameplay overhauls and content expansions. However, Skyrim itself was an enormous and complex game, so most mod creators worked purely out of passion.
Even though PixelPioneers Games regularly held community voting events and provided financial rewards to outstanding creators, those incentives alone weren't enough to support every ambitious project.
According to incomplete statistics, there were already well over one hundred thousand Skyrim mods worldwide. More than forty thousand of them had been uploaded to the official community platform alone.
Yet the overwhelming majority remained appearance-related modifications. Many players seemed remarkably enthusiastic about downloading mods that made Naoko look more attractive.
John could only smile helplessly at that reality. Then again, after giving it some thought, he quickly understood. After all, who in the world could completely resist beautiful character designs?