In early April, Diablo finally landed in Europe and America.
The English version of Diablo had actually been completed as early as February.
The reason it was delayed until March for sale in Europe and America was mainly to go through Sega's review process and to conduct promotions.
Sega had its own retail stores in Europe and America, which saved Pokeni Company a lot of money.
...
As soon as Diablo was released, it swept across the entire European market like a storm.
Sales in the first week surpassed 300,000, and in the first month, they reached an astonishing 600,000. At this rate, Diablo had a good chance of becoming Pokeni Company's first game to break the million-unit mark.
No, to be precise, including the sales in Japan, it had already reached the million mark.
Countless European players expressed that the game was incredibly fun.
"A very exciting game. Before Diablo, I never thought a real-Time combat game could be so enjoyable."
"This real-Time combat is completely different from the real-Time combat in side-scrolling games. Its strategic depth is deeper, the experience it provides is more intense, and the immersion is very addicting. As long as you are in the game, you can feel that invisible sense of oppression."
"The game is exceptionally well-made. Whether it's the special effects, the equipment, or the skills, they all give you the motivation to keep playing. Even now, I still remember the terrifying and scary sound of 'fresh meat' that came from the shadows the first Time I encountered The Butcher.
But it was really exciting.
Very cool!"
"This is probably the best and coolest game I'll play this year!"
It was clear that Europeans preferred the realistic style of Diablo, and the basic world view of the game itself was derived from Western myths and legends. It not only had demons but also archangels and humans... These were all elements that were easily accepted and loved by Westerners.
Coupled with Diablo's unique real-Time combat and skill combinations, it immediately became popular throughout Europe and America.
It can be said that this game had no real competitors in Europe and America this year.
...
"Hiss... Is Pokeni Company's Diablo really that popular in the European market?"
When he saw the data, Nakayama Hayao, the President of Sega, was still somewhat incredulous.
Aside from sonic the hedgehog, Sega hadn't produced such an impressive work in a long Time. At the current pace, Diablo breaking 1 million copies was only a matter of Time.
It might even break 2 million or 3 million copies.
Before the appearance of this game, although Sega had always pursued a strategy of attracting young users, it had not reached this level.
This Time, Diablo showed Nakayama a new possibility.
Fortunately, this game was released on the Sega platform, otherwise...
The consequences would have been unimaginable.
As of the beginning of this year, Sega GENS (the European version of MD) had sold over 16 million units in the European market, a number far greater than Nintendo's SNES (the European version of SFC), making it the undisputed market leader in Europe and America.
And now, with the popularity of Pokeni Company's Diablo, this data has been pushed forward a bit, which can be seen from the sales data of the American branch.
The success or failure of a game console is often not determined by the console itself, but by the game it carries.
Take MD for example, its performance was much higher than FC, and it was not inferior to Nintendo's newly launched SFC, successfully eroding a lot of Nintendo's market share, but it still failed to shake its dominant position in Japan. The most crucial point was that the number of excellent game on MD was far lower than SFC and FC.
Some game were exclusive to Nintendo, and you couldn't even snatch them.
...
Since Sega threatened Nintendo's position, the two companies have been at loggerheads, secretly competing. In the United States, Nintendo has its own branch, and Sega also has its own branch.
Their marketing strategies are also similar.
However, one focuses on children, while the other focuses on teenagers and adults.
So the feedback is that Sega is more mature and wild, while Nintendo is more fairy-tale and legendary.
The appearance of Diablo on Sega this Time caught Nintendo's American branch completely off guard, and for a Time, it was difficult to find a similar game to counteract and compete.
Under such circumstances, Randy Perezman, the Marketing Manager of the American branch, specifically wrote a detailed report on Diablo and sent it to Nintendo's headquarters.
The report pointed out that Diablo, with its groundbreaking real-Time combat design, highly infectious special effects and combat effects, and a background story very friendly to the West, successfully captured the hearts of players.
It suggested that Nintendo should also release a similar game, developed for the European market with a suitable background, to prevent all these players from being drawn away by the opponent.
The report subtly pointed out that—
Nintendo is a paradise for all children, which is correct.
But when children grow up, they flock to Sega.
This must raise an alarm. If Nintendo wants to remain invincible, it should cover all age groups.
Overall, it should achieve: what others don't have, I have; what others have, I have better.
After reading Randy's report, Hiroshi Yamauchi flew into a rage, "What kind of garbage is this? Such a bloody and violent game, what is it called, Diablo, a nonsensical name, can achieve such good results?!
What kind of primitive animals are Americans?!"
Everyone at the meeting was startled.
Including Miyamoto Shigeru, Saturo Iwata, and Gunpei Yokoi, among others.
...
Diablo's excellent performance in Europe and America was both unexpected and seemingly reasonable.
Many Japanese game companies had already started studying this game, and after it achieved success in Europe and America, many industry insiders sighed.
"Although I initially thought Diablo was a very powerful game, its reaction in the Japanese market was not as strong as I expected. It turns out the reason is here.
Diablo's entry into the European market was truly a brilliant move. This game seems tailor-made for European players."
"When I first played Diablo, there was a strong sense of incongruity, because the art style deviated too much from the aesthetics of Japanese people.
Even before this, there had been many game in the game industry with Western themes, but many of them incorporated localized elements.
At least in terms of art style, it was unique to Japanese people.
For example, fire emblem describes Western knight wars, a fictional world of magic and swords, but the visuals are still in our familiar Japanese manga style. Even final fantasy is primarily based on Japanese imagery.
Even game like Metal Slug, which clearly has a Western comic theme, also incorporates Japanese characteristics.
But Diablo's art style is very hardcore, so hardcore that you can tell at a glance that it's a game made by an American company.
But when you study it carefully, you find that this game was actually made by a Japanese company, and even the Producer himself has never been abroad, nor has he received much exposure to Western culture.
This sense of incongruity is something you can feel at first glance. At that Time, I thought that Diablo should not have chosen Japan as its initial release market.
I didn't expect that Pokeni Company's goal was indeed not limited to this. I have to say that Pokeni Company's President took a risky move.
But at the same Time, he possesses extraordinary talent and excellent foresight. Looking back now, Pokeni Company must have planned to enter the European market from the very beginning."
"It's truly amazing. Pokeni Company's creativity makes people feel despair, and even feel that this company has no bottlenecks or limits in terms of creation. The success of Diablo in Europe and America, I don't know if it can be replicated, but at least it let us know one thing—
Japanese people can also make game with a very American flavor.
Our vision should not be limited to the present, but should be more long-term.
game is the world, and the world is game."
...
"We're rich! We're rich! President, our game is going to be a hit!"
As soon as he stepped through the company's doors, HR-chan quickly came over to report the good news.
This guy's news was quite well-informed, directly making Kazuma Takahashi, the head of the marketing department who was preparing to report his work, completely flustered.
He looked up and blinked at Ayase Akane, indicating, 'Isn't this my job?'
"What is it?" Aoki Haruhi didn't pay too much attention, asking knowingly.
He smiled, then walked into the office and placed his briefcase on the table.
It was clear that he was in a great mood today.
Good news always lifts one's spirits, especially good news like Diablo selling so well.
"Diablo has, no, it should be called Diablo, sold over 600,000 copies in Europe and America!" Ayase Akane said seriously.
Her face was radiant, as if she had made the game herself.
However, as a member of Pokeni Company, having such pride truly makes one feel at ease.
HR-chan was no longer the young girl who used to count how much each person's head was worth.
What does this indicate?
It indicates that Pokeni Company is flourishing!
"Shouldn't it be?" Aoki Haruhi said casually, "Breaking through 1,000,000 is quite normal."
The Diablo of his previous life was only released in 1996, but in its first month, it managed to set a super sales record of 550,000 copies in Europe and America.
What's more, it is now 1992, directly forming a dimensionality reduction attack on all the game currently on the market.
Tsk tsk.
HR-chan muttered to herself—
The President's habit of boasting has returned.
As soon as he achieves something, his tail wags, he is truly too! Im! Mature!
...
After Diablo's massive success, Pokeni Company's cash flow immediately became much more abundant.
The game was priced at 69 US dollars in Europe and America, which, according to the current exchange rate, converts to 8738.85 Japanese Yen.
600,000 copies is approximately 5.24 billion Japanese Yen.
After deducting taxes, shipping and packaging costs... various expenses, and also 20% seigniorage taken by Sega (this is already much better than Nintendo, which takes 30% seigniorage), there is still a profit of nearly 3 billion Japanese Yen remaining.
Adding the income from Europe and America to the approximately 400,000 copies sold in Japan, Diablo has now brought Pokeni Company a profit of about 4 billion Japanese Yen.
This is simply great news for Pokeni Company.
It must be said that game is indeed a highly profitable industry.
This is just the first step; after Pokeni Company repays its bank loans, there will still be a surplus of 3 billion.
The remaining money is enough to do something big.
In the afternoon, Gen Urobuchi and Shinji Mikami arrived as scheduled with their new game proposal.
Aoki Haruhi couldn't help but frown deeply.
These two guys are truly men of action.
I originally intended to have Shinji Mikami take over diablo ii.
...
Aoki Haruhi helplessly took the proposal and flipped it open, seeing a large title on the first page—
"The Witcher"
Hiss...
Aoki Haruhi couldn't help but gasp.
His first reaction was—
Could these two guys have made The Witcher?
However, after a quick flip, he found that it was completely different.
Although both are The Witcher, in this game, the main theme highlights the centuries-long war of grievances between vampires and humans.
The game's background itself has a bit of a steampunk flavor, and the protagonist can use both cold weapons like swords and firearms.
However, this game is based on the foundation of Diablo, it is a 45-degree top-down plane game, still far from reaching the 3D effects of the future The Witcher 3.
The use of firearms is also similar to the archer in diablo, where skills can be used without needing to aim specifically, reducing the difficulty of operation.
Therefore, in an accurate sense, this should be considered an action game with shooting elements, but it is completely different from FPS and TPS.
Gen Urobuchi is a standard military enthusiast and firearm enthusiast; in his works, firearms are added whenever possible.
He used to hold back a bit, but with The Witcher, he completely let loose.
However, his writing is truly moving, with a tough, straightforward male flavor, a heavy sense of suspense, unexpected twists, and now it also possesses a certain depth.
It's truly captivating.
...
About an hour passed.
Aoki Haruhi finished reading their joint proposal and let out a subtle sigh.
It's not resident evil, nor puella magi madoka magica...
These two people created something outside of Aoki Haruhi's Cognition.
"So, what kind of game is this?"
"Shinji Mikami and I have recently been quite engrossed in vampire themes, and we had a sudden idea during a drink. What if we took the mechanics of diablo and made a vampire-themed game?"
"Mmm-hmm." Shinji Mikami nodded, "Actually, I had this idea when I was developing diablo, after all, diablo is a story with a more Western theme. I wanted to make a Japanese-style Western fantasy game with more action and combat feel, a real-Time game."
Real-Time game truly has a strong charm; after this category emerged, many things that were previously unimaginable became possible to realize.
After listening to their description, Aoki Haruhi folded his arms and thought carefully for a while.
Vampires, real-Time, diablo...
What kind of thing is this combined?
devil may cry?
Not quite, the stories are completely different.
Time has changed, and these two people are also a bit different from how Aoki Haruhi knew them.
Although Gen Urobuchi's story is quite frustrating, the multiple endings in this proposal, which give players the choice to decide, Aoki Haruhi found quite interesting.
Especially since the choices themselves have strong thoughtfulness and depth.
And the combat described by Shinji Mikami, although based on Diablo, has also undergone many changes, requiring higher action and greater difficulty in skill design.
In order to increase the enjoyment of the game, a lot of improvements also need to be made in terms of impact, otherwise it will be difficult to achieve the effect he wants.
These contents are not easy for the game development team.
The two of them looked forward eagerly, staring closely at the President's eyes, afraid that he would refuse outright.
About 10 seconds passed.
"Okay," Aoki Haruhi nodded.
To be honest, if the game proposal hadn't been so excellent, Aoki Haruhi wouldn't have agreed at all.
"This Time, Shinji Mikami will serve as the Producer."
"Huh?"
Shinji Mikami was stunned for a moment, seemingly not expecting the President to entrust such an important task to him.
Logically, Urobuchi Gen had led two galgames; wouldn't he be more suitable in terms of experience and talent?
"The reason I considered Shinji Mikami is because you handled Diablo until the end, and I rarely participated in the later production decisions. This game can hone a planner's comprehensive control over values, combat, visuals, and quality.
Based on diablo's performance, I think you did an outstanding job, which is why I entrusted this task to you.
What's wrong?" Aoki Haruhi raised his eyebrows, "Are you unwilling?"
"No," Shinji Mikami said, blushing as if flattered, "I will do my best."
Urobuchi Gen had no objections to this; as long as the script was his, that was fine.
His collaboration with Shinji Mikami was not the first Time, and there was a lot of tacit understanding between the two of them. This proposal was his script combined with Shinji Mikami's game design. From a coordination perspective, Urobuchi Gen himself also believed that Shinji Mikami was more suitable as a Producer.
After deciding on the production direction, Aoki Haruhi couldn't help but frown.
Although the company indeed needed to grow and needed new game, this proposal was quite good.
But...
In that case, the company would be short-staffed.
Aoki Haruhi couldn't help but worry about this.
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