Game Developer in the World of Anime

Trying to get these brainless internet jokers to calm down would take way too long, so Ichin simply stopped looking at the comments under his post and started browsing through others instead.

That's when he spotted a comment asking when he would do a livestream again.

After thinking about it, Ichin replied under the comment:

> "Livestream? I'll probably do one in September to talk more about the game's content."

Once he responded, he put his phone away and turned his attention back to the Nintendo Direct.

Right then, the PV for Breath of the Wild 2 began. Ichin watched it carefully, but in the end, Nintendo proved themselves to be masters of teasing. Aside from a few snippets of in-game footage and some scenes using the Sheikah Slate mechanics, there wasn't much else.

Still no confirmed release date either—just a vague "late 2022."

Now at the end of August, Ichin figured the earliest possible release would be late November, though late December was more likely.

If things got really crazy, it could even get pushed to next year.

Delays were possible, of course—but this was Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2. No one was going to doubt its quality. That was a completely different story compared to Game Freak's situation.

After the PV ended, Ichin turned to Hazuki sitting on his other side.

"Hazuki, we can probably start planning a livestream next month. On Monday, let's set up a meeting with the voice actors. We'll start with the four leads we've already revealed—keep the rest of the cast under wraps for now."

Hazuki smiled and nodded. "Got it. No problem."

Half an hour later, Nintendo's first-party titles and indie game announcements wrapped up. Under the cover of night, everyone left the office and headed home to rest.

That night's game reveal had been a big success. The standalone Persona PV uploaded to YouTube racked up nearly 2,000 likes in just over thirty minutes—initial promotional efforts were clearly off to a strong start.

With the weekend ahead, everyone could finally enjoy a couple of well-earned, stress-free days.

After driving home and taking a shower, both Ichin and Utaha were completely exhausted.

Lying in bed, Utaha yawned and said, "Ichin, today really was a strong start, huh?"

"Yeah, definitely," Ichin replied, tired but even more elated. "It's the result of almost a year of hard work from the whole team. We've earned the players' praise and anticipation—but we can't let our guard down yet. The game's not even finished. The next year will be even more critical."

Ichin was deeply thankful for his strong learning ability. Otherwise, juggling game development and university would've been almost impossible.

So, his next goals were clear: continue developing the game steadily, promote it on a regular basis—and, most importantly, secure his recommendation to enter the University of Tokyo by the end of the year.

As the night passed, Persona's popularity continued to rise steadily, both domestically and overseas.

Even though the music used in the PV was instrumental with no vocals, it was still clear that the soundtrack had been crafted with care.

By Sunday, the PV Ichin had uploaded on Bilibili had surpassed 2 million views. On YouTube, the video also broke the 1 million mark, with over 10,000 likes.

The response was far beyond what Ichin had expected.

Sitting in front of his computer and watching the numbers climb, Ichin felt genuinely happy—but at the same time, the pressure started to mount.

The hype was building fast, and if the final product couldn't meet players' expectations… the consequences would be brutal.

The cautionary tale of Cyberpunk 2077 was right there in front of him—a lesson Ichin had no intention of forgetting.

But thankfully, when it came to Persona's development, Ichin had always maintained complete control. Even when there were changes, they were all optimizations built on the existing foundation to make the game even better.

He picked up the calendar from the table and flipped to the page for September.

The first day of school was circled in red, and Friday, September 5th, was also marked—this would be the night of their first promotional livestream following the game's reveal.

Aside from hosting their own livestream, Nintendo also planned to release several Direct presentations over the next few months, and Persona would be featured with new content in those as well. All of this needed to be prepared in advance.

"This is nothing like the last two games. Being a large-scale title means the marketing alone is a whole different level of effort…"

Rubbing his temples, Ichin realized once again that he was much more suited to development work. Once the marketing workload ramped up, it really started to wear him out.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

Someone had come to visit.

Before Ichin could even get up, Utaha, who was brewing coffee in the kitchen, walked to the entryway.

Peering through the peephole, she saw that their guest was none other than Yukinoshita Haruno.

When she opened the door, Haruno smiled and waved. "Good morning, Utaha! Is Ichin home?"

"Good morning, Haruno-san. Ichin is here, come on in."

"Hope I'm not intruding~~"

Haruno stepped inside and handed over the pastry box she was carrying. "Here, I picked these up from a new pastry shop. The donuts are really good."

"Thank you."

Utaha smiled as she accepted the box. She was about to go call Ichin when he walked out of his room.

"Haruno-san?"

Seeing that the guest was Yukinoshita Haruno, Ichin looked surprised. "What brings you here today?"

It was the tail end of summer vacation. Ichin was finally getting a couple of days of rest, but Haruno had been working nonstop at her family's company since the start of summer and had hardly taken a break.

If she had been free earlier, she definitely would've joined Yukino and the others on their trip.

Haruno looked at Ichin and said, "Why? Not welcoming your shareholder?"

As soon as she said that, Ichin immediately understood—she was here to check in on the freshly revealed Persona project.

Utaha brought out the freshly brewed coffee, just enough for everyone to have a cup. Combined with the donuts Haruno brought, it was the perfect setup for a relaxing conversation.

"Thanks, Utaha."

Taking a sip with a smile, Haruno said, "Even though I was working overtime Friday night, I still watched the livestream. The trailer's reception really exceeded my expectations. If you can maintain that level of hype, the game's pre-orders will definitely be impressive."

Opening the box of pastries, Ichin picked out a chocolate donut, took a bite, and smiled. "That's what I'm thinking too. But as for pre-orders, I plan to hold off a bit longer. I'm aiming to launch them in October, once the second PV goes live."

Pre-orders were definitely happening. Originally, he had considered launching them alongside the game's reveal, but decided to wait and see how the response turned out.

Now that the results were in, pre-orders could absolutely go ahead. After two livestreams and the release of PV2, everything would be ready to launch.

...

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