Building a Game Studio: From Concept to Launch

After I decided to play The Last Of Us, I searched my memory to try and remember as many details as possible.

Considering it was one of the few games I remember 100%, I think I have a good reserve of details. But while I was thinking, I remembered a feature of the system that said it could transcribe an entire game in exchange for points.

Getting ready to "code" to get ahead as fast as possible, I decided to take a look anyway.

Transcribing memories

The Last of Us Part 1: 1000 System Points

Looking at the prize, I slumped back in my chair as I still had 0 system points since I hadn't received any missions. As I started to motivate myself to "code", a sound in my head stopped me.

System Information

As a translucent black screen appeared in front of me, I heard Mel's voice in my head.

~In order for the host to properly understand and begin his adventure, the system offers you a loan to transcribe the memories of The Last of Us Part 1. You'll need to return the 1000 points in credits to the system.~

When I heard Mel's voice, I was very excited to think that I wouldn't have to spend all night doing this, but then I realized that I had just put myself in debt to the system, so I asked her:

"Thanks for the help, but is there a time limit on paying off the system?" I asked aloud, even though I didn't have to.

~No, you'll pay it back when the time comes, thanks to the mission system.~

Thanking the system for its help, I selected the memory transcript from The Last of Us. After clicking on it, a 72-hour loading time began. On reflection, I realized that this in itself was quite real, considering that the system was extracting memories and migrating from the ps4 (remastered) version I remember to the full dive version with full graphics and immersion.

"If everything is ready in 72 hours, that's cheating when video game companies take several years to release a game," I exclaimed, Now I need a way to sell my game.

Thinking of a way to sell my game without spending a lot of money that I didn't have, I thought of a way to show streamers gameplay snippets, which I'm sure would be worth more than hours of arguing without any images. "Is it possible to provide a way for players to capture images, videos, or even streams?" I asked the system.

~The system software has that capability, it's just up to you to implement it.~

Reassured by what the system told me, and feeling a little stupid for forgetting that I could do things like that with the system's application, I started looking for potential streamer targets.

I switched to Twitch and spent a good part of the day watching streams, eventually selecting 2 streamers I found interesting.

The first one I selected was a streamer named Zerakor, a man in his 30s with a rather simple outfit, but who seemed to have a pretty tight-knit community with a very good stream atmosphere. The only drawback is that he has about 800 viewers, which might not fit into my budget, but I'm sure we can work something out by showing him some gameplay samples and some tickets.

And last but not least, I chose Hylia, a woman in her early twenties with a small face, long black hair, green eyes, and rather generous curves, but always well dressed so as not to show too much, which I really liked. Celle was streaming a simulator, but also playing some FPS games with friends, with an average of 150 viewers.

With the 2 streamers I found, I decided to take care of all the administrative tasks such as registering the company, creating the website, setting up Twitter, Instabram, Twitch and Steam accounts, and many other small adjustments during the 72-hour waiting period. Even though I thought I would have problems when I started the whole process, because I'm not "from here", everything was well done administratively and the AI of the system is really very complete.

I also had to reassure the landlord that I wouldn't be able to make the payment this month and if it was possible to pay everything next month. The landlord replied whether I had any problems or not, but after reassuring him about my professional life, he left me alone.

With only a few hours left on the clock, I came up with the name of my studio in homage to my first game, hoping it wouldn't get me in too much trouble. "Naughty Dog."

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Bonus : If we reach 100 Power Stones, I'll release an extra chapter on Sunday!

PS : If you liked the book, feel free to leave a note, it would be super nice to reassure those who come to the page :D