Rise To Stardom - Chapter 204

Chapter 204: Peculiar Offer
(Minutes before the showcase…)

West Hall.

The hall where multiple indie devs passionately showed off demos of their unpublished game or a proof-of-concept of their brainchild to gamers and investors alike.

And on the rare occasion of them being lucky enough, they could even be opportuned to showcase their passion projects to a big publisher.

That said, actually getting these group of individuals interested in their products, now that was a different ballgame entirely.

If there was one trait all game devs knew that the average gamer typically shared with game publishers and investors, it was that they had an almost insatiable thirst for more, and more and more.

Perhaps, this thirst of theirs even rivalled the crowned kings of insatiable… webnovel readers… but that’s beside the point.

Whereas for the average gamer, it was hours upon hours of top-notch content, for investors and publishers, it was exponentially financial gains.

And for a start-up group of three high school dropouts; Otis, Theo and Phineas; all of whom had been tight-knit buddies since they were in middle school, they were really struggling to get anyone interested in their game demo.

Yet, as if to add salt to an already festering wound, the space allocated to them in the corner of the hall was so unfavorable, they might as well be obscure from the gamers and investors around.

“Guys. Was this a bad idea?” Otis, their leader, with his curly, brown e-boy hair and light-brown irises, his build on the slightly lanky side of an average build, commented hopelessly;

“No… but it might as well be if we’re not even getting any gamers or investors coming over…” Theo, with his short messy hair, pocketed his hands into his hoodie with a dispirited gaze in his misty-grey irises as he replied.

“Let’s not lose all hope just yet…” Phineas with his unruly, mop-styled black hair, held on to a sliver of hope as he leaned dejectedly into his chair, an almost defeated gaze in his sea-green irises.

The game the trio had created, was called, [FortMight].

It was a co-op hybrid tower defense-shooter and survival game where players banded together to fight off zombie-like creatures and defend objects with traps and fortifications they could build.

Having conceived the idea two years back under one of the many staircases of their high school while avoiding PE in their freshmen year, the group of friends had immediately began working on it that very same day.

In the course of developing the game though, they had realized how prospectively successful it could go on to be.

And so, with the seemingly, unrealistic joint dreams of also becoming the next Will Gates and Ella Musk, all three did the smart… or stupid thing, and dropped out of high-school.

Their parents and guardians, as one would’ve expected, didn’t take too kindly to their decisions and slowly, everything began to spiral out of control for them.

Developing the game became so much harder to say the least and at some point, all three realized that they needed huge financial support to really bring the game to the height of the vision they conceived.

First, they had tried taking on multiple-part time jobs, just to fund the project but they had soon realized, pretty quickly, that it wasn’t feasible.

As a result, they’d decided to request for financial aid via crowdfunding… but unfortunately, it didn’t pan out so well for them.

They too, ended up being among the many others on the platforms whose campaigns, didn’t bear any fruit.

It was almost as if no one saw the potential in the game that they saw and as a result, the trio of devs were forced to pivot and come up with another plan.

Games Con had been that plan.

In fact, it seemed to be the only concrete plan they’d been able to come up with.

This time, the trio had hoped to at least, meet an investor or a game publisher whom would be willing to take their chances with them.

However, reality was often, very disappointing and as of the moment, all three had a lost look on their tired, overworked features as they watched other indie devs like them, converse excitedly and passionately with gamers and investors alike from the little corner they and their booth were tucked in.

That was until a bespectacled young man with a nose mask on, walked over to them with a curious gaze on his features.

Soon he arrived before their booth, his intrigued gaze intently trained on one of their monitors as the trio’s pre-rendered game kept playing for more than three minutes.

“Cartoonish whimsicality with a stylized blend of realism… that’s cool, and distinct…” he soon muttered out loud, causing Otis’, Theo’s and Phineas’ already widened eyes of genuine surprise to widen even more.

For a few seconds, the trio couldn’t believe their eyes as the young man, casually picked up one of the controllers stationed atop the booth’s table and soon began playing the game.

A few minutes later, the guys watched in utter perplexity as the masked individual, effortlessly got the hang of the game without them even showing him the ropes.

As of the moment in fact, he was constructing what seemed to be a towering stack of woods and bricks to barricade himself from the swarm of zombies while healing his avatar and the AI-controlled companions.

“You guys made this?” the bespectacled young man soon inquired of the trio, pausing the game as he gazed at them in amazement.

“Y-y-yeah…” Otis stuttered in surprise at first and then added in a mix of pride and excitement;

“We did!”

To that, Theo and Phineas nodded similarly, joy swelling in their hearts as all three, stood up from their seats to gather around the masked man who replied enthusiastically;

“I like it. I like it a lot! It’s really fun and also plays quite well for a demo.”

No sooner had the bespectacled young man said that though, he suddenly checked his wristwatch and then stated, his tone turning serious and professional as he rummaged through his pocket;

“I have to be at the Main Hall for the showcase in a few minutes but, before I go…” the masked man handed over his card to each of them, subtly noting the trio’s names as he stared at their Games Con Passes angled around their necks.

“SpawnPoint Studios…” Otis, Theo and Phineas on the other hand, simultaneously muttered out loud as they read the back of the business card while the bespectacled man, gestured to them in a business-like demeanor;

“Look, you three have something special here with [FortMight].”

“It’s rough around the edges, sure, but the core idea? It’s got serious potential.” the prospective investor, spoke to the three who listened as he kept speaking, their attention rapt.

“So, here’s my offer— I’ll back you guys up with the necessary resources you need to really polish this to perfection…” the man offered.

“But in addition, you’ll need to work at my Studio, at least till you’re done polishing the game.” he added a clause that had the trio of indie devs, a bit wary.

“I hope you’ll consider my offer. I think it’d be worth your while.”

“But for now, I have to go. Call me if you’re interested.” the masked man, casually waved all three off as he quickly made his way out of the hall.

As the trio watched the receding back of the mystery man till he was out of sight, they all turned to face each other, equal parts excited yet guarded about the man’s offer.

Most indie devs in the gaming industry, knew clearly well that publishers and studios had pretty predatory contracts, one that Otis, Theo and Phineas, wanted to avoid at all costs.

However, at the very same time, they had finally met someone who seemed, just as enthusiastic about what they had made as they were and was willing to even take a chance with them.

“What to do…” Otis muttered out loud as he and his guys, kept staring at the business cards in their hand.

While pondering on that thought alongside his buds, Otis soon flipped the business card to the front and was utterly shocked to see the name engraved onto it!

Around that exact same time, Theo and Phineas had done the same, their eyes widening in a mix of shocked disbelief!

Glancing over to each other, all three, snappily recalled that Kyle said he was headed over to the Main Hall for the showcase!

Without a moment wasted, they hurriedly exited the West Hall, their legs taking the briskly to the Main Hall’s auditorium.

But by the time they had arrived there, the showcase was on the eve of commencing and so, they all found a few empty seats at the very back and waited for it all to be over.

And that, was how the trio of indie devs, found themselves before the mystery man whom had turned out to be Kyle Kestis, once more.

“Hey guys. So, what’d you say? Think you’ll be willing to take me up on my offer?”

“Yes. We will.” the trio of young guys in their late teens, each with a professional smile on their lips, responded with a resolute nod.

“Good. You won’t regret it.” Kyle clapped in excitement, after which he then introduced the trio to a curious Oliver, Carlos, Owen, Dahlia, Chase, Ariana and Sasha;

“Guys. Meet Otis, Theo and Phineas. I met them at the West Hall, a few minutes before the showcase.”

“They’ve conceived an idea for a game called [FortMight] and, judging from what I’ve seen of its demo, I believe it could be something really special.” Kyle added with a light smile, much to the curiosity of his employees who couldn’t wait for their CEO to share more deets about said game with them.