Hak Brown made a high-profile announcement that he had recruited over three hundred game developers, and he promised to give them the utmost freedom and financial investment. They would consider transitioning from focusing on physical industries to focusing on game software itself.
Their first field of entry was the personal computer gaming industry.
Before the release of GS1, Hak Brown's new company released their first game on the PC platform.
It was a first-person shooter game, which was very popular on the PC platform at the moment, and it was based on real-world World War II stories, specifically the Normandy landings.
This story can be said to be well-known in World War II history, with many people recounting it in movies, TV shows, and novels.
Especially in a world with a strong cultural industry like this one, there are even more cultural works of this kind.
However, the gaming industry had rarely touched on this story until now.
Hak Brown accurately seized this point, and also based on the collective suggestions of the developers, the three hundred employees developed this realistic first-person shooter game in half a year, with Hak Brown using the money from selling some stocks to buy the latest popular Unreal Engine ten-year license for development.
In this way, with over three hundred people and the world's strongest game engine, they developed such a realistic first-person shooter game in half a year.
This actually had a significant impact on players.
Especially players in Europe and America, who could deeply relate to this period of history.
In this historical period, they could experience the heroic deeds of their ancestors and feel a sense of belonging.
The first-person shooter perspective allowed players to personally experience this war story, which had a catalytic effect and quickly exploded in the US market.
The PC sales alone in the first week reached two hundred thousand.
Thanks to the openness of the PC platform, the production costs of physical copies were greatly reduced. Only a copy of the DVD disc needed to be copied at a disc factory for sales, and the most important thing was that no royalties needed to be paid to any manufacturers for game development rights.
Apart from the cost of disc production, all other income belonged to Hak Brown.
Then, he generously distributed all the money to his over three hundred employees, promising that aside from necessary expenses, he wouldn't take a penny, giving everything to his employees.
This was simply a rebellious act in the US market, which almost no other US company would do.
But because of this, Hak Brown immediately gathered a strong following in the US.
Subsequently, in the following weeks, the sales of this game remained at two hundred thousand copies per week. A month later, he boldly announced plans to enter other markets, especially high-consumption areas like Europe.
In this way, Hak Brown's new company began to establish a foothold in the personal computer market, with ambitions to expand globally.
As for GameStar Electronic Entertainment at this time, they continued with their routine promotional work and seemed to have no reaction to Hak Brown's rise.
At least for the time being, Hak Brown couldn't pose any threat to GameStar Electronic Entertainment.
Their focus was on the PC market, which was only a secondary pursuit for GameStar. Their main focus was still on game consoles.
Unless Hak Brown decides to develop game consoles again, GameStar wouldn't pay attention.
And it's possible that such a simple game developer will eventually release games on GameStar Electronic Entertainment's machines. After all, having an additional channel means earning more money, and at least for the time being, the two sides don't seem to be in a competitive relationship.
While GameStar focused on developing Final Fantasy 7, the promotion of GS1 never stopped.
Initially, GS1 only focused on promoting the performance of the console and the visual effects of playing games.
Just these two aspects of promotion were enough to attract many players.
Then, subsequently, GameStar Electronic Entertainment gradually revealed other exclusive features of GS1, further widening the gap between it and other corporate game consoles.
First, GameStar Electronic Entertainment focused on promoting the game controller in February.
This time, the game controller had dual joysticks and four shoulder buttons, greatly increasing the dimensional control of players through the combination of dual joysticks and shoulder buttons.
Other game console companies realized that besides game content, innovation on game consoles could also bring new breakthroughs to games.
The gyroscopes included in GBA cartridges were one of the inspirations.
This time, the dual joysticks gave game developers new inspiration.
Many developers who saw the dual joysticks for the first time were excited, and they instantly imagined many creative ideas for game development.
Then in March, GameStar Electronic Entertainment focused on promoting the console's disc drive.
Because this change in medium could save at least half of the production cost of game media, which was a boon for small and medium-sized game developers. Moreover, this time, GameStar Electronic Entertainment no longer restricted the manufacture of discs, beginning to delegate the production authority and encouraging other manufacturers to produce discs with only an authorization code.
As the gaming industry entered a new era, GameStar Electronic Entertainment's factories gradually couldn't keep up with the massive production of physical games.
Acting as an intermediary between various factories wasn't an easy task for GameStar Electronic Entertainment. They could spend that time researching game console development and making game development more efficient.
Moreover, discs themselves didn't require much technical expertise. As long as they cooperated with a few disc manufacturing factories, other game developers could directly approach these factories for disc production.
This measure was welcomed by many developers, as it saved them money, and even though it was a small gain, they were more motivated to develop games for the GS1 game console.
Apart from reducing the cost of disc production, this disc drive could also allow users to play DVDs and VCDs, essentially turning it into an audiovisual entertainment product.
This indirectly gave some players excuses to buy this product.
"Mom, Dad, I heard you want to buy a device that can play discs? Well, I happen to recommend this brand, their product is especially good."
"Mom, Dad, please trust my judgment, I can swear to you that it's absolutely worth it."
"No, no, I'm not doing it for myself, I'm doing it for the whole family. GS1 is definitely the best choice for you, Mom and Dad."