Since the decision has been made, Takayuki is ready to contact the distributor of the series directly, which is NHK Television Station. At the same time, he will also contact the current head of the Cultural Industry Revitalization Committee to facilitate the process, which will make it smoother.
Then Takayuki picks up the phone and first dials the number of the current chairman of the Cultural Industry Revitalization Committee.
The current chairman is a man in his fifties, a member of the cabinet, so naturally, his position is high, which also reflects the importance the Japanese government places on revitalizing the cultural industry.
At the same time, he has a characteristic of being easy to talk to.
In the political circle, he has always been approachable and humble, recommending many young talents with potential to take on key roles. His vision is excellent.
Takayuki's impression of him is quite good too. He was present at the first meeting and personally assured everyone there that he would do everything in his power to assist them in achieving their cultural dissemination goals.
Takayuki just dialed the phone, and the other party answered immediately.
"Hello, is this President Takayuki? What can I do for you?"
He is straightforward. As soon as he answers the phone, he can almost confirm that Takayuki must have some request, so he doesn't waste time.
Takayuki appreciates this straightforwardness and decides to be direct.
"Well, here's the thing. I have a creative plan, and it seems there's a popular legal drama recently. Are you familiar with it?"
"Legal drama... Oh, you mean the one on NHK? Of course, I know about it. I'm a fan of that series. It's well-produced. President Takayuki, are you interested in this series too?"
His tone sounds somewhat pleased, indicating that he might have guessed something already, but he waits for Takayuki to answer himself.
"I hope to produce a derivative game based on this series. However, I also have my own requirements. So, I hope you can contact the copyright holder of this series."
"No problem! This is within my responsibilities, and I will do my utmost to help facilitate this matter."
This cooperation was the focal point of the initial meeting, aiming for cross-industry collaboration within the cultural sector.
Filmmakers could produce movies based on popular dramas, animators could create animated series for certain toys, novelists could write derivative novels for other cultural industries, manga artists could draw derivative manga, and game developers could create derivative games.
Of course, not everyone is willing to help others at their own expense, so the government steps in to provide incentives.
When the weaker party, the government, gives money and resources, Takayuki provides a piece of land in the harbor district to build a skyscraper. Many materials for building the skyscraper were purchased through government agencies at cost price. Originally estimated to cost nearly 10 billion yen, it was slashed by over 20%, which amounts to over 20 million dollars, showing sincere intentions.
So, Takayuki is reciprocating the government's favor by accepting this skyscraper, which makes the deal mutually beneficial.
Even so, this matter still needs to be discussed. The chairman knows this, so he doesn't really expect too much cooperation.
But if there's such an opportunity, he will definitely do his best to cooperate.
"So, President Takayuki, what specific requirements do you have? Let me know first, and then I'll see if I can help coordinate."
Takayuki responds, "There are a few points. Firstly, we will only use the name of this series for the game, indicating that it's adapted from this series. However, I have my own ideas for the game's title. Secondly, all profits from the game will belong to us, but we can share the fame. If they want to develop similar games in the future, we can also provide assistance. Thirdly, we need to independently create the script, without using theirs. This can be considered a subplot of the series, with only some parts of the storyline related, but the main plot will definitely not be related to the series."
Takayuki's three requirements are aimed at ensuring his game's ownership and benefits.
He's reciprocating the government's favor but that doesn't mean he's willing to hand over most of the profits from such a unique game to them.
After hearing Takayuki's requirements, the chairman is somewhat hesitant.
These requirements are quite strict.
But facilitating such cooperation is not easy, and no one else has taken the initiative yet.
So, since Takayuki Entertainment is taking the lead, it might be better to give up a bit more of the benefits and set an example for others.
Thinking this way, the chairman nods and says, "It might be a bit tricky, but I will try my best to facilitate it."
If it were another commercial TV station, the chairman might have felt it was troublesome.
But this series is produced by NHK.
This television station is quasi-official and, although not directly under government jurisdiction, it doesn't rely heavily on copyright revenue or ratings, as they almost always have steady viewership. It's the most stable big brother among Japanese TV stations.
So, such a television station that doesn't particularly care about copyright revenue is easy to negotiate with.
Especially when the intermediary is the Japanese government, the chairman is quite confident that this matter can be negotiated successfully.
Since it's all settled, now Takayuki just needs to wait for good news.
He can use this time to gather an idle development team and prepare for the development of the new game project.
At the same time, he can do some early promotion.
The series is still very popular, and if the development cycle is half a year, by the time it's finished, the hype might have died down. It's obviously better to promote it now.
So, Takayuki contacts the publicity department and summons the idle Sixth Development Team for a meeting to discuss the outline of Ace Attorney and the parallel production of the life simulation game.
Developing both games simultaneously will test the abilities of the employees.
He also roughly explains the profit model of the life simulation game. The game itself is secondary; the important thing is the series of DLCs for the game.
The network for GS1 gaming consoles is already quite mature, and players are starting to buy games on the console's online store. However, at this time, players still prefer to buy physical copies, as it gives them a more tangible feeling.
The push for digital versions still has a long way to go, but DLCs for the life simulation game can help break the ice.