Video Game Tycoon in Tokyo

Before Gamestar Electronic Entertainment was ready to launch their own Switch, the Morgan Group made a very high-profile announcement: they would be entering a deep partnership with Gamestar on VR technology. Takayuki himself would be releasing his very first VR game on a VR device spearheaded by Morgan Group.

Thanks to Morgan Group's sheer "money power," they were able to develop a high-performance, high-quality VR device in just a few months—one that could rival the company that had first launched a commercial VR product.

Sometimes, having a lot of money really is terrifying.

By Takayuki's estimate, Morgan Group was about the size of what Microsoft was in the original world—a company that, by 2022, could casually spend nearly $70 billion in cash to acquire a game studio.

Most companies, no matter how big they look or how massive their market cap is, usually don't have that kind of cash on hand. Their actual liquid assets often pale in comparison to their $100 billion or even $1 trillion valuations.

Of course, that doesn't mean those companies are reckless—each one just has its own strategy. Some are simply more conservative.

Morgan Group was one of those conservative types. Steady and methodical. As long as Lorenzo was in charge, they avoided major risks. Even when entering a new field, if early signs were negative, they'd pull out immediately without pushing forward blindly.

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This time, their VR investment could already be considered a bit of a calculated gamble.

Part of their success came from Morgan's own deep pool of talent.

Internally, it took Morgan Group less than a month to build a fully functional VR device.

Most of the remaining time was spent refining it and building out the surrounding VR ecosystem.

This reminded Takayuki of how, in the original world, Microsoft had managed to reverse-engineer a game console capable of emulating PlayStation 2 games within just a few weeks when competing with Sony.

That kind of talent pool isn't something your average company could match.

Updat𝓮d from freewēbnoveℓ.com.

With money and a vast reservoir of skilled people, it was no wonder Morgan Group became such a powerhouse.

This time, they also had a powerful ally: Takayuki.

He chose to release his first VR title on Morgan's device.

Gamestar's own VR hardware wasn't ready yet, and Takayuki wasn't in any rush. He wanted to test the waters first by releasing his game on someone else's machine—to see if this world was truly interested in VR.

If the interest was there, Takayuki had a whole slate of VR game concepts ready to go.

Morgan's bold announcement soon drew the ire of the company that had released the first commercial VR device.

At first, they openly mocked Morgan Group and Gamestar.

They claimed the two didn't understand what "true VR" was, saying they were clinging to outdated ways of thinking while facing a new era of technology.

That company believed VR should be used to build an entirely virtual world.

To their credit, they had produced a few relatively polished VR experiences—enough to surprise and impress those still unsure about VR. Many had already begun to praise them as a rising star of the new era.

Buoyed by the hype, the company began to look down on the newcomers entering the VR race.

In their eyes, they were the new Mikfo.

Mikfo had once dominated the smartphone market through sheer visionary power—they believed they could do the same in VR.

As for Gamestar? Just a game studio.

Morgan Group? Just some rich guys.

Their mockery created a lot of buzz. Sensationalist journalists picked up the scent and ran wild with it, hyping it up as a clash between the old and new eras.

In their narrative, Morgan and Gamestar represented the past, while the upstart VR company symbolized the future.

Both Gamestar and Morgan Group chose not to respond. They focused entirely on developing their products.

Morgan continued to optimize its VR hardware.

In Takayuki's opinion, the hardware was impressive—but like the first wave of VR gear, it was too expensive.

Morgan, being flush with cash, initially priced it at over $1,700.

At such an early stage, when the product's future was still uncertain, that kind of price tag would scare off most buyers.

But whether the product would sell or not wasn't Takayuki's concern. He only wanted to release one game and exchange some tech knowledge with Morgan in return.

In early June, just a month before the Switch launch, Morgan's VR product finally went on sale.

After some consideration, the final price was reduced to around $1,500, though it was still far from affordable for the average consumer.

At launch, the platform only had a single game—Takayuki's.

Spending that much money for just one game obviously wasn't worth it for most people.

But Morgan didn't seem particularly worried. They had ample cash flow and weren't chasing short-term profits.

If this generation flopped due to high costs? No problem—they'd wait for the next one. With their ambition, and under the firm leadership of current CEO Davis, they were prepared to push out three to five generations before deciding if VR could really become mainstream.

Even though it wasn't destined for mass adoption just yet, Morgan learned a valuable lesson from Gamestar—the power of on-the-ground, local promotion.

Since they already expected slow sales, they decided to deploy demo units to department stores and entertainment venues across the country, allowing people to try the product for free. It was basically a loss-leader strategy to maximize the visibility and value of this first-gen device.

Better to let people experience it than to let the product collect dust in storage.

At the same time, Takayuki gave Morgan Group a clever idea to boost the product's visibility:

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At a department store in the U.S., a huge promotional banner was set up:

"Legendary business tycoon Lorenzo will appear in person to showcase the next-generation VR product! All interested attendees are welcome to come see—and maybe even buy!"

This was Takayuki's idea. In the U.S., Lorenzo was a household name. He represented a new-age American spirit and was idolized by academics and elites alike.

Just getting a chance to meet him—let alone speak to him—was a big deal.

So when the retired Lorenzo decided to promote the VR device in person, it immediately drew massive public attention.

On the day of the demo, the department store was packed wall to wall.