Game Dev: 34 - Deals

Gabe decided to go with the city government first, as that had a higher priority.

From the moment he met Wilson, it was clear that the city was taking him seriously. Wilson even showed Gabe how the sponsorships were for the other Developers, who normally received exclusive contracts from the city with a maximum bonus of $300,000 a year, whereas for Gabe he was getting a bonus of $200,000 to maintain Sandstone Bay 1 month advance on games for other cities.

That may seem like a short time, but considering that in a month it is possible to raise a Player from Rank F to Rank E if the Player is talented or if the game is very good, having a month's head start compared to other cities is a no-brainer. a huge plus for Sandstone Bay.

Especially considering that Gabe's games had an even greater advantage than other cities' games, since because of the fear that Players felt while playing, it was possible to increase that Player's shooting skill to Peak Rank F just by playing Residual Devil.

Of course, the only shortcoming of this is the Player's Maximum Mana which has to be improved more slowly, which would leave this Player at Peak Rank F for longer, despite having very good combat skills.

But considering it from a city management point of view, it was already a huge strategic advantage to make Gabe games 1 month ahead of other cities.

One of the questions Wilson asked Gabe was how Gabe intended to release the next games, if he intended to release the full games or if he intended to split the games into chapters like he was currently doing.

"I'm not really sure about that yet, but my intention is to develop the games to launch and complete experience for Players. But nothing is set in stone yet." Gabe responded with his intentions but made it clear that he was open to suggestions.

When Wilson heard this he got really excited.

"I think we can handle this in a way that we can both benefit from. How about I can increase city sponsorship for you from 200k to 400k if you want to keep releasing the games as chapters in Sandstone Bay, and the 30 days after the game is ready we will help you distribute this to at least 3-5 neighboring cities so Sandstone Bay Players can continue to get their games early while our 30 day deal will be maintained for other cities." Wilson explained. "You know that transport between cities is difficult, getting transport from games to 3-5 cities is already a huge amount, not even Rank E Developers get this kind of treatment, while only some genius Rank D Developers have the possibility to something like."

When Gabe heard this proposal he was very tempted.

Considering that it could speed up the speed at which he received Mana from Sandstone Bay Players while helping him grow in the long run, it would be a great help for his future, as well as helping the city a lot.

After agreeing to this, Wilson quickly edited the contract he had shown them earlier to match their proposal, this contract had a duration of 1 year.

If Gabe manages to become a Developer Rank E before 1 year, the contract could be canceled or traded again so that the values ​​match Gabe's value.

Before signing, Gabe sent a copy of the contract to Mr. Brown and asked him if he was okay with that.

After confirming the professor, Gabe signed the contract without much concern and Wilson quickly called the two security guards if they would be responsible for protecting Gabe.

To Gabe's surprise, the two security guards were C-Rank Players, which made it clear to Gabe how much Wilson valued his talent and made him understand that the bonus he received was not where the money was actually deposited, but in the accounts of these players. two Rank C Players who probably had millionaire salaries.

'That's not bad…' Gabe thought with satisfaction, as he'd rather spend most of his money on security than save money for a few months and die suddenly.

In addition to the two security guards, Wilson also provided an armored car.

Looking at the car that looked like a BMW X8 from his otherworldly memory, Gabe was quite satisfied.

Despite being an armored car, this car's engine was much more powerful than most sports cars available on the market, and the license plate with the black background showed that this was a government car, which in itself already it would be a huge help in some situations.

That was the main reason Gabe came to Wilson first instead of dealing with Sandstone Bay Television first, as he figured he'd have a car to drive out of here directly.

With that car with the black license plate, Gabe had a much easier time getting into Sandstone Bay Television and sorting out everything he had to deal with the people there.

The deal wasn't much different from what Gabe wanted, keeping it at $40,000 per episode broadcast on television, with each episode being no more than 2 hours in length.

Comparing just the monetary part of this deal, this was much more lucrative than the deal he made with Wilson, as in just 5 episodes he would get the 200k that Wilson promised he would get annually, but that was just considering while Gabe was a Developer Rank F.

When Gabe became a Developer Rank E this value would also be updated, as for the agreement with SBT, this value would hardly be changed, since the number of spectators in Sandstone Bay was limited.

But it was a good way to get some quick cash, and it opened up possibilities for him to get deals in other cities as well, which would earn him some more money for every game he developed in the future.

After all of that was taken care of, Gabe decided to head back home.

"Donovan, let's go home." Gabe said as he got into the back door of the car.

Chase Donovan was one of two Bodyguards Gabe had been given by Wilson, a tall, muscular man who had few words. The other Bodyguard was called Brock Steele, he was more relaxed, as he made a few jokes from time to time as they drove through the city, but Gabe noticed that despite being joking and having fun, the man was always aware of his surroundings, which was shown whenever they passed a Player carrying a gun in the city and Steele was alert with his attention focused on that Player that Gabe hadn't even noticed.

As both of them were already C-Rank Players, they already had more useful abilities than just physical enhancements, with Donovan having developed cryomancy and Steele pyromancy, abilities that would theoretically weaken each other, but due to the teamwork they had, it made those abilities complemented each other well, while one controlled the terrain and slowed enemies down, the other dealt devastating damage with fire.

"Yes sir." Donovan responded respectfully as he closed Gabe's door and climbed into the passenger seat.

Steele who was already sitting in the driver's seat heard what Gabe said and started driving as soon as Donovan sat down.

"Back to the previous topic about your powers, how long did it take for you to develop this?" Gabe asked curiously, as these were the first Rank C Players he had met.

Before Donovan opened his mouth to respond, Steele smiled as he explained. "As I remember it took about 2 years to get my pyromancy."

"And how many Mana Units did you need for that, do you remember?" Gabe asked.

Hearing Gabe's question, Steele made a thoughtful expression as he tried to remember. "I think around 20,000 to 40,000 Mana Units, I can't remember for sure."

Hearing this, Gabe became thoughtful. Considering the average Mana of a C-Rank Player is 100 to 200 Mana Units, with Peak C-Rank going up to 250 Mana Units and the minimum being 51 Mana Units from someone who just became C-Rank, really it's understandable that it takes so long.

Thinking of the ability to control metals that Gabe intended to get from Residual Devil, he understood that if he really learned that and trained to use that ability well, he would probably raise his strength to close to that of a C-Rank Player, which showed the great different between a Developer and a Player.

Fortunately for the Players, they only needed Mana Stones to redeem game objects, as the objects needed the mana to be injected in a short time, training skills only needed the Player to play the game, and learning new skills needed the Player to inject his Mana into the game gradually, being able to do this over the course of days, months or even years, but this kind of skill was only possible to learn for D Rank games, or maybe some games made by very talented E Rank Developers, but something that has not appeared for many years.

For that, Gabe already had a rough idea of ​​what game he would make next, it was a game that won the Game Awards, with some useful powers for players, some simple spells that even Rank E players could learn, some weapons of ranged weapons that could help Players practice marksmanship, as well as many melee weapons for Players to practice.

Probably this game's improvement for Sandstone Bay would be even greater than Residual Devil, as it could improve a much wider range of Players than the previous game, which was only focused on firearms.

This idea was already being mentally developed by Gabe for a few days, but he still hasn't started to truly develop this game since he was focused on finishing Residual Devil and becoming a Developer Rank E, which according to his plans would happen in a short time. .

'With the next game decided, everything will be easier… hehe.' Gabe thought with a smile as he remembered the game's white-haired protagonist and thought it would be so much fun to see the Players' reactions while playing it.