A Returner’s Successful Investment Method - Chapter 621
Only Krnovel
Episode 621. freedom of expression (1)
CEO Matt Cooper came to the entrance and warmly welcomed us.
“welcome.”
“long time no see.”
“How have you been?”
We met for the first time in a long time, exchanged pleasantries, and then received a report in the conference room.
Mephisto 5 has finished development.
The closed beta service has been successfully completed, and now it is just about to be released. Ice Storm raised gamers’ expectations by releasing a trailer and holding several events.
Sunwoo asked.
“The trailer was really good. “Where was it made?”
CEO Matt Cooper smiled and nodded.
“This is Stem House. “It is a place we have had a long-standing relationship with.”
Seonwoo nodded.
“ah! “I know.”
Because game development is such a huge task, it is difficult to handle everything within the company. Therefore, many tasks are commissioned to outsourced production companies.
Stemhouse is the largest game animation production company in the United States.
In addition to Ice Storm, this is a place that receives outsourcing from various game companies.
Sunwoo and CEO Matt Cooper began inspections for the release of Mephisto 5.
* * *
I changed a lot of things compared to the first time. Ice Storm is one of them.
Ice Storm, which should have originally been acquired by NS along with MaxVision and Queen.com, was acquired by SW Games, and the CEO was changed to Matt Cooper, known as the God of RPGs.
When a company changes like this, the games it comes out with also change.
Although it follows the same timeline as the first release, many changes have occurred in the details of the game.
And just a little change in the game can greatly change the fun the user feels.
The grotesque, cosmic horror-like graphics, Hack and Slush’s cheerful combat and striking feel, and class-specific features and level scaling also received rave reviews.
Above all, as a god of RPGs, what I paid most attention to was the story.
Conversations between characters were enriched and plausibility was strengthened, allowing users to become more immersed in the game.
Of course, it is not without its shortcomings, but this will be enough to erase the stigma of the previous work and meet the expectations of users.
I looked at the reaction of the gaming community.
-Mephisto 5 is finally being released.
-Shouldn’t you have made it sooner?
-I was so mad when I saw that they released an outsourced mobile game instead of releasing Mephisto 5.
-I am a person who was present at the scene during the Nimphone incident. When he heard that you didn’t have a phone, he was about to hit you and say you’ll never play Mephisto again, but when he heard that 5 was coming out, he jumped up in a huff. I guess I can’t help it, I’m a stomper~
-I participated in the closed beta, and it is completely different from 4, which was a disaster.
-I trust you once more!
-As expected, Matt Cooper!
-Oh oh! Kang Seonwoo!
As expected, it was full of expectations and favorable reviews.
But one strange article caught my eye.
[I found something strange in the Mephisto 5 trailer. Everyone, please take a look and tell me.]
I was surprised when I read it.
“uh! what’s this?”
Sunwoo asked me.
“what’s the matter?”
“Take a look at this.”
Sunwoo looked at the monitor.
Then he was as surprised as I was.
“omg! This is crazy… … .”
* * *
The name Ice Storm has a special meaning to gamers.
Because they released several games that went beyond just fun games and could change the game of the industry.
Although it was once praised as the best game company, it suffered a deep recession in recent years and was eventually separated from MaxVision and Queen.com and acquired by SW Games.
Until then, gamers were uncertain about Ice Storm’s future.
However, after the release of Overclock 2, these concerns were completely washed away.
Due to the huge success of Overclock 2, Ice Storm was evaluated as being completely revived, which led to interest in Mephisto 5.
As if to prove this interest, when the Mephisto 5 trailer was released, it reached 30 million views in just a few days.
However, several people pointed out something strange about the trailer.
-When I use magic, my index and middle fingers suddenly bend like hooks. What are those?
-The hand holding the knife also has its index and middle fingers shaped like hooks.
-Why are your fingers so awkward?
-huh? His hook finger also comes out at 3 minutes and 23 seconds.
-What is this? Is it an easter egg?
-uh! Isn’t that a neo-Nazi gesture from Mad Men? You’re making a Hakenkreuz shape with your fingers.
-What is Mad Men?
-The largest neo-Nazi site in the United States.
-LOL, what kind of bullshit are you talking about?
-How could you end up with fingers like that?
-I guess I got in there by accident. I don’t know why everyone is so sensitive.
-Let’s not force a fun game like this.
-It’s nothing special, why are you making such a fuss?
Most people responded that it was no big deal.
However, some gamers have delved into this issue.
First of all, this trailer was not produced by Ice Storm itself, but was commissioned by Stemhouse.
And I succeeded in finding the tweet of Rector, the animator in charge of this trailer.
The content of the tweet was shocking in itself.
[I can’t say anything because I’m concerned about people of color, but I’ve never betrayed my beliefs as a white person.]
[Mad Men attendance check again today! Do Mad Men like you breathe!]
[Mad Men is the one protecting this country! Heil Mad Men!]
In addition to the tweets he himself posted, it was also revealed that he retweeted various tweets posted by neo-Nazis.
This was tantamount to admitting that the hooked finger shape was intentionally inserted into the trailer!
As a result, the gaming community was shocked.
* * *
To understand the current situation, you must first know what neo-Nazis are.
Neo Nazi.
Literally meaning new Nazis, they are self-proclaimed successors to the Nazis.
The characteristics are chauvinism, nationalism, racism, white supremacy, etc.
Unlike European countries such as Germany, which strongly regulate Nazi symbols, patterns, and rallies, all are legal in the United States for reasons of freedom of expression.
Because of this, several neo-Nazi groups protested in the United States.
The largest community among these is Mad Man, with 3 million members in the United States.
They proudly displayed Hakenkreuz on their homepage and used the shape of a hooked finger as their symbol.
It is difficult to say that all subscribers here are neo-Nazis.
As it is a fairly large community, there are probably many people who joined just for fun or out of curiosity.
However, their influence cannot be ignored.
Mad Men members caused all kinds of trouble on the Internet, spreading racism and various hateful ideas. There are quite a few people who agree with or follow this.
In fact, these extremist forces are making a fuss not only in the United States, but all over the world.
Here, social and economic issues such as refugees, illegal immigration, jobs and welfare are complexly intertwined… … That’s not important.
In any case, since it does not have a proper ideology and is simply based on hatred, there are limits to expanding its power.
But I never thought they would do something like this to a game!
Sunwoo urgently summoned the Mephisto 5 development team.
The main Mephisto 5 developers sat in the conference room along with CEO Matt Cooper.
We showed materials we found on the Internet.
CEO Matt Cooper asked in bewilderment.
“So you’re saying that the claw finger symbol was hidden in the trailer produced by Stemhouse? “Is that the symbol of Mad Men?”
“yes.”
Mad Men is the most famous of many extremist sites.
There is no one who does not know about the existence of this site, as it has caused all kinds of accidents, been reported several times in the media, and has been at the center of controversy.
“It doesn’t seem like a big deal, so why not just fix the problematic parts?”
The person who said this was Ryan Shang.
As you can tell from the name, he is Chinese-American.
In the gaming industry, he is a well-known name and face. Because he is the one responsible for the ‘No Nymphon’ situation.
There were rumors that he was fired after that incident, but that was just a rumor.
He is a veteran developer who developed the Mephisto series at Ice Storm for 15 years. Even after that incident, he was working hard on the development of Mephisto 5.
I shook my head.
“Everyone still doesn’t realize the seriousness of the situation.”
In fact, the employee of the outsourced production company just played around with the finger shape and did not directly display neo-Nazi symbols or expressions of hate.
The problem is that Lecter proudly revealed on Twitter that he is a neo-Nazi.
Because of this, we are now in a situation where we cannot take it out or put it on.
One of the characteristics of the Internet is that once an article is posted, it never disappears.
There’s no way users will just ignore it by subtly deleting the relevant scene from the trailer.
Gamers have already started looking for hooks not only for the Mephisto 5 trailer, but also for other game videos such as Overclock 2.
“This is likely to have a huge negative impact on the game’s success. “Who would want to play a game if it was branded a neo-Nazi game before it was even released?”
After hearing my words, CEO Matt Cooper and the development team’s expressions hardened as if they had finally realized the seriousness of the situation. Ryan Shang asked in confusion.
“Well, then what should I do?”
I remembered the first time.
In fact, this situation later shook the American gaming industry.
So, it is best to act quickly and forcefully before the situation escalates further.
Since this is Ice Storm’s job, the decision is up to Sunwoo.
Instead of offering my opinion first, I waited for Sunwoo to speak.
Then Seonwoo gritted his teeth and said.
“What should I do? “This kind of thing needs to be completely rooted out from the beginning.”
* * *
Several gaming communities heated up over the hand gestures and animator tweets found in the Mephisto 5 trailer.
-Fuck, there are more than one hooked finger.
-How much did you put in?
-At this point, isn’t this a Mephisto 5 ad, but a Mad Men ad? lol
-Explain what Ice Storm has to do with Mad Men!
– Stop talking nonsense. It wasn’t made by Ice Storm, it was made by Stemhouse.
-Haha, if it was made by an outsourced production company, Ice Storm is not responsible?
-Seeing as they can’t filter out this kind of thing, it seems like there’s a Mad Men in Ice Storm too?
-Anyway, if this is real, shouldn’t Ice Storm do something about it?
-I don’t want to cause trouble, so I think I’ll just pretend not to notice.
-I shouldn’t buy Mephisto 5.
-I don’t play games with neo-Nazis on them because they are dirty. Tsk tsk tsk!
-uh! They say they’re broadcasting live on Ice Storm’s official channel right now?
-really? It’s 11 o’clock at night now?
-At least he’ll make some lame excuse.
Ice Storm turned on emergency live broadcasts on all official channels, including ATube, Facenote, and Twitter, as well as the website.
The person who appears on the screen is a man wearing glasses.
It was none other than Kang Seon-woo, CEO of SW Games.
After confirming that the broadcast was on, Kang Seon-woo bowed his head deeply.
“hello. This is Seonwoo Kang. The reason I started broadcasting at such a late hour is because I have something to urgently tell you. We have confirmed many of the suspicions raised in the Mephisto 5 trailer video and believe that many of them are true.”
Kang Seon-woo spoke strongly with an angry expression.
“People who ignorantly hate others and feel no shame in expressing it, as well as people who agree with their actions. “We will never let people like this ruin the game we love.”
Kang Seon-woo calmed his breathing for a moment, as if trying to calm his anger.
“Currently, all Ice Storm employees are analyzing all the work produced so far at Stemhouse. If hate speech is found or if the worker’s connection to neo-Nazis or the Mad Men site is discovered, all work will be removed. In addition, we will hold Stemhouse and the workers who inserted hate speech legally responsible for this incident until the end.”
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