Re: Life - Business & Technology

Chapter 9 - Impending Lawsuit

Close to a month has passed since Vince's reincarnation. He happily got most of his friends interested in pursuing different aspects of modern creativity and found some recent success with his first mobile game.

He has more people working for him now, but we are all still students and have other obligations to uphold. Homework and attending classes took a big bulk of his available time, but he did have the advantage of prior experience and education.

The crew was delighted to use their new workstations provided by the company as an expense. The others were going the receive their first round of compensation precisely a month after the company's creation, and they were all excited for some pocket money.

[The smile they'll make when they get the first paycheck will be ear-to-ear for sure,] he thought.

He got on the bus and found Kyle reading something on his laptop. "What are you reading?" he asked. 

"I've been learning Unreal Engine 3 while waiting on the new computers and already started with an idea. These are the Epic Games website documentation about the functions of the new game I have in mind." Kyle replied. 

"What's the basic concept of this new game you're creating on Unreal Engine 3?" Vince asked curiously.

"It's a reverse tower defense game that plays in real-time. You can build defenses and unit production facilities like in Age of Empires, but upgrades' wait time gets longer and longer. This feature is part of the game's progression, and I want it to be slow but rewarding. You can attack other people's bases with your units while the defending base uses all the traps and defenses that other players had set up. I'm finding the most difficult part to be the persistence of the game world itself, and that's what I'm reading about right now.", he replied.

[This is an upper-level problem regarding online multiplayer networking. It's a great idea, though, and it reminds me of a game called Clash of Clans that was hugely popular. It came out in 2013, but there's no harm if something similar came out earlier,] he thought.

"I'll do my best to help you with this project. I see great potential in your idea, and our team will definitely bring it to life!" Vince declared. 

Kyle was thankful for the support and found even more satisfaction in spending time studying a new software toolset for a week.

"We'll discuss this with the others at lunch.", Vince said as they were getting off the bus.

The group met up during lunch break after the first few periods. Each of them expressed gratitude again for the new workstations.

"We're part of the same company now after you and your parents signed the contracts from Jacob-Lewis. So you don't have to thank me every time because you guys earned it. Compensation or otherwise.", Vince said as he channeled his inner department leader.

"Please focus on your grades first and our projects second. Our working time is currently limited, but this will change in the future.", Vince stated thoughtfully. 

"We get it. We get it. I took this job as a challenge because school is too easy for me.", Jessica declared.

The others seem to agree with her sentiment. 

"Alright, I trust you guys. Hey Kyle, share some of those ideas we talked about earlier.", Vince said. 

They talked about the new project and divided some work between them. Vince will support each of them the best he can but primarily deal with Jessica and Kyle.

Sarah and Rick will handle the art and aesthetic design for the most part. He notified them about their payday next week after the discussion and went separate ways. Things are going smoothly, and they also have a new project to spend time on.

[This was the satisfaction I've been missing for years,] Vince thought to himself. 

Vince was oblivious to a meeting happening hundreds of miles away in Cupertino that could potentially derail all his plans and recent work.

Tim Cook was in a meeting with other Apple upper management in a beautifully designed headquarters. Steve Jobs was currently resting at home due to his illness and did not participate in monthly meetings.

"Our user base and App store downloads spiked the past month. However, we found that it's mainly due to a new mobile game that was released three weeks ago called Wingin' Chicken.", Cook was told by one of the managers. 

"Good news is always welcome. How many unique downloads has it gotten?" Tim Cook asked.

"Most users who own the latest models of iPhones have downloaded it at least, and the concurrent player count is around 25 million users and still climbing.", he replied. 

"That's an awful lot of people. So I would assume the ad revenue alone would be worth millions of dollars.", Cook added.

"Yes, Mr. Cook. The projected payout for ad revenue will be about $5 million next month.", the manager replied. 

"This game has become the most popular app on the App Store. I would also assume we are making millions of dollars from microtransactions, right? You haven't said anything about our app store revenue from this game." Cook asked dominatingly.

"The game does have microtransactions, but it only accepts a cryptocurrency called Bitcoin to purchase. I think the developers are trying to avoid the 30% cut we impose on all our apps." the manager said with a bit of nervousness.

"Then why is it on the App Store?! We reviewed the game and still published it. So someone is getting fired for this!" Tim Cook shouted angrily. 

"The developer had not technically broken any App Store guidelines, and the already huge user base was the reason why it's still on the App Store." the manager replied.

"Take the game down as soon as possible and sue the developers for trying to circumvent our guidelines! I don't care if it was bartering or whatever. Sue them and set an example so that no one tries this ever again." Tim Cook declared. The meeting was dismissed, and the manager informed the Apple legal team of their new task.

EDITED