Chapter 70 - #70: The Golden Goose

Chapter 70: Chapter #70: The Golden Goose

On the ride over to headquarters, Ivan had already pulled up the real-time analytics for the Bloodborne trailer launch.

When he finally saw the hard sales figures, the sheer shock of it hit him harder and faster than anyone else in the industry.

Just from the release of a single cinematic trailer, Xbox console sales had surged by seven full percentage points in under ten hours.

If the initial, slow-burn three percent increase had given him enough confidence to face his corporate rivals, then these new numbers made him feel utterly untouchable.

Leaving? Fired? Let them try.

The global gaming industry was vast. There would always be room for a visionary executive.

As long as the sadist was standing by his side, Ivan knew he was invincible.

Before this, Ivan had carefully hidden the incremental sales bumps from the rest of the board.

His original plan had simply been to pull out the hard three percent data at the last possible second, slapping it down on the table to silence his critics.

So now, his rivals sat in the boardroom, utterly puzzled and highly suspicious of his sudden, relaxed demeanor.

Three percent was a solid number, usually accumulated over several long, grueling years of hardware cycles. Revealing a three percent jump was the perfect play to secure his job.

But ten percent?

Ten percent was enough to shut anyone up permanently.

If securing a ten percent jump in hardware sales was easy, the board wouldn’t be constantly sweating over their profit margins.

So why was Ivan sitting there, casually claiming a ten percent spike like it was nothing?

"Now, Ivan, don’t worry. Let’s all just sit down and have a productive chat." The senior directors exchanged quick, loaded glances. You didn’t get a seat on this board by being an idiot.

Whether Ivan was bluffing or telling the truth, there was absolutely zero downside to keeping him calm while they verified the claim.

Originally, they had recalled him strictly on the advice of his fiercest rival, fully intending to terminate him over what they considered disastrous marketing decisions.

But the reality of the situation suddenly wasn’t aligning with the narrative his rivals had spun.

Ivan smiled, sinking comfortably back into his leather chair. He knew exactly what was happening. The board was stalling while their analysts scrambled to verify the data.

"I think if there genuinely was a ten percent spike, we shouldn’t immediately credit Ivan for it," the blond executive sneered, refusing to back down. "It’s highly likely that Sony just made a catastrophic operational error, and we caught the spillover."

He simply could not accept that Ivan’s supposedly reckless decisions had actually resulted in such a massive, positive shift in console sales.

To him, the only logical explanation was that PlayStation had stumbled, and Ivan had merely capitalized on the ensuing chaos.

It was basic corporate strategy: if your enemy takes a step back, you effectively take a step forward.

If Sony had somehow botched a major PlayStation release in the short term, then placing a more competent executive in charge of Xbox could yield even higher returns.

"You know what, Laki? I completely agree with you. That makes perfect sense," Ivan nodded vigorously, leaning forward to look his rival directly in the eyes with absolute, dripping sincerity.

"I also think Sony must have messed up somewhere. I apologize, gentlemen. I clearly am not a competent executive," Ivan said smoothly, sweeping his gaze across the rest of the board members.

"I recognize the profound impact my rogue decisions have had on this company. Perhaps it’s best if I seek a brighter future elsewhere."

"Ivan!" A senior director suddenly spoke up, his phone vibrating violently on the table.

He picked it up, his brow furrowing deeply as he read the incoming message. Without a word, he cast the contents of the file directly onto the boardroom’s massive multimedia screen.

"This is the latest, unedited sales data I just received from analytics," he announced, opening the slide deck without hesitation.

"I believe we all need to see, with our own eyes, exactly what Ivan has accomplished during his tenure."

The data chart stretched back to Ivan’s very first day in the office. The initial figures were predictably bleak—standard fluctuations, identical to previous years, occasionally dipping into minor declines.

Seeing those early numbers, a few of Ivan’s rivals couldn’t help but chuckle softly.

They were the people who knew the Xbox division’s internal struggles better than anyone. They all knew that in the brutal, ongoing console war against Sony, Xbox had constantly been fighting an agonizing, uphill battle.

During the first few years of his tenure, Ivan had merely managed to keep the ship afloat. The sales had remained stagnant, fluctuating slightly with the natural passage of time.

That stagnant state had persisted... right up until the exact moment Ivan partnered with Ethan Vale.

The analytics team had organized the data beautifully. Every major fluctuation on the chart was tagged with the specific market event that triggered it.

On the graph, the long, flat valley of stagnation saw its very first significant upward bump. The event marker floating above it read: Signed Exclusive Publishing Contract with Sprout Studio.

This was the exact moment his rivals had initially accused Ivan of losing his mind.

They had mocked him for giving an unknown, indie studio the resources and promotional weight usually reserved for next-generation, flagship AAA titles.

But from that day forward, the overall trajectory of the sales graph changed. While it still naturally fluctuated up and down, the overall trend line began to point steadily upward.

By the time the Bloodborne promotional video launched, that steady climb had culminated in a total three percent increase in global sales compared to the same period in previous years.

That alone was a dazzling, irrefutable success.

But the moment the Bloodborne trailer went live, the steady curve violently snapped. It shot upward in a near-perfect, 90-degree vertical line.

The sheer velocity of the spike was breathtaking, completely defying standard market logic. By the time this very meeting had started, that three percent increase had violently exploded into ten percent.

"Like I said, I’m perfectly happy to resign today. But I’m taking Sprout Studio with me," Ivan said, shaking his head. "And not just because Ethan signed a personal, one-on-one exclusivity clause directly with me."

He paused, letting the silence stretch before delivering the final blow. "I’m taking them because certain people in this room clearly look down on his work, and I refuse to let a close friend be disrespected."

Legally, walking out the door with Sprout Studio wasn’t a problem at all. Ethan was Ivan’s personal social and professional resource.

They had quietly hammered out that specific legal contingency back when they first negotiated the deal.

The contract stipulated that Ethan was technically signed exclusively to Ivan as a publishing partner, and Ivan was the one authorizing the distribution of Sprout’s games onto the Xbox platform.

The massive, vertical spike on the graph was overwhelmingly bright. The entire boardroom sat in stunned silence. Laki, the blond executive, snapped his mouth shut, completely unable to utter a single word of rebuttal.

A nearly identical scene was playing out halfway across the world for Carter.

Unlike Ivan’s situation, Carter wasn’t facing termination. He was facing a corporate coup born entirely of pure, unadulterated jealousy over his recent massive successes.

Valve headquarters had actually dispatched a senior manager directly to Terra’s regional office to forcefully execute a handover of Carter’s accounts.

"Carter, your previous transfer application has finally been approved by upper management. You’re clear to relocate to any of the top ten regional offices of your choosing," the corporate manager chirped, lounging comfortably on the sofa in Carter’s office.

"Didn’t I officially retract that transfer request months ago?" Carter frowned, his eyes scanning up and down the man sitting across from him.

"Management approved the original request," the man replied firmly, completely ignoring Carter’s point about the retraction.

Seeing the cold, determined look on the manager’s face, Carter realized what was actually happening. They were trying to force him out of his own territory.

Carter let out a low, dark chuckle.

He bared his teeth in a sharp grin, a frigid chill settling in his eyes.

"Those old fucktards," Carter said, enunciating every single syllable, "Nobody... is stealing my golden goose."

Neither Ivan nor Carter ever breathed a single word of their respective corporate battles to Ethan.

They had both heard through their own industry whispers about what the other was facing, and they had quietly coordinated their strategies in private.

No one in the broader industry ever found out exactly what transpired behind closed corporate doors that day.

But when the dust finally settled and the two executives returned from their respective battles, their authority, budgets, and internal resources had grown exponentially larger.

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Double Chapter for today because of my shitty late uploads lately. I’m very sorry, but my brother really needs the laptop that I’m using for his schoolwork, and bro’s my first priority. Also, should we do another quiz thingy again? Keke...

Thanks for reading, everyone :)))

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