Zoey Parker let out a dramatic groan when her phone lit up with Victor Lang's name.
She glanced at the clock—8:00 a.m. sharp.
Victor knew WindyPeak Games ran on a strict nine-to-five schedule, no exceptions. He wouldn't bug her this early unless it was a big deal.
Big deal, huh?
Zoey raised an eyebrow, a smirk tugging at her lips.
Oh, right—yesterday was the day Titanfall's trailer dropped. If memory served, their competition was Zenith Studios, IndieVibe's old partner and a heavyweight in single-player storytelling.
Talk about a plot twist.
Titanfall was all about its solo campaign, and Zenith? They were the granddaddies of narrative-driven games. WindyPeak was already at a budget disadvantage, and now they were up against pros who practically invented the genre.
No way they were walking away from this without a few bruises. The only question was how bad.
And now Victor was calling?
Zoey could practically smell the defeat. Zenith probably crushed them so hard Titanfall was barely a blip on the radar.
She patted her cheeks, cleared her throat, and answered with a cheery, "Hey, Victor!"
"Morning, Zoey!" Victor's voice came through, cautious as ever. "Sorry to bug you before nine. I know you guys are all about that work-life balance."
"No sweat," Zoey chuckled, waving it off. "What's up, boss?"
Victor hesitated, then got to the point. "I wanted to talk about tweaking Titanfall's marketing and promo share."
There it is! Zoey fist-pumped internally.
She'd hashed out promo splits with Victor before. As escort titles for IndieVibe X2, WindyPeak, Fury Games, and NeoSpark got free marketing from IndieVibe on top of their own campaigns. In the first round of trailer hype, Titanfall snagged a modest 20% of the promo pie.
IndieVibe's main focus was Fury's racing game and NeoSpark's sports title—bigger fish in their global strategy. WindyPeak's smaller share made sense, and Zoey had signed off on it.
But today? Victor calling about "tweaking" the share?
Zoey didn't need a crystal ball to guess what was coming. Yesterday's trailer must've tanked so hard Victor wanted to slash their promo budget to nothing. Why waste cash on a loser?
Jackpot! Zoey thought. She'd love it if IndieVibe yanked all their marketing support. Less spotlight, less pressure.
"Cool, Victor. How much are we cutting?" she asked, barely hiding her glee.
Victor froze on the other end. "Uh… cut? What?"
"Yeah," Zoey said, now a bit confused. "Aren't we dialing back the promo share?"
A sharp gasp came through the line, followed by a nervous laugh. "Haha, Zoey, you're killing me with that sense of humor!"
"I get it, the 20% share was a raw deal for WindyPeak. I dropped the ball there, and you were a champ for rolling with it. I know it must've stung."
"So, let's talk—how much should we bump up your promo share?"
Zoey blinked. Bump up?
Victor's call was about increasingTitanfall's marketing budget?
What the actual hell? Was Victor trying to save their sinking ship? Just let it sink, man!
The trailer's epic performance was no secret. In just four hours, it flipped a losing battle into a viral win. With that kind of clout, IndieVibe had to throw more weight behind Titanfall—unless they wanted to ditch WindyPeak entirely.
Victor was clearly sweating. He thought Zoey's quip was her throwing shade for the measly 20% share. And honestly? He wasn't wrong to worry.
WindyPeak was taking a massive gamble on IndieVibe X2. With their tight budget, they had zero extra cash for marketing. That 20% promo share was a lifeline, but it was peanuts compared to what Fury and NeoSpark got. Victor knew he'd lowballed them, and now he was scrambling to make it right.
But Zoey? She was lost.
Increase the promo share? Why?! She wanted Titanfall to fly under the radar, not light up Times Square.
"Uh…" Zoey stalled, choosing her words carefully. "Victor, I think we're on different pages here. I'm not mad about the 20%. I just don't get why we're boosting the promo share."
Victor let out a relieved chuckle. "Phew, false alarm! You're just not caught up yet!"
"Caught up on what?" Zoey asked, dread creeping in.
"It's blowing up, Zoey!" Victor practically shouted. "Titanfall's trailer is everywhere! The hype is unreal!"
Zoey, who'd just sat up in bed, flopped back down and yanked the blanket over her head.
A beat later, she kicked it off. Screw that!
"So… we squeaked by Zenith yesterday?" she asked, voice flat.
"Squeaked by?" Victor laughed. "Zoey, you obliterated them! Not only did you crush Zenith, you turned the whole IndieVibe X2 campaign around. We're outpacing Nebula Games's Polar Bear 3 in buzz right now!"
Zoey stared at the ceiling. Freaking fantastic.
She took a deep breath, forcing calm. "So, you're saying we should crank up the promo share. To what?"
Victor hesitated. "We're thinking double it—40% for Titanfall. But if you need more, we could push it to 60%. Fury and NeoSpark won't mind; your trailer earned it."
Zoey's mind raced. Sixty percent? That was a spotlight she didn't want.
Victor kept going. "But, I gotta be real—I don't think going too hard on promo is smart. If Titanfall gets more hype than Fury or NeoSpark, it'll look like our main bet. Problem is, your game's short—six hours, max. That's way below the average for a big-title escort game."
"Too much hype could set expectations sky-high. Players will expect a masterpiece, and if it doesn't deliver, the backlash could tank the game's rep and sales."
He wasn't wrong. The gaming world was littered with titles that crashed and burned from overhype. A solid game could get shredded if players expected perfection and got "just good." Titanfall's $60 price tag for six hours of gameplay was already a tough sell. If the hype got out of hand, every flaw—too short, not enough content—would be a death sentence.
Zoey's eyes lit up. Backlash? Oh, hell yeah.
She'd been playing it safe, thinking more promo meant more sales. But Victor just handed her a golden ticket. Overhype could sink Titanfall faster than any bad trailer.
"Got it," she said, a sly grin spreading. "But I'm super confident in our game."
Victor's voice wavered. "Uh… what's that mean?"
"Ninety percent," Zoey shot back, going for broke.
"Fury's racing game is meh, NeoSpark's sports title flopped, and IndieVibe X2 was circling the drain until Gus Harper pulled it out of the fire. We took down Zenith's billion-dollar budget with our $170 million. Players are hyped, the market's buzzing—why are you acting like we're gonna crash and burn?"
Victor went silent, stunned. Zoey's confidence was a sledgehammer. Was she actually this sure Titanfall could deliver a game-changing story, mind-blowing combat, and next-level design?
Spoiler: Victor didn't buy it. No game had ever pulled that off.
"Zoey, come on," he groaned. "Sixty percent's the max. Any more is asking for trouble."
Trouble's my middle name, Zoey thought. "Victor, we've got no limits at WindyPeak. Fury and NeoSpark have big budgets and their own marketing teams. We're leaning on you. You don't want us jumping ship to Nebula Games, do you?"
Victor sucked in a breath. Ouch. Zenith had already teamed up with Nebula for Polar Bear 3. If WindyPeak bailed, IndieVibe would lose its only real shot at the FPS market. Zoey had him cornered.
"Seventy percent," Victor offered, voice tight.
"Eighty," Zoey countered.
"Seventy-five," Victor gritted out. "Top-tier promo, best we've got. Take it, Zoey."
She sighed, playing reluctant. "Fine, 75%. Deal."
Victor let out a weak laugh. "Pleasure doing business…"
Zoey hung up, smirking. Victor was probably sweating bullets, but she was thrilled. Seventy-five percent of IndieVibe's marketing muscle—half the global gaming market—was now on Titanfall. That was enough hype to make the game's six-hour runtime a PR disaster.
Victor called his partners at Fury and NeoSpark, who didn't bat an eye at the new split. They had their own marketing budgets; IndieVibe's promo was just gravy. They even thanked him for leaving them some share.
Then he dialed Liam Carter, IndieVibe's marketing head. "Liam, it's done. WindyPeak gets 75% of the promo budget starting tomorrow. Shift resources from Fury and NeoSpark to Titanfall."
"…Seventy-five?" Liam echoed. "That's gonna overhype the hell out of it."
"I know," Victor sighed. "But their trailer's a banger. They can handle it… probably."
He hung up, shaking his head. Hope you're ready for this, WindyPeak.