Incredible!
Who would've thought?
Max Wheeler looks average, but his mind's a goldmine!
Stripping skins of stat boosts!
Zoey Parker could barely contain herself.
Might as well say "kill the reason players spend money."
Since the dawn of in-app purchases, items have been tied to power-ups!
In some games, players buy not for looks but for killer stats!
But now!
Max's proposal flips the script!
In-app items should win with quality, making players want to buy!
Total idealism, putting the cart before the horse.
The market's free-to-play crowd will eat it alive.
But!
Zoey kept that to herself.
This proposal perfectly hit her goal: profitable in theory, near impossible in practice!
Forget if it'll make money—just tell me it could?
Yes? Done!
File that sub-project invoice!
Best start ever!
Zoey was over the moon!
A win-win-win!
Players get the respect they deserve!
Gus Harper and WindyPeak earn a rep as ethical designers and studios!
And she gets her system rebate cash!
Triple victory!
Pure win!
She was thrilled!
Zoey waved a hand: "No wonder Director Harper insisted on bringing Manager Wheeler to the meeting."
Her praise was genuine: "Manager Wheeler's a genius!"
"Putting players first, giving them real respect—that's the key to WindyPeak's long-term success!"
"Sincerity always wins. Manager Wheeler's idea—"
"Approved!"
Max, flustered, stammered: "Ms. Parker, thank you. It's just my take. I only dared suggest it because of your support…"
The project team exchanged glances, shrugging.
They were worried about Max's idea!
Is it good? Absolutely!
Max's in-app purchase model is truly ethical!
No forcing or tricking players to spend, fully respecting their choice.
In-app purchases should be like this.
But!
Will it profit? Hard to say.
Without stat boosts, can skin quality alone drive sales?
Tough call.
No one's done this before—no success stories to lean on.
Can Max's Left 4 Dead mod fame carry over to a paid model?
So!
The team wanted to nudge Ms. Parker, ask her to rethink this well-liked but unproven profit model.
But!
She greenlit it on the spot!
What's left to say?
This move will earn players' cheers, and the APEX team will bask in praise!
Hooray! It's set!
As for profits…
If Ms. Parker's not worried, why should they be?
Since joining WindyPeak, salaries and perks have always come early, never late.
The boss isn't scared of losses!
Players love it!
Everyone calls us ethical!
We're setting an in-app purchase milestone!
Why fuss when it's this good?
Let's do it!
And so!
Zoey oversaw every detail of the Titanfall spin-off—APEX!
Project greenlit!
Zoey, eager, created a system invoice in her mind!
Her first sub-project since the system upgrade!
Sub-project: APEX
Investment: $50 million
Settlement Time: 7 days (+0 days)
Rebate Rate: 11x (+0x)
Current Revenue: $0
Estimated Rebate: $550 million
Remaining Settlement Time: Awaiting Launch
Done!
Zoey blinked at the settlement time.
Just seven days?
Shorter than expected.
She figured the wild profit model would push the system to a three-to-four-week settlement.
Nope—super short!
No revenue in a week, and it's a failed investment with a rebate!
The stars are aligning!
With such a tight window, Zoey's confidence soared!
This time, she played it safe, not adding a second to the base settlement time!
This time, she nailed the details! A "research" project even Gus doubts, dancing on a knife's edge!
This time, she listened! She grabbed Max's brilliant idea, making the profit model as unrealistic as possible!
This time, she's got it locked! A triple win—project shines, doesn't profit, saves face, and secures the bag!
This time!
Zoey Parker's got this!
It's a guaranteed loss!
…
Post-approval, teams jumped into action.
First up: staffing shifts.
Max's "no-stats in-app purchase" idea impressed Gus.
As he'd said, he fast-tracked Max to WindyPeak for this moment.
A perfect revenue concept, paired with his Left 4 Dead mod brilliance.
Gus pulled him from ops.
Assigned him to Jamie York's planning group, tasked with designing the in-app purchase system.
Max proved Gus right.
In just two weeks!
The in-app purchase plan hit Gus's desk.
At lunch, the core trio ate in Gus's office. Luke Brent flipped through the plan, jaw dropping: "Incredible…"
"Unreal! This guy's something else!"
"Looks normal, but his mind's ruthless."
"That jerk deserves it!"
"Hey! Watch it!" Gus laughed, scolding Luke: "That's not teamwork."
"No, I'm… praising," Luke said, eyes wide.
"The in-app purchase model's insane."
Luke wasn't kidding.
He was floored!
Most free games open a shop, list items, sell high to low based on effects and stats.
Standard play.
Maybe a flashy item gets a lottery or limited-time deal.
All items are there—buy anytime.
But!
Max's model broke the mold!
He invented a Season Pass!
He'd wanted this for PUBG but pitched it for APEX instead.
What's the pass?
A paid task book!
100 levels. Players level up via game XP or cash.
Each level unlocks free rewards.
Outfit skins, gun skins, in-game sprays, dances, parachute effects…
But!
That's not enough for a 100-level pass.
So!
Max introduced a "lottery box"!
Five tiers: common, rare, epic, legendary, heirloom.
Win odds drop by tier.
Buy the pass, get 20 boxes.
Want more? Pay up.
"I'm throwing hands!" Luke exclaimed.
"Look at these lines—human words?"
"First: The pass's top legendary skin is season-exclusive, never available again."
"Second: Legendary and above skins aren't in the base shop—lottery boxes only."
"What the—!!!"
Luke was livid!
"Gus, check this!"
"Your guy's calling out other studios for scamming?"
"Aren't we the biggest scammers?"
"Forget players—I'd pull the trigger myself!"
"When we juice up the unboxing effects, who won't dive in?"
Ruthless!
Luke marveled at Max's design.
This guy's got game!
Start with a $68 pass, hook 'em with rewards and boxes.
Open 'em.
Two outcomes!
Get top rewards or don't!
Eighty percent of winners feel lucky, open more.
Eighty percent of losers think the next box is it, open more.
Few can resist.
The kicker?
Players can't even complain!
It's just skins—no stat boosts. Don't buy, still enjoy the game.
Just ignore others' slick guns, legendary effects, shiny bullets, wild taunts, and flashy trails…
That's all.
"…I couldn't resist," Luke admitted.
"Strength's temporary, style's forever."
Pfft.
Gus nearly choked on his coffee.
Classic rookie talk.
"So," Gus set down his cup, looked at Jamie: "Jamie, your art team's gotta step up."
"No stats, so we lean on skin quality to pull players."
"Work tight with Max and Shane, make previews irresistible."
"Got it, Brother Harper," Jamie said, wiping his mouth.
"For the first season's legendary pass reward, we're doing universal skins."
"Theme: legendary pilot."
"Inspired by Captain Lastimosa, with a level 100 Pilot helmet prize."
"Effects-wise, we're tweaking the UI and swapping some in-game voices for BT-7274's."
Snap!
Jamie wasn't done, and Luke's pen hit the floor.
Terrifying…
These guys are terrifying…
This is supposed to be a "fair" in-app model?
How's this fair?
Luke, the lead coder, felt human nature was trickier than code.
From Gus to Max to Jamie!
Each one's sneakier, preaching "no forced spending, no scams."
But their moves? Pure evil!
From passes to boxes to Lastimosa's heartfelt suit to BT's soul-stirring voice!
All this!
For $68!
If I don't buy, am I even human?
Would I be letting Captain Lastimosa and BT down?
After a long pause!
Luke sighed: "You don't scam or force…"
"You're practically robbing me!!!"
…
Development hit full speed.
Teams synced up, running like a well-oiled machine.
That afternoon!
Jamie York, fresh off finalizing the next gun skin, stretched.
About to grab water and head home, Luke Brent called softly from across the room: "Jamie, Jamie, yo."
"Huh?"
Luke's sneaky vibe threw Jamie: "What's up?"
"Step out for a smoke," Luke waved, nodding sideways.
"Got something to talk about."
"Alright," Jamie followed, curious.
"What's the deal? Why so secretive?"
Luke glanced back, ensuring no one was around, pulled Jamie to the break area, and whispered: "Gus has been off lately."
"Off how?" Jamie scratched his head.
Luke smirked, calling Jamie out for being oblivious: "You haven't noticed? Gus has been clocking out on time for weeks, not a single late night."
Hiss—
Jamie thought back—true.
But he shrugged: "Normal, right? This project's not urgent."
"Lots of it's pulled from Titanfall."
"Plus our PUBG experience."
"Gus doesn't have much to stress over. Leaving on time's fine, yeah?"
Jamie saw no issue.
Luke grinned, eyes glinting: "Wrong, Jamie York, dead wrong!"
He checked the hall again.
No one around, he said: "Even without overtime, Gus used to stay till seven or eight."
"Now? He's out on the dot. What's that mean?"
"Uh…" Jamie frowned, thinking.
"He's saving up for arcade tokens?"
Luke facepalmed, groaning at Jamie's cluelessness: "With Gus's claw machine skills, he needs tokens? Come on."
"Right," Jamie nodded. "Then what?"
"He's got someone at home! What else!" Luke spilled, exasperated by Jamie's gossip blindness.
"No way a guy misses home for nothing—something's pulling him back!"
"Ohhh—!!!" Jamie's eyes lit up.
"You're saying Gus has a lady at home…?"
Thud!
Luke lunged, covering Jamie's mouth: "Keep it down, man! Want a megaphone?"
"Mmph—" Jamie nodded, signaling Luke to let go, then whispered: "So… Gus has a lady at home…?"
"Crude," Luke wagged a finger. "A beauty stashed in his place."
"Same thing," Jamie shrugged. "Now what?"
Luke smirked, raising a brow: "We find out who's got Gus's heart."
"Surprise visit this week."
"Sneak in quiet, no noise, got it?"
"Deal!" Jamie, hyped for gossip, gave a thumbs-up: "I'm in!"