Shattering records
The next day Michael headed into his office and was surprised to see all the employees gathered together.
" What is going on?" He asked.
" Look, the game has been exploding since yesterday." Arjun turned around and pointed at a screen.
Michael noticed that the game was currently rank 94 in Google play store and 92 in the Apple store. For an app to break into the top 100 within one day was an astonishing achievement. He noticed that there were already youtube videos of the game. One of them was a famous YouTuber who was probably hired by the marketing agency.
The first episode of the lets play series already had 30 million views. The comments were supportive and the game was appraised as the game of the year. The download count was already at 25 million.
"Well, that is good news. Hopefully, we are just getting started." Michael commented and walked away.
Arjun was flabbergasted by Michael's response. Michael did not even seem excited by the game's performance. Just what sort of company did he join? How high was Michael aiming?
When Michael sat down in his office. He finally let loose and breathed out. It was not easy to make a successful game. The competition was tough and most of the top rankers were supported by mega-corporations.
Occasionally some indie developer will have high rankings and it would be a popular story. The reason why it would gather attention was because it was a rare incident. Long gone was the time that the top apps were created by hard work and creativity. All the current apps were dragged to the top by marketing and massive developer teams.
Even if he had the system, Michael was nervous when he released the game. However, the results gave him confidence. Furthermore, He knew that he needed to build more games. Capos was an adult game centered around crime so it had a limited market. He needed to design more games to reach a wider audience.
Michael had plans to move on to console games; he wanted to dominate both markets. In reality other than gaming and trading stocks he did not have any other business idea. Eventually, he would expand into other industries but gaming will always be his cornerstone.
First, he needed to figure out how to monetize Capos. Right now the game was completely free and had no purchases. He wanted to make sure the game was popular before adding in-app purchases. After brainstorming, he decided to add diamonds as a premium currency in the game. Michael wanted to add premium accounts with faster leveling and more loot from missions.
Michael felt like premium accounts were a reasonable way for developers to generate revenue while keeping players happy. The casual players can just play free and have access to the whole game. While the hardcore players can use premium mode to cut back on the grinding.
It did not take long to add the diamonds to the game with the help of the designer. The diamonds could be redeemed for one month of premium rank for player accounts. They can also be sold and exchanged by players in the game. Michael set the price for diamonds at five dollars. He felt like five dollars a month was a fair price for such a revolutionary game.
Michael called Arjun over. Arjun was the team lead and had the most experience working for gaming companies out of all his employees. He explained the diamonds and their uses.
" Hmm… The base idea is very good. However, if you let players freely exchange the diamonds then you will have real money trading problems. Basically, some players will try to set up farming groups and will sell the diamonds on the black market for cheaper prices." Arjun warned Michael. If they set up direct monthly billing for premium accounts then this would not be an issue. However, if a commodity was used for premium services then farming groups will eat away the company's profits.
Michael did not consider that problem at all. In hindsight, he knew about the existence of Chinese farming clans that sell in-game currency on grey markets. Unfortunately, he could not come up with a quick solution. He instructed Arjun to update the game anyway; hopefully, his game would not attract the large farming groups.
A week later
Michael was sitting in the cafeteria eating lunch with a smile on his face. The reason he was smiling was that all the college students around him were playing Capos. He did not know what the latest rank was but he knew that the game definitely broke some records.
" Dude have you checked out Capos?" Peter asked him. Everybody was playing Capos now. Well everybody that met the age requirements at least. Even though the game was based on illegal activities; the unbelievable graphics, the enticing plot and the innovate game mechanics had won the hearts of all the gamers.
"No, I don't have an account yet." Michael replied. He wasn't lying, although he used an admin account for testing the game. He did not have a personal account yet.
" Dude your missing out man. I heard they are making a student Capos club; We should go check it out. This game is the future, the early players will have an advantage so don't wait too long to start or you will regret it." Peter explained.
Michael smiled and did not respond. It felt wonderful to have someone worship his creation like this. He quickly finished lunch and headed home. After the first day, he did not check the rank again because he wanted a surprise. It was time to find out the end results.
As soon as Michael reached his house he immediately bolted to his room and pulled up the ranks. Capos was ranked 14th place in both Google and Apple play stores. He had expected more; however, 14 was a high rank considering that the game had a limited audience. Not to mention, the game was number one in the weekly list. He immediately checked the mission details.
[Mission 4: First Impression
Mission Results: The game Capos has achieved 14th place in overall ranks and first place with weekly rankings. The game has stunned all the critics and generated immense respect for your company. Your employees have increased loyalty and have more attachment to the firm.
Rewards: An expansion pack for the Advanced Game engine.]
Michael was curious about the reward given by the system. He noticed that an update was ready for the software and immediately downloaded it. He opened the game engine and checked out the updates.
There was a new library with billions of models, music and everything else needed to build a game. He already had several new ideas pop up in his head just by looking at some of the 3D models. It was going to be a lot easier to build games in the future and it would save him a lot of time.
After getting familiar with the library, Michael decided to go to his office. He had scheduled a meeting with Eminence gaming executives. Even though he knew what the app download rank was; The most important figure was the sales of Diamonds. After all, if the app could not make money then it would be useless to him.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Red_Tempest
Red_Tempest Thanks for reading.
Still don't have a schedule yet. However, all the support you guys are giving me is motivating me to keep writing.
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