These people were also somewhat puzzled now.
Gamestar Electronic Entertainment really found a treasure character in Matsubashi, who was like an SSR in a game, able to control any situation and take the initiative.
Matsubashi's aura was truly overwhelming, making them involuntarily look at her in awe.
Such a woman is truly remarkable.
Seeing that these people were still hesitating, Matsubashi immediately added, "How about this, we can also offer a promise of double the penalty fee to show our sincerity in cooperating. As for the rest, I can't make any further concessions."
At once, these people began to hesitate.
Only $350 million?
It really was a hard decision.
...
...
Before Matsubashi gave this data, they weren't very inclined to consider offering less money to Gamestar Electronic Entertainment.
But now… they were finding it hard to choose.
"Alright, Ms. Matsubashi, please allow us to think this over carefully, but it won't take too long. How about that?"
They planned to have further discussions with other committee members.
Matsubashi nodded decisively: "Of course, we are very sincere, but we really can't make further concessions. We are also willing to wait until you provide a definitive answer."
This meeting ended once again without a result.
However, unlike before, Matsubashi now held more of the initiative.
Previously, the positions of both sides were fairly equal.
Then, when YOO intervened, Matsubashi had clearly lost some confidence in front of these people.
But after this meeting, Matsubashi regained control of the situation, which was a great success.
The rest would depend on how things developed.
And so, a whole week passed.
During this time, Matsubashi kept having her assistants frequently contact the FIFA organizing committee to ask if they had reached a conclusion.
However, the responses were always somewhat dismissive.
But Matsubashi was very patient and didn't rush them; she just had her assistants express her eagerness.
In the meantime, she had successfully made contact with several European football event committees, including the Premier League.
These committees were technically subgroups of FIFA.
However, they maintained a degree of autonomy, only needing to cooperate with FIFA on joint matters occasionally.
Whenever it came to matters involving their own interests, these local event committees wouldn't care much about FIFA's opinion.
Making money for themselves was the most important thing; what the higher-ups thought was of little concern, as long as the money was flowing into their pockets—they were highly motivated.
Moreover, after Matsubashi proposed cooperation, she specifically asked these committees to keep it confidential. If they leaked any information, she would refuse to cooperate with them in the future.
Matsubashi also subtly mentioned the consequences of certain major brands refusing to cooperate with Gamestar Electronic Entertainment, or the case of a Japanese baseball league not cooperating, to make these event committees take things seriously.
This made them realize that they absolutely couldn't easily give up the opportunity to cooperate with Gamestar Electronic Entertainment.
The local event committees were very cooperative and kept everything secret.
And Gamestar was really fooled.
They still believed that Matsubashi was actively seeking FIFA's authorization but hadn't reached an agreement on the price.
This also led Nagao to believe that Gamestar Electronic Entertainment probably wouldn't be able to offer more money.
Even though FIFA officials had hinted that Matsubashi had said that this amount of money wasn't difficult for Gamestar Electronic Entertainment, Nagao still thought that this was just a tactic to lower expectations and that, in reality, this might be all the liquid funds they could offer—possibly even needing to borrow money to pay FIFA.
After all, it was rumored that Gamestar Electronic Entertainment had several ongoing game development projects, and they must have been lacking in funds. The money they could offer would need to be spent carefully.
On the other hand, things were different for Nagao. Although capital wasn't as easy to come by as before, as long as he demanded it firmly and provided reasonable justifications, they were still willing to invest more money.
This made Nagao quite pleased.
"Tell those officials that since Gamestar Electronic Entertainment is willing to offer the option of paying in two installments, we can also offer the same terms: $500 million in two installments."
Spending so much money all at once still made Nagao a bit uncomfortable, but it was within an acceptable range.
Since Gamestar Electronic Entertainment was so determined, it meant that this brand and sports gaming had great potential, so it was definitely worth following up on.
He had already started assembling a new development team, with three studios he had acquired temporarily combined to develop this new football game.
Now, Nagao's strategy was to learn from Gamestar Electronic Entertainment's style.
Previously, Gamestar Electronic Entertainment's sports games had paid great attention to realism, especially detailed stats of famous players. So, Nagao had already begun organizing efforts in that area.
If he couldn't get the brand for now, he'd start with the players.
Famous athletes only needed to participate in motion capture and data collection for about a week to earn a $1 million fee. Even top-tier stars couldn't refuse that kind of money.
Less famous players would be paid according to their tier, but even the least would earn at least $100,000.
Just a week of sports data collection for that much money? No one would refuse.
This quickly added over $100 million in costs, but only someone like Nagao could afford to be so extravagant.
However, the capital behind him had begun to show dissatisfaction.
They had started to think that it was time for YOO to find a way to make a profit.
But Nagao had temporarily suppressed this voice using his past influence and authority.
He believed that once he succeeded in Europe, he would silence these capitalists and make them obediently continue investing in him.
A few more days passed, and after FIFA's deliberation, they ultimately decided to choose Nagao, who was offering more money.
After all, Nagao had promised to pay $250 million upfront.
This was quite tempting.
Even if Nagao's side eventually experienced a bubble burst, the money wouldn't be too much of a loss. At worst, they could negotiate further cooperation with Gamestar Electronic Entertainment later.
They had clearly begun to treat Gamestar Electronic Entertainment as a backup option.
This decision was soon communicated to Matsubashi.
Matsubashi was prepared for this result.
But honestly, she was still a bit disappointed—she had tried her best, but still hadn't completely won them over.
Fortunately, she already had backup plans in place. Losing FIFA's brand wasn't as hard to accept as it might have seemed.