This "infecting others through zombies" mode was one of the most memorable entertainment concepts in Takayuki's memory. Where it originally came from was hard to say, but recreating this kind of gameplay was actually very simple.
And just as it happened, Resident Evil was still riding high in popularity. More and more people were contributing to the genre's momentum, helping zombie-type games gradually move into the mainstream.
Recently, a few low-budget zombie films had also hit theaters and performed surprisingly well. Clearly, this wave of popularity wasn't dying down anytime soon.
Takayuki made a few adjustments to some in-game values, then used prebuilt models from the Unreal Engine to quickly add a new gameplay mode to Counter-Strike.
"Mm, that's about right."
Takayuki nodded in satisfaction.
This was probably the fastest he had ever developed a game.
Even though it was just a mod, if the gameplay was original, it still counted as a brand-new game.
...
...
From sourcing assets to rewriting core logic and code, the entire thing took him only an afternoon.
As for bugs—well, he didn't have the time to worry about that.
Fortunately, he had an elite computer tech team at his side.
They were the Stanford Squad, operating under Tsuki no Aya.
And since Aya was now his wife, her team naturally didn't question anything Takayuki asked for.
Besides, this was just a new gameplay mode—they were happy to help with some debugging and make sure it ran smoothly.
While they worked on that, Takayuki was already onto his next idea. He grabbed a nearby computer and began writing the logic for another new mode.
This time, the idea was similar to Left 4 Dead—a standard four-player co-op mode where players fought against powerful bio-monsters using a wide array of weapons.
No need to worry about infection here. Just blast and shoot—total action chaos.
At moments like this, Takayuki was truly grateful he had focused so much on streamlining the Unreal Engine. Anyone who had basic familiarity with it could quickly start using the built-in resources as their own.
Now that the engine was widely available, and open-source game structures could be freely modified, this was the best entry point for new game developers.
Takayuki wrapped up this second gameplay mode in just two or three hours.
Meanwhile, the group of senior programmers who were supposed to be debugging the previous mod… weren't.
"Damn it, why'd you infect me? I was hiding in the safest spot! Couldn't you just let me shoot in peace?"
"Heh, says the guy who, five minutes ago, turned into a zombie and came after me first thing. I'm not buying it."
Over in the office corner, the programmers were fully immersed in a LAN session of Counter-Strike: Biohazard Mod, completely abandoning their original task.
At first, they hadn't been all that interested in this "zombie mode," but within minutes, they were hooked.
Anton had once mapped out his life path in detail: graduate with top honors from Stanford's computer science department, then land a job at a mega-corp like the Morgan Group, and climb steadily to the top of the tech world.
But fate had other plans.
One day, he accidentally stumbled into video games—and fell in love with them completely.
When he found out the games he loved were created by a Japanese company, he became deeply curious. How could Japan produce such an incredible company?
That was when a well-known Stanford alumna returned to campus recruiting for Gamestar Entertainment. Without hesitation, Anton joined—and threw his original life plan out the window.
What in life could be more appealing than something that brought real joy?
Working at Morgan would've just meant maintaining systems or developing new software—nothing close to the thrill of game development.
Once he joined Gamestar, he knew he had found his calling. His new life goal became clear: play as many fun games as possible. Oh, and yes—realize his personal value along the way.
He also dreamed of one day creating a groundbreaking game himself.
Of course, that would take time. Working at Gamestar taught him how complex game development really was. It wasn't something one person could do alone.
Every famous game out there had been the work of massive teams—collaborations powered by the sweat and brilliance of dozens, even hundreds of people. What made one individual think they could compare?
He had truly believed that.
So he planned to wait, gather experience, and then think about solo development.
But all of that changed the moment one game was released.
Its graphics were crude, even awful by modern standards. Its pixel art was blurry, the gameplay seemed boring at first glance—and yet, it was a breakout hit.
The game was called Stardew Valley.
It came out of nowhere and became a runaway success.
As a core member of Gamestar, Anton had access to its internal sales data: over three million copies sold—and that was just on PC. The game hadn't even launched on consoles yet.
And considering that the PC platform was the smallest in the industry… that number was insane.
Even more insane? The game had been made by just one person—Gamestar's legendary president, Takayuki, in only one month.
Anton had always believed in talent. But talent still had limits—a human had only one brain, two hands. Even a genius had human constraints.
And he didn't think he was lacking in talent either. After all, he'd been one of Stanford's top students.
So if the president could do it… why couldn't he?
That question haunted him.
Every time Stardew Valley's sales numbers ticked upward, they hit Anton like a punch to the gut.
Could he make a game like that too?
Until he played the zombie mod for Counter-Strike, that question had never left his mind.