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The compound's groundkeeper welcomed Vince and his escort before a secretary guided them towards the main lobby.
Prime Alliance's recent success in the APL and social media presence could be clearly felt when entering their newly built professional gaming facility in Orange County.
Team Complexity's headquarters in 2021 couldn't hold a candle to Prime Alliance's compound in terms of aesthetics and functionality.
[This place is quite impressive for an esports outfit. The APL has been treating these guys well, from what I can tell.] Vince pondered as a staff member served him coffee.
The two young Californians, 3D Jaden, and Fortis arrived after readying the place for Vince's tour a few moments later.
"Jaden, Fortis, it's been a while. Thanks for the invitation, by the way." Vince said as he went for a new school handshake with the cousins.
Hecz joined in at the main lobby after finishing up his CEO duties and introduced himself to the man who started the lucrative business known as the APL.
[Dope! It's the online content maestro from Optic Gaming. The guy has done it all in my past life's esports industry. A true pillar in the Call of Duty community for years.] Vince pondered as Fortis gave his introduction.
Hecz felt a bit of intimidation like other adults did when meeting the young businessman but steeled his resolve and said, "We're honored to have you here at our gaming facility, Mr. Dalton. I've always appreciated how seriously Future Studios treated the competitive scene under your management."
Rival companies like Valve, Blizzard, or Activision weren't supportive of the professional gaming aspect of their games, unlike Future Studios, which invested heavily in the promotion, such as online advertisements and influencer partnerships.
While games like Call of Duty had to rely on third-party production companies to host and broadcast professional matches like ESL or MLG, Future Studios employed its own media department specifically for multi-language livestreams and arena events in different countries.
It was no coincidence why War Online was so popular worldwide, even in countries that didn't allow its legal distribution like in certain parts of Asia.
Vince held a deep respect for Hecz and humbly accepted the flattery before replying, "I'm proud of our work on War Online, and I'm pleased that so many people share our love for the game. Organizations like Prime Alliance contribute plenty to its success, though I can't play favorites."
[This kid is entirely different from any 15-year-old I've met. It makes sense considering his recent accomplishments. What I would give to start hustling younger.] Hecz reminisced before inviting the others to a lounge area first.
Vince allowed one FS operator to follow while the group made their way further into the large esports compound.
The lounge featured foosball tables, classic arcade machines, and even a sponsored Coco-Cola soda fountain you'd typically see at movie theatres.
The projector screen on the wall played the free APL 24/7 livestream broadcast that presented pro match reruns and the Arena Collegiate League in the recent month, among other types of content like player interviews and documentaries.
It showed the live ACL match between UCLA and Stanford University, all competing for either a spot in the league teams or a job opportunity at Future Tech.
Hecz was a bit nervous in trying to make a good impression and asked, "Would you like anything to eat or drink before we start the tour?"
"I'm just here to hang out with Fortis and Jaden for a while, but a tour, later on, would be nice. A Tito's vodka and chaser would be good after a long afternoon speaking with old Hollywood suits. You've got quite the facility here in Orange County." Vince honestly replied as he sat down on the comfy sofa.
Hecz had worked overtime to ensure Prime Alliance's success, which included providing his players with the required resources, and relished in the compliment before replying, "Our players deserve no less. Even our War Online amateur guild members enjoy the many amenities here. I'll have one of my staff fetch a drink for you."
Afterward, their conversations were casual, with Vince asking how Fortis and Jaden were doing since they last met.
"Hailee told me you and Alice bought a streaming house in the city recently. So the business had been treating you guys well, huh?" Vince stated amicably.
"My recent move to Twitch On-Demand Video was a blessing with all the ad revenue potential compared to YouTube. Good thing I hadn't signed Google's exclusivity deal before you bought Twitch and improved it." 3D Jaden replied honestly.
"That's good to hear. Kemp-Jacobs spent plenty of time and resources refining our advertisement contracts directly with interested brands instead of going through third-party marketing companies." Vince responded.
Media platforms owned by Future Tech also utilized a similar system to modern YouTube Premium, where NetServ subscribers received no ads, and a portion of the revenue is proportionally distributed to contracted creators.
Because YouTube hadn't supported its premium system yet, many famous personalities switched to Twitch after being purchased by Future Tech.
Massive creators like PewDiePie, NigaHiga, and Jenna Marbles were now producing online content under the Future Tech banner, providing further media presence for Vince's products.
Another welcome feature was the automatically generated Infi AI translations which allowed English and non-English speaking creators to connect to international viewers much easier versus other platforms.
"How about you, Fortis? What have you been up to for vacation?" Vince inquired.
"I finally bought my mom a house using my pro earnings from the past year. She believed in my passion for War Online and supported me when I dropped out of college to take it seriously. So she deserved to live the rest of her life without worrying about a mortgage." Fortis proudly explained.
Vince wasn't surprised to hear a good-hearted kid trying to provide for his family and said, "Congrats, dude! I felt the same way with my mom when my company started to gain traction. I'm sure she's very proud of what you've achieved so far."
Hecz decided to reinforce his support for his best player and commented, "Fortis is a great role model for the other young players in our roster. We're lucky to have recruited him right from the start, or else we'd have struggled against him in the server."
While they were enjoying a chill session at the lounge area, Vince received another unexpected NetServ message from Aiya saying, "A Disney ABC representative invited BTS and Hailee for a live performance on the Jimmy Kimmel Show later in the evening. I can reschedule your meetings and activities for the rest of the day if you'd like to attend."
Vince read the message on his Infinity Watch and pondered, [Disney is doing me favors now, huh? It seems our partnership is more important to them than I initially thought. But, of course, I'm already here, so why the hell not?]
"Is something the matter, Vince? Do you need to be somewhere else right now?" Jaden worriedly inquired because they were day drinking.
"Nah, I just got word my music label's new artists got booked for a gig here in LA later tonight, so you don't have to worry about it. I'm down to the facility tour real quick." Vince reassuringly replied.
Hecz perked up and took the opportunity and asked, "Do you mind if we film a bit of the tour for our social media accounts? I'll understand if it's too much of an ask. I'm not tryna clout chase."
Vince valued Hecz being mindful by asking permission first and replied, "I'm open to some media attention, though I don't do interviews much. So feel free to record whatever you want while showing me around your compound."
Vince was given a VIP tour and was allowed to see everything like the practice and livestreaming rooms, gym, player dorms, media production offices, and the kitchen.
The Prime Alliance group spared no expense in ensuring their players' performance and even supported a regular War Online guild to represent them in the Battlegrounds and open-world, recruiting potential prospects into the organization.
Vince spent a few minutes watching one of the contracted livestreamers leading a 100 strong alliance army fighting in the battlegrounds against Luminosity Gaming to loot each other's corpses and profit Bitcash from the Infinity Marketplace.
Vince was glad to see so many people engaged in War Online and thought, [We make games at Future Studios, but these guys live and breathe the game.]
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Stats last time checked: (This section will be revised in future chapters!)
Future Tech current valuation - $300 billion
15 million BTC (currently trades at $25,000)
$11 Billion cash in Future Tech
105,000+ employees (FT AI, Future Studios, Hive Mind Manufacturing, FT Micro Devices, BitCash, FT VR, Future Tech F1, FT Investments, Future Arms, Future Med, Future Tech Robotics, Future Education, Epic Games, 60% of SpaceX, 10% of Tesla, 10% of Koenigsegg)
20,000+ operators under Future Security
Personal Vehicles: Klassen Phantom, Agera R, Agera SFV, Boeing Luxury 787 Dreamliner, The Longhorn, Flyga
Collaborators (Epic, Koenegisegg, SpaceX, Tesla, Hyundai C&E, Disney)
Numerous subsidiaries under Future Tech Holdings (i..e., Instagram, Twitch, Big Hit Entertainment)
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