This is a copy and paste of my comment on the Dothack Network Facebook page,
which you can find here.
The issue is regarding the fan interest in a new remaster of the so-called “First Season” of the .hack video game franchise. The .hack “First Season” includes four separate games: Infection, Mutation, Outbreak, and Quarantine; aka IMOQ.
I would, again, like to calm the waters a little bit with all this talk of a possible remaster of the original four .hack games. Please, please calm down and focus on what’s here, right now.
I understand the hype, but now is not the time to be daydreaming about what somebody mistakenly let slip, giving fans the idea that this may be possible or even in the works when it’s not.
But if you can’t quell your desire for a possible remake, then I would suggest you support Last Recode with every ounce of your being NOW. I’m pretty sure everyone here already bought the game, but if you haven’t yet, now’s the time to show your support.
I know it’s really hard to purchase official merch outside of Japan, but I would also suggest you try to look into ordering some of the merch through a deputy service or on Amazon Japan (they will usually ship internationally).
Also, write and tell BANDAI NAMCO ENTERTAINMENT that you want international access to .hack merchandise!! Not only that, but tell them how much you love the series: the games, the anime, the novels and manga! Don’t feel embarrassed to let your fan-heart gush a little!
Get involved in my fan giveaway contest on Twitter, going on now! Tell people how much you love the series, tell a friend about it who maybe hasn’t even played it yet. I will have more contests in the future, too, so stay tuned to my site.
Ultimately, if you all really want a remake of the first four games as badly as you say you do (this is where I give you a little “tough love,” so please don’t hate me for telling it like it is), then you have to put in the effort to support the series as a whole first.
That’s just economics. If Last Recode doesn’t make a certain number of sales, then there is NO future for anything. Thankfully, though, sales both in Japan and internationally look really good and BNE is quite pleased. That’s good, but we can’t stop there; we can’t let our guard down just yet!
Keep talking about .hack on social media and wherever else possible. If you have a blog or website or something similar, write about it (I’m guilty here as I have yet to finish my editorial on Last Recode orz). Get other gamers interested in the series, introduce it to a friend or family. If you know somebody likes both anime and games, you could first introduce them to the anime TV series .hack//SIGN or .hack//ROOTS or go over to one of the movies (maybe avoid TRILOGY if they intend on playing Last Recode lol).
Basically my point is… there isn’t time to daydream about what could be right now. We need ACTION that is clearly visible and makes a difference to BNE, the publisher. If they do not make a profit from the series, nothing will happen. We’ll get NOTHING. So please, please… I understand how excited everybody is over the thought of a remake–I am, too–but now is not the time.
If you’ve already done all you can to support Last Recode and this message is redundant, I’m really sorry. This topic has been a bit of a thorn in my side ever since people started talking about it A WEEK after the release of Last Recode. ^^;;
▲ Quick company stats with photos from the Fukuoka, Tokyo, and maybe Montreal offices?
▲ Here’s one of the few smartphone applications that they produced, 
▲ The offices are literally littered with more than 60 different magazines every month for employees to browse!
▲ There are also all kinds of movie and anime DVD/Blu-rays, individual manga books, and various video game titles freely available to employees.
▲ The company also provides many opportunities for employees to “skill up” their abilities in various areas such as C++, UnrealEngine4, Python scripts, and more.
▲ With the basic introduction out of the way, this was the “meat” of the seminar:
▲ First, we were asked to think of the average number of games sold in a single year. Numbers ranged from 200 to 1000.
▲ This chart breaks down the number of game titles released every year.
▲ Next, we were asked to think how many games a person buys in the course of a year.
▲ Generally speaking, the average number of games a “game fan” purchases in a year is 8.8. A soft-core gamer buys about 4 games a year.
▲ Next, we were asked to think of what titles sold over 1,000,000 copies in 2017. I was stupid with the numbers (Japanese “man” is a bit difficult to calculate in your brain) and suggested NieR:Automata did…even though I knew it only sold a bit over 300,000 copies. lol
▲ And this was our answer, a list of top selling titles in 2017!
▲ Basically, if titles don’t sell over 100,000 copies, they’re losing money…
▲ If we imagine the sales of the top 40 games are positive, then anything 41 to 424 is losing money. 1/10 is in positive figures, whereas 9/10 is in the red.
▲ Among the gaming industry, 1/5 of titles is in positive numbers whereas 4/5s are in the red; which means, 20% have to be MASSIVE HITS!
▲ So it’s very important to know what sort of interesting things will sell. It’s best to avoid talking with people who cannot answer this question.
▲ It’s also vitally important for copies to connect with fans to hear their opinions on a multitude of topics. How/what do people play, read, watch, experience.
▲ This shows the trends of various platforms. The top represents smartphone and PC online games, the middle represents home gaming games, and the last represents home gaming hardware.
▲ Global Market Size: 5,400,000,000,000yen; Japan is just 1/14 of this figure.
▲ Global sales for the PS4 is around 60,000,000 units, where as within Japan alone, it’s around 5,000,000.
▲ Titles that sold well overseas:
▲ The market for home gaming is WORLDWIDE, with a focus on gamers all over the world.
▲ The very last bit of Matsuyama’s talk touched briefly on his non-fiction novel, detailing the true events that occurred with “Hiroshi-kun” just prior to the release of 『.hack//G.U. Vol.3』in 2009.
