I am destiny itself!

Chapter 24 I am destiny itself!

Steve Jobs's words only made Ethan Jones's expression even stranger.

Because of that mystical feeling, Ethan had the illusion of listening to a sermon.

However, even though Steve Jobs seemed to be radiating a preaching aura, Ethan Jones still caught the key point in his words: "Mr. Jobs, do you mean that Atari and Milrova reached some kind of secret out-of-court settlement agreement?"

Ethan Jones's cautious wording made Steve Jobs laugh. He shook his head and said, "It's not that we can't sue, it's just that many media outlets haven't reported on it yet. Because that settlement agreement truly made Atari and Milova one family."

At this point, he suddenly asked, "Do you know why I came to this trade fair today?"

Without giving Ethan a chance to answer, he smiled and looked out the window, gazing at the entrance of the exhibition hall, and said, "My boss, Nolan Bushnell, sent me to see how these traditional arcade manufacturers are doing."

"Let's see what new products they've released."

"Look what interesting games they've made."

"Let's see if they pose a threat to Atari."

"because……"

"In the coming year, Atari will not be able to release games developed in-house."

"What?"

Ethan was shocked!

"What did you say?"

He stared wide-eyed at Steve Jobs.

"Can't they publish games they've developed themselves?"

His voice was somewhat high-pitched, and an expression of disbelief appeared on his face.

When Ethan instinctively raised his voice, passersby in the McDonald's restaurant all looked at him with puzzled expressions.

This situation prompted Steve Jobs to press his hands down, signaling Ethan to calm down. At the same time, he nodded and said, "Yeah, you heard right. For the next year, Atari will not be able to release any games that we develop ourselves."

"Otherwise, why would I ask, 'What is your belief?'"

"In my opinion, this is Buddha protecting you."

Steve Jobs was somewhat moved, and through his narration, Ethan also gained a complete understanding of the lawsuit between Milrova and Atari.

Although Professor Ralph Bell was kind and intervened to reach an out-of-court settlement between Atari and Milrova, Milrova is a legitimate business company, and it's unlikely they would truly let Atari off the hook.

Professor Ralph Bell felt that $500,000 in compensation from Atari would be enough.

Because of the product "Pong", it did not cause much loss to Mirowa.

But Milrova disagreed, believing that Atari's market should rightfully belong to him!

So during the settlement negotiations, Mirova devised a treacherous plan: to force Atari to agree that, from the date the settlement agreement was reached, Mirova would own the copyright to any game Atari released for the next year!

To put it simply, Milrova wants to stifle Atari's path to innovation!

If Atari dares to release a new product, then sorry, regardless of whether the game sells well or not, the copyright belongs to me!

Didn't you copy our stuff?

Row!

I'm going to make it impossible for you to release new products!

I'll make sure you can't do business!

If this had happened a year earlier, Atari wouldn't have cared.

After all, everyone is copying, and nobody has copyright!

Since we don't own the copyright to our product, you're saying the copyright belongs to you? Fine, then it belongs to you!

As for how to proceed with the lawsuit?

That would no longer be a legal act, but a magical clash.

But now, when everyone has reached the end of the road of plagiarism, and everyone is preparing to develop their own technology...

If Atari can't launch new products or innovate, then it's really going to kill Atari!

Because everyone knows that Atari only grew and prospered because it took advantage of favorable timing!

And now, the time advantage they finally gained has been taken away by Milrohua?

Wouldn't that make other companies rejoice?

Although Nolan Bushnell knew it was a trap, he agreed to Milova's demands to avoid exorbitant compensation.

With his agreement, Atari's self-developed projects were all frozen.

At times like these, the most important thing for them to do is to find out about other companies.

So today, when traditional arcade manufacturers hold their trade shows, Steve Jobs is here to take the lead.

Unfortunately, as someone who had just returned from a pilgrimage to India, almost no one in the industry knew him.

Hey! The main selling point is a sense of unfamiliarity!

To be honest, Steve Jobs just looked around and didn't find any company's products to be innovative.

Just as he was about to buy some materials and leave, Snake Game dealt him a devastating blow!

That excellent gaming experience gave him a sense of success!

and so……

"I just unplugged your game console."

Steve Jobs, the young man who hadn't yet founded Apple, earnestly stated, "To be honest, I even think that all those guys who saw Snake Game and weren't willing to give it a discount were complete idiots!"

"Why not take down such an excellent game?"

"How confident they are!"

"Are you confident you can make an even more fun game than this?"

Ethan smiled at Steve Jobs' praise.

"Thank you," he said gratefully.

At that moment, he was truly expressing his gratitude!

This is not only thanks to Steve Jobs for recognizing "Snake", but also thanks for his message!

He was worried about who to partner with to sell the machines when Steve Jobs told him that Atari, the biggest bug in the market, had been banned.

This is truly like a pillow being delivered to someone just as you're about to doze off; it's like heaven has granted your wish!

At this moment, Ethan believed that Atari was absolutely the most suitable partner for him in the world!

Because they can't release their own games, they can't bring up the issue of buying copyrights!

Because once the copyright is purchased, that copyright will belong to Milrohua!

This is such a stupid thing to do—spending your own money to give away copyrights to others…

Who would do it?

As for profit sharing...

If you can't even publish your self-developed games, then what's the point of negotiating with me?

What you need now is to preserve your market share!

We must prevent other companies from taking advantage of the situation and seizing control!

As for the others?

That's something to talk about only after the headband on your head is removed!

At this moment, Ethan had to admit that Steve Jobs was right.

This is his fate!

"Mr. Steve Jobs," Ethan said with a smile, "may I call you Steve?"

"Of course!" Jobs nodded readily.

"Do you know how I feel right now?" Ethan pointed to his face.

"I can tell," Jobs laughed. "Your smile is impossible to hide."

"So do you know what I want to say right now?" Ethan's index finger flew up.

Steve Jobs smiled and shook his head, saying clearly, "I am fate."

"Pfft~" When these words were spoken, Ethan finally couldn't help but laugh.

"Hahaha~"

He burst into laughter and raised his Coke cup, gesturing towards Jobs.

This hippie version of Steve Jobs is quite childish.

but……

He thought it was great because it was funny.

① The settlement agreement, which included compensation and a one-year copyright extension, was confirmed by Ralph Bell, who specifically mentioned it in his memoir in 1994. However, regarding the timing, Bell's memoir states that the copyright restrictions in the settlement agreement began in 1976. Atari, however, provides a different story. Nolan Bushnell and his team claim that *Breakout* was completed in 1975 but wasn't released until May 1976 to wait for the restrictions to expire. According to my research, the copyright for *Breakout* still belongs to Atari, so I don't know the actual situation. The dates in this article are based on Atari's copyright information for *Breakout*. I personally feel that Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs, and Nolan Bushnell wouldn't all have made a mistake with the dates in their biographies, would they?

(End of this chapter)