When the traffic model broke I had two doors. One: lay off most of the team and pivot to burst-session mechanics we had no experience in and no appetite for. Two: reuse the engine, reskin Rome to Sengoku Japan, move to a leaner model, and move fast. We greenlit Daisho on 23 January 2023 and shipped it that June — concept to live in five months. It kept the team whole. Whether it beat handing the rest of the money back to investors, I still can’t tell you.