Who makes physical games today?

We’ve long understood that the future is in digital, for many good reasons, yet they still exist. focus on physical format until it becomes a kind of ideological war against natural technological evolution, armed with nostalgia, passion, and also a few common principles.

As the market shifts more and more towards the discounting of intangible assets and the very concept of ownership returns to simple usage, as do small and aggressive publishers. Limited Run, Strictly Limited, Super Rare and iAm8Bit They’re striving to relaunch the idea of ​​playing on physical media, recover the principles of this type of product, and focus on a niche but definitely loyal audience.

They are companies born for different reasons, but all combined with the desire to keep the physical market alive, trying to propose products in their compositions that reflect the basic principles of those who continue to prefer physical support to digital: aesthetically refined objects. pleasant and predominantly designed for gathering.

Of course, we are talking about offers that are extremely limited in circulation, often linked to indie games and far from the spread of blockbuster games, which have little impact on the global numbers of the market, but are quite significant from a conceptual point of view. It’s a matter of starting a message and resolutely affirming the will to survive, at least a small part of the games on cartridge and disc sold in the right package. Between collection impulses, craftsmanship and environmental considerations, specialized publishers keep the physical market alive and offer a real choice of space for many users.

Different origins, same soul

this more specific tags in this context, they all emerged at a similar time, roughly in the mid-2010s, perhaps with Limited Edition Games leading this new trend. their approval. on the market. Originating from a bizarre attempt by the Mighty Rabbit Studios team, the developers of Breach & Clear, the label was born out of some sort of desperate attempt to revive the project after the PlayStation Vita was deemed a near-dead platform. Well, the 1500 copies created practically “in house” by the nascent Limited Run Games sold out in a matter of hours, instilling in the developers the idea that such an attempt could be more than a game or a desperate rescue attempt. own title from oblivion. Less than 5 years later, the small company had printed more than 300 different games, all of which were particularly valuable editions and were greatly appreciated by collectors.

appeared almost simultaneously Absolutely Limited GamesA parallel initiative that, according to founder Dennis Mendel, started on a more ideological basis, focusing on the desire to protect certain games from possible oblivion resulting from the possible shutdown of platforms and services (at the time, PlayStation Mobile and PlayStation Vita provided an epitome of these risks).

other publishers such as iam8bitinstead, they started from the production of accessories and environment associated with retrogaming, where the trend of relaunching old games in new and deluxe editions continues to be a significant success, and the collection has recently re-emerged from strength to strength. In short, these are companies that came from different fields and with different intentions, but found a common path and are now competing in this small but vibrant market segment.

limited edition

What Strictly Limited, Limited Run Games, Super Rare, Special Reserve and iam8bit have in common is that they obviously deal with boxed games, but at the same time have very small dimensions. especially limited editions. This may have been an issue in the past, but in recent years retail distribution rules have been changed by at least some companies, paving the way for such initiatives that were impossible until a while ago. . The manufacturers of the various platforms often set some strict limits on the minimum quantities of copies to be produced to reach retail distribution: Regarding the publishers that are the subject of this study, we are talking about series ranging from 3000 to 5000 copies per game, so their feasibility was dependent on new types of agreements with the manufacturers.

Sony and Nintendo in particular seem to be more actively involved in this process, which is reflected in more physical games these companies are releasing on PS4 and Nintendo Switch, but lately Xbox has also joined the party. . The Switch has received a lot of attention in recent years, first and foremost, when Nintendo decided to open its doors to this type of alternative distribution, which found tremendous development opportunities in the vast amount and variety of indie titles available on the hybrid console.

It’s clear how this type of distribution relates perfectly to indie productions: not only for the more niche audiences they usually cater to (although by now the concept has become increasingly unrealistic) but also for the natural affinity of many of these titles. to the idea of ​​a purely “artisanal” distribution. Additionally, the small size of the teams makes it easy to deal with equally small publishers with an uncomplicated revenue share by large publishers or complex superstructures such as various third parties.

tradition and collection

New physical game publishers mostly bet tradition and collecting, two key factors driving users to spend even more to have limited edition concrete copies of modern games that can be bought digitally much more easily. On the other hand, it is no coincidence that some of the same names in this new market segment are also involved in the distribution of modern remakes of classic games for older consoles such as the NES, SNES and Mega Drive. Retrogaming is imbued with the traditional and collector’s spirit of gamers who are passionate about retail, as it relates to this particular area of ​​the physical market that is so different from big productions. So there is a fundamental distinction to be made between classic in-store sales and this new trend of indie publishers: Users who buy blockbuster movies in physical format often do so for economic advantage (in-store bargains or the possibility of reselling games). or to buy some expensive Collector’s Editions of new triple A games.

It is a user with a different profile heading towards Limited Run, Super Rare and the like.video game object and does not want to ignore its physicality, expects a carefully packaged product.

Specialist publishers are well aware of this, which triggers a virtuous cycle of high-quality productions, because in the end the meaning of these processes is precisely linked to the pleasantness of the object, between the packaging and any extras included as a booklet. . instructions and more, adopting the most classic tradition of the retail video game market. Unable to rely on large warehouses or large production capacities, publication then becomes a limited scope event, but managed with the utmost care, can create a special bond between publishers and users, coupled with a passion for the physical essence of the object. video game. It is therefore reasonable to expect these ventures to continue, despite the relentless trend towards digital: perhaps becoming more and more niche and perhaps expensive, but also characterized by an ostensibly stronger care and passion. anachronism..