Although Tequila Works’ RIME is hitting store shelves alongside a digital release, the studio’s producer Miguel Paniagua doesn’t think that all indies have a place in physical stores. During an interview with MCV, Paniagua was of the view that the funds required for a disc release are better spent improving the overall quality of a game.
He went on to say that digital publishing and self-publishing enables studios to minimize costs and so they’re “probably better on their own.” In RIME‘s case, it was its publishers (Grey Box, Six Foot) that decided on a retail release because the game is “not like a typical indie project.”
We announced it in 2013, we had a trailer in 2014 that was also very popular, so the name of Rime, I think [publisher Grey Box] thought it was worth it to take on the stores. I don’t know if other indie games will work the same way, though.
Interestingly, Tequila Works itself is helping to bring Cavalier Game Studios’ The Sexy Brutale to retail but according to the studio’s founder Charles Griffiths, the disc release (PlayStation 4 only) came as a result of Tequila’s relationship with a distributor. He personally believes that more can be done to bring indies to retail although companies seem unwilling to make that move unless “the game’s already proved a measure of success,” which guarantees an acceptable minimum amount of copies sold.
What do our readers think of this?
[Source: MCV]
