We talk the future of physical games, Pre-Order culture and working with Naughty Dog
As the COO and Co-Founder of Limited Run Games, Douglas Bogart is an avid collector and in his spare time writes music – but also has a day job reissuing some of the greatest ever videogames, many of which sell out in mere minutes.
He talks to CRISP. about getting his start, the developing Limited Run fanbase and tackling the resale market.
– Describe what Limited Run does in a single sentence.
We take digital games and preserve them in a physical format!
– How did you both get started, from an idea into actually making physical titles?
Limited Run Games spawned as an offshoot of Josh Fairhurst’s company Mighty Rabbit Studios.
We were close to going out of business and wanted to preserve at least one of our games physically and see if there was a market for more physical games. I previously worked at Mighty Rabbit Studios and Josh asked me to start Limited Run with him.
– Was there a release or moment when you thought you’d ‘made it’?
I’d say working with Oddworld Inhabitants for our third release was when we felt like we made it.
It legitimized us to customers as we were not only doing our own games but games from legendary developers like Oddworld.
I’d also say our first release was a big shock for us as it had no marketing and was a Vita game, but it sold out in 108 minutes.
We had been told by numerous people that this was a bad idea and that Vita was a dead platform, but it all worked out in the end!
The fanbase has been great! We have some of the most passionate fans out there. The feedback for our collector’s editions has helped immensely as we have improved them with each subsequent release.
We really enjoy that we have a great community on Twitter, Instagram, and Discord. We also love seeing our fans show up for our Twitch streams.
– How’s the relationship with Sony and Nintendo (and Lucasfilm!)…current status for adding Microsoft titles?
Our relationships with Sony and Nintendo are great.
– Is there a holy grail title that you still wish to add to the Limited Run collection?
Scott Pilgrim will probably always be number 1!
– Thoughts on the resell market and rising prices of early LR physical releases?
It’s a balancing act. I think it shows there is a demand for physical games as people are paying more for the games they missed.
But to counter that we are trying to do more open-preorders so people can have a better chance of grabbing a game. The rarity isn’t what sells any more, it’s good games.
– Who was the developer most fun to work with so far?
We really enjoyed working with all of our partners.
– What’re the major challenges that you currently face?
The major challenge for us is reaching more customers. We feel there is still a demand we are not hitting and want to expand our reach.
– Lastly, what does the next generation of consoles hold in store for Limited Run?
More great games to release physically! 😀
