[Interview] Limited Run Games

 

Hi Douglas. Thank you for giving us this interview. I wanted to start off by saying that not only am I a huge fan of Limited Run Games, but I’m also a long time customer. My first purchase was Saturday Morning RPG for the PS4 and PS Vita and it hasn’t stopped there, haha. I also wanted to say congratulations on your most recent announcement about Nintendo Switch, but we’ll get to that in a bit.Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got in to gaming?


My name is Douglas Bogart, I am one of the co-founders of Limited Run Games. I first got in to gaming at a very young age, playing my dad’s Atari and NES. I became hooked at 4 when I got an SNES for Christmas. I first got in to the industry working for Josh Fairhurst at Mighty Rabbit studios as a tester. Shortly after that I began to work at Ubisoft doing technical support and as a GM on a game that has since been canceled.

In regard to Limited Run Games, I first wanted to wish you Mazel Tov on your two year anniversary. For those who may not be aware, can you share some background on Limited Run Games and the vision you have for the company?


Limited Run Games started as a publishing off-shoot of Mighty Rabbit Studios. MRS was running out of money and contract work. So, Josh took what he had left of a loan he had taken out to start Limited Run Games with me as a last-ditch effort to save the company and to preserve his own games. Our goal is preservation, helping developers earn additional money on their titles, and to fight the all-digital future.

You’ve released a wide range of genres on the PS4, PS Vita, and PC, including shooters, RPGs, adventures, and more. Are there specific criteria you look for when deciding which digital only games you want to bring to the physical format?


We are looking for mid to high tier games that we can produce more copies for. We still want to support the occasional small tier games, too, though! The problem is there are not enough weeks in the year to do all the games we want to do without oversaturating the market. A lot of the criteria for the games we pick are just that we like the games or our fans have requested them.

Can you share some background as to the process that goes in to that initial thought of which game/developer to go for all the way to that release date when customers are making those purchases on your site?


The process can go as quickly as two months, but most of the time it takes much longer. We have to first establish contact with the developer, discuss print size, get art assets, get the game through manufacturing, and once it’s in hand or on the way we will then put it up for sale.

Of all the releases you’ve put out, which do you consider was your biggest personal win?


Hm, this is a tough question. I’d say some of our biggest wins are Ray Gigant, Night Trap, Firewatch, Oddworld, and Shantae!

So let’s move into your biggest announcement to date: The Nintendo Switch. We at The Switch Effect are obviously huge fans of Nintendo’s newest system. In addition, we LOVE physical games so much that I am personally going for a complete physical collection. Can you let us peek behind the curtain as to how the approval process went with Nintendo?


I can’t reveal too much other than it was a long process! Nintendo has been amazing to work with so far and extremely nice! We were very lucky to talk with Damon Baker at GDC to get the process started. We are taking extra care to make our switch releases special.


With all the digital games that have been released and announced for the Switch, what are your top three you would love to bring to cartridge?


I would like to see Thimble Weed Park, Golf Story, and Fast RMX.





We can dream!


My final question is if you could give us a hint as to what your first Nintendo Switch title will be in 2018?


I can’t really give any hints, but I can tell you we thought our first title would just be a pipe dream, but instead it’s a hole in one.


Thank you again so much for taking the time to answer our questions and allow our readers and followers to learn more about Limited Run Games. We wish you much success as you begin your third year and move to a new video game system!