Indie games have entered the era of bespoke publishing

For anyone with an eye on video game news, it’s been hard to ignore the recent rise of names like Annapurna Interactive, Devolver Digital, Private Division, Humble, Epic Games and Netflix tied to independent projects. The distribution process for indie developers has shifted over the past few years from a self-publishing-first model, to one that prioritizes deal-making and acquisitions. For the moment, this shift is powering a small but highly visible boom in the world of indie games.“I don't think I ever want to self-publish again.”Ben Ruiz has been a game developer since 2005, and in that time, he’s pretty much done it all. He founded two studios, he did contract work on titles including Super Meat Boy and Overland, and he independently published a tentpole original project, the monochromatic brawler Aztez. Nowadays, Ruiz is running a five-person studio called Dinogod and he’s building Bounty Star, a game that blends mech combat with life-sim mechanics. Bounty Star is being published by Annapurna Interactive and it’s due out in early 2024.Bounty StarAnnapurna Interactive“Everything favors a publisher relationship, seemingly, because self-publishing has become this extraordinarily difficult thing,” Ruiz said. “It’s possible, but without help, I just don't know how anyone's doing it … I got a lot of friends in the same boat.”Ruiz’s career is a microcosm of the shifting landscape for indie developers over the past 10 years. He began working on Aztez in 2010, when Steam was... Continue reading at 'Engadget'

[ Engadget | 2023-07-28 17:06:39 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "Indie games have entered the era of bespoke publishing"


So many languages, so few books: Libraries struggle to reflect places they serve

Libraries across Southern California are aiming to serve the immigrant readers of rapidly changing cities by purchasing books in a variety of languages. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-02-17 13:00:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Bradford libraries saved in council U-turn

Bradford Council has reversed planned £1.05m cuts to its libraries but says some services could still be moved to other buildings in a bid to make them financially viable. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-16 18:54:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Harrison Ford talking about libraries is your Valentine.

As we all know, there is only one Valentine and it is every book. Luckily, Harrison Ford talking about how great libraries are is an acceptable human Valentine proxy for all books. Why—besides the fact that you can’t spell”Harrison Ford, you irascible Jedi” without “Library”—is Ford making PSAs... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-02-14 14:17:02 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Friday Fund Day: Drop Some Dollars and Help Some Classrooms

Do some good and help these classrooms build inclusive libraries by donating or spreading the word about their projects. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-02-14 11:41:33 UTC ]
More news stories like this


How Libraries Saved Cheryl Strayed

As a girl, the author of “Wild” and “Tiny Beautiful Things” spent hours studying Scholastic book club catalogs. But “my family was too poor to pay for the books,” she says. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2020-02-13 10:00:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Facebook's Ads Libraries isn't enough to keep NZ election clean

OPINION: Does seeing ad spend and number of advertisements really tell us that much? Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2020-02-07 16:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Jane Austen, Gritty Educational Reformer of the Working Class

From about 1890 to 1940, a half century of ultra-cheap editions of Jane Austen’s novels aimed explicitly at educating the working poor. Because these ill-printed and shabby versions of her stories never made it into the scholarly libraries that safeguard “important” editions, the hardscrabble... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-02-04 09:49:29 UTC ]
More news stories like this


On One of the Greatest Children’s Ghost Books Ever Published

First published in 1977,  Usborne’s The World of the Unknown: Ghosts was among the most treasured books (and anecdotally, the most stolen) in school libraries of the late 70s and 80s. Many of my friends—a disproportionate number of whom are writers and artists—remember poring over the pages of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-01-29 09:48:13 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Libraries and Authoritarianism 1940, 2020

ON HALLOWEEN 2016, former Fox News anchor Greta Van Susteren tweeted, “Colleges should stop building vanity projects like huge libraries and billing students–full libraries are on our smartphones!” At the time, this statement sounded like garden-variety know-nothingism, ideological in the sense... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-01-28 13:30:27 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Ten libraries facing closure in Hampshire

Ten libraries could be closed across Hampshire with others having their opening hours reduced after the local authority announced plans to slash £1.76m from the service’s budget. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-10 01:00:51 UTC ]
More news stories like this


AT&T Pulls Plug on Audience Network, Which Will Become HBO Max Preview Channel

Audience Network, which has been on shaky ground since parent company AT&T bought Time Warner (now called WarnerMedia) in 2018, will soon be no more. AT&T said on Wednesday that it is pulling the plug on Audience Network, and will "transition" it this spring to a preview channel for HBO... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2020-01-09 00:45:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this


These are 2019’s most-borrowed digital books.

Rakuten OverDrive, a platform for digital books (used by more than 43,000 libraries and schools worldwide), has released a list of its most-borrowed ebooks and audiobooks in 2019. There are no real surprises on the list, besides maybe the fact that so many people want to listen to a woman tell... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-01-08 19:19:19 UTC ]
More news stories like this


How Libraries Help People In Cold Weather

When libraries help people in cold weather, they become a critical service for teens, the elderly, and unsheltered people. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-01-07 11:35:59 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Darlington Council to spend £2.9m on library spared from closure

Darlington Borough Council will pay £2.9m to keep one of its libraries open after abandoning plans to close it. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-05 21:59:32 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Electronic Arts is banning some Linux gamers from Battlefield V

Some Linux gamers who are using Wine to play Battlefield V are finding themselves permanently banned from the game. Player using the DXVK package are falling foul of Electronic Arts' anti-cheat system, seemingly because the DXVK Direct3D DLLs -- used to render 3D scenes in Wine -- are detected,... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2020-01-04 10:03:20 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Essex libraries campaigners hit out at 'commercialisation' of service

Plans for Essex libraries by the county council have sent “alarm bells ringing” about increased commercialisation of the service, a campaign group has said. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-24 02:02:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this


£3m investment will improve 'clunky' system, says head of Essex libraries

The head of Essex's libraries has branded the county's current library IT system "clunky and out of date", as she hails the opportunity to invest in the service. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-23 00:45:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this


What Can Heal the Publisher-Library Divide? Data

The best way to end the e-book standoff between publishers and libraries is to use data. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-12-20 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


How Libraries Are Adapting To Their Senior Populations: Critical Linking, December 18, 2019

A daily roundup of the most interesting and awesome bookish links from around the web! Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2019-12-18 11:30:11 UTC ]
More news stories like this


CILIP says libraries need £250m in demand to Johnson government

Library association CILIP says the library service needs up to £250m investment and has called for action from Boris Johnson’s government to secure its own future. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-18 08:39:06 UTC ]
More news stories like this