Tequila Works, Ready at Dawn, and Frozenbyte projects
Hey remember when GameStop announced it was publishing Song of the Deep (which is coming on July 12 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One) from Insomniac, but maintaining that it was “not attempting to be publishers here?” Well the publisher formerly known as just a retailer is publishing three more games.
Now known as “GameTrust Initiative,” (which sounds suspiciously publishy to me) their program is taking on Tequila Works, Ready at Dawn, and Frozenbyte, though no specific games have been announced yet. Tequila does have RIME in the works, which was just dropped by Sony, so it makes perfect sense that GameStop has swooped in — and Frozenbyte has Shadwen still in development.
As part of their statement the publisher noted that it is “not part of the creative process,” and is merely “leveraging retail space and distribution.” Okay, that makes sense, but it seems like they’re trying to have their cake and eat it too — not bumping elbows with other publishers that they sell games for, but also trying to adapt in this dog-eat-dog market to survive by any means necessary (which is a fair and smart plan, all told). Plus, it’s nice to see smaller projects supported like this.
It’s a great execution too, starting small and potentially ramping up as time goes on if sales are high. Maybe then GameStop can finally admit that they’re a publisher.
GameStop Announces Publishing Deals With Three More Developers [Game Informer]
