"Indie Publisher Boss Laments Team's Struggle After Oblivion Remastered Overshadows Launch"

The surprise release of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered on April 22 sent shockwaves across the gaming community. However, the excitement overshadowed indie developers who had planned their game launches for the same day. Jonas Antonsson, co-founder of indie publisher Raw Fury, expressed his thoughts on social media, highlighting the challenges indie games face when competing with "massive" shadow-drops from big titles like Oblivion Remastered.

"I loved (when younger) and still absolutely love Oblivion and I’m personally excited to see it get a breath of new life and being introduced to a whole new generation of players," Antonsson shared. However, he pointed out the downside for indie developers: "But from the perspective of indies and indie publishers, this is the problem with these sort of massive shadow drops. Everything more or less gets buried. We don’t have the cash nor muscle to throw around, so everything is carefully planned. Including when to release, based on other releases etc - to try to maximize the chances of getting attention."

Antonsson highlighted the impact on Post Trauma, a puzzle horror game by Red Soul Games, published by Raw Fury on the same day. Inspired by PS2-era classics, Post Trauma involves navigating environments, tackling threats, and meeting other lost characters in the depths of the Gloom. Antonsson expressed empathy for his team and the developer: "Love the game that dropped but feel the pain for our team and especially the developer we’ve worked with for years - who has poured his heart and soul into his game."

Raw Fury’s sarcastic tweet on April 22 reflected their frustration: "Thank god Post Trauma was the only notable release of today and nothing else happened!"

From the perspective of Bethesda and its parent company Microsoft, the shadow-drop of Oblivion Remastered has been a resounding success. The game has seen a strong debut on Steam and has dominated online conversations, with players relishing the return of iconic character faces, nostalgic bugs, and beloved memes.

Even other titles that Microsoft has heavily marketed are feeling the impact of Oblivion Remastered. This week, Kepler Interactive, the publisher of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, acknowledged the 'Barbenheimer' effect of launching the same week as Oblivion Remastered. Both games were made available on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

For Raw Fury, the timing of Post Trauma's release was unfortunate and unforeseeable. It's an event that might simply be chalked up as an unavoidable clash in the gaming calendar.

For those diving into Oblivion Remastered, we offer a comprehensive guide that includes an expansive Interactive Map, complete Walkthroughs for the Main Questline and every Guild Quest, tips on How to Build the Perfect Character, Things to Do First, every PC Cheat Code, and much more.