"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 waves across the gaming community, but it left indie developers who had scheduled their game launches for the same day in a challenging position. Jonas Antonsson, co-founder of indie publisher Raw Fury, expressed his thoughts on social media about how the "massive" shadow-drops of big titles like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered can overshadow other releases, causing them to be "buried."

"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 highlighted the difficulties faced by indie developers and publishers due to such shadow-drops. "But from the perspective of indies and indie publishers, this is the problem with these sorts 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 specifically mentioned Post Trauma, a puzzle horror game developed by Red Soul Games and published by Raw Fury on April 22. The game, inspired by PS2 era classics, challenges players to "navigate environments, tackle threats, and meet other lost characters in the depths of the Gloom." Antonsson expressed empathy for the team and the developer, who had dedicated years to the project: "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."

On the day of the release, Raw Fury tweeted with a hint of sarcasm: "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 saw a strong debut on Steam and has dominated online conversations, with players reveling in the return of its quirky character faces, nostalgic bugs, and memes.

Even other titles heavily promoted by Microsoft are feeling the impact of Oblivion Remastered. This week, Kepler Interactive, the publisher of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, acknowledged the 'Barbenheimer' energy of launching the same week as Oblivion Remastered. Both games were released directly into Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

For Raw Fury, the decision to release Post Trauma on April 22 was made without knowledge of the impending shadow-drop of Oblivion Remastered. It's a situation that may simply be chalked up to unfortunate timing.

For those eager to dive 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.