Question about Limited Run games

[AAA177]

I'm placing this post here because we've tended to talk about licensing issues in this forum, especially with Bill L/AtGames. 

 

I did a news search on Nintendo earlier and saw that a company called Limited Run - with which I am not familiar - is doing a limited edition release of some Star Wars games, in particular Empire Strikes Back for Game Boy and Shadows of the Empire for Nintendo 64. I think they are sold out, actually, but I am not certain. I did a search in the forum and found a discussion critical of this business because of quick sell-outs. 

 

What I am more interested in is the business model here, because it seems quite odd, to some degree. First, I have to say, when I saw Empire Strikes Back for Game Boy, I was stunned...that's out of left field, in a great way, of course. Shadows is out of left field, too, but maybe not as much as the Game Boy title. 

 

Disney clearly has been big lately on licensing titles. We've seen some popular games from the 8/16-bit eras hit Steam and other platforms (Duck Tales, Aladdin, Lion King, etc.). We've seen remasters. We've seen the deal with AtGames. I'm assuming more is on the horizon with Disney. This makes sense: Disney famously exited direct publishing of games (and development I believe as well, beyond whatever collaboration/approval process goes on naturally between Disney Interactive and a licensee). Disney has a significant licensing division that is now combined with its park segment for reporting purposes.

 

With that as a basis, I'm wondering: are we getting closer to seeing physical releases of old Atari games in packaging that replicates the original boxes/manuals/catalogs, using original paper stocks? The reason I ask is because if the physical Limited Run releases are of interest to a company with a market cap like Disney's, wouldn't it be of interest to Atari to release the 2600/5200/7800/computers/etc. again in both hardware and software format? If an ST were released to the market again, would Disney license a boxed version of Maniac Mansion? 

 

What could Disney be thinking with licensing to Limited Run, specifically? I suppose it could simply be a promo push for the brand, but I wonder too if it is a way of increasing margin/revenue for the licensing division which recently took some hits. Maybe the CEO isn't pushing this, but the person who is head of games licensing might find this an easy to make some money and push their performance metrics. I'm not 100% sure, but I thought I read the print runs on the products (there are different editions) of the games might number in the few thousands...what could that possibly mean to Disney, which records tens of billions of dollars in revenue on an annual basis? It means something, certainly. And I have to wonder: will Nintendo, Sega, other companies start producing physical cartridges and packaging of their libraries? Are we getting closer to this? It should be noted the critical discussion of Limited Run I looked at mentioned that we here on the forums have to remember we are sort of in a bubble, and that the hobby can't really support too much product. That's probably true. But if Disney is developing a long-tail of licensing, why wouldn't Activision Blizzard, whose stock has dropped, look to getting limited runs of its library out into the marketplace? Imagine opening a new copy of Fishing Derby in 2020...

 

Sorry for the lengthy post, but I continue to see us inching toward some new licensing models by the big companies (hope I am right on that). If Sony wants to promote Ghostbusters next year, why not license out all the games based on that property to Steam/etc. and produce some physical copies as well? 

[Zoyous]

15 hours ago, AAA177 said:

what could that possibly mean to Disney, which records tens of billions of dollars in revenue on an annual basis? It means something, certainly. And I have to wonder: will Nintendo, Sega, other companies start producing physical cartridges and packaging of their libraries? Are we getting closer to this? It should be noted the critical discussion of Limited Run I looked at mentioned that we here on the forums have to remember we are sort of in a bubble, and that the hobby can't really support too much product. That's probably true. But if Disney is developing a long-tail of licensing, why wouldn't Activision Blizzard, whose stock has dropped, look to getting limited runs of its library out into the marketplace? Imagine opening a new copy of Fishing Derby in 2020...

 

I think what it means to a company like Disney is some income that doesn't require very much expenditure. I expect it's much less likely that companies like Nintendo and Sega will start producing their own limited edition re-releases because they don't want the headache of providing tech support when a brand new cartridge doesn't work on a 30-year-old console. Limited Run Games themselves express the opinion in MegaVisions #8 that they expect their own market to contract drastically this year as there are now a dozen or more imitators/competitors providing a similar service. So personally I'd say enjoy it (if you do enjoy it... I think it's a frustrating business model that encourages scalping) while it lasts.