Biggest games retailer dipping toe into console game publishing.
Insomniac Games has an interesting choice of partner for their next game, Song of the Deep, which has made its debut at this week’s PAX South event. Retail behemoth GameStop will take on publishing responsibilities for the physical game release, producing disc-based versions of the game for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
GameStop has some experience in the digital space, having acquired online game portal Kongregate in 2010 and expanding it with a mobile division in 2013, but this will mark the first time the company has attempted physical game publishing.
In an article published on Fortune, Insomniac Games President and CEO Ted Price called the arrangement, “a nontraditional publisher and developer relationship,” noting that GameStop hasn’t been influencing the game’s creative process. Insomniac is also retaining the intellectual property and will be the publisher for digital releases on all platforms.
As sales at brick-and-mortar game retailers continue to decline, GameStop stands to lose the most and this experiment represents another of many attempts over the last several years to diversify their business. Along with more than 6,000 GameStop locations worldwide, the company also owns Apple reseller Simply Mac and wireless service retailer Spring Mobile.
Song of the Deep is a 2D Metroidvania-style game set in an underwater world. Players control Merryn, a young woman searching for her lost father in a submarine which can be upgraded with a variety of new functions. The game is planned to release this Summer.
Sources: Insomniac Games, Fortune
