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CorgiSpace is out now!
A fun collection of small games!
An Interview with Tunic Lead Dev Andrew Shouldice
Plus, a Usual June dev update about ghost effects!
Usual June October 2025 Dev Update
Designing Frankie
Tunic Design Works
A comprehensive design book and so much more!
Usual June September 2025 Dev Update
Meet our new Lead Writer and check out new creature concepts!
Publishers And You
Ok so a thing that happens sometimes is we get a few emails on the same topic and instead of writing the same email over and over it maybe makes more sense to consolidate some of that knowledge (or so-called) in a public place for easy reference. DISCLAIMER: We sometimes “publish” games. It’s not something we do for profit, and we’re not completely sure yet whether or not we are even good at it. But it is a thing that happens so What is a publisher even? A valid question. In ye olde times (well it depends on which olde times but) a publisher was how you distributed your game. Self-publishing wasn’t really an option, or a particularly viable one, because there was no internet, and someone had to print your game onto a thing and put it in a box and then put it on a shelf somewhere and argue with the person that owned the shelf about what things should go where and so on. They had to print a paper manual because gamefaqs wasn’t around. They had to take customer support calls because they put the floppy disk into the wrong thing and now the game is literally physically broken. Or a fuckin i dunno a triceratops ate part of the box or something. It’s sort of weird and different now though. Anyone with access to an internet cafe can upload their game to something, somewhere, and eventually paypal will unfreeze their account and send them some money. This is what we call “distribution” and it is something that “online stores” and “exciting new platforms” mainly do, instead of publishers. Publishers also used to be in charge of basically press and marketing. They would send champagne or Cheez-It TM to some dudes in SF, and then they would write nice things about your game in a “paper magazine” that they would mail to grocery stores. Press works completely differently now - YouTubers, LPers, streamers, etc essentially constitute a fractured press of varying independence. Publishers still help maintain these relationships but it’s kind of a weird new different thing anyways. There are also PR consultants and marketing firms that can manage and maintain these relationships. Publishers also used to fund and finance the development of a game. They would pay everyones bills, rent, and health insurance while they worked themselves to death in a basement somewhere. Then they would fire the team that built it and hire some cheaper studio in a worse basement to make the sequel, and keep 90% of all the revenue from every version. This works a little differently now too, thanks to Indie Fund, Kickstarter, Patreon, and alternate sources of income like a spouse with a real job or just having a second real job or coming into a substantial inheritance by questionable means. So like what does a publisher even do now? A lot of publishers, especially in the indie space, function as surrogate companies addressing a variety of project-dependent needs. This might include corporate paperwork, legal paperwork, QA, managing platform relationships (consoles despite their massive improvements are still not really cut out for relationships w tiny teams), accounting, the aforementioned managing of “press” relationships, and also stepping up to fill funding gaps where other alternatives have left a gap. I don’t like to read, just tell me if I should work with a publisher. UUhhh ok so the answer is a hella complicated “maybe”. The main factors in the decision here are:
- You
- Your Team
- The Game
- The Publisher
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PAX South Preview Here’s 15 minutes of uncut 60fps footage from the tutorial area of the build we’re taking to PAX South next week!
yay cute shirts we will have these amazing
YAY CUTE SHIRTS We will have these amazing Overland shirts by @happydorid and our classic Finji shirts by Hohokum co-creator Dick Hogg at PAX South next weekend. Afterward they’ll be available first through the Overland mailing list w free pickups in Austin!