"Indie Publisher Struggles After Oblivion Remastered Overshadows Their Release"

The surprise release of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered on April 22 sent shockwaves through the gaming community, but it left indie developers scrambling. Jonas Antonsson, co-founder of indie publisher Raw Fury, voiced his concerns on social media about how such "massive" shadow-drops from blockbuster titles can overshadow smaller releases.

"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 expressed. However, he highlighted the challenges indie developers face: "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 specifically mentioned Post Trauma, a puzzle horror game developed by Red Soul Games and published by Raw Fury on the same day. Inspired by PS2 era classics, Post Trauma invites players to "navigate environments, tackle threats, and meet other lost characters in the depths of the Gloom." Antonsson shared his empathy for the team, saying, "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 Twitter account humorously noted on April 22: "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 launch on Steam and has dominated online conversations, with players reveling in the return of quirky character faces, nostalgic bugs, and memes.

Even other games heavily marketed by Microsoft, such as Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 from Kepler Interactive, have felt the impact of Oblivion Remastered. Both games were released directly into Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, creating a 'Barbenheimer' effect in the gaming world.

Raw Fury had no way of anticipating the shadow-drop of Oblivion Remastered when setting the release date for Post Trauma. It's an unfortunate circumstance that may be remembered as just one of those things in the gaming industry.

For those diving into The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, we offer a comprehensive guide that covers everything from an expansive Interactive Map, complete Walkthroughs for the Main Questline and every Guild Quest, How to Build the Perfect Character, Things to Do First, every PC Cheat Code, and much more.