American video games publishers Limited Run Games specialise in (you guessed it) limited run, physical games for a number of consoles – including Nintendo Switch, PS4, Vita, PSVR, PC, and retro consoles. Their focus is to bring digital-only games to a physical medium, but then they have also created definitive editions of games you know and love. Star Wars, Axiom Verge, Monkey Island, Oddworld, Shenmue III, Command and Conquer plus the upcoming Scott Pilgrim Ubisoft game to name but a few.
Founded by Josh Fairhurst and Douglas Bogart in 2015 as a publishing offshoot of Mighty Rabbit Studios, they have now released over 300 games (Bloodstained 2 was number 390!). Specialists in bespoke Collector’s Editions and award-winning for creating physical releases for games that wouldn’t have gotten them otherwise. Most packages also include lots of awesome goodies to live on the shelves of all types of video game fans! We spoke to Dougie all about his journey with Limited Run…
LIMITED RUN GAMES: THE INTERVIEW
THE J: Have you always been a big gamer?
DOUGIE BOGART: I first got into gaming when I was a kid. I was probably about 3 or so? I remember the first console I owned was a SNES bundle with Super Mario World!
THE J: Have you always been a collector?
DOUGIE BOGART: Yeah! As a kid, I collected games, toys, and comic books. I used to set up my action figures on my shelves to display them when I was 5. I’ve always been a big fan of collecting stuff!
THE J: What are your all-time favourite video games?
DOUGIE BOGART: My favorite game will probably always be Phantasy Star Online on Dreamcast. It came out when I was in 7th grade and it was a way I became close friends with my co-founder Josh.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKhblqEkqlM
PRESERVING GAMES
THE J: So, how did Limited Run Games come about?
DOUGIE BOGART: Limited Run Games came out of a desire to preserve a game we had done as developers called Breach & Clear on Vita. We had run out of contract work and were at risk of going under. But Josh didn’t want to give up and close the doors without owning something physical that he and the team created. We launched and immediately had companies reach out to preserve their games too!
THE J: Do you have a set criteria for a new release? i.e. the depth of a game, moral code, previous release history?
DOUGIE BOGART: We tend to go after games that have a big retro feel or something that is nostalgic. The biggest criteria for us is that we enjoy the game first.
THE J: Videogame soundtracks is such a niche market, would you ever consider expanding this part of the business? Vinyl is more popular than ever..
DOUGIE BOGART: We actually already started expanding it! We have partnered with BraveWave to bring more vinyl out!
DISNEY AND… STAR WARS!
THE J: Star Wars is arguably the biggest franchise of all-time, a huge name to be associated with, did they approach you first?
DOUGIE BOGART: I think they reached out to us? It’s hard to remember. I do remember having our first physical meeting at E3 and just thinking internally “Holy crap we are talking to Disney and about Star Wars!”
THE J: Could this partnership extend to other Disney licenses?
DOUGIE BOGART: Yes! [It continued with] the Monkey Island series and we would love to tackle other franchises!
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THE J: What’s been your personal favourite release so far?
DOUGIE BOGART: Doing the Star Wars releases was huge! I was also super excited to do Senran Kagura, Outlast, Celeste, all the games from Tribute Games, and many more!
THE GOLD STANDARD
THE J: Are there any old games series you’d like to revive in the future?
DOUGIE BOGART: We are pretty keen to do anything SEGA haha!
THE J: What do you consider to be the biggest success for Limited Run Games so far?
DOUGIE BOGART: It’s hard to gauge that. I think the basis that we are considered the gold standard and the original in this field is big enough for us. We are super happy with all the partners we’ve had and the fans we have!
THE J: We have seen your games on Metal Jesus Rocks, Adam Koralik and other YouTube gaming channels, do you put aside a number of units for promotion?
DOUGIE BOGART: We do reserve some copies for marketing but we can’t always due to how limited some of our stuff can be.
THE COLLECTOR’S MARKET
THE J: How do you feel about your products being bought and resold on auction sites?
DOUGIE BOGART: I don’t think there is anything wrong with selling our games on a 3rd party site as long as those sellers followed our rules. I have a problem with people that create multiple accounts or set up bots to get our products. We usually do a search for those and cancel those orders.
THE J: Are all your releases numbered? Would you be able to track a sale?
DOUGIE BOGART: Our releases are numbered in terms of where they are in a series but we don’t number them individually unless it’s for a certain game or a collector’s edition. So we don’t track sales that way.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u6npYHvSGM
THE FUTURE
THE J: What can you recommend for upcoming releases we need to look out for?
DOUGIE BOGART: We got some pretty crazy games coming out that I can’t believe it personally!
THE J: What does the future hold for Limited Run Games?
DOUGIE BOGART: We are going to expand in a lot of areas that will surprise people and we have a retail store opening up next spring!
KEEP WATCHING THIS SPACE!
And be sure to order your copy of BLOODSTAINED: CURSE OF THE MOON 2 – there are a limited number of copies, didn’t you know?!