"Indie Publisher Boss Laments Team's Struggle Post-Oblivion Remastered Surprise 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 who had planned to launch their games on the same day in a challenging position. Jonas Antonsson, co-founder of indie publisher Raw Fury, took to social media to voice his concerns about how these "massive" shadow-drops from major 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 shared. However, he highlighted the struggles faced by indie developers: "But from the perspective of indies and indie publishers, this is the problem with these sorts 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 Red Soul Games’ Post Trauma, a puzzle horror game published by Raw Fury on April 22. Inspired by PS2-era classics, Post Trauma involves navigating environments, tackling threats, and meeting other lost characters in the depths of the Gloom. "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," Antonsson expressed.

Raw Fury tweeted sarcastically on the same day: "Thank god Post Trauma was the only notable release of today and nothing else happened!"

From Bethesda and parent company Microsoft's perspective, the shadow-drop of Oblivion Remastered has been a resounding success. The game had an impressive start on Steam and has dominated online discussions, with players reveling in the return of quirky character faces, nostalgic bugs, and memes.

Even other games that Microsoft has heavily marketed are facing competition from Oblivion Remastered. This week, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 publisher Kepler Interactive acknowledged the 'Barbenheimer' energy of releasing the same week as Oblivion Remastered. Both games were launched directly into Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

As for Raw Fury, the decision to set Post Trauma's release date was made without knowledge of Oblivion Remastered's impending shadow-drop. It may simply be chalked up to unfortunate timing.

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