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GameStop Forms Publishing Program GameTrust To 'Revolutionize' the Process (gamespot.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the Jony-Ive dept.

An anonymous reader writes: GameStop has announced today a publishing label called "GameTrust," which includes developers like Insomniac Games, Ready at Dawn, Tequila Works, and Frozenbyte. Mark Stanley, GameStop VP of Internal Development and Diversification, told GameSpot in a recent interview, "We do not involve ourselves in the creative process because at the end of the day, that is what our developer partners are passionate about," he explained. "By allowing developers to fully focus on their craft, GameTrust can focus on all other aspects of bringing a new IP to market, leveraging our deep expertise and retail channel leadership to support each developer and connect their games with a broader global audience." According to GameStop's program release, GameTrust will "revolutionize the game development and distribution process" by way of giving developers another option to bring their games to market, leveraging GameStop's leadership in the retail channel (including marketing and more) to help bring games to a larger audience. Everything "from casual to serious, console to PC, triple AAA titles to independent games" will be supported. They'll be available through all of GameStop's retail channels as well as Steam, Xbox Live, Playstation Network, the eShop, and others. The full interview with Mark Stanley can be found here. GameStop first revealed its foray into game publishing when Insomniac Games, developer of Ratchet and Clank Overdrive, unveiled its upcoming adventure game Song of the Deep.

40 comments

  1. Going vertical by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    About time someone invented the "store brand" of video games. I don't expect much, just cheap knockoffs and filler.

    1. Re:Going vertical by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      idk if your criticism is really fair, but I have to mention that Song of the Deep looks a lot like Aquaria (which I enjoyed quite a bit)

  2. In other words.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We want a cut of these big indie games.... Hopefully that will keep us afloat for a while longer.

    1. Re:In other words.... by Dunbal · · Score: 1

      Because someone skilled enough to code their own game is not going to be skilled enough to, say, write code for a website so you can download/register/activate it. Plenty of cloud-based solutions to accept all major credit cards nowadays, too. And then there's Steam - the place people already know about where digital games are sold.

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      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    2. Re:In other words.... by tepples · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Because someone skilled enough to code their own game is not going to be skilled enough to, say, write code for a website so you can download/register/activate it.

      First, coding a website is a different skill from coding a game. A small 1- to 3-man indie studio may have to hire someone. But more importantly, "write code for a website" works for PC games, not so much for console games because the console maker limits who is allowed to have a devkit and how many titles are allowed to be released.

    3. Re: In other words.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is there something wrong with that? They arent taking away from anything...

    4. Re:In other words.... by Dunbal · · Score: 0

      First, coding a website is a different skill from coding a game.

      Oh come on, unless your "coding" vocabulary consists of something totally weird, learning PHP won't take you more than an afternoon, HTML and CSS is pretty straightforward. I'm not saying a kickass website wouldn't take a bit of effort, but it's the game you're selling not the website. All you need is a bit of database knowledge, a bit of PHP, a bit of layout, and you're done. I know I'm a fricken genius but I'm not THAT smart. I'm sure other people can do it too. Someone who knows how to code can easily move between languages if you understand how the machine is working. Someone who just copies a script and has no idea what s/he's doing is not going to finish a game anyway so it's a moot point.

      As for console devs - if you say there's a barrier to entry via the dev kit (I don't know much about console coding), then Gamestop is already shooting itself in the foot looking for "indie" developers who probably can't afford that barrier to entry in the first place, right?

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      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    5. Re:In other words.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Oh come on, unless your "coding" vocabulary consists of something totally weird, learning PHP won't take you more than an afternoon, HTML and CSS is pretty straightforward.

      And people wonder why websites, especially those coded in PHP, get hacked all of the time and security sucks. You and your attitude are a big part of that my friend. Web development is a specialty just as surely as game development is. There are people who devote their careers to these disciplines and are excellent at them and then there are people like you who "taught themselves to code in an afternoon." Please approach the profession with the respect that it deserves, educate yourself and drop the cowboy coder attitude. If you cannot do that then please don't write code professionally. The world of software development already has enough security flaws, bugs and crappy code written by people who don't really know WTF they're doing. Don't be another one of those people.

    6. Re:In other words.... by Kkloe · · Score: 1

      This is the truth, having a website requires so much more than having setting up a server so everyone can use git or similar. The hell to having to setup domians, getting certs, firefwall, ftp, balancing servers and so on.

      Just using php and thlm and css nowadays will be short unless you are talking about html 5 that is basically javascript

    7. Re:In other words.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm not saying a kickass website wouldn't take a bit of effort, but it's the game you're selling not the website.

      First impressions matter, if the first I see of your game is a gigantic pile of shit I most likely wont even bother with it unless others already gave it extremely good reviews.

      All you need is a bit of database knowledge, a bit of PHP, a bit of layout, and you're done

      SQL injection, wordpress plugins and their security issues, a badly configured Apache server, could it be that by done you mean flagged as a virus distributor?

      Someone who knows how to code can easily move between languages if you understand how the machine is working.

      Except the APIs are different and most of the PHP example code you find on Stackoverflow is known to contain vulnerabilities ( answers get upvoted for just "working" good enough ).

    8. Re:In other words.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This. I'm an embedded software guy. Sure, I write code, and it's not that big of a deal to pick up the syntax of another language. That being said, the skill sets for things like desktop, mobile, web, embedded, etc. are vastly different. Learning the syntax doesn't mean anything. Creating a secure, professional website after an afternoon of learning PHP and CSS is akin to teaching a palsy victim how to perform brain surgery with a plumbing wrench over the weekend.

  3. All Natural Content-Free Press Release by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can anyone else decipher this press release? Are they setting up a Steam clone? Why would I care about a new distributor?

    1. Re:All Natural Content-Free Press Release by Z34107 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Can anyone else decipher this press release?

      I'll give it a shot.

      Are they setting up a Steam clone?

      No. They are, however, funding and marketing games, and getting them on store shelves and Steam/Origin/UPlay/et al. I assume they're doing this for the same reason Netflix is making original content--to make sure they're not dependent on third-party content to keep their shelves stocked.

      I'm also guessing they don't see much of a future in retail, so they're trying to pivot into the publishing business before they die off, which is probably more profitable anyway.

      Why would I care about a new distributor?

      You probably don't, unless you're a game studio looking for someone to finance your next game. In that case, you probably do, especially if you're not big enough to get the time of day out of one of the AAA publishers, or if "we do not involve ourselves in the creative process" sounds appealing.

      In the abstract, you should probably care a little because more publishers funding games means more games get made, and GameStop has the potential (the potential) to fill an interesting middle ground between too-big-to-fails like Call of Battlefield Eleventy and no-budget, bottom-of-the-barrel, I-compiled-this-with-two-pirated-rubber-bands-and-kickstarter "indie" games. As in, budgets small enough to be able to take interesting creative risks without worrying about a twenty-brazillion dollar screw-up tanking the company, yet not so small that you have to resort to gimmicky pixel-art shit to get a hipster/10 rating on your Steam Greenlight.

      And if nothing else, it's unusual for a large company to see the writing on the wall ahead of time, and actually try to do something about it before plowing head-on into the iceberg. This is kind of a man-bites-dog moment--we're witnessing the incumbent horse-buggy manufacturer trying their hand at self-driving cars.

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      DATABASE WOW WOW
    2. Re:All Natural Content-Free Press Release by meerling · · Score: 1

      It's just corporate doublespeak loaded with buzzwords.
      All it really says is they want to stick their greedy fingers into the indie pie.
      That kind of c#@&& is meaningless garbage used to bamboozle the stupid or ignorant investors and has no value.

      One company I worked at, the new CEO came by to give us a speech and answer questions. It was a room full of techies. He tried doing the corporate doublespeak answers to us, and that didn't fly as the next person would tell him to answer the previous persons question. He was really pissed over us not falling for it. As far as I know, he never came back to our site. I guess he realized we weren't as dumb the people he usually talked to.

  4. Aren't buggy whips great? by TiggertheMad · · Score: 1

    ....And by revolutionize, we mean, 'Halt revolution'.

    translation: We will do anything we can to keep from being run out of business by steam....

    --

    HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
    1. Re: Aren't buggy whips great? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > ....And by revolutionize, we mean, 'Halt revolution'.

      It's called Game STOP. What did you expect?

  5. Reminiscent of 'Gathering of Developers' by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... but a little more corporate and not quite as cool. It could work, though, because physical presence in the form of nearly ubiquitous retail stores that seem to be crowded everywhere I go gives them an edge that GoD didn't have.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gathering_of_Developers

  6. Re:i still don't even get Steam by cstdenis · · Score: 2

    Steam has the benefits of auto updating your games, keeping a copy of your saves in the cloud, and selling games very cheaply.

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    1984 was not supposed to be an instruction manual.
  7. Comment Subject: by korgitser · · Score: 1

    It's a trap! They're trying to Uber the indies.

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    FCKGW 09F9 42
  8. Gamestop by Dunbal · · Score: 1

    Desperate to stay relevant in the digital age. Brick and mortar retail software is finally dying the death that has been long overdue.

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    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    1. Re:Gamestop by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If a company doesn't change, people laugh at them for not not keeping up with the times. If a company does try new things, people call them sellouts or desperate or otherwise acting like they're just making cheap cash grabs.

      I'm not a fan of Gamestop, but these kneejerk reactions and opinions are just get really pathetic.

    2. Re:Gamestop by Dunbal · · Score: 1

      So basically: people with opinions make you angry?

      I've been a PC gamer ever since PC's have existed. I remember Electronics Boutique, before it was swallowed by Gamestop. Heck I remember computer games consisting of a cassette and a tiny manual in a zip-loc bag you'd buy at the computer store - assuming your friend didn't give you a copy already, but that's going too far back for my point. Retail game stores made a huge mistake in the 1990's and bet big on consoles at the expense of the PC market. The main reason that Steam exists is precisely because Gamestop and others would no longer stock any sort of variety of PC games. Traditional retailers figured - wrongly - that console and cartridge games were harder to pirate and therefore were a "safer" investment. What they didn't realize is that most people were pirating PC games precisely because it was almost impossible to find the title you wanted in your local retail outlet.

      The other part of this is the retailer mentality, where a retailer of a certain size expects to be paid up front just for the privilege of them allowing your product on the shelf. Of course this limits your suppliers to only the suppliers big enough to afford this business model. So you get a virtual monoculture of "big publisher name" games that at version 10 of the same incrementally updated crap becomes kind of stale, and you lock out the creative and the independent.

      Far from being a "kneejerk reaction" it's pretty obvious that Gamestop is, and has been, in a death spiral for many years now. Console games were keeping it alive, but now even consoles allow for online purchasing and downloading of games. The retailer is now completely out of the loop. And in part, it's their own doing. EB Games and Gamestop used to sell games online. You'd go to the website and get your boxed game in the mail a week later. But they were either too afraid or too lazy to do what Valve did, and convince publishers that the DRM part of it could be dealt with adequately. Well, they missed the boat. And this last gasp would be laughable if it wasn't so pitiful.

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      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  9. Business Analysis by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    GameStop benefit from exclusive release titles, developers benefit from a new source of massive funding outside of the traditional game companies, and consumers benefit by being able to purchase games that would not exist without that external funding source.

  10. Re:i still don't even get Steam by war4peace · · Score: 2

    Not to mention a huge community, ability to join friends' multiplayer games, automated broadcasting/streaming as an option, game-based discussion boards, etc.

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    ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
  11. "At the end of the day" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...which day? Have the set a date yet? Is it today?

    I dislike that phrase, it's a useless filler.

  12. "IP" by cas2000 · · Score: 2

    anyone who refers to a game as "an IP" (or, worse, "a new IP") is either not a gamer or has been infected by MBA-speak.

    1. Re:"IP" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      IP is what is used industry-wide, not just by publisher/producer types. It's a legal definition, and is useful when trying to express that a game is not a sequel or reboot, does not rely on existing characters or story elements, etc, etc.

      So, anyone who refers to a game as "an IP", is someone familiar with the game development process.

    2. Re:"IP" by cas2000 · · Score: 1

      No, it's not a "legal definition". It's a made up propaganda word designed by copyright-maximalists to make people think about copyright, patents, and/or trademarks in the same way that they think about actual property - because thinking about those things in such an unnatural and false way allows them to easily lobby for laws that suit their agenda.

      the fact that the games industry has been infected by this pernicious meme does not make it any more real. or legitimate.

  13. So, how will they cripple resale? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    Gamestop works by involving themselves in resale of games, and making a somewhat ridiculously huge profit per game. Presumably that's what it takes to inhabit prime retail space, but I'd rather just buy a game on eBay.

    How will the games they publish be crippled to drive customers back into the store when they want to resell them?

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  14. Re: i still don't even get Steam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It also has pretty great tools for socializing, including friends amd game-specific forums.

  15. "Developers of RnC Overdrive" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why do stories always specifically mention a particular game in a series, especially when a company develops the entire franchise? IG built Ratchet & Clank (and for those old enough to remember, Spyro and a few other decent titles as well).

    What's so hard about saying "Insomniac Games, developer of the Ratchet and Clank series"?

  16. Re:i still don't even get Steam by Dunbal · · Score: 2

    And allowing you multiple copies on multiple machines. The only (and very sensible) restriction is you can only play on one machine at a time. So you can start a game on your computer in Los Angeles and finish it later in the week on your computer in London if you travel a lot, for example. Traveling with a bunch of CD's was a PITA, not to mention CD's get scratched/lost/stolen. And it's even worse if you have to start dragging game manuals/activation codes around with you everywhere.

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    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  17. They've already tried once by DrXym · · Score: 1
    Gamestop bought out Stardock's Impulse platform and tried to sell games through that. It flopped and the store was discontinued. So too bad if you happened to have bought games through that app because it's gone.

    So it's hardly inspiring to hear they're having a second go. What if that flops too?

    Aside from that, all these damned vertical stores are a nuisance. We have Steam, GOG (Galaxy), EA Origin, Ubisoft Unity, Microsoft Store and probably a heap of second tier contenders. It's a pain in the ass for consumers and anti-consumer and a pain in the ass for developers.

    The last thing anyone needs is yet another vertical market from Gamestop. It's unlikely to succeed and even if it did, it's just more bloat and fragmentation. Frankly there is no reason at all that all of these services couldn't share a common infrastructure for sign on, patches, trophies etc.

  18. you sure? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    triple AAA titles

    We got some nonuple A titles coming out!

  19. Re:i still don't even get Steam by Pascoea · · Score: 1

    ability to join friends' multiplayer games

    I disagree with you on this one. I yearn for the days of yore minimizing Counter Strike to IM my friend, or screaming across my apartment: "DUDE! What's the IP of that server you are on? ... Fuck, I can't join, only reserved admin spots left. Find another server that's playing DE_DUST!

    Not to mention how fun it was searching through all my shit to find my Half-Life CD key after re-installing Windows on my new AMD K6-III macine.

  20. Re:i still don't even get Steam by war4peace · · Score: 1

    Ah, those were the days...

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    ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
  21. Re:i still don't even get Steam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Steam is a combination app launcher/manager, marketing platform, payment processing platform, and link database.

    The main user facing advantage of getting your games though steam is that steam will update them automatically for you, which has the advantage that when you sit down to play a game that pushed an update yesterday you don't have to wait for the update righ now (it was downloaded and installed yesterday) For online games which need to be kept up to date that means less time spent waiting to play your games.

    The other advantage is that Steam will advertise games. You can find out about games you might not have known about if Steam weren't pimping them to you.

    There's also an argument to be made that it's safer to pay one company to maintain a payment system than to pay every developer individually on their own potentially poorly coded website.

    The biggest down side, is that Steam can act as a gatekeeper to your entire collection, so being an asshat in one game might get you banned from all your games if you get yourself booted from your steam account.

  22. Triple AAA by ishamael69 · · Score: 1

    Holy crap, as expensive as AAA titles are, I can only imagine what AAAAAAAAA titles will run...

  23. Experience, finances, and a secure office by tepples · · Score: 1

    As for console devs - if you say there's a barrier to entry via the dev kit (I don't know much about console coding)

    Console makers traditionally require "relevant industry experience", "financial stability", and a "secure office" (source: warioworld.com) before a developer can purchase required tools. Before about 2012, home offices were not considered "secure" in this manner. And it's difficult for an indie studio to show "relevant industry experience" if its employees haven't lived in the Austin, Boston, or Seattle area.

    then Gamestop is already shooting itself in the foot looking for "indie" developers who probably can't afford that barrier to entry in the first place, right?

    A publisher can help developers find resources to port a finished or nearly finished game to another platform. For example, a company as big as GameStop is a shoo-in for "financial stability".