The Making of an LRG Release, Pt. 1: A Product Is Born

Designing and manufacturing a physical product, such as a statue, requires a fairly lengthy and complex process. That’s true of re-designing and manufacturing a complex physical product, too, such as the Sonic X Shadow Generations statue. We won’t have meaningful news to report here in every blog, and that’s the case this week as we wait for the printed prototype sample of our newly engineered creation to arrive back at the LRG offices for review.

But these off weeks can still be informational. As we wait for our samples, we’ve decided to launch a blog miniseries called “The Making of an LRG Release” that will walk you through the multi-step process that goes into each and every game we publish. And who better to be your guide for this journey than the folks at Limited Run who are actually responsible for ushering an LRG release from its initial conception to the finished product in your hands? To kick things off, we’ve asked our Head of Business Development Jonathan Polan to explain how a project kicks off in the first place.

Limited Run Games:
What do you do at LRG?

Jonathan Polan, LRG Head of Business Development:
My primary role is to evaluate upcoming projects from new or existing partners. These can be developers or publishers. Ultimately, the goal is to determine if we feel that a project is a right fit for our fans, and if we're the right publisher for those partners.

LRG:
Do you go to the publishers and developers to land things? Or do they come to you?

JP:
It's actually both. There'll be times where a game really catches the eye of the team. I’ll reach out to see if I can establish a point of contact, make an introduction, share a little bit about Limited Run. And both new and existing partners may come to us with an idea for a physical release for their new games.

LRG:
What's the process of actually getting something signed? Is that a lot of conversations, a lot of debate? What has to happen before we lock down a game?

JP:
Great question. It's highly collaborative. A lot of times, when I first start discussing a project with a partner, there'll be a lot of conversations to help us get a good understanding of what they're looking for with the release. Things like the items inside, the potential physical release timing, platforms—all those details that we essentially need to iron out in advance, before I bring this to the team internally. I meet on a regular basis with the various department heads and key people within the company to discuss all new opportunities and determine what the scope of what the project could look like.

Ideally, we’ll get a build of the game, or video, so we can familiarize ourselves with the game, dive into it, spend a little bit of time with it. From there, it becomes a conversation that ranges from, “Is everybody interested in this?” to, “Do we feel this would resonate really well with our fans?” to “Are we personally excited to potentially be working on this?” Once we've kind of hammered out those initial thoughts, then it moves into us asking, how big do we feel this release could be? You can see on our website that we offer all different versions of games, from standard editions to deluxe high-end collector editions. That final piece all comes through these internal discussions. 

As for how long something can take, it varies. We want to give each project the time, care, and attention that it needs. So for us, there's normally not a rush, and we’re always trying to stay in constant communication with our partners. Discussing our partners’ timelines, and then ensuring that we stay on top of things internally so we can keep things moving forward at a good pace. 

LRG:
What would you say is the most challenging part of the whole process for you? 

JP:
Maybe this is a weird thing to say, coming from the business development side, but I hate to say no to people. I never like to turn anybody down or give them bad news. I’m not an expert in somebody else's project. They put a lot of time and resources into developing a game, and my feedback is just subjective. That's all it comes down to. So I think it's hard for me when we're not able to move forward together for one reason or another and I have to deliver that news back to the partner.

LRG:
Do you have any “white whale”? What would be the ultimate thing that you could lock down and then say, “That's it, I'm done. There are no worlds left to conquer”?

JP:
Nickelodeon Guts was my white whale. [laughs] I think that just stems from a sleepover party that I attended back when I was a kid in the ’90s. That was one of the games that my friend's dad picked up from the video store, along with F-Zero on SNES and the Super Mario Bros. movie on VHS. Being able to play Guts on modern console has always been a dream come true. And, lo and behold, Limited Run got to put that out with the Splat Pack. 

I think the only other game that I would love to have on physical console that's never gotten a port before is the Spider-man arcade game from Sega. I remember vividly playing that at the Catskills when I was a kid at the hotel that my parents and I used to go to every year. It was probably the only place I ever saw this game, and it never came out anywhere outside of arcades. So to be able to somehow contribute to making that a reality is probably my absolute white whale.

That's it for this week. Thanks to JP for his insights. We'll be back as usual next Friday with a progress update on the Sonic X Shadow Generations project!