Lost In Cult Builds a “Little Art Gallery of Gaming”
Lost In Cult is embarking on a journey to publish physical games. EDITIONS is billed as their “…preservation- and design-focused physical games label.” Lost In Cult promises to publish and make readily available “physical games designed with the care they deserve.” Come the end of the year, we shall see if EDITIONS delivers on this promise.
Lost In Cult appears to be doing things differently with EDITIONS, positioning itself in a different lane than the current physical-game market leader, Limited Run Games. Instead of building the predatory collector’s market, EDITIONS, if successful, could become the preferred way for the video game cognoscenti to purchase games. All three of the first titles announced: Thank Goodness You’re Here!; Immortality; and The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow have received critical acclaim. In July, Lost In Cult will announce a fourth title, and more announcements are on the way.
SUPERJUMP reached out to Ryan Brown, Lost In Cult’s Marketing Director and Head of its EDITIONS imprint, via email to talk about the upcoming project. What follows is that discussion, which has been lightly edited for clarity.
SUPERJUMP
Congratulations on the announcement of EDITIONS. What was the impetus that led to the creation of this project?
Ryan Brown (Lost In Cult)
Applying what Lost In Cult is known for to physical video games… felt like the next obvious step; we had many people in our own community saying they'd love to see us make games over the years, and it's an idea we of course have been swirling around since before I even joined the team! With my personal background in physical games, it made sense to actually kick this into gear properly, and we've been working on it now since early 2024, or a little earlier in concept.
The other part, of course, is seeing the current landscape of the industry. The concept of video game ownership is diminishing - many younger players have grown up with Netflix, Spotify, Game Pass, and simply never owned any of their art or entertainment, which is a little mortifying to me. Video game preservation is still an underappreciated issue, with topics like the Switch 2 Game-Key Cards making that a lot more prevalent. We also saw a way we could contribute to the physical game space that's a bit "different" than what others are doing right now, by making them extremely premium, very art and design focused releases, by ensuring all content is on the carts/discs with DoesItPlay? testing them, and by creating better availability with mass retail standard releases of each of our EDITIONS titles. The idea is to give each title the prestige it deserves, but also not locking away these games forever with limited versions.
SUPERJUMP
Who is the target audience for the imprint?
Ryan Brown
I see EDITIONS as being targeted towards a few key groups! First and foremost, those who view video games as a serious medium of art, and not just a disposable, junk consumable. We pick the titles we include in our line-up very carefully, with each pushing the medium forward in some way, shape, or form, and being an excellent example of video games as an inarguable form of art. EDITIONS are designed with that in mind, with all-original artwork for its outer slipcase, poster, and other elements, and the involvement of the developers in telling the story behind their game as part of [each] essay booklet [included with every release].
That makes it ideal for specific fans of each title too, as well of course as for collectors. We designed EDITIONS to be a consistent collection across the board, so it's easy to jump in, collect, and display each volume on a shelf. Think of it as a little art gallery of gaming.
Of course, I'm not blind that this isn't for everyone, and many collectors will just want the game itself in a box, and we've catered for that, too!
SUPERJUMP
Can you tell us a bit more about how the titles are selected for EDITIONS?
Ryan Brown
The titles we have in store for the future are really quite special.
Every game signed thus far is one we have specifically sought out directly. The ethos behind our EDITIONS and what we're trying to achieve means not every game we love is necessarily an ideal fit. Games in EDITIONS are all artful, be that through their design, visuals, [or] story. We choose to launch three games at once to give a bit of a taste for what we mean, because it’s admittedly a bit tricky to put into words, but I think the sorts of games that fit become more tangible when you look at our physical games line-up, or our Design Works book line-up.
We're not restricted by genre, game length, visual style, or even strictly indies - while indie games happen to fit the mold more often, EDITIONS may include some non-indie games in the future!
I should add, our launch titles aren't necessarily forefronting our "best" selection - our entire line-up is absolutely killer! We just so happened to sign those games first, so our first four titles encompass the literal first four games we signed, which is a quality bar we've maintained throughout [the fourth game will be announced in July]. I think people are going to be very pleased by the titles we have lined up over the next year.
SUPERJUMP
EDITIONS is being compared to the Criterion Collection, which has had a troubled history (though this has improved somewhat in the past few years) regarding preserving and spotlighting films from outside the West and Japan. Will EDITIONS spotlight lesser-known but equally deserving games from non-Western or Japanese studios?
Ryan Brown
For sure. We're definitely not a like-for-like comparison, though I think the Criterion Collection comparison makes sense, generally speaking. We're not restricting ourselves to any specific region or type of games, and I think games are a little less region-restricted than the film industry seems to be.
So far, we have developers and individuals from the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, Brazil, Spain, Poland, Australia, Mexico, Italy, Germany, and more. It just so happens that creatives are from all over the world, unsurprisingly! Our releases do need to support the English language in some way, due to our ESRB ratings and Western retail releases, but many of our releases also support other language options. I think video games generally have a bit of a win over films in that area, though there's still a lot of work to do in supporting underrepresented areas for indies in general.
SUPERJUMP
The press release mentions that Lost In Cult will promise copies of EDITIONS selections to “multiple museums and archive groups.” How were these museums and groups selected? And can you name some of them?
Ryan Brown
This is something personally very important to me, and something Lost In Cult in general really cares about. We're very much aware that "preservation" can become a bit of a buzzword, and are keen to actually help any museum or archive group however we can; we receive a lot of in-development materials for each game we work on, largely for use in the EDITIONS booklets, as well as game builds and other interest[ing] bits. Where possible (we need developers' permission, naturally it’s not our decision to make), we provide those assets to appropriate groups for archival purposes, and send copies of our physical releases. We currently send these to the Strong Museum of Play, select titles as requested to the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision, and have also worked closely before with the Embracer Archive - and, of course, the DoesItPlay? team. The National Videogame Museum and The Computing History Museum in the UK are two I have worked closely with in the past. Any other museum or archive group we could potentially help need simply just reach out!
SUPERJUMP
What will be included in the 40-page booklets accompanying each game? How are the critics chosen to write the analytical essays that are part of the booklets?
Ryan Brown
These are perhaps the stand-out items for EDITIONS. We've collated concept art, character models, in-development assets, etc, from each developer. We literally ask them to give us anything and everything they have, which we sift through and spread out in pages within the booklets.
Each booklet contains two essays; one is a more analytical, insightful piece on the game. The other is based on an interview with the game's developer to dive into the history, impact, and development story behind the game itself. Our Editorial Director, Chris Schilling, acts as editor for these booklets, and we have esteemed critics like Jen Simpkins, Miri Teixeira, and Lewis Packwood writing for our first three releases. We look at writers who may already have particular insights, thoughts, or a passion for a title. While it's not a requirement, writers chosen have usually already written about the game, and their pieces hooked us.
SUPERJUMP
Has Lost In Cult considered a subscription-like service for subscribers to receive a copy of each selection as they are released?
Ryan Brown
Good question! It's not yet in the cards, but our answer to this at the moment is our Switch and PlayStation tri-monthly bundles. There's one PS5 game and one Switch game released per month in our EDITIONS range, so whichever platform you decide to collect for, we have you covered. The few games in each bundle that don't exist in the other [console] are almost always down to that game simply not existing at all on that platform - like in the case of Immortality, which does not exist on the Switch, and vice-versa for Hob's Barrow.
These bundles guarantee you a copy of every title in our collection, so you don't have to worry about missing out.
SUPERJUMP
Given the current situation regarding tariffs, does Lost In Cult have a mitigation plan(s) in case of future supply-chain volatility or higher cost of production? I ask this in part due to Lost In Cults' plans to ship the games worldwide, and also considering that Nintendo Switch cards are manufactured in Japan.
Ryan Brown
To date, this should not impact us very much. All of our EDITIONS elements are printed in the UK, and we work with a US-based distribution partner to produce the games themselves. Without going into specifics about Nintendo Switch manufacturing processes, we don't expect to be impacted greatly by tariffs. But, that's an ever-changing, volatile situation where the unexpected could happen, which I suppose is why it's so chaotic, but at that point, I think every single company would be affected. We're comparatively pretty well-protected.
SUPERJUMP
Please talk a bit more about Lost In Cult’s collaboration with DoesItPlay?
(Author's Note: DoesItPlay? helps the preservation of games and raises awareness on consumer rights by testing physical games “completely offline to inform about issues that can make them unplayable).
Ryan Brown
We wanted some way to signify that each [product has] the full game, with all of its content and patches, on the disc/cartridge, without the need for an internet connection. It was a core ethos we knew we wanted to implement very early on, even before deciding what went inside EDITIONS boxes. It's important to us that you own your video games, that you can take a game off the shelf in 30 years' time and play it as intended, from start to finish, without any issues when the servers one day go down.
DoesItPlay? has been testing games and hardware to ensure they work into the future for years already, so it made sense for us to be the first company to officially partner up with them for full testing and a "DoesItPlay? Approved" badge. Every game is tested and approved before we go to print, and if it isn't approved, we delay going to print. As with our launch titles, we try to implement these before we've even announced the games for pre-order. We ask, ask, and ask again, close to the point of annoyance, to ensure no patches or content updates are planned, and that the build provided and tested is the most up-to-date, final version of the game. That's not to say a game may never be updated ever again - we don't have the right to demand that of a developer, and rightfully so - but every physical release is complete at time of testing and in most cases can be confidently called the final version of the game. We have a few games in our upcoming pipeline that are already patching their games, specifically for our physical release, due to our heavy preservation focus.
SUPERJUMP
How has the experience been so far working with the developers who created the games selected for EDITIONS?
Ryan Brown
Wonderful - it's been such an honour really, as we didn't have games in hand and these developers entrusted [us with] so much. Every partner we're working with so far, both our launched and unannounced titles, has been truly lovely to work with, and they fully understand and agree with what we're building here. Part of our offering is trying to make this a very easy process on the partner side; everything we need is supplied in one easy email, and their involvement beyond that is entirely optional, depending on their availability.
While we typically commission original artwork for EDITIONS, the Thank Goodness You're Here! team wanted to create bespoke new artwork themselves in their own unique style, which has been really cool to see. [The art will be revealed on June 20th].
SUPERJUMP
Is there anything else you would like to share?
Ryan Brown
Please support cool indie games and physical games! We have some incredible stuff in the pipeline, and I really hope people love what we're aiming for with EDITIONS as much as I do.