Ricochet Lost Worlds hits retail shelves

[James C. Smith]

Ricochet Lost Worlds is being distributed by Mumbo Jumbo and is starting to appear in retail stores across the USA. Many CompUSA stores now have it in stock. http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=315567

Ricochet Xtreme was created in 2001 by Reflexive Entertainment and self published on Reflexive.com. A re-branded version of the same game was also sold in Real Arcade under the name Rebound. In April of 2004 Reflexive launched the sequel named Ricochet Lost Worlds (and Rebound Lost Worlds). After much success on-line, the Ricochet Product line is now available in many retail stores. Ricochet Lost Worlds sells in a stand PC games box with an MSRP of $19.99. Ricochet Xtreme is packed as a value line jewel case product with an MSRP of $9.99.

It is nice to see what started out as my little side project now on the shelves of my local CompUSA store.

[Bluecat]

Congratulations James. I hope it sells truckloads!

[Jack Norton]

Congrats! :)
Having your own game in shelves is always cool :cool:

[Jim Buck]

Wow, congrats. I bought Richochet and played the crap out of it. I avoided Lost Worlds for fear of having Lost Time. :) I see it everywhere now, though, so I may not be able to resist finally buying it.

[Greg Squire]

Congratulations James! It's not every day that you see an Indie title hit the retail shelves. Hope it sells a ton.

[Andy]

It's not every day that you see an Indie title hit the retail shelves.

Well. Really as far as I'm able to imagine 90% of games were starting as indie titles on some stage - before they met their publisher. No? What is the difference really? - Preliminary online sales? :confused:

Congratulations James!

[James C. Smith]

Really as far as I'm able to imagine 90% of games were starting as indie titles on some stage - before they met their publisher. No? What is the difference really? - Preliminary online sales? :confused:


The big difference is, more than 90% of the tittles on retail shelves had their development paid for by publishers. In the retail space, the developer usually receives an “advance on royalties” from the publisher to pay for the development costs. 98% of the time this “advance” is the only money the developer will every see. The publisher owns the game and hired a developer to make it for them. The developer owns nothing and never gets another penny.

With Ricochet nobody paid us to make it. Nobody told us how to make it. Nobody gave us a deadline or asked us to change features. We made out own game and self published it online. After it was a success on-line we are able to get a retail distribution deal where we actually get paid each time a retail copy sells. It’s not a lot of money and I don’t expect to get rich off of it. The retail version will probably be in the discount bins in a few months and out of the stores completely a few months after that. Mean while, the on-line version will still be making a lot of money for us. But it is still very cool to get a product in the traditional markets. And it is very different than the way most retail product get to market.

[Andy]

...it is still very cool to get a product in the traditional markets...

Kidding? Sure, it is cool!!! :D

REM: Speaking about the rest - well, it's very doubtful but I got your idea of what is the difference.

[spoomusic]

James, that's really great that you were able to make it work out that way. It feels great to see a game you've made or contributed to in the stores... Hopefully it will inspire you to keep producing quality games.

be well.



The big difference is, more than 90% of the tittles on retail shelves had their development paid for by publishers. In the retail space, the developer usually receives an “advance on royalties” from the publisher to pay for the development costs. 98% of the time this “advance” is the only money the developer will every see. The publisher owns the game and hired a developer to make it for them. The developer owns nothing and never gets another penny.

With Ricochet nobody paid us to make it. Nobody told us how to make it. Nobody gave us a deadline or asked us to change features. We made out own game and self published it online. After it was a success on-line we are able to get a retail distribution deal where we actually get paid each time a retail copy sells. It’s not a lot of money and I don’t expect to get rich off of it. The retail version will probably be in the discount bins in a few months and out of the stores completely a few months after that. Mean while, the on-line version will still be making a lot of money for us. But it is still very cool to get a product in the traditional markets. And it is very different than the way most retail product get to market.

[arcadetown]

Congrats and nuts... means we'll have to code something to drop the "Not In Stores" marketing blurb only for your game. :rolleyes:

I find it very interesting and wonder if you'll see it have any effect on your online sales in the long run. I wonder if it will increase your name recognizition and draw more searches/plays/sales, canibalize some online sales, or have no effect on your online sales. Might be interesting to hear an update on how it unfolds in a few months.

[super_e]

Congrats! I've been a fan of your game and its great to see it on store shelves now. Keep up the brilliant work!

- Erick

[robleong]

Great stuff - well done!