Amid a boom in remakes, remasters and ports, It is a given that any classic can return: Just look at the stream of releases from Nightdive Studios or Limited Run Games.
However, for studies that are dedicated to this, The process is far from being so simple.; and it is something that Conversões Implícitas knows firsthand.
The studio has recovered titles such as Fear Effect or several Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection games; and now its CEO wanted to detail the challenges these types of conversions offer.
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The CEO of Implicit Conversions explains the risks of restoring classics
Bill Litshauer, CEO of Implicit Conversionsexplained on the YouTube channel Mystic the obstacles posed by creating updated versions of classic games.
Editors often review their historical catalog and seek out an expert, capable of transforming a game from 20 or 30 years ago into a functional product for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox or PC.
The developer receives a specific title, a deadline and a list of dutiesfrom adding widescreen to integrating rewind.
The second model is the revenue sharing agreement. Here the team chooses which game it wants to rescue, studies its commercial potential and presents a dossier to the license holder.
If the publisher doesn’t have the budget to revive it (or doesn’t want to), they may accept a deal where the studio pays for development and then receives a portion of sales.
Sounds good… until hard math comes into play: If a title only sells a few thousand copies and costs 10 eurosthe months of work don’t count.
Each decision triggers the budget, including quality control expenses and the fees associated with each platform. More than one game with commercial potential was discarded due to the addition of these “extras”.
Technical problems are another wall. It involves rebuilding the code, replacing functions that no longer exist and reinterpret systems.
Even with emulators, each title presents unique challenges. Lots of classics They require so many engineering hours that they become unfeasible projects.before it even starts.
For Litshauer, the big enemy is fragmented licenses: the music belongs to one agency, the voices to another, or there is even a legal annex lost in a drawer since the nineties.
According to the CEO, There are finished games that have not seen the light because a single element (a song, a logo, a secondary character) could not be re-released.
Added to all this is that not all platforms are equally interesting. The studio focuses its efforts on the original PlayStation, which remains the most sought after, while building technology for the PS2.
The idea of emulating the PS3 is on the table, but not as a real priority: the investment only makes sense if the market strongly demands it, something that hasn’t happened yet.
Despite everything, the developer insists that the community is fundamental in recovering classics, and its opinion is decisive. “If you make enough noise, there are possibilities”he concludes.
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