The Return of Apogee
Old-timers like myself who remember the heyday of "shareware" back in the early-to-mid 90's probably remember Apogee Software. Yes, in the short-lived games biz, being able to remember 15 years of history makes you something of an old-timer. Scary, isn't it?

Apogee was made famous by the publication - via the shareware model - of games by newcomer id Software, which went on to create that one game with the title that that rhymes with "Boom" - which completely adopted the "Apogee" release model. Apogee established marketing via episodes - the first episode of a game was free, and they hoped you'd get hooked and pay for the other two (or more) games. Their most famous games included Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, Duke Nukem, Raptor, and Rise of the Triad. In 1994, they formed a DBA ("doing business as") label called 3D Realms to emphasize the new, "hot" genre of first-person shooters. Starting with Duke Nukem 3D. Since then, 3D Realms has pretty much taken over the focus, working on titles like Duke Nukem Forever (perhaps the most famous vaporware game in history), Prey, and Max Paine. Officially, it's still Apogee, but they weren't using that name anymore.

Apparently, with the rise of indie gaming, things have gone full circle. Apogee is back, starting with a publishing partnership with developer Deep Silver to produce Duke Nukem games for the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP. But they are also looking to publish indie games again. The new Apogee is Apogee Software, LLC (as opposed to Apogee Software, Ltd., just so there's no confusion or anything).

Apogee's Website states, "After more than a decade out of the limelight, Apogee Software is back in action! Apogee, which, pioneered digital distribution back in the 1980’s will continue its proud tradition of bringing top quality PC games direct to the consumer via digital distribution while at the same time expanding its publication muscle into next generation consoles."

As a publisher of indie games (boy, that sounds like an oxymoron to me), they claim that they will "take care of the heavy lifting of publishing a game, including marketing & promotion, distribution, and fullfillment. Apogee offloads these critical tasks, allowing you to focus on developing the next award-winning title."

From what I can see, it still looks a little rough and preliminary. While the legacy of Apogee Software is certainly cool and everything, it will take a little more than a name and pedigree to kick butt and chew gum in a field where we've already got guys like Steam, Stardock, Manifesto Games, GameTap, WildTangent, Greenhouse Games, Reflexive, and that's not to mention the casual game portals or the niche indie publishers like Matrix Games and Shrapnel. But I'm not positive what Apogee will be bringing to the table. Experience and an established presence? Back in 1994, maybe. Today? I don't really know.

What is becoming abundantly clear, however, is that the business of video games in general - and computer games in particular - is changing. The genie isn't going back inside the bottle.

Labels: Biz

- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 4:48 AM (Permalink)