GameStop to launch video game publishing division

It’s more focused on creating “exclusive real estate” online and in physical retail stores to enable customers to discover indie games that are otherwise easily passed over.

This news comes on the heels of the company’s January announcement that they planned to get into the publishing business and had a tentative partnership with Ratchet & Clank developer Insomniac Games, who revealed GameTrust will be publishing its upcoming adventure game Song of the Deep. Only Insomniac has announced plans for a game to be released under the GameTrust label at this point, with Song of the Deep scheduled for a July 12 launch.

Now, three extra studios have joined the roster: The Order: 1886 outlet Ready at Dawn, Trine creator Frozenbyte and Deadlight maker Tequila Works.

Every property GameTrust has signed so far is a smaller-scale game, with development budgets of up to $15 million. Most of the challenges that developers face include two things: “‘How do we get to market?’ and ‘how do we retain full creative control of what we’re making?’ Through traditional publishing models, those are really tough pieces”. The initiative, named GameTrust, will essentially see the outlet publishing titles on both digital storefronts and physically in its 6,200 stores.

On Monday, the gaming retailer jumped head-first into the world of publishing with a dedicated publishing arm it’s calling GameTrust. The company isn’t looking to take on Activision, EA, or other major publishers yet, but they do plan on releasing smaller games during less crowded release windows to keep games from being overshadowed by major AAA games. Maybe then GameStop can finally admit that they’re a publisher.