Summer 2023 - Shipping Update

We received many questions about our business and concerns about our financial situation. We want to answer these questions as honestly as possible.

“Are we still in business?”

Yes, absolutely!

“Are we following the same path as other publishers going bankrupt? “

No, we are not!

“Are we bankrupt? “

Absolutely not!

“Will Strictly Limited Games be sold to an outside investor?”

NO!

"Is there a shipping update for the game I ordered?"

"Any progress in the development and production of your games?"

"Are you okay? Are you still doing business?"

The short answer is: YES!

The long answer is this blogpost!

So what's the problem?!

Like many other companies in the games industry, we've faced our share of challenges. However, we are still in business, actively operating, and continuing to preserve games while producing physical editions.

We hope this blog post will provide you with more insights into our current situation and why game releases are delayed. We are fully aware that our communication hasn't been the best, to say the least, and hasn't met our standards. We hear you, truly.

Summer 2023 was eventful, with a lot happening behind the scenes.
We understand that many of you have been eagerly awaiting the products currently on pre-order, originally set for a Summer 2023 release. It's apparent that summer has come and gone, and we haven't provided you with as many updates as we should have on our Manufacturing Update overview or the Product Detail pages. We deeply regret this lack of communication and understand how frustrating it must have been for you. The honest truth is that a majority of these games are unfortunately delayed to a later date. The simple question that comes to mind now is: Why?!

Let's shed some light on the situation.
The reason behind our silence and shipping delays was more complex than we initially anticipated. To provide more concrete examples:

• ABARENBO TENGU & ZOMBIE NATION: The production of items for the Collector's Edition took way longer than expected. We weren't happy with the quality of the mask (size and shape) and needed to rework the entire mold. We went through several pre-production samples to achieve the now final result. We are committed to not offering subpar products to our customers.
• Steel Empire Chronicles: Sometimes games fail the certification processes from the First Party, as was the case with Steel Empire HD, which completely disrupts our planning.
• Dariusburst CS CORE + TAITO / SEGA PACK: Other times we made mistakes, just as we did with Dariusburst CS CORE + TAITO / SEGA PACK; it took us much longer than planned, and that's entirely our responsibility.

To be clear: these are not excuses but insights into certain production issues.

We need to do better; we want to do better.

We also didn't want to provide superficial updates; instead, we aimed for accuracy and transparency. Regrettably, reviewing the production status of each game took longer than expected. However, by now, you should have received a shipping status update if you ordered one of the games affected by delays.

We acknowledge that delayed shipping has been the primary concern among our customers. During the summer of 2023, we not only focused on getting production updates right but also worked on solutions to address your needs and concerns while striving for greater transparency.

No more waiting: Introducing Speedrun
To address the waiting time and enhance your satisfaction, we're launching a trial initiative called Speedrun. With Speedrun, we'll invest all necessary development efforts upfront to ensure immediate shipping. These releases will be in stock, eliminating the need for pre-orders. We believe this will significantly improve the experience for our loyal customers.

We hope that the Speedrun trials are successful so that we can implement this approach for the majority of our games in the future.

New Website Feature: Production Status
Moreover, we are committed to enhancing transparency about our production pipeline. We're currently working on implementing a Production Status feature directly on the Product Detail page. This will provide you with concrete information on a product's progress through the production pipeline. Is it still in development, in testing, or in production? If there's a delay, we'll communicate the reasons behind it.

We understand the frustration caused by these delays, and we're dedicated to addressing these issues. We will keep you informed about our plans to overcome these challenges and deliver your items more promptly.

Lastly, we'd like to express our heartfelt gratitude to our loyal community. We encourage you to critique us and share your thoughts on how we can improve. Where can we be clearer in our communication? Is there a better way to provide regular updates? Strictly Limited Games is committed to our community, and your support and honest feedback are the foundation of our work.

Thank you very much for your continuous support!