Prima Games, The Strategy Guide Publisher, Is Shutting Down After 28 Years

TheGamer

By Sam Watanuki

Published Nov 12, 2018

The gaming industry’s largest publisher for video game strategy guides in the United States will be closing its doors.

via KnowTechie.com

It's the sign of the times, as the gaming industry’s largest publisher for video game strategy guides in the United States will be closing its doors.

Game guide publisher Prima Games will be shutting down after 28-years in business.

The announcement came from Ian Hudson – CEO of Prima Games’ parent company, DK:

"During a year-long extensive review, many new ways were explored to diversify Prima Games publishing; however, the dynamics for us of this fast-paced landscape have continued to prove difficult. This enormously dedicated team has made every effort to turn the business around, but challenging market conditions have unfortunately worked against them."

The company – which was founded in 1990 by Rusel DeMaria and Ben Dominitz – has offices in California, New York City, and Indianapolis. The California office will reportedly be the first office to close, as soon as sometime this month, followed by the New York location. The Indianapolis office is expected to be the last to close, sometime in March 2019. Prima Games will not be taking on new projects, but will finish and release the projects that they are currently working on.

The closure of Prima Games follows an unfortunate trend, as November will also mark the end of UK-based video game magazine publishers GamesMaster and GamesTM, which released their final issues this month.

Prima Games – which began as a means for sharing “game secrets” for early consoles, such as the Sega Genesis and Game Boy – had an impressive run throughout the years as the go-to guide for gamers looking for help. Prima Games merged with fellow strategy publisher, BradyGames, in 2015.

While the company did develop digital versions of its guides, the (primary) physical aspect of the books was unable to remain lucrative with the ease of access and convenience of the Internet. Why purchase a book when platforms such as YouTube make it quick and simple for finding free “How-To” guides for video games?

The closure of Prima Games will likely hit home more with older gamers who grew up using the guides religiously. The physical books will now remain as a relic for nostalgia as we continue to move forward in an all-encompassing digital world.