Popular videogame strategy guide publisher Prima Games has announced that it is shutting down next year. Prima Games shutting down leaves just the one strategy guide publisher (Piggyback) left in the USA. There are many potential reasons as to why Prima Games is having to shut down, but the rise of the internet and “live” games are both sure to have played a hand in its demise.
Part of the DK publishing group, Prima Games has been releasing in-depth print guides for videogames since its birth in 1990. The news of its closure was confirmed by PublishersLunch yesterday. It was announced that the sales of these guides have fallen significantly. “DK announced the extremely difficult decision that they will no longer commission new Prima Games strategy guides following a significant decline in the video game guide sector, and the US-based imprint will be discontinued in Spring 2019 after 28 years of publication.” According to PublishersLunch, “there are approximately 40 people from Prima on LinkedIn.”
As of writing, Prima Games will no longer be releasing any new guides, aside from the ones that have been commissioned up to this point. Some of those working in the company’s Indianapolis office “will stay until March 2019 to publish the remaining program.” After this, Prima Games will cease to exist. The company’s Roseville and New York offices will close in mid-November.
Prima Games’ guides offered long-form in-depth guides for just about any and every videogame you can think of. In these guides would be helpful tips and tricks on how to do everything there is in any given game. The issue is, games update regularly these days, meaning it is impossible to keep track of all the changes a game may see in a printed guide. To combat this, Prima Games made the decision to also begin publishing its guides online.
Prima Games will close down fully by Spring 2019.
