"Everything more or less gets buried" by "massive shadow drops" like Oblivion Remastered, says indie publisher behind new PS2 horror homage: "Love the game that dropped but feel the pain for our team"

As most gamers celebrate the semi-surprise release of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, the indie publisher behind new PS2-inspired survival horror game Post Trauma is feeling understandably overshadowed.

Although leaks in the lead-up to launch spoiled the fun a little bit, there's no denying Oblivion Remastered is far and away the biggest launch of the week and very arguably the month, with Indiana Jones and the Great Circle's PS5 release and The Last of Us 2 Remastered's PC launch being its only real competitors. You know what, no, Oblivion Remastered is definitely April 2025's biggest launch barring an even bigger shadow drop we don't yet know about.

When you're in an indie developer or publisher, you obviously want to avoid dropping your game within the same general timeframe of big AAA releases, and when release dates are out in the open, that's easy to do. It's not so easy, however, when those huge AAA games drop without prior notice, as was the case with Oblivion Remastered not considering leaks, which would've given Post Trauma publisher Raw Fury only a few days to get out of Bethesda's way anyway.

"I loved (when younger) and still absolutely love Oblivion and I’m personally excited to see it get a breath of new life and being introduced to a whole new generation of players," said Raw Fury founder and CEO Jónas Antonsson in a tweet.

"But from the perspective of indies and indie publishers, this is the problem with these sort of massive shadow drops. Everything more or least gets buried. We don’t have the cash nor muscle to throw around, so everything is carefully planned. Including when to release, based on other releases etc - to try to maximize the chances of getting attention."

Post Trauma isn't the only game to have the misfortune of launching in Oblivion Remastered's all-encompassing orbit, with the highly acclaimed new turn-based RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 sharing Post Trauma's pain. Clair Obscur publisher Kepler Interactive took the RPG clashing in stride, joking on social media, "omg its like barbenheimer," a reference to Barbie and Oppenheimer premiering in theaters on the same day in 2023.

"Love the game that dropped but feel the pain for our team and especially the developer we’ve worked with for years - who has poured his heart and soul into his game," added Antonsson.

Post Trauma is the debut project from Spain-based indie studio Red Soul Games.

For what little consolation I can offer, I went hands on with Post Trauma during Steam Next Fest and had a great ol' time with it, writing at the time, "it bangs despite its brutal puzzles." It's hard not to celebrate Oblivion Remastered along with Elder Scrolls fans, but I truly do feel for indie devs like Red Soul Games and Raw Fury.

As ex-Blizzard boss says Oblivion Remastered "will never hold up" despite acclaim, Baldur's Gate 3 dev reckons "AAA is feeling more and more disconnected from the audience zeitgeist."