Do you consider Annapurna Interactive a top tier publisher?

[cyrribrae]

So I looked and we basically have one of these threads every year, but I love polls and this is a good opportunity to have a new one. Annapurna Interactive has only been on the publishing map since 2017 - with 3 incredible games no less. Since then, it's felt like they've gone from strength to strength. I did some digging, since I noticed that Outer Wilds (a game I will never stop praising every chance I get) was part of the Annapurna Interactive bundle on Steam. And then I thought to myself - damn, these are some great games. Here's all the games they've published, from Wikipedia:

2017

What Remains of Edith Finch​

Flower​

Gorogoa​

2018

Florence​

Donut County​

Gone Home​

Ashen​

2019

Outer Wilds​

Journey​

Telling Lies​

Sayonara Wild Hearts​

Wattam​

2020

Kentucky Route Zero​

If Found...​

Unreleased (I think):

The Pathless​

The Artful Escape​

Maquette​

12 Minutes​

Last Stop​

I Am Dead​

Stray​

Solar Ash​

Some of these games are rereleases on new platforms. But either way, their hit rate of successes is kind of unbelievable. Not only that, the degree of quality is somewhat staggering as well. Out of all these games, maybe 5 had a less than strongly positive reception. Basically none has been a true dud. Their upcoming games look great as well. For better or worse, they've also experimented with new business models and opportunities, including Epic and Game Pass. I think there's an interesting comparison to Focus Home, too. Both focus on publishing smaller indie games, but Focus Home, while successful, just generally doesn't seem to reach the same level of quality for whatever reason.

Do you think Annapurna is just really good at picking them, or is the high bar of quality something to do with Annapurna's process? Would you consider Annapurna Interactive a top tier publisher? Are they more akin to a WB or a Focus Home?

 

[Imitatio]

Haven't played a single one of their games yet and forgot they existed at all to be frank, lol.

 

[golem]

Triple A tentpole production wise, no

Content quality wise, yes easily

I'm immediately interested in anything they put their logo in front of

 

[ChaosSmurf]

Would you consider Annapurna Interactive a top tier publisher? Are they more akin to a WB or a Focus Home?

Click to shrink...

;_;

I voted top tier. Obviously they can't compete with first parties or EA/Ubi/Activision in terms of money invested and pure quality of game, but they have the highest hit rate of "I will definitely play this" upon seeing a trailer I've ever had and their back catalogue is a list of some of the most talked about non-action games of all time.

 

[THEVOID]

There's no doubt there are. They've became like A24 in the film world.

 

[Izanagi89]

Wouldn't know if it's something special to their own process but there's got to be something they're doing because they keep releasing straight fire. I'll be honest, I didn't know much about them until I played Sayonara Wild Hearts, which blew my F***kn mind and ears. And then I played what is honestly one of the best games I've ever played, Outer Wilds and it made me realize that these folks have an eye for special games.

 

[Tarantism]

In the space of about 2 minutes thinking about it I went from "overrated" to "accomplished" to "one of the best".

My reasoning was that while I think probably half of their games I'm not interested in, that's still a high percentage in relation to other pubs.
More importantly if I see their name on a game I think "oh, there must be something neat about this game".

Don't really think that about any other publisher at all.

 

[Transistor]

They published The Outer Wilds.

That alone puts them up as one of the best

 

[Alastor3]

Haven't played a single one of their games yet and forgot they existed at all to be frank, lol.

Click to shrink...

do you even play indie games?

 

[ghostcrew]

Big time. I've said in a few threads that they're one of my favourite publishers. Their hit rate is ridulously high. They almost always line up with my tastes.

Outer Wilds and Gone Home are two of my favourite games ever. Ashen, Sayonara Wild Hearts, Gorogoa, Kentucky Route Zero... etc etc.

Such high quality.

 

[sredgrin]

They're one of the top indie/ AA ones right now for sure.

Though your year attributions are weird. I would hardly call Gone Home one of their games even if they did what I'm guessing is a Switch port

 

[Deleted member 543]

Of course they are.

For Outer Wilds alone.

 

[Drayco21]

Donut County and Outer Wilds are great, but Annapurna is not a publisher I pay much attention to or a name that draws me in.

 

[Greywaren]

Basically everything they put out is, at the very least, a unique experience, so yes. One of the greatest, for sure.

 

[djinn]

I love a lot of their work and am immediately interested in any game they have a hand in.

 

[ZmillA]

They're the A24 of games

 

[cyrribrae]

;_;

I voted top tier. Obviously they can't compete with first parties or EA/Ubi/Activision in terms of money invested and pure quality of game, but they have the highest hit rate of "I will definitely play this" upon seeing a trailer I've ever had and their back catalogue is a list of some of the most talked about non-action games of all time.

Click to shrink...

HAHA. I'm sorry :( I didn't mean to cast aspersions. FH is in the conversation because they're ALSO a great dev. Otherwise I would have chosen [redacted so I don't offend more people] instead.

 

[Teenage Fansub]

I know the name for the arthouse movie studio more.

 

[Xater]

Looking at that list I think I liked like 2 of those games. They have their fans but wouldn't say they are amazing.

 

[Deleted member 543]

They're the A24 of games

Click to shrink...

Or the, uh, Annapurna Pictures of games.

 

[cyrribrae]

They're one of the top indie/ AA ones right now for sure.

Though your year attributions are weird. I would hardly call Gone Home one of their games even if they did what I'm guessing is a Switch port

Click to shrink...

Blame Wikipedia. But, yes, some of these are rereleases on other platforms - still... they put it out on Switch and iOS and not someone else. (Though, Gone Home in particular has had a weird path to its various platforms.)

 

[Joni]

I wouldn't call them top-tier due to volume, types of games. Especially as the volume of games includes so many games they didn't actually do anything with.

 

[ZmillA]

Or the, uh, Annapurna Pictures of games.

Click to shrink...

oh lol. At this point I associate them more with games than movies.

 

[No_Style]

They remind me of Devolver Digital without the violence.

 

[Damn Silly]

Yup, as soon as I see the logo I know that what's next is almost certainly going to be something worth looking out for.

 

[sredgrin]

Or the, uh, Annapurna Pictures of games.

Click to shrink...

They're a higher tier.

And presumably not always close to bankruptcy.

 

[Arsene no Kiseki]

Every game from them I own I love and the ones I dont are on my wishlist so they're definitely up there on my personal list

 

[Kalor]

If they put something out, I'm usually interested since they have a high average bar of quality for the games they've helped publish so far.

 

[Catshade]

Top tier indie publisher, sure. In the same level as Devolver.

 

[Foxnull]

Really like some of their games. Outer Wilds is one of my all time favorites, Kentucky Route Zero, Telling Lies and Sayonara Wild Hearts are great as well.

 

[ghostcrew]

Yup, as soon as I see the logo I know that what's next is almost certainly going to be something worth looking out for.

Click to shrink...

Totally. Their name/logo pops up at the start of a trailer and I know I'll be getting it.

I can't really think of many other publishers where I'm that blindly sure.

 

[Andri]

I played sayonara, but i could not have told you who the publisher is before looking at the list in the op.

 

[Yossarian]

They seem pretty classy and have a great stable of games.

 

[Deleted member 51789]

In terms of quality, they're right up there.

 

[newmoneytrash]

their quality curation is unmatched

 

[ChaosSmurf]

HAHA. I'm sorry :( I didn't mean to cast aspersions. FH is in the conversation because they're ALSO a great dev. Otherwise I would have chosen [redacted so I don't offend more people] instead.

Click to shrink...

Hahaha, no worries, honestly I'm very happy to be seen on the same level as WB and/or Annapurna. Very good games.

 

[Catvoca]

They have published some of the best games of the last few years, maybe ever, and are probably the only publisher of their class that I will play whatever they put their name on.

Outer Wilds, Edith Finch, KRZ, Donut County, Gorogoa

Just absolutely incredible games.

 

[Bus-TEE]

Given that the 'parent' company seems to be moving away from producing films and seems content with a threadbare slate of TV projects I'm surprised that they are still even developing/publishing games to be honest.

 

[Deleted member 10737]

heck yeah.
the quality of their output is ridiculous. they publish some of the best indie games out there.

 

[JehutyRunner]

Somewhat of a hot take:

Annapurna Interactive is the actual best pound-for-pound publisher in the industry right now.

Quality wise, they are consistent and when you see the AI logo, you know you see something that will be awesome.

 

[Pirateluigi]

I put them just below Devolver. They are a top tier indie publisher and I definitely enjoy their stuff a lot more than some of the big software houses.

 

[Danteyke223]

They are the A24 of videogame publishers.. .love em.

 

[cowbanana]

Eh, I don't feel strongly either way. There's a few of their games I would have bought if they hadn't gone EGS exclusive. But being on EGS means that they don't exist to me.

 

[purseowner]

So much so that a gaming offshoot of a quality distribution/production house overshadows the original company.

 

[Mirage]

I really like a lot of their games.

 

[THEVOID]

Given that the 'parent' company seems to be moving away from producing films and seems content with a threadbare slate of TV projects I'm surprised that they are still even developing/publishing games to be honest.

Click to shrink...

Not surprised. Their success is in the gaming division.

 

[CannonFodder52]

Not just top tier, maybe the top publisher.

 

[tiza blanca]

Every time I see the Annapurna logo, I instantly get interested.

 

[roguesquirrel]

i perk up anytime i see their logo, love their output

 

[Hanbei]

I have never played any of their games, but Stray got my interest.