Indiebox has come a long way since we looked at it shortly after its debut in 2014. Back then, it was a handful of guys, many of them volunteers, folding and stuffing boxes by hand, and then hauling them off to the post office to mail out to subscribers. Now, it has a deal with Gamestop to package up hit indie games in Steelbook-encased collectors editions, and sell them in roughly 1200 stores across the US.
The partnership arose out of Gamestop's Gametrust program, which is essentially an in-house publishing arm for indie studios. The first game to come out of Gametrust was Insomniac's Song of the Deep, which was available in physical format exclusively through Gamestop. The Gametrust Collection, as it's called, will also be Gamestop-exclusive, and thus not offered to Indiebox subscribers. They're "starting with" ten games, implying that more may be on the way. For now, this is what coming:
- Nuclear Throne
- Rogue Legacy
- Axiom Verge
- Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition
- Punch Club
- Jotun: Valhalla Edition
- Awesomenauts
- Chariot
- Stories: The Path of Destinies
- Thomas Was Alone
"Clearly we’re fans of all ten of these games, and we may feature some of them as collector’s editions to subscribers in the future, but for now the games we have on the horizon for our subscription service do not include any of the titles in this list," the company said. "Plus, keep in mind, we have some specific requirements and considerations for our subscription service, so not all of them are even eligible at the moment.
The games will be out in November and sell for $20 each, and will include a DRM-free copy of the game, an instruction manual, soundtrack CD, a "mini art print with a Steam key," and the Steelbook case. Surprisingly, in some cases the pricing isn't very far off of what you'd pay for the standard, no-stuff-included Steam release, but even so these obviously aren't for everyone: I think recent history has taught us that most people are quite happy not to have to deal with the clutter of boxes and feelies lying all over the place. But as an inveterate box collector myself, I think it's great to see these games literally coming to store shelves—and I hope that more are on the way.
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