Kotaku reports that no new strategy guides will be commissioned for Prima Games from this point forward, and that Prima will shutter in Spring 2019, ending a 28 year run. The reason for the delay until Spring is so that the publisher can finish their last books.
It’s hard not to have seen this coming. It saddens me greatly as someone who collects the guides for their art, interviews, and other special content, but I understand how strategy guides have gone by the wayside. In the fourth and fifth generations of gaming, without the internet being as it is today, strategy guides were ubiquitous and paid “hint-lines” were also advertised in games to help get you through tough or confusing parts. But today, as games and the internet have evolved, tutorials have become so thorough and commonplace that even instruction manuals are a thing of the past, and if there’s something players are having trouble finding or an enemy they’re having trouble beating, a quick Google search will show them tips from other players on Reddit, guides written by hardcore enthusiasts on GameFAQs, well structured walkthroughs on IGN, and in-depth guides on trophy and achievement sites, all for free. There’s also the fact that patches and updates to games may change things that leave printed guides incorrect, or add features and levels that aren’t covered in these books. Fighting games have been especially prone to these problems ever since the advent of DLC characters and balance updates. There’s no point in buying a guide full of incorrect frame data.
I don’t know what I would have done without this one.
My first thought when I heard the news was, “At least there’s still BradyGames.” I was always more fond of Brady in comparison to Prima, since Brady Games was responsible for some of the guides I used the most, like those for Final Fantasy X and Resident Evil 4. As it turns out, Brady Games was purchased by Prima in 2015. So this spells death for both of the most prolific strategy guide publishers. For those of you still looking to purchase these tomes of art and tips, there’s still FuturePress, a publisher most well known for their beautiful and detailed Dark Souls guides, and Piggyback, who’s been making guides for the Final Fantasy series and Nintendo games for quite a bit and recently tackled Red Dead Redemption 2. Besides these two large publishers, Fangamer also makes their own guides for more niche and beloved games like the Mother/Earthbound series, and indies like Stardew Valley.
Prima’s last big releases in its remaining time appear to be guides for Fallout 76, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and Anthem. I wish the best of luck in finding new jobs to the excellent writers at Prima who’ve always made sure I was never stuck.
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Written by ChronoSloth
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Video game reviewer who particularly loves the fourth and fifth generation of consoles. In an exclusive polygamist relationship with Nintendo and PlayStation. Fluent in Al Bhed and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 combo notation. Follow him on Instagram to see lots of pictures of video games.
