The unexpected shadow-drop release of *The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered* on April 22 sent shockwaves through the gaming community. While fans were thrilled, indie developers, particularly those who had planned their game launches for the same day, found themselves in a challenging position.

Jonas Antonsson, co-founder of indie publisher Raw Fury, expressed his thoughts on social media about the impact of such major releases. He stated, "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." However, he highlighted the difficulties these "massive" shadow-drops pose for indie games, explaining, "But from the perspective of indies and indie publishers, this is the problem with these sorts of massive shadow drops. Everything more or less 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."

Antonsson specifically mentioned *Post Trauma* by Red Soul Games, a puzzle horror game inspired by PS2 era classics, which Raw Fury released on April 22. He expressed empathy for the development team, saying, "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."

Raw Fury's frustration was evident in a tweet they posted on the day of the release: "Thank god Post Trauma was the only notable release of today and nothing else happened!"

From the perspective of Bethesda and its parent company Microsoft, the shadow-drop of *Oblivion Remastered* has been a resounding success. The game saw a strong launch on Steam and has dominated online conversations, with players reveling in the return of its quirky character faces, nostalgic bugs, and beloved memes.

The impact of *Oblivion Remastered* has been felt even by other games that Microsoft has heavily promoted. This week, Kepler Interactive, the publisher of *Clair Obscur: Expedition 33*, acknowledged the 'Barbenheimer' effect of launching the same week as *Oblivion Remastered*. Both games debuted directly on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

For Raw Fury, the release date for *Post Trauma* was set without any foreknowledge of *Oblivion Remastered*'s shadow-drop. This unforeseen event may simply be chalked up as one of those unpredictable occurrences in the gaming industry.

For those diving into *Oblivion Remastered*, we offer a comprehensive guide that includes an expansive Interactive Map, complete Walkthroughs for the Main Questline and every Guild Quest, tips on How to Build the Perfect Character, Things to Do First, every PC Cheat Code, and much more.