Over the last few years, Strictly Limited Games has been subject to a lot of deserved criticism over the lengthy shipping delays experienced by customers pre-ordering products from their site.
The Turrican Ultra Collector's Edition, for instance, took 2-3 years from the initial preorders opening for people to get their hands on the set, while Ray’z Arcade Chronology has now been delayed to 2024, despite initially going on sale back in August 2022. It has led some online to swear off buying anything else from the company and to take to Facebook and Twitter in order to request that it provide them with more detailed production updates on when their items will finally arrive. Safe to say, transparency hasn't been the best, with a lot of these requests being met with silence. But now the company has issued a lengthy statement on its website (as spotted by WhyNowGaming), which seeks to address some of these concerns and introduce some potential solutions to these problems.
In the statement, Strictly Limited Games denied the company was going bankrupt, before owning up to its poor communication:
"We are fully aware that our communication hasn't been the best, to say the least, and hasn't met our standards. We hear you, truly."
It then went on to give reasons why three more of its products, which were initially set for a Summer 2023 release, such as Abarenbo Tengu & Zombie Nation, Steel Empire Chronicles, and Dariusburst CS CORE + TAITO / SEGA PACK have also faced delays to a later date.
In the case of Abarenbo Tengu & Zombie Nation, Strictly Limited Games states that this had to do with the production of items for the Collector's Edition taking way longer than expected, due to having to rework the mold for the Tengu that is included as a bonus incentive in the Collector's Edition. Meanwhile, in the case of Steel Empire Chronicles, one of its games Steel Empire HD failed to pass the first-party certification process, "disrupting" the company's original planning. As for Dariusburst CS CORE + TAITO / SEGA PACK, Strictly Limited Games simply says it took them "much longer than planned" and accepted that was "our responsibility". It then went on to clarify that "these are not excuses but insights into certain production issues".
Strictly Limited Games ended the post with two potential solutions. The first is "Speedrun" — a new trial initiative where the company will "invest all necessary development efforts upfront to ensure immediate shipping", while the second is a production tracker that will be implemented directly on the product page to communicate delays and show customers whether a game is in development, testing, or production.
It's certainly a start, but we want to hear your thoughts. Do you think this is enough to make you want to order from the company in the future? Or are there any other steps you feel the company should be taking to put customers' minds at rest? Let us know!