"I never want anyone to have buyer’s remorse after purchasing one of our retail games" – Marvelous USA CEO Ken Berry On Switch 2 Physical Games and More

RPG Site: For those unaware, tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do at XSEED Games / Marvelous USA.

Ken Berry: My name is Ken Berry and I’m the team leader here at Marvelous USA, Inc., where we also publish non-Marvelous third-party titles under the XSEED Games label. I was one of the co-founders of XSEED when it was established over 20 years ago, and have been here through the transition as we became a Marvelous group company more than 10 years ago.

RPG Site: XSEED Games and Marvelous USA have worked on many games across platforms over the years, but with the Nintendo Switch 2, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is one of the major titles launching day one for the system. How has it been working behind the scenes on the game for not only Switch 2, but also Switch and PC?

Ken Berry: This is the first time we’ve been part of a hardware launch, and as exciting as it is to be there day one, it’s also brought a lot of unique challenges since it’s so hard to forecast for a platform that hasn’t released yet. From an operational standpoint a PC release is easy as it can theoretically be announced very close to launch as a digital-only product, but physical products, especially card-based media and special editions that have custom components, have lead-times that can extend multiple months, so we essentially were already manufacturing before the Switch 2 was even announced.

RPG Site: XSEED Games and Marvelous USA have been fantastic physical release publishers in North America for years with standard editions often including reversible art, instruction booklets, manuals, and more. These obviously aren't cheap to do, but it has been a constant for games you publish physically. What made you want to keep doing these even during the Switch era where many publishers don't bother and do either incomplete physicals or digital only titles?

Ken Berry: It’s a combination of personal preference and long-term business strategy because as a big fan of physical I’m always disappointed when I open a case and only the disc or game card is in there, while building up goodwill with our fans is always a good investment.

I didn’t purchase a PS5 Pro until I could secure the disc drive add-on first, but years ago I remember buying a game at the store and was shocked that only a download code was inside the case when I got home – if someone like me who’s been in the industry for half my life can’t tell the difference on which cases contain the physical game or not, I can only imagine how much more difficult it is for a non-industry person, especially if they are purchasing as a gift for someone else. I never want anyone to have buyer’s remorse after purchasing one of our retail games, I instead want them to be pleasantly surprised with bonus goods and visuals when they open up one of our cases.

RPG Site: Both Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar and Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma are getting full physical releases without Game Key Cards or code in a box editions. I know many folks who are buying Rune Factory and Cyberpunk 2077 as their only retail releases next month on Switch 2. How has it been for the team to see the positive response to these physical releases in a sea of Game Key Cards?

Ken Berry: It has been very rewarding to see our titles mentioned as games that fans intend to purchase on Nintendo Switch 2 since they know we went with the full ROM game cards. It was not an easy decision as it had to be made many months ago when things were very uncertain and we were still learning about how the Game Key Card option worked, but the more we found out about it the more I thought our fans would much prefer the ROM option.

There were many discussions with Marvelous Japan on how the ROM option would enable the “Nintendo Switch 2 Enhanced” designation that would allow the game to be played on both the new Switch 2 as well as the original Switch hardware, and we finally had agreement that this was the most user-friendly option. From there it was a matter of making the numbers work, and having the $10 premium on our Switch 2 versions allowed us to do it without being fiscally irresponsible.

RPG Site: Daemon X Machina Titanic Scion is also getting a proper physical release in the West through Marvelous USA and Europe while the Japanese version is a Game Key Card. This is a great sign for physical game enthusiasts in the West, and I'm wondering if we should expect every physical release on Switch 2 from you to be a proper cartridge release?

Ken Berry: Because this title does not have an original Switch version the decision-making process was quite different since there was no “Nintendo Switch 2 Enhanced” classification to worry about. We still wanted to go with the full ROM version in our Switch 2 release in the West and thankfully the development team at Marvelous Japan obliged, and though I’d love to say all Switch 2 releases from us in the future will go the full ROM route, nothing is guaranteed.

If our initial lineup sells well and we can make a clear association with its success being tied to being a ROM offering then that will greatly help our cause in the future, but may still not make financial sense on smaller releases that have a price point under $50 such as an indie title being offered physically for $39.99 or less.

RPG Site: How has it been for you and the team to see so many Switch 2 games getting Game Key Card releases or code in a box while you are doing proper physical releases?

Ken Berry: I really can’t comment on what other publishers are doing as everyone has their own unique processes and objectives, but this is the right decision for us and our relationship with our fanbase.

RPG Site: I remember back on 3DS, the Story of Seasons and Rune Factory releases used to have creative inner art to make use of the plastic boxes and the holes to show character faces and more. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do on Switch 2 going forward.

Ken Berry: Thank you for noticing, and I was really proud of our creative team for finding a way to get extra artwork into the inside of the case, using the obstructive areas to our advantage to frame and highlight portraits.

That reminds me that it was around that time that we had some broader internal discussions to stop including physical owner’s manuals into our retail games because some people thought they may be seen as outdated. Bringing extra value to our physical releases has always been ingrained in our DNA, so in the end we decided to continue putting printed inserts into the game case, just as long as it was no longer an owner’s manual since showing a layout of the controller and what each button does did seem unnecessary when modern games all have extensive tutorials at the beginning.

In hindsight that was the best thing that could have happened to us because not being restricted to an official owner’s manual layout by the platform holder allowed us to do a lot of creative stuff with our inserts such as a town guide, a mini art book or strategy guide, or even a foldout poster. Most of this is driven by our localization team who are eager to expand on the content they worked on in-game to provide more background material for the fans to enjoy, so it’s a win-win all around. I can’t wait until you see what our team has in store for you when you first open your copies of our upcoming titles this year.

RPG Site: How do you like your coffee?

Ken Berry: With milk, no sugar.