Digital Eclipse is hiring a Senior Producer for its next wave of retro projects

Digital Eclipse has posted a job listing for a Senior Producer to oversee upcoming game preservation projects and original titles. The listing, which appeared on the studio's recruiting board this week, suggests the team behind Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection is ramping up for a busy production schedule.

I normally wouldn't post about a job opening. But this would be a dream job for many of us. I consider Digital Eclipse as the golden standard for game preservation.

According to the official posting, the studio is looking for a candidate to lead multiple game projects across both internal and external teams. The role reports directly to the Head of Production and involves establishing "scalable best practices" for the studio's remote workflows.

More than just emulation

Digital Eclipse has carved out a specific niche in the gaming industry. While many developers handle retro re-releases by simply wrapping a ROM in a basic emulator, this studio has pivoted toward what they call "interactive documentaries." Their recent release, Atari 50, set a new standard for collections by including timelines, video interviews, and archival documents directly in the game interface.

Their philosophy is states that "classic video games deserve better" and notes that the company treats them with "the same care and respect given to other artistic mediums." This aligns with the studio's history. Founded in 1994, Digital Eclipse was emulating arcade hardware for home consoles (like the Midway Arcade Treasures series) long before the concept of a "virtual console" existed on modern hardware.

The posting explicitly mentions several of the studio's high-profile projects, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection and the upcoming Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind. It also references the Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection, highlighting the studio's long-standing relationship with the franchise (dating back to the Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection on PlayStation 3 to Xbox 360).

Balancing the old and the new

One interesting detail in the listing is the emphasis on original intellectual property. While the studio is best known for preservation, they are actively developing original titles. The posting cites #IDARB as a successful original IP and notes that the new Senior Producer will help shape "some of the studio’s most exciting projects."

This dual focus is visible in their slate. Rita’s Rewind, for example, isn't a port of an old game. It is a new title built with a retro aesthetic that plays on the nostalgia of the 1990s without being bound by the technical limitations of the Sega Genesis or Super Nintendo. For a producer, managing the difference between a strict preservation project (where accuracy is king) and a new game (where fun is king) requires a specific skillset.

Managing the timeline

Digital Eclipse often works with massive licensors like Disney and Capcom. Working with these partners usually involves complex approval processes, especially when dealing with historical content that might need context warnings or modifications for modern audiences. The listing notes that the studio is "just getting started," implying that the volume of these partnerships is likely to increase.

For retro enthusiasts, this hiring move is a positive signal. It suggests that the market for high-quality, historically focused game collections is healthy enough to support staff expansion. We can likely expect more timeline-based collections in the future, assuming they can find someone organized enough to keep all those retro assets in order.