Limited Run Games promises to fix shipping as its last founder leaves

I wanted to start out by mentioning that Josh Fairhurst was a guest on Retro Game Club Podcast a long time you. You should check out the interview.

Limited Run Games has announced a massive internal restructuring following the departure of co-founder Josh Fairhurst, alongside a promise to fix the company's notorious fulfillment and communication issues. Fairhurst stepped down as CEO in September 2025 and officially vacated his role as President today, March 17, leaving the physical publisher entirely in the hands of its new executive team.

As a physical collector, I spend way too much money with Limited Run Games. I also spend way too much time waiting for those games to actually show up. The company knows this is a problem. In a blog post published this morning, LRG outlined a "fan-first strategy" for 2026 that specifically targets the exact things buyers have been complaining about for years: product quality, reliable fulfillment, and actual communication about delays.

The day-to-day operations are now being split between two executives. Chief Operating Officer Nic Ashford and Chief Financial Officer Brendan Madigan are cooperatively leading the business.

Fairhurst's departure closes the founder era for the Embracer-owned publisher. He originally started the company with Douglas Bogart to ensure his own studio's digital games, like Breach & Clear for the PlayStation Vita, would not disappear when storefronts inevitably closed. Now, the company operates at a scale that requires corporate logistics experts rather than indie developers.

CD-Rs and damaged console pins

This pivot comes after a rough couple of years for the publisher. Since its founding in 2015, LRG has shipped over 1,000 different physical games. They scaled up to handle massive collector's editions for high-profile indie hits like Celeste and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game. They even built their own Carbon Engine to port classic retro titles to modern platforms.

But recent high-profile quality control failures have severely damaged its reputation. Buyers discovered that some of the company's 3DO releases were actually pressed on standard CD-Rs. These discs were completely unplayable on original hardware. Other controversies involved NES cartridges built with improper board beveling that could physically damage the pins inside vintage consoles, as well as the discovery of recycled chips inside brand new cartridges.

The new leadership team claims they are putting an end to this era of growing pains. The official announcement promises a new standard for transparency:

"Fans will soon notice the difference with a regular cadence of blog posts, social media updates and emails designed to inform and update, providing a better understanding of delivery times and product specific details."

Waiting a year for a standard Switch cartridge

Preordering a big box edition from LRG usually means waiting twelve to eighteen months for it to ship. The company's new mandate promises a return to the fundamentals of reliable fulfillment. Whether Ashford and Madigan can actually speed up the global manufacturing pipeline is the real test, but admitting the current system is broken is a start. Fairhurst and Bogart built a massive physical media engine from nothing, but the company they left behind clearly needs a different approach to survive its own scale.