The past year was a challenge for a great many folks, on a wide variety of fronts. My own biggest challenge was attempting to pour gas on the pace of growth at Left Justified Studio and Prolific Games.
Since I began this publishing business in 2019, it’s been modestly successful. My decision not to accept outside investment was successful in that I could run the business entirely on my terms.
That decision meant very slow growth. In 2025, I tried several things to increase the pace. I hired a sales manager to do direct outreach to game stores. I made a big investment in Amazon sales. I doubled my convention footprint. And so forth. Long story short, none of these initiatives worked. Worse, every one brought substantial debt with it.
After a dismal PAX Unplugged, I decided it was time to invoke the age-old rule: when you find yourself in a hole, first stop digging.
So since mid-December, I’ve been assembling what amounts to a prospectus for the sale of Left Justified Studio and Prolific Games. I can imagine a buyer wanting to purchase everyting, but it’s also easy to see individual games and lines being interesting to different folks, and there’s no reason not to split them up. I’m open to various opportunities, and focused on the best intersection of what’s straightforward and what pays off the most debt.
Left Justified LLC is an independent entity for the normal reasons that businesses stand independent of individuals and households. Even so, I consider Left Justified’s debts to be mine personally. Whatever it takes to pay them off, I will do. Fortunately, I am blessed with forviging and understanding creditors who are making the process simple.
Anyway: If you’re interested in a serious conversation about buying the Left Justified Studio or Prolific Games brand(s), or any of the individual lines or games in the catalog, let’s talk. If you know someone who might be the right person, please spread the word. Serious inquiries only, but also, don’t rule yourself out needlessly.
Non-obvious buyers probably include the publishing-curious who aren’t sure what they’d do first to start a new company. This is a relativley unusual opportunity to acquire an entire, functional game publishing enterprise with a not-insubstantial catalog of games, a pipeline of development projects with advances paid, functional and ongoing relationships with worldwide distributors, the respect of dozens or hundreds of game stores, and even has sundry assets like a full convention kit and prepaid booths for some 2026 events. You’d have to want to invest money in the labor to develop and sell games, or be willing to take a very small salary while you grow the business. I was not that patient, so you’d even start with a few clear ideas about what won’t work. (You’re welcome!)
Interested parties should reach out by email to jeff@left-justified.com. I’m already talking to two potential buyers, so probably don’t wait too long to get in touch.
If you’re a store or distributor who’d like to stock up on any of our games so you can weather potential disruptions in availability, drop me a line. In the short term, there are deals to be had!
Many of you know me personally, so I’ll add two personal notes.
First, this state of affairs is not a threat to our household finances. Part of the point of stopping now is to make sure that never becomes the case. In the worst-case scenario, it will take up to five years to pay off the debt. This is probably appropriate.
Second, I’ve already had a soft professional landing and joined Chip Theory Games as their new Head of Studio. That means I’m leading their creative staff and operations doing things like managing developers and graphic designers, doing company-wide project management, interfacing with manufacturing and localization partners, and so on. If you’re accustomed to seeing me at conventions, you’ll probably see me at even more than in the past. I’ll be at GAMA Expo, UKGE, Gen Con, Essen, PAX Unplugged, and so on. I might even be at my first Nuremberg Toy Fair later this month. Chip Theory has been my largest consulting client for more than two years. They are a fantastic team of excellent people, and I’m excited to be on board full time. One door closes and another opens, as they say.
When I retire in ten or fifteen years, I think I would be very disappointed if I had not spent the last five years trying to grow a publishing company that I owned myself. It’s too bad it didn’t work out, but that’s the way it goes for small businesses.
I’m extremely grateful to a epic horde of individuals and their companies who offered Left Justified their advice, partnership, purchases, trust, friendship, and more over the last five years. I will name no one here out of fear that I’d leave out many important someones. In part, you know who are. And in part, it’s not like I’ll never see you again. It’s almost certainly better to thank you in person anyway.