529: Nightdive, Stardock and the Business of Saving Classic Games: Larry Kuperman - The Retro Hour EP529

This week, we’re joined by Larry Kuperman, former VP of Business Development at Nightdive Studios, former Business Development Manager at GameStop, Stardock veteran, and co-founder of the IGDA Ann Arbor Chapter. Larry shares incredible stories from the business side of games, from discovering Wolfenstein 3D on a mighty 486, selling custom PCs in the ’90s, and Stardock’s early digital distribution gamble, to GameStop’s attempt to compete with Steam and Nightdive’s mission to bring classics like Turok, System Shock, Star Wars: Dark Forces and more back to life. We also dig into DRM, lost source code, game preservation, and why classic games are art worth saving.
Contents:
00:00 – The Week’s Retro News Stories
49:20 – Larry Kuperman Interview
Please visit our amazing sponsors and help to support the show:
Bitmap Books – bitmapbooks.com
Go to surfshark.com/retrohour or use code RETROHOUR at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN!
Nottingham Gaming Market: nottinghamgamingmarket.com
Check out PCBWay at pcbway.com for all your PCB needs
We need your help to ensure the future of the podcast, if you’d like to help us with running costs, equipment and hosting, please consider supporting us on Patreon:
theretrohour.com/support
patreon.com/retrohour
Join our Discord channel: discord.gg/GQw8qp8
Website: theretrohour.com
Facebook: facebook.com/theretrohour
X: twitter.com/retrohouruk
Instagram: instagram.com/retrohouruk
Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/theretrohour.com
Twitch: twitch.tv/theretrohour
Show notes
VCF Bomb Scare: tinyurl.com/c4k2kb27
Resi 4 On Dreamcast: tinyurl.com/ud4v8t69
Commodore 64C Returns: commodore.net
GoatBeat Hits C64: tinyurl.com/4cebch5b
Majora’s Mask On Vita: tinyurl.com/8dzxj937
Warhammer Classics Return: youtu.be/crVfMM3by_k