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Retro Empire press kit

Factsheet

Developer
DVN Software
Release date
March 2027, in Steam Early Access
Demo
Free on Steam and itch.io, since October 2026; the first five days, about an hour of play
Platforms
Windows, Linux / SteamOS
Steam
store.steampowered.com/app/5295010
Languages
English, Español, Français, Deutsch, Português (Brasil), Čeština, Türkçe, Русский, 日本語, 한국어, 简体中文
Price
To be announced
Website
dvnsoftware.com/retro-empire
Trailer
youtu.be/01Mcvrg3IzE
Social
TikTok YouTube Discord IndieDB

Description

Short description

A first-person sim about running a second-hand video game shop: buy filthy old consoles from locals, fix them on your workbench and sell them for what they are really worth.

Long description

Retro Empire is a first-person shop sim set in a second-hand video game store. You start alone behind the counter with three dirty handhelds, two boxes of games and an empty shelf. How far the shop goes from there is up to you.

Most of the stock comes from RetroPop, the city's second-hand app: you haggle, reserve what you want and meet the sellers in person to pick it up. Not every listing is honest, so everything goes over the workbench before it reaches a shelf. There it gets taken apart, cleaned, fitted with new batteries or parts and tested on a bench with a CRT monitor.

Customers walk in from the street with their own budget and their own idea of a fair price, and they remember how you treated them. Some come in to sell you their old games; others leave their console with you to repair.

Arcade cabinets take swappable boards, and the games on them are fully playable. So are some of the cartridges: Pocket Lint, a creature-collecting RPG about lost socks, runs on the in-game handheld. Put a cartridge in the giant Comet demo kiosk and customers stop to play it, and some of them walk out with a copy.

Stickers you peel off old consoles in one piece go into a sticker album, with holo, flicker and gold editions to find and a cover you decorate yourself. As the shop levels up you unlock wholesale orders, game and console rentals, a game corner where customers pay to play and you can hold tournaments, and staff you hire and train: a cashier, a buyer, a stocker and a technician. Later on you can turn the old video club down the street into the TURBO ARCADE hall.

The free demo, on Steam and itch.io, covers the first five days: about an hour of play, from an empty shop to a busy one.

Features

  • A workbench to take consoles apart, clean them and repair them part by part, plus a test bench with a CRT monitor.
  • Repair jobs: customers bring in their broken consoles, each with its own fault, and come back to collect them.
  • RetroPop, a second-hand app with haggling, counteroffers, reservations and pickups in person. Some sellers will try to scam you.
  • Customers with a budget and a memory, who compare prices, sell you their games and walk out if something costs too much.
  • Arcade cabinets with swappable boards and fully playable games.
  • Playable cartridges: small original games that run on the in-game handhelds, and a giant Comet demo kiosk where customers try them before they buy.
  • A sticker album for the stickers you peel off consoles: holo, flicker and gold editions, where each one came from, and a cover to decorate.
  • A game corner where customers pay to play, and tournaments in the shop.
  • Game and console rentals and wholesale orders.
  • Staff you hire and train: cashier, buyer, stocker and technician.
  • A second venue down the street: the TURBO ARCADE hall, with its own customers and attendant.
  • Wall paint, shop designs, posters and a sign editor for the shopfront, across twenty store levels.
  • Full controller support and rebindable controls. 11 languages.

Videos

Gameplay loops, no sound (1280 × 720)

Each loop shows one mechanic in 5-7 seconds. Use them in articles and streams.

Short clips, 9:16

MP4, H.264 + AAC. Trailers and videos at 1920 × 1080 and 60 fps; vertical trailer and short clips at 1080 × 1920.

Images

Download all screenshots (.zip)

The same handheld before and after a trip to the workbench
The same handheld before and after a trip to the workbench
A customer buys the game they just tried at the Comet kiosk (full game)
A customer buys the game they just tried at the Comet kiosk (full game)
Peeling a gold sticker off a console with tweezers (full game)
Peeling a gold sticker off a console with tweezers (full game)
The TURBO ARCADE hall, full of customers (full game)
The TURBO ARCADE hall, full of customers (full game)
Scrubbing the grime off a handheld
Scrubbing the grime off a handheld
The technician you hired repairing a handheld on the workbench (full game)
The technician you hired repairing a handheld on the workbench (full game)
The giant Comet demo kiosk running Pocket Lint (full game)
The giant Comet demo kiosk running Pocket Lint (full game)
A full page in the sticker album earns new rings for the binder (full game)
A full page in the sticker album earns new rings for the binder (full game)
Cleaning the board of a handheld
Cleaning the board of a handheld
A queue at the counter and a trade-in offer waiting (full game)
A queue at the counter and a trade-in offer waiting (full game)
A flicker-edition sticker and where it came from (full game)
A flicker-edition sticker and where it came from (full game)
A customer plays at the kiosk while another one waits (full game)
A customer plays at the kiosk while another one waits (full game)
Hiring staff on the shop computer (full game)
Hiring staff on the shop computer (full game)
The repair ticket on the workbench
The repair ticket on the workbench
Swapping the batteries in a handheld that won’t turn on
Swapping the batteries in a handheld that won’t turn on
A customer brings in a console to fix
A customer brings in a console to fix
Haggling over a price on RetroPop
Haggling over a price on RetroPop
Checking a boxed game before selling it: you can try it in your own Comet
Checking a boxed game before selling it: you can try it in your own Comet
Pocket Lint, one of the cartridges you can play on the handheld
Pocket Lint, one of the cartridges you can play on the handheld
The shop with another design: pixel-art walls (full game)
The shop with another design: pixel-art walls (full game)
Decorating the album cover with a holo finish and spare stickers (full game)
Decorating the album cover with a holo finish and spare stickers (full game)
The attendant looking after the cabinets in the arcade hall (full game)
The attendant looking after the cabinets in the arcade hall (full game)
The TURBO ARCADE frontage at nightfall (full game)
The TURBO ARCADE frontage at nightfall (full game)
Renting out a game at the counter (full game)
Renting out a game at the counter (full game)
The shopfront by day
The shopfront by day
An afternoon with customers
An afternoon with customers
The shop at dusk
The shop at dusk
Paying the agreed price on RetroPop
Paying the agreed price on RetroPop
The courier drops an order on the pallet
The courier drops an order on the pallet
Deep Harpoon, one of the games you can play on the arcade cabinet
Deep Harpoon, one of the games you can play on the arcade cabinet
Swapping the board in an arcade cabinet
Swapping the board in an arcade cabinet
Emptying the coin box
Emptying the coin box
Rock Storm, one of the arcade cabinets in the shop
Rock Storm, one of the arcade cabinets in the shop
The shop at night with the sign lit
The shop at night with the sign lit
Raining outside
Raining outside
Cashing up at the end of the day
Cashing up at the end of the day
On the workbench: one console still dirty, one ready to sell
On the workbench: one console still dirty, one ready to sell
Orange walls
Orange walls
The shop's street at nightfall (full game)
The shop's street at nightfall (full game)
The cashier serving at the counter (full game)
The cashier serving at the counter (full game)
TURBO ARCADE, the second venue (full game)
TURBO ARCADE, the second venue (full game)
Customers playing in the arcade hall (full game)
Customers playing in the arcade hall (full game)

Screenshots taken in the game, 1920 × 1080. The ones marked “full game” are not in the demo.

Key art & capsules

Download key art, capsules and renders (.zip)

Key art with logo, 3840 × 2160
Key art with logo, 3840 × 2160
Key art without logo, 3840 × 2160
Key art without logo, 3840 × 2160
Steam main capsule, 1232 × 706
Steam main capsule, 1232 × 706
Steam header capsule, 920 × 430
Steam header capsule, 920 × 430
Steam vertical capsule, 748 × 896
Steam vertical capsule, 748 × 896
Steam library capsule, 600 × 900
Steam library capsule, 600 × 900
Steam small capsule, 462 × 174
Steam small capsule, 462 × 174
Render: a handheld as it comes in, 3840 × 2160
Render: a handheld as it comes in, 3840 × 2160
Render: the same handheld, cleaned and working, 3840 × 2160
Render: the same handheld, cleaned and working, 3840 × 2160
Render: consoles, stickers and cartridges from the game, 3840 × 2160
Render: consoles, stickers and cartridges from the game, 3840 × 2160

The capsules are the ones on the Steam page. The renders were made in Blender with the game’s own models; they are not screenshots.

Logo & icon

Download logos and icon (.zip)

retro-empire-logo-stacked.png retro-empire-logo-wide.png retro-empire-icon-512.png dvn-software@4x.png

About DVN Software

DVN Software is Daniel’s game studio. Retro Empire is its first game.

Credits

Daniel
Design and development
HoliznaCC0
Music in the trailers and videos: “Soft Reset”, “Glad To Be Stuck Inside”, “Still Waiting.. Player 2” and “We Drove All Night” (CC0)

Contact

Press and business
press@dvnsoftware.com