Much of the success of the tabletop games industry over the past decade has been driven by small game companies. They have leveraged crowdfunding like few other industries, bypassed distribution networks and big box stores and sold directly to their consumers and even pushed larger companies to adapt some of their innovations to stay competitive.
ATLANTA, GA - NOVEMBER 17: Gage Thompson, left, and Daeton Harris play a game called Catan during ... [+]
No company ever expect infinite growth but small games manufacturers must confront issues that could turn a market correction into a market crash.
International shipping has been a concern for many years. Companies like Amazon have conditioned consumers that free shipping is the expectation which often puts the burden of paying for shipping on the company. Shipping items around the world is a complex operation and navigating postal bureaucracy, private shipping companies and other complexities doesn’t come cheap.
“Outbound shipping rates from the USA are quite high,” said Fred Hicks, President of Evil Hat Productions, “which has given us something of a no-win situation. When we're running a Kickstarter campaign, we face complaints and disappointment if we do offer international shipping priced accordingly to those rates, and the same if we don't offer international shipping and instead suggest that folks abroad buy from a local game store supported by distribution after the game is released. We've tried a number of approaches to work around this issue, but most solutions seem to be largely a matter of moving the numbers around to different parts of the logistical puzzle without significantly bringing overall total costs down, or they contain hidden costs and other gotchas that worsen the overall customer experience.”
“The impact goes beyond that though,” said Liam Ginty, Game Designer at Sandy Pug Games. “For a small company like ours, that's an enormous number of customers we just can't reach, and their (rightfully) upset comments makes our projects look bad to boot. We do what we can - digital files, print on demand - but its rough.”
“International shipping has always been one of our biggest challenges in regards to fulfillment,” said Matt McElroy, Operations Manager for Onyx Path Publishing. “We [keep] an eye on the news, but honestly I expect prices for shipping to continue to rise regardless of the individual situation.”
The uncertainty of tariffs have also put game companies on unstable ground. While books can be printed within the US, the options for game parts like cards and miniatures are much more limited. Larger manufacturers like Hasbro can absorb the costs of the tariffs with a slight increase in price while companies at this level are mulling much higher per unit increases.
“As for board and card games,” said Mark Diaz Truman, President of Magpie Games, “I don't think that there are workable manufacturing options in the United States. We're going to have to go to China for anything involving products that are more complicated than books, and it's going to be years before any tariffs rebalance the costs such that factories with those capabilities open here in the United States. If the Trump Administration wants to build that capacity domestically, they need to look to tax incentives and long-term manufacturing planning instead of tariffs that they impose on a whim.”
While the shipping rates and tariffs have been on the minds of small games companies for a while, recent developments between Kickstarter and employees seeking to form a union have stuck them between a rock and a hard place. The capital provided by crowdfunding is vital for production and reprints, but none of them want to be seen as anti-labor and lose customers to boycotts.
“We have the Deviant Kickstarter happening now and the Creature Collection Kickstarter,” said McElroy, “We’re keeping an eye on the situation and watching what the organizers on the front lines have to say. They have not called for anyone to stop using Kickstarter as of yet.”
“We've been watching this situation closely since the organizers announced plans to unionize earlier this year,” said Truman. “Like many other creators and fans of the platform, we were shocked to hear that Kickstarter had fired union organizers and looked to the union—Kickstarter United—for how we could support their work. Since the union quickly indicated that they were not requesting a stoppage or strike, we preceded with our plans to launch Root: The Tabletop Roleplaying Game. We're going to be listen to the union in the future for more ways we can help them gain the recognition they deserve from management.”
“We are a lot more cautious about using Kickstarter now than we were before, said Hicks. “Before we weren't really interested in looking at other crowdfunding options, but the week of deliberation they kicked off by their actions against union organizers forced us to consider what else might be out there. There's also a section about Kickstarter in the Risks & Challenges on our current Kickstarter for Agon.”
“As someone with a lot of personal connection to labor organizing and unions (I'm from a union town in England, my family were all labourers, I've worked with unions and stood on picket lines most of my life), the news hit me hard,” said Ginty, currently running a Kickstarter for Disposable Heroes that mashes up fantasy heroes with the gig economy. “I won't pretend that Sandy Pug Games doesn't rely on crowdfunders to exist in our current form, but after talking to one of the workers and organizers, the team all agreed that following the stated advice of the Kickstarter Workers was the right thing to do .”
