GW, FFG & WotC: How Will They Reopen?
In the weeks ahead every gaming company will reopen – but will there be a tidal wave of products waiting for us?
Everything is locked down tight around the globe. Across the United States, Europe and more, people are under shelter in place orders in their homes, only essential business are open, and the global supply chain from international shipping to distributors has been heavily disrupted. Some areas are heavily affected while others have seen only light effects. But sooner or later every company is going to begin the process of reopening.
Already we have seen some early signs. Games Workshop has made some initial moves and announcements towards reopening stores and their online sales portals in limited ways. Companies who sell into 3rd party retail can get warehouses up and running, without the extra complexity or direct staff to customer in-person interactions. People can already buy games from existing inventories online.
I would certainly expect to see some signs of life flowing back into the industry during May. But the big choice is HOW?
There are 2 major philosophies each company will have to navigate.
Slide Back Release Schedules
Under this model, the time and revenue is effectively lost. If a manufacturer has lost time in actually manufacturing or receiving physical products, this may be the only choice. Once staff gets back in place, products start getting produced and/or received again, and the company will try to just “pick up” where they left off week by week as if nothing happened. Aside from the gap in revenue.
It’s easy to choose this method and it may be more realistic in the face of a long and slow return to normality, both for the companies AND consumers. Economists are already warning of severe recession or even depression risks in the year ahead and a sharp drop-off of consumer spending is expected. In these times, many people will be holding their pursestrings tightly until they feel the worst is behind us all.
Accelerate Release Schedules
Under this model, the goal is to attempt to recover and make up lost revenue to get a company back on its feet as soon as possible. The goal here is to speed up the number or releases for some time until the company has “caught up” to where it should have been in a few months, recouping as much revenue as possible. For this to occur, a manufacturer must have the missing weeks of products already on hand, either making them themselves, or receiving them steadily during the gap.
Alternatively a manufacturer could attempt to reshuffle short-term releases to get a bigger infusion of revenue as soon as they reopen. More SKUs per time-period can be released. There are risks of course. The biggest one is physical ability to have the products ready to go. The second one is to successfully estimate consumer spending. It would be wasteful to release too many products (which generate their greatest sales upon initial release) in the face of dampened consumer spending.
The Future – Fasten Your Seatbelt
Each company will have to navigate reopening with a solution tailored to their individual schedules. A company like GW or FFG with many weekly releases will probably face a different set of choices compared to someone like WotC who has a lesser number of larger D&D releases per year.
~ What do you think the various companies will do?
