if I remember correctly, one 60 USD MSRP board game costs ~12 dollars to manufacture, ~18 dollars goes to distributors and shippers, ~18 dollars goes to retailers, leaving 12 dollars profit per unit. Average print run is 3-5000 copies
-
-
Show this thread
-
so that's 60,000 dollars of profit split between the publisher, which might be 1 person, the marketer, again maybe 1 person, the graphic designer, the artist, the designer, the rulebook person - if you're lucky, some of these are the same person. But let's say it's 6 people
Show this thread -
10,000 per person per sold out run, on a game that took 12-18 months to make.
Show this thread -
but of course it's not 60k pure profit. there will be costs. You have to pay for a how to play video. production delays means you need to pay expedited shipping to reach gen con. a misprint means you need to reprint a deck and ship it to all players.
Show this thread -
you need to buy ads. maybe you have full time staff. they need to get paid whether the game sells out or not.
Show this thread -
so that's why superhits like CODENAMES which are cheap to make and sell in the tens of millions will allow a publisher to take theri time on other stuff, raise component quality, spend an extra year to develop and miss essen, etc.
Show this thread -
also this is why when studios are accused of making cash grab games I'm like... do you not realize what the cash grab funds?
Show this thread -
ffg is notoriously accused of making cash grab games a) the games are actually good. they don't have to be good. put star wars on anything, it'll print money b) they publish weird stuff too. their most recent announcement was a fallout worker placement game.
Show this thread -
this stems from the fact that people have no idea how much games cost. they think it's just materials and shipping.
Show this thread -
also "why do they need to use kickstarter for the game??" because it's less risky than taking out a loan for 60k
Show this thread -
with ks you know you will move units and you print extras for retail to make money, it's about getting the up front capital and a guaranteed number to send to the manufacturer.
Show this thread -
'why is huge company x using kickstarter for that game??' because there's only so much liquid cash a company has at any time. maybe they had a game in the pipes and this is the only way to get capital for a cool idea they signed. or its more exp than a normal game
Show this thread -
imagine if eagle gryphon makes on mars, a game with a hundred dollar msrp, and it flops. it might kill the company.
Show this thread -
at least if it flopped on kickstarter they didn't spend eighty thousand printing the game, and they still have a saleable game idea with complete assets. they can try again or license it. but they're not dead
Show this thread -
every publisher's biggest fucking fear is bringing a game to retail, paying for everything up front, and all the stock sits in a warehouse for years because no one buys it. company ending. or it generates a lot of hype and then sells a quarter of its run with no tail after that.
Show this thread -
I guarantee you everyone in publishing who just read that just had a shiver go down their spine. it is keeps you up at night terrifying.
Show this thread
End of conversation
New conversation -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.