Quote:
Originally Posted by Soyweiser
Quote:
Originally Posted by Squirrelloid
Damn, if niches are that big, what's the point of calling things niche games.
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If the niche is that big, why do board game stores have such a hard time staying profitable? Why do almost all the large RPG/boardgame publishers go bankrupt or get taken over by a the giants? Why is it so hard for normal boardgames to stay in production?
Sure you can get The Settlers of Catan everywhere. But that is simple low strategy board game. Now try to buy Shogun/Samurai Swords somewhere. Big strategy board games get out of print often. Why? Because eventually the market is saturated. The avid war/boardgamers all have a copy. And the group of these is rather small so it doesn't really pay off to keep copies laying around for the small amount of sales you get. While Settlers still sells regular. Why? Because difficult board games are a niche, and settlers has a broad appeal. |
Here's the thing you're neglecting - the lifespan of a game. One title cannot stay in print forever, you're right. And it shouldn't. Publishers need to release a steady stream of titles in order to stay in business. And this is even more true for computer games where changing technology obsoletes old games. (Don't get me wrong, I still love playing games from the 90s, but i probably won't even be able to run them after my next (imminent) hardware upgrade.)
A computer game's lifespan is 5 years at the most. Only the most exceptional games hit 10+ (eg, Starcraft). So when you start off by asking questions like 'Why is it so hard for normal boardgames to stay in production' or 'why do RPG companies go out of business', you're asking entirely the wrong questions. You need to keep producing new products that will bring back older customers as well as be accessible to new customers. This explains why Magic the Gathering is still going strong some 17 years after starting. Or why WotC chose the publication structure it did for D+D 4e (every year sees a new set of core books), and why a 5th edition is inevitable.
Dom3 is already past the expected lifetime. It shouldn't be expected to generate any sales at all, especially at full price, and that it does should be regarded as miraculous.