Report To The Stakeholders

[Andrew Hackard]

Originally Posted by Kromm

2. The profits grow the business. Note also that they give us things like paid vacations. Steve is a very generous boss and I can state without any uncertainty that he's sharing with his staff – those paid breaks are really, really nice, and not remotely common in the RPG publishing business – rather than jet-setting around in a $10,000 suit.

To say nothing of our quite generous holiday bonuses and other perks (free games? don't mind if I do...).

[jcfiala]

Originally Posted by Andrew Hackard

To say nothing of our quite generous holiday bonuses and other perks (free games? don't mind if I do...).

Oh, well, want to hire a web developer who's training himself up on android development? I recently helped launch a mobile site. :)

[warmachine]

Having 75% of sales from Munchkin, which will eventually fall out of fashion, strikes me as dangerous. Not that I understand the games business. Presumably, this just reflects the unusual success of Munchkin and a post-Munchkin SJG would still be healthy.

[Ze'Manel Cunha]

Originally Posted by warmachine

Having 75% of sales from Munchkin, which will eventually fall out of fashion, strikes me as dangerous. Not that I understand the games business. Presumably, this just reflects the unusual success of Munchkin and a post-Munchkin SJG would still be healthy.

That's why he's supposedly spending time developing new games at home, instead of just managing current games at the office, so that when things fall out of fashion he has a few dozen things in the pipeline to take up the slack.


Sort of like Pharma Corps with their new drug pipeline as their old mainstays go "generic"*.

*Though when you make a good product, even if it's gone "generic", it's still going to have a loyal following.

[ericbsmith]

Originally Posted by warmachine

Having 75% of sales from Munchkin, which will eventually fall out of fashion, strikes me as dangerous.

OTOH not having 75% of your sales in a product that is selling this strong a decade after its release would a dumb move. They would be leaving sales unfulfilled, which is literally like leaving money on the table unclaimed.

[Refplace]

Yeah I was sad GURPS did not get more mention for visibility reasons I do not feel GURPS is dying. Seems to me that more stuff is published and faster now that it is mostly electronic.
I like my printed books and they are much easier for me to read.
However I do not have to worry about my stuff on E23 getting lost or stolen. And I can print off pages if I need to.

[Ronnke]

Originally Posted by Kromm

1. GURPS has a reduced paper presence but an increased digital one. Adjusting for both effects, we're producing more pages of new GURPS content, publishing more individual GURPS products, and paying more dollars in GURPS royalties than we have in some time. I feel this very personally; my schedule seems busier and more pressed than ever. Which is why, you know, SJ Games hired me an assistant. Thus, "GURPS is dying" is strictly how some grognards with a rosy view of the old days of printed books perceive matters; objectively, it isn't true at all.

This is encouraging information for the GURPS fan. Has there ever been any consideration to doing a "Report to the GURPS Stakeholders?" I think it would go a long way to ending the doom and gloom many GURPS'ers feel.

[robkelk]

Originally Posted by ericbsmith

OTOH not having 75% of your sales in a product that is selling this strong a decade after its release would a dumb move. They would be leaving sales unfulfilled, which is literally like leaving money on the table unclaimed.

I think what warmachine meant was that it isn't a good idea to have so much of your income coming from one product line.

Which, in general, is good advice - diversifying is a good thing if you have the resources to do so - but is a bit tricky to apply in this specific case. In order for SJGames to diversify, they'd have to come up with another blockbuster game...

[trekkypj]

A few remarks...

First off, I'm glad my favorite game company is doing tremendously the last few years. You people do good work, and deserve this success.

I'm a little conflicted. As a gamer, I worry that with Munchkin's spectacular rise to glory, that other products will be pushed less. Take GURPS. I love the openness, the volume of material, the possibilities. And yet... I worry about it going to a primarily e23 format of release. Plenty of old farts prefer printed word, and I guess a PDF is less tactile *grin*. A POD service would fill tht gap nicely, though implementing it is a challenge.

But I also understand the economics of it. It makes sense to focus on Munchkin, at least for now. You guys do have an extensive back catalogue of games that are every bit as good as Munchkin, such as Illuminati, SPANC, Car Wars, and In Nomine, to name just a few. Newer games like Trophy Buck continue in the same vein.

I would like to see some more potential post-Munchkin hits emerge. Some different style of game, perhaps. I'm very confident that Steve & Co have this well on hand - I have no doubt that SJGames will continue to prosper.

I still think SJ should try and acquire the tights to Junta! though. Just my conceit, you understand. But still...

[ericbsmith]

Originally Posted by robkelk

I think what warmachine meant was that it isn't a good idea to have so much of your income coming from one product line.

Which, in general, is good advice - diversifying is a good thing if you have the resources to do so - but is a bit tricky to apply in this specific case. In order for SJGames to diversify, they'd have to come up with another blockbuster game...

All true. And the fact that Munchkin is accounting for only 75% of their gross shows that they are, at least, somewhat diversified. They sell other products. They have released several other games. They have kept GURPS, the old standard, going. And they have a bunch of games in the pipe ready to fill the void should Munchkin sales slow. But, as you say, to replace 75% of their sales with another product line would require another blockbuster product line. If they could just come up with another blockbuster I'm sure they would. In the meantime what they can do is to make sure that their existing, and highly profitable, Munchkin product line is staying highly profitable by continuing to make new expansions for it and making sure the core sets stay in print (which is exactly what they've been doing).