Shrapnel Games Blog

The topic of niche games and retail sales appears to be a favorite among various news groups and forums across the ‘net. A common misconception I see popping up repeatedly is that Shrapnel Games’ titles can only be purchased online, either from our own e-store or other web-only stores.

The fact is, we have spent the past two years growing our family of “brick and mortar” resellers. While it is true you won’t find our games in the bargain bins at EB Games, Gamestop, Walmart, etc., we do hope you’ll find our games on the shelves of many fine independently owned game and hobby retailers. Within our list of resellers, 40% are outside the US, spread over 10 countries with a fairly even split between physical and virtual stores. Of the remaining 60% which are domestic, only 40% are internet merchants. The majority of our domestic resellers are your local game and hobby shops trying to compete with the cut-throat pricing strategies of big box retailers cropping up in their neighborhoods.

As a general rule, these game and hobby shop owners work hard to win gamers’ loyalty and gaming dollars by offering in-store tournaments and promotions. They look for niche games that won’t be found in the chains. Many have been burned by the computer game industry when they put AAA titles on their shelves at or close to MSRP only to have Best Buy pop up next door selling the same titles at a fraction of what the game shop owner paid as cost. It’s not easy to persuade those owners to bring our computer games into their shops, but many have taken a chance and are experimenting with carrying niche computer games once again. We feel these game shops are bringing a much-needed value to the niche game industry by servicing customers who do not spend as much time online as we do or who are hesitant to make internet purchases. Yes, there are still gamers who prefer to walk into a store, pick up the product and walk out with it!

I have no figures to back up this statement, but my perception is that game shops are disappearing faster than small development teams and game publishers. We hope next time you head out to make your next off-line game purchase, you add your local indie game shop (if there’s still one near you) to your list of stops. Most of them are gems.

Thanks for reading!
Annette