Can't Tell the Players Without a Program: Behind the Scenes of the Tabletop Games Industry

As I sought financing for Let’s Roll Games, I found myself having to describe the industry every time I met with someone new. To address this, I prepared a brief description of all the players involved in bringing the games we love to market.  I thought you might find it interesting as well. In recent history, industry trends have led to a blurring of traditional roles in the industry supply chain. However, as it stands, here is a fairly accurate description of the players and their roles.

I’m not going to pretend to understand the creative genesis out of which springs a tabletop game, but I know that it has to start with a good idea.  That idea can come from a variety of sources, but a few of the most common sources are independent creators, publishers, and licensors.

Creators	Independent creators can be employed by someone else to create a game or develop a concept from scratch and shop it to publishers or self-publish using platforms like KickStarter to fund production and marketing.
Licensors	These are the owners (i.e. Disney or Marvel) of intellectual property (IP) who will license the IP to creators and/or publishers to create games.
Publishers	Publishers will either publish their own IP or purchase the rights to a game, have it manufactured, and market it. They will sell through retailers, direct to consumer (DTC) and/or use a distributor.

If it seems like there is a lot of overlap in the roles, you wouldn’t be wrong.  Like many industries, advances in technology have allowed players at the top of the supply chain to disintermediate some of the traditional players downstream and self-publish, market, distribute, and retail their games. The one facet of the games industry where this is not taking place is manufacturing. The investment and expertise involved in the manufacturing of tabletop games is very specific and not easily transferred across other roles in the industry. Manufacturers convert publishers’ creative vision, in the form of rules, design, and components, into a physical product ready for global distribution.   

Manufacturers

Contract manufacturers specializing in games and accessories, primarily located in China and Europe.

Distributors allow publishers to reach a much broader pool of retailers than they could on their own without a significant investment in sales infrastructure and allows retailers to efficiently access a larger selection of products. In the tabletop gaming industry there is again a blurring of roles which has seen the emergence of a publisher/distributor hybrid that serves as a distributor for their own IP and for smaller publishers looking for a broader audience for their products.

Publisher/Distributor Hybrid	These firms will act as a publisher for their own IP and then serve as distributors for their own and smaller publishers' games. They sell via retailers and DTC.
Distributor	The pure distributor works with publishers and accessory manufacturers to make product available to retailers.

Two more important players in the value chain remain.  The retailer like Let’s Roll Games serves as the players’ primary interface with the industry.  It is where you get to make your desires known with your feet, wallet, and voice and we have the responsibility to not only listen, but communicate what we learn to the rest of the industry.

Retailers	Retailers serve as the channel between the middle part of the supply chain and the players. They also serve as a place for players to gather into communities.
Players	The raison d’etre for this whole thing we call the tabletop gaming industry.

I hope that in explaining the industry, I’ve given you not only a better understanding of how our games come into being, but also encourage you to become more involved in the process. You may not feel able to create a game, but you can certainly impact the process by engaging with creators and publishers via social media and at events and interacting with retailers about what you want out of your game store.  If anyone ever gives you the chance to speak up, take it.  At the end of the day, we are here to serve you and provide you the vehicles to engage your passions.