My roleplaying interests led me to Ryan Dancey's blog which contains his predictions for the game industry in 2007. For those who don't know, Ryan Dancey is the former brand manager for D&D at WotC. He has a reputation for being an innovative idea man (being a driving force behind the Open Gaming License for D&D that allowed 3rd parties to support the D&D game)

In the article he lists WizKids among 6 industry leaders with 6 "one-eyed kings" in the hobby gaming industry (along with Wizards of the Coast, Upper Deck, Games Workshop and Privateer Press).

His predictions for WizKids:

Since this was posted, WizKids made their announcement that they were going with only one distributor for their products to hobby stores (Diamond & Alliance are part of the same company). The reason for this, as noted in this article is to better serve the hobby stores by having better control over the internet market. So, the part of his prediction that WizKids would "fight the good fight" is coming true (assuming he didn't have inside information about this move).

This is not meant as a doomsday warning. His is just a prediction based on his experience in the gaming industry and I thought it would stimulate some interesting debate. Please try to remain civil and not get out-of-hand in this discussion. It hasn't happened and might not happen, it's just a prediction.

Thoughts?

The profit margin for hand painted minis seems like it'd be awfully slim. Styrene, on the other hand, is cheap. Cheap to buy, print, and punch. So when I hear that WK might be going towards mass-driven games, that's what I envision. WK will move out of painted minis and focus more towards constuctible styrene and card-based (read: Magic knockoff) games. I see Solaris 7 as being the last gasp.

Personally, I'm fine if they discontinue MechWarrior. I've never been accused of being a swag #####. I still have my collection. I still have a bunch of people (well, not a *bunch*, but some) who'll meet me at my FLGS on Sunday afternoons, prizes or not, for some fun.

And I don't blame WK one bit. They're a for-profit company, and they're entitled to pursue every dollar they can.

Yeah. When it comes down to it, WK is a company, and the bottom line is what matters. However, BT, and MW by extension, is a universe, and will (hopefully) live on. At the very least, I hope the books make money, so they'll continue writing them.....

In the end, it could go either way, of course, but maybe, just maybe, efforts put in now could be a case of 'too little, too late'. I sincerely hope MW survives, and they continue to produce it, even if they only make a small profit, even if most of prize support goes. It is a niche market, and will find buyers. If not, hopefully they'll sell the license, and someone else will come along, and forward the story, and we'll all be there to rant and rave and whine and groan, but we'll be there, and it'll be most of us :).

Heh...only got into the game this summer and already there's talk all over the place and all the time about it going down in flames. I've really only got one question for the experienced and long-standing forumites out there...

How often have we had professional predictions of this nature foretelling the end of the game and other such "get out while you still can" talk? I don't ask out of spite, but out of a desire to know what's going on.

Happens all the time in more then just this type of game. I always love predictions no matter how sound they are or by who......in the end its a guess!

Things have gone bad for Wizkids, but almost all of the bad companies are due to bad management and the endless offshoots they dump money into trying to strike gold!

Like so many companies instead of investing time and money in one or two focus areas, they spread out trying to find a diamond in the rough that will pay the rent.

More often then not that fails. I'll wait and see if the new management is skilled or not before I start to worry. If they fail there is always a chance that a larger company will buy the trademark from Wizkids etc and devotes more into building a better game that makes them money. The core parts are there.

ive been playing for 3 years, and i would say this type(the game is dead) talk has been around....well 3 years now. but this is the first time ive heard a prediction from someone who obviously is in the know. whether from experience or inside information. to be honest though, know one knows the future of this game, especially "us", the players. WK says they are going to revamp the game and have it ready for 08. in the mean time they want us to play solaris, which is fine with me. my worry comes from the fact that WK is giving us very little information.

Well, I have actually been playing since the game came out, I bought a Starter the day it hit the streets, so that being said...
Talk of MW death has been going on since basically DFA came out, especially in my area. It was about this time that we lost several venues, but I honestly like the current climate of players better than I did back then. Is this game going to die? In an official capacity, of course it will. Will my friends and I continue to have weekly games for years? Heck yes!
I like some of the steps WK is taking, because I don't collect all the factions, but have always felt like I needed to get a case just to get the pieces I really wanted, but now I don't have to. Do I want that HD action pack? Maybe, but at least I know I have the opportunity to wait and see it before buying it.
I hope this game survives through 2007, heck I hope it makes it through 2050, but I know it probably won't...

I think the game (MW) is dead for those who believe it is dead. There really is no sense arguing with the pessimist over that.

But for those of us who still buy MW (even thru online) and try to get their hands on rolling the dice from time to time. The game is definitely much alive.

I would only agree that the game is dead once WK finally pull the plug, but that would never drive me to sell or dispose of my collection. I went out for a while due to pressing concerns in real life but I kept my collection. Went back, adopted RotS fully, my collection grow almost to one third of the original size. Do I regret anything about it? Not a single chance at all. :)

To be quite honest, I don't think MechWarrior has ever been at risk of cancellation like it is now. But even if WK stops supporting it, MechWarrior will live on. The BattleTech Universe is too robust, and its fan base is too strong.

I am confident that, even if WK cancels MW as one of its brands, fan sites like MWRealms, BattleCorps, and the zillions of others will keep the game going.

Long Live the Inner Sphere!

I've been a BattleTech fan for a long time. Bought the Mechwarrior 2 PC games whe they were still brand new on store shelves, been an avid fan ever since. I was never able to find a CBT game I could get to, but that didn't stop me from buying tech readouts, a lot of books, and a goodly little stack of hex-base pewter minis. MW CMG may die, but I'll never stop reading BattleTech.

That said...it really would suck if I don't even get a year out of my pieces before Wizkids cancels the game and tournament support dries up. I'll do my best to organize MW meets anyways, but you know what happens when the developer cuts a game off. I love this game, I'd hate to see it die.

I do think that this game's popularity is on the decline, there are less active players in our area than ever before. WK is doing good by re-evaluating the game but maybe it's a bit too late.

I don't believe in horoscopes and astrology mumbo-jumbo (and this qoute does have that kind of ring to it). But this kind of statement from people in the business, combined with panicky company reorganisation, and mysterious veiled announcements about future products, often works as a self fullfilling prophecy. Scaring away (new) players and thereby reducing booster-sales leading to the ultimate demise of a wonderfull game.

I have stated before that I will stay with the game as long as it is possible. However, I am a player (not a collector) and will ultimately have to stop buying stuff if there is nobody left to play against.

This is also called diversifying which is something that ALL companies (not just the gaming indutries) absolutely need to do in order to have any long term health.

It's also called watering down and what I was referring to isn't diversity, it's a company that wants to find a "Sugar Daddy" product amongst a dozen plans. They scrap the ones that don't do as well as their diamond.

This tactic is bad business, the one you are referring to is golden in the business world.

I laugh at wizlids POTSM flop,which they claim as one of thier top selling table top games. they invested so much money into marketing that game and neglected there other brands at the same time. I betcha they'll start to market horrorclix next instead of Mechwarrior which is more mainsteam then any of those two. I hope they realize there mistake and focus on their core brands. just look at all the graveyard games they have, its pittiful. the bright minds there arent to bright if you ask me, but neither am I. D&D only has a loyal following because of its fan base that desires that type of RPG. mechwarrior attracks many types of gamers who look to dominate over their competitors. but lately i've seen more D&D players then mechwarriors. go figure

I'll feel you brother. We've both been playing the game for about the same time, but the idea that there is a chance, albeit a slim one, of my favorite game dying out just sickens me. Like some have already said, even if MW goes sown the tubes production wise, my girlfriend and I will keep playing as long as we have time to do it. It's just too much fun to pass up.