Xalavier
NelsoNJr
I’mafull-time
gamewriterand
narrativedesigner,
withcreditsinside
andoutofgaming.
F
romthe‘feelies’includedin90sadventure
games,tothebrandedshirtsonclearanceat
HotTopic,merchandise(alsoknownas
‘swag’)cansometimesfeelasvitalto
gamingcultureasthegamesthemselves.
Withdecadesofiteration,it’stemptingtothinkthat
mostoftheissuesassociatedwithmerchandiseare
nowsolved–making
fiascosliketheFallout 76
duffelbagrecalleven
moreegregious.WhatI
insteaddiscoveredisa
processstillriddledwith
potentialmoneypitsand
failurepoints.“Formanyyearsweranourownmerchandiseshopand
shippedoutordersourselves,”saysKevinSimmonsof
Asymmetric,developersofbrowserclassicKingdomof
LoathingandrecentindiehitWestofLoathing.“Ifyouadd
upthecostofthematerials,salaryofthepersonhandling
theorders,andalltheshipping,weactuallylostmoney!
Themerchandisewasmeantasfan-service,andwekept
pricesaslowaswecouldmanage–T-shirtswere$
includingshippingwithintheUS,forexample.”They’ve
sincecontractedmerchandisingtoTopatoco,buttalesof
breakingglasswareandotherfulfilmentnightmaresarea
surprisinglycommontaleduringtheshippingprocess.
“Generallyspeakingthehidden
costsofswagarenotinthe
productionend,”saysChrisStewart,
COOatKerberosProductions.“Any
nightmaresyourunintoarein
fulfilment,particularlyshippingitems
overseas.Ourcurrentpolicyonlarge
postersis‘NEVERAGAIN’,butin
generalwe’rewaryofanyoverseas
shippingwithoutalocalfulfilment
partnertoprotectourfansfrom
additionalcharges,liketheVATin
Europe.”Spreadacrossmultiple
originalIPsincludingSwordofthe
StarsandKaiju-A-GoGo,they’ve
commissionedeverythingfrom
bumperstickerstochallengecoins.
“We’vetakensomerisksonmaking
thoseitems,butthoseriskswere
alwaysmitigatedbyhavingafew
peoplewhowantedthemfromthestartandessentially
pre-orderedthemduringthecrowdfundingcampaign,”
Stewartsays.“Somethingsthatyou’dthinkmightbe
difficultweremucheasierthanexpected!Challengecoinswereremarkablypainless,forexample,andthecurrent
techforproducingmultiplecoloursandfinishesreally
blewusaway.Thethingaboutmerchisthateachitemisa
mini-project.Youhavecostsassociatedwithdesign,
productionanddelivery.Theytendtoeatupyourmargins
somuchthatitisn’treallyaprofitableavenueifyou’re
tryingtoraisefundsforsomeotherproductlikea
videogame.”
KitfoxGameshas
producedanumberof
merchandiseitems–usually
asapartoftheir
crowdfundingcampaigns.
“Whenyou’reanew
companyworkingonanew
IP,”co-founderTanyaX
Shortsays,“it’smorecostlybecausenobodytruststhat
yourgamewillactuallyexist,andtheyhavetocovertheir
risks.Otherthanenamelpins,thingshaven’treally
changedfromourend,exceptthatwe’rebecomingseen
asmorelegitimateandourgamesasmoreprestigiousto
beassociatedwith,soit’seasiertogetmerchcontracts.”
WiththeviralsuccessofBoyfriendDungeon,Kitfox
Gameshasfoundbettermerchandisingdealsthanever,
includingapartnershipwithIndieBoxtocreatetwo-sided
bladesonabodypillows.
However,evenstudiostabilityandviralattentiondon’t
guaranteeasmoothproductionprocess.Back-and-forth
Thecreatorsoffree-to-playMMOTransformicestruggled
withthecreationofplushiesfortheirsignaturegame.The
processinvolvedgivinginstructionstoafactorylocatedin
Chinaandneitherpartyspoketheother’slanguage.“The
prototypeswere...hideous,”recallsco-CEOMélanie
Christin.“IwouldPhotoshopthepicturestheysentmeto
tellthemwhatIwantedchanged.Andwitheach
iteration,theywouldchangesomethingelseIneverasked
for,”shesays.“Weworkeditouteventually,butwewere
luckytohaveourresellerasanegotiatorandthatour
orderwouldbebigenough.”Plushiesareoneofthevery
fewpiecesofmerchandisethestudiocreatedforsale,
withthedeveloperspreferringtofindsuccessalongother
metrics.Givingawaythousandsofheadbandswithmouse
earsonthemduringJapanExpowasputtogetherfairly
cheaply,forexample,andhadrippleeffectsonthestudio’s
visibilityforyearstocome.
Despitethedifficultieswithcreatingswag,everyoneI
spoketowasenthusiasticaboutthemerchandisethey
produced,evenifitwasbeingmadeataloss.
Merchandiseisn’tjustasourceofbraggingrights,it’sa
tangibleconnectiontoworldswecannevervisit.studiostabilityandviral
attentiondon’tguaranteea
smoothproductionprocessSwag HurtS
Why devs make merchandise and what it costs them. By Xalavier Nelson Jr
Inside Dev
MAkinggAMESiSHArd