Retailers fear people will buy less games, cuts inventory orders
Out of fear that they’ll be stuck with games in the back room that no one wants (not those kinds of games in the back room), retailers across the US have decreased their orders for games, choosing to focus on triple A titles. It’s certainly going to be an uphill climb for smaller studios from here on out.
Out of fear that they’ll be stuck with games in the back room that no one wants (not those kinds of games in the back room), retailers across the US have decreased their orders for games, choosing to focus on triple A titles.
This will be a headache for publishers, who will have a hard time trying to market their games to retailers who don’t want them. And while this probably means less Wii shovelware that will take up precious shelf space, it also means it’s going to be an uphill climb for smaller studios from here on out.
The info comes from Sega Europe president Mike Hayes, who says:
Retailers, definitely in the United States, are being far more prudent in what they buy, so they’re clearly going to focus on the triple A titles, but their day one orders are coming down. What they’re saying is that they’ll take in as little as need to, see how it sells through, and then they know they can order again in a matter of days if not hours. So that’s hurting us.
In the United States you’ve got five customers, and those customers are saying that they don’t need to order four weeks’ stock, I’m going to order two. I don’t want all this inventory. I think you’ll find most publishers in the United States will be having similar challenges, to be honest..
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