How can the tabletop gaming industry survive without China?

[Anon Adderlan]

The industry's dependence on China is pretty evident at this point given the number of TTG companies waiting to ship and the ones which have already gone under. There are lots of reasons and excuses for this state of affairs, but ultimately this trade war is unlikely to cool down in the short term, yet many in the industry seem to be waiting for exactly that so they can do business with China again instead of looking for alternatives.

But what feasible alternatives are there? Are countries like India viable? How long will it take manufacturing to get up to speed in the US?

 

[WyrmworksDale]

There are other companies for books, notably in Eastern Europe, but also Canada (slightly more expensive, and at least one of those outsource to China). But when it comes to game pieces of any kind, China is pretty much the only option, especially if you want to say, "Here's our game design. Make all of the parts, put it in a fancy box, and ship 500 finished products to us."

There are book printers in the US. They're much more expensive, to the point that, until you hit about 1000 copies, print-on-demand from DriveThru is cheaper.

But you're not going to find a game maker with any kind of non-book pieces in the US now or ever that can produce what China can, because Americans don't want to work for a wage that low.

 

[MGibster]

It is very difficult for any company to make plans when there is a lack of stability in the market. Right now, the United States doesn't have the capability to print game books or produce board games, at least not in the numbers and quality we've grown accustomed to, and it will take years before we have the capability. Why would I risk building a new production facility when the future is so uncertain?

If this continues, the high quality books and board games we've become accustomed to will likely be a thing of the past. We'll start printing books that more closely resemble TSR's books from the 1990s. Board games will have less elaborate and fewer components.

 

[Morrus]

Yeah, it would take years to rebuild an entire international manufacturing base and supply chain for game parts in a Western country now. And who is going to do that, given an unstable environment in which the tariffs might change the day after you invest millions in your new factory and make it redundant? And it would require hundreds of companies taking that same risk, not just one.

Books, not so much of an issue. Between the US and EU (and maybe Canada?) there are still options, though I don’t know if there’s enough to pick up the slack from China. Even if so, it will cost more.

But no, the environment has been poisoned. It’s not stable enough to make long term plans. Hell, it’s not stable enough to make plans for next week.

 

[billd91]

The industry's dependence on China is pretty evident at this point given the number of TTG companies waiting to ship and the ones which have already gone under. There are lots of reasons and excuses for this state of affairs, but ultimately this trade war is unlikely to cool down in the short term, yet many in the industry seem to be waiting for exactly that so they can do business with China again instead of looking for alternatives.

But what feasible alternatives are there? Are countries like India viable? How long will it take manufacturing to get up to speed in the US?

Considering they're proposing really stupid levels of tariff on solar panels coming out of southeast Asia, no. I don't think there are feasible alternatives out there as long as they cling to trade war policies. While games may scoot under the radar with a shift, IF the facilities can be found, I don't see that being a successful strategy for long.

 

[Zaukrie]

Gonna have to go even more digital? Which I don't want....I like physical products.

 

[Bedrockgames]

The industry's dependence on China is pretty evident at this point given the number of TTG companies waiting to ship and the ones which have already gone under. There are lots of reasons and excuses for this state of affairs, but ultimately this trade war is unlikely to cool down in the short term, yet many in the industry seem to be waiting for exactly that so they can do business with China again instead of looking for alternatives.

But what feasible alternatives are there? Are countries like India viable? How long will it take manufacturing to get up to speed in the US?

I think it will have more of an impact on board games than TTRPGs. But it depends on peoples arrangements. And prices in general are going up so that can impact things. But I do POD and at least at the moment everything I am hearing from my contacts is things are relatively okay for that. It is more with things like shipping outside the US where we are going to run into bigger issues.

In general it is the uncertainty that makes it hard to really say and makes it challenging. When I first got into the industry it was directly after the financial crisis and that seemed to radically alter things. Since I started my company after, I can't say for sure though. But I remember every single piece of advice I got (including advice from professionally written books and reliable professional sources) were wrong because the way things like distribution worked had changed so much (at least that is the impression I had coming in). But I have no idea how any of this is going to pan out.

Also when you are in this for a long enough time, adapting gets harder I find (you start sounding like the Chris Parnell character in Walk Hard "guys why can't we just lay down some tracks the way we always do?"). But that is true of any change and trend, not just things like tariffs.

 

[Scribe]

Even assuming the industry required could be set up in the US.

Who's eating the cost to go from the wages in China, to the wages in the US?

 

[Tonguez]

China isnt going anywhere, why does the question need to be asked?

 

[Zaukrie]

China isnt going anywhere, why does the question need to be asked?

Is this a serious question?