Citing the tough economic times, Topps announced today it will be shutting down Wizkids. For those who came in late, Wizkids was the studio that made the first clicky-base game MageKnight, and then was able to spin off the concept into their most successful game, HeroClix. They had a string of other clicky-base games, the construct-a-ship game Pirates of Spanish Main, various collectible card games, a board game or two, and a few other miscellaneous products. Topps purchased Wizkids in 2003 (when founder and game genius Jordan Weisman left).
As recently as last year, Wizkids was still a very strong company, running one of the largest booths at Origins, but I don’t recall them having a presence at all in either of this year’s summer shows (though I could be mistaken.)
The ICV2 article notes that they are trying to keep the viable brands going (specifically noting Heroclix, and I’d guess Pirates would be another relatively safe franchise) but I wouldn’t hold my breath for any of their other products.
As always, best of luck to those who recently lost their jobs finding other work, especially the game designers who may have trouble finding work elsewhere, as I fear Wizkids may be only one of the first game companies to fall in this economy. Topps deciding to close Wizkids is a bad sign in and of itself, as it shows that large corporate backers are having problems, which does not bode well for the smaller independant companies.
They had a pretty big “booth” going at GenCon this year, and always had a large crowd around their life-size (actors standing on clix bases) demos. In fact Ms. Marvel was very popular.
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Very strange, I must have missed them entirely. (Just checked my photos of the convention, didn’t see any of their booth there either.)
I don’t recall seeing them at GenCon this year either, specifically no real-life Ms. Marvel!
I was a fan of Mage Knight, back in 2001 and played for a few years, when my time for playing RPG’s was pretty lean, and I was not in a good place to be GMing (during a divorce).
I wound up giving up on MK later, because I was saving for my wedding, and I had come to the realization that I was really more of an RPG player than a Mini guy.
I sold off a bunch of MK minis, but kept a bunch of figs, rule books, rulers, and all my hand-made terrain, and have been saving it for when my kids become old enough to learn the game.
The closing of WizKids makes me somewhat concerned about the gaming industry and the economy, but I think that WizKids fell prey to the “build it and sell it” plan. For many years, WizKids did fine as their own company, and I am sure made enough money to support its own company. Then they sold the company to Topps, which I am sure did Jordan and some of the other owners well. But Topps is a much larger company and a public company, and one that has a core product (sports cards). So now the WizKids line has to keep up with the core business, and when business starts to falter, they closed down.
Not to draw too many parallels, but WoTC did the same thing with Hasbro. What’s to say that WoTC does not get the axe if Hasbro has a big downturn.
As for GenCon…yea..Ms. Marvel.
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It’s actually a pretty curious situation, as in pretty much every economic downturn recreational spending actually increases as people seek more escape from their problems. What is likely to happen as far as our hobbies, however, is that while sales of books and products may decline I imagine more people will be playing D&D and they will play more often! This is kind of an odd twist to the whole market.
We’re already seeing movie ticket sales increase, especially considering the collision of economic troubles, an election (here in the US), AND the full onset of Fall all hitting at the same time.
Dave: How the heck did we miss the wizkids booth? Are we not lecherous enough or what?
“as in pretty much every economic downturn recreational spending actually increases as people seek more escape from their problems”
Have a source for this? All the game companies and shops I’ve talked to have said the opposite and worry about economic downturns (especially around the holidays.) But if that’s more localized and the general trend is otherwise, I’d like to find out.
I’m with Dave on this one. Once the belts start to tighten industries/products based on disposable income get hit first. Restaurants go down, but grocery stores remain steady; boutiques like Crate and Barrel, Linens and Things, etc. loose out because people can no longer afford that imported ebony hope chest that matches their Egyptian Wool comforter so nicely.
My main supplier of MTG cards closed up about a 6 months after 9/11, although I’d imagine their profit margin was thin anyway.
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Im positive i saw wizkids at gencon this year, and think they had the life size models of Starwars Clone Wars pieces…. And they had pirates too (which i hope survives)
Oh but then again maybe each gencon is different…. I mean state-wide…