VPG Moving

[bayonetbrant]

http://www.victorypointgames.com/news/california-countdown/

VPG Plans to Relocate
In this election year, The Little Game Company has decided to vote with its feet. We will be leaving California behind when our major leases (i.e., the building and printer) are up next year, and are currently seeking a new home in a state with a more favorable business climate. I write this with great personal sadness, being born in California during the Eisenhower administration and living here almost my entire life; but the augurs could not be more clear, so we're outta here, folks!

What Does That Mean for VPG?

Plans change, but undeterred, we are starting to make some important strategic business decisions for our move next year:

No more in-house print production - We will reduce our business footprint by seeking a smaller facility for our office. We have already plugged into a virtual office workspace for our team (using a program that, frankly, we all really love and works great for us); this is wonderful news as it allows us to integrate better with VPG's out-of-house heroes. We still want a physical location, but a smaller one than we have now, as we are also looking to farm out warehouse and shipping facilities to a fulfillment service and our printing to China (yes, we surrender!). In case you did not know, we have a lot of game developer talent working in the factory and warehouse, and we would all be happier seeing them working on developing great games instead.

In-house development and testing will still continue - We will be retaining the manufacturing equipment that we own, save for selling off one of the laser cutters, perhaps. After we acquire an affordable not-for-retail-sales-quality substitute printer, keeping our equipment allows us to continue to make excellent quality game prototypes and to keep our gameplay quality at the highest level.

What Does That Mean for You?
Well, with the Canon Superprinter lease expiring in the spring, we must cease producing our print-on-demand games; period. So, after that day, all of our print-on-demand game catalog will disappear as the individual copies in the warehouse are depleted. Of course, some of the top-tier games will return as overseas-manufactured reprints (a process that is already slowly beginning), but from that point forward we plan to manufacture all our games overseas.

Honestly, if you ever wanted a great little polybag or red box VPG game and have been putting it off knowing that it will be in print forever because it is "print-on-demand," know that the clock is ticking and the day is coming when that VPG title that you wish you had picked up will become someone else's money grab on eBay. The days of our print-on-demand publishing are, of necessity, numbered.

The Times They Are a Changin'
Now Leaving CAFaced with a status quo that would see us shutting the doors on The Little Game Company if we stayed in California, or becoming a more nimble player among boardgame manufacturers, we are opting for the latter. Nobody likes change (except a wet baby), but we are taking the long view and making our preparations with plenty of time to research and think things through.

Please accept that we are committed to this change, and so we wanted to take you into our confidence with plenty of warning. Many of you have been with us since the company began in Alan Emrich's attic and have watched us grow ever since. We plan to keep making games well into the future and hope to continue to please your gaming palate and serve you over long years to come!

[nht]

I, for one, blame the Koch brothers. Or something.

[Nefaro]

No more in-house print production ..

<....>



Well, with the Canon Superprinter lease expiring in the spring, we must cease producing our print-on-demand games; period. So, after that day, all of our print-on-demand game catalog will disappear as the individual copies in the warehouse are depleted. Of course, some of the top-tier games will return as overseas-manufactured reprints (a process that is already slowly beginning), but from that point forward we plan to manufacture all our games overseas.

I could see this coming, with all the out-of-house printing jobs they were doing on their recent Kickstarters.   I'm disappointed it's gone this direction.

From what I've seen, the prices have gone up after the switch to Chinese printed product at VPG.  Perhaps the materials are better, but I thought their in-house printed stuff was just fine.  Better than some overseas stuff, actually, when it came to the cardboard & cards in their premium boxed games. 

This will just turn them into another Kickstarter-focused game company.  With regularly depleted stocks on their more popular titles, asking for more KS money every time they need to reprint.  Then having to wait a year for the reprint you paid for to arrive, as opposed to the 1-2 weeks for the in-house stuff.


TL;DR

Absolutely don't blame them for the move to a different more business friendly state.  Just really sad that we will likely be looking at "Out Of Stock" listings in their store whenever looking for specific titles in the future, due to their sending production overseas (like everyone else).  It's one thing that drives me nuts about tabletop gaming nowadays; limited print runs and the reliance on paying them through Kickstarter year(s) ahead of time to get stuff reprinted.   :-\

[GJK]

Looks like more Californian's moving to (Central) Texas I bet.  I don't want to get political and no, I'm not a HUGE *that guy* supporter but there is a point to be made about shipping jobs overseas to the likes of China.  Gotta hand it to them though- they saw that need and had the legal ability to do it and now it's all exploited to hell.

[panzerde]

So, I guess this means the end of the Napoleonic 20 series? Given how many of their games are folio and print on demand, I guess I don't see how this helps them. You can move wherever, but if you have no product to sell, it doesn't really matter, does it?

After the silliness that's been the Kickstarter for the new Band of Brothers games from Worthington, there's pretty much no way I'm doing a Kickstarter for a board game again, either. I'll do P500 or the pre-order process LnL Publishing is talking about going to (based on some conversations I had with them at Origins), but if you want me to be an investor in your company (which is what KS actually is) I want a better return on my money than just a copy of the game.

[bayonetbrant]

A bunch of the -20 series of games are starting to be repackaged as sets by GMT.


I know a lot of people have been burned w/ board game Kickstarters in the past, but every KS that I've pledged has delivered, and only one was late (Mare Nostrum by Academy) and they were very good about communicating with their backers about the delays (manufacturing stretch goals, mainly).  The other one that I had that was late was about 90 days late, and it was a non-game product.

I've got 2 Kickstarters outstanding at the moment, and given the companies' track records, I've got no really reason to think they're going to be late.


That said, I really did like VPG's Print-on-demand model, mainly b/c I've working in the copier-based print biz before, and I think if you can standardize a lot of components (11x17 maps, cardstock playing aids, 8-1/2x11 rulebooks, etc) then you can easily package / store the entire print job in a print server connected to a production copier that keeps the standardized paper loaded.  All you do is hit "print" and you get a complete set of all the docs for one game come out, and then assemble.    8)
The key is getting it set up, but once you do, it's a breeze to manage.  The key question is how to make money on it. :-[

[panzerde]

The key is getting it set up, but once you do, it's a breeze to manage.  The key question is how to make money on it. :-[

I think that's kind of the table top gaming business in general, isn't it?

[panzerde]

A bunch of the -20 series of games are starting to be repackaged as sets by GMT.

I know they did Fading Glory a couple of years back, but I understood that there were no plans to do any more. Hopefully, I'm wrong about that.

[nht]

Yeah, I don't think there's going to be a follow-up to Fading Glory. GMT "returned" Napoleonics 20 to VPG, and Rising Glory was removed from the P500, even thought it "made the cut" (leading to some blown gaskets on BGG, apparently).

Meanwhile, as I understand it, VPG is making its own 2-pack box games (including stuff that was previously available in Fading Glory and elsewhere) based on the 4.0 rules.

[panzerde]

Yeah, I don't think there's going to be a follow-up to Fading Glory. GMT "returned" Napoleonics 20 to VPG, and Rising Glory was removed from the P500, even thought it "made the cut" (leading to some blown gaskets on BGG, apparently).

Meanwhile, as I understand it, VPG is making its own 2-pack box games (including stuff that was previously available in Fading Glory and elsewhere) based on the 4.0 rules.

Yep, that's my understanding too, and basically what I saw in a post from the game designer on BGG last night that was posted within the last week or so. I have one of the boxed games and like it (could do without the laser cut map, but they still provide the paper map). What's really not clear to me is exactly what is going to end up getting dropped from their catalog.

[nht]

Yeah, I don't think there's going to be a follow-up to Fading Glory. GMT "returned" Napoleonics 20 to VPG, and Rising Glory was removed from the P500, even thought it "made the cut" (leading to some blown gaskets on BGG, apparently).

Meanwhile, as I understand it, VPG is making its own 2-pack box games (including stuff that was previously available in Fading Glory and elsewhere) based on the 4.0 rules.

Yep, that's my understanding too, and basically what I saw in a post from the game designer on BGG last night that was posted within the last week or so. I have one of the boxed games and like it (could do without the laser cut map, but they still provide the paper map). What's really not clear to me is exactly what is going to end up getting dropped from their catalog.

It's probably not entirely clear to them at this point either. At the very least I doubt they'll drop (m)any of the Napoleonics 20 titles, simply because they're big sellers.

[Nefaro]

What's really not clear to me is exactly what is going to end up getting dropped from their catalog.

It's probably not entirely clear to them at this point either. At the very least I doubt they'll drop (m)any of the Napoleonics 20 titles, simply because they're big sellers.

Well.. they were evidently renting one of their fancy printers, mentioned in the message.

Even if they're sending all the print jobs to China, as they've been doing with their recent Kickstarters, they'll still need to fork over large amounts of money up front.  Now it's just for each game.  And it's hard to believe they're gonna be putting up the printer money from their own funds beforehand.

Aside from likely being spammed with Kickstarters, or extremely long pre-orders, for most VPG games in the future, we'll end up having to wait at every turn.  Wait for it to be offered, wait to be funded, wait for it to be finalized... printed.. shipped... etc. 

Their print on demand stuff was just fine, made VPG something unusual, and actually gave them an edge in some areas.  I'll be sad to see them go the way of all the other KS & Pre-order focused game companies where needing prior funding & being Out Of Print is the norm.  :-[

[bayonetbrant]

Well.. they were evidently renting one of their fancy printers, mentioned in the message.

For production copiers, that's the norm.  It's very, very rare for Xerox or Canon or someone to sell a DocuTech or comparable copier.  They're generally leased for a flat monthly fee + click-count on number of copies. 
Depending on the deal, you might get your consumables included (like toner or fuser cartridges). 

The really snazzy machines will include internal saddle-stitched staple bindings, folding, and (in rare cases) perfect binds.

It's actually kinda fun once you get the production jobs spooled up and then just let them go - you get some pretty good results for not a ton of assembly efforts.

[Nefaro]

Interesting.

Well.. I've been quite happy with the quality of their in-house production materials, in the three or four VPG "premium" boxed games I own. 

Having to wipe the soot off the laser cut edges of the tokens/counters is a little extra work, but I also like them for being harder & a bit thicker than plain 'ole cardboard.  Likewise, the cards were thicker than those that come with many boardgames, but still had a good flexible feel. 

My only complaints were about the occasional poor art layout decision, but that's the fault of whomever did the design layout.  Not the printing & material quality.


I'm still so happy with their older in-house printed versions that I've refused to pick up their new overseas-printed versions of Darkest Night and Dawn Of The Zeds.  And Darkest Night is probably my favorite solitaire game (with it's expansions)!

[smittyohio]

They'll get a double-bonus from moving... friendlier business climate, and MUCH lower cost of living for themselves if they do it right.   Of course, if they end up somewhere that is still crazy pricey for living, not sure it will help them that much.

Cost of Living
COST OF LIVING   Costa Mesa, California                     United States
Overall                        191                                100
Grocery                        107.7                              100
Health                         108                                100
Housing                        367                                100