Another successful Gen Con wrapped on Sunday, with organizers predicting continued growth beyond the 49,000 attendees last year (see "Gen Con Tops 49,000") when numbers are tabulated. Exhibitor support was strong, with the hall selling out in record time this year (see "Gen Con Exhibit Hall 2014 Sells Out").
Lines for show launches and exclusives were long, especially early each day when rations of new products were offered for sale. In a unique promotion, Fantasy Flight Games created and gave away a card game that could be played by people in line to pass the time as they waited for an opportunity to get into the store.
For the most part, long-running trends in the market seem to be continuing this year (see "Hobby Games Market Hits $700M"), with little change in their composition or trajectory, except in the venerable RPG category. Wizards of the Coast has relaunched Dungeons and Dragons, a very important game in the history of Gen Con (although it was not yet invented at the launch of the show). Sales on the new edition are “scary good” across channels, according to a WotC executive, and the excitement surrounding it gave the entire RPG category a boost at the show.
There were continued attempts to bridge the physical and digital worlds in game play. Harebrained Schemes’ Golem Arcana, Jordan Weisman’s latest (see "Jordan Weisman on 'Golem Arcana'") was announced at Gen Con last year and available at this year’s show; and Fantasy Flight was demo-ing XCOM: The Board Game (see “'XCOM: The Board Game'”) at busy tables.
Konami joined Wizards of the Coast in abandoning the exhibit hall to establish a larger, more dedicated presence in gaming rooms. "It allows us to create a better experience," Konami VP-Card Business Yumi Hoashi told us, with gaming, interactive activities, product displays, and other brand-building elements all present in its room.
The loss of two key figures in the game industry did cast a pall over the festivities around their booths at the show. Adventure Retail and the publishers it represents did exhibit despite the death of co-owner Dominic Postiglione just the week before (see "RIP Dominic Postiglione"), but the usual enthusiasm when "exact change" was shouted was dampened to a great degree. And Zvezda, which had planned for a 20x20, scaled back to a 10x10 to show the flag as it reeled from the death of the company’s founder last month (see "RIP Konstantin Krivenko").
But overall spirits were high, commerce seemed brisk, and gamers were enjoying themselves at this 47th annual event. Watch ICv2 as we continue to report on announcements and events at the show.
Trends Continue, Including Growth
Posted by ICv2 on August 18, 2014 @ 1:39 am CT
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