The news that Wizards of the Coast would be cutting back on non-WotC RPGs in its chain of retail stores first came to light when an internal memo started showing up in e-mail lists and Websites. ICv2 checked with ACD, the distributor who provides the chain with much of this material, and were told that cuts in the RPG line were indeed being made (see 'WOTC Stores Cutting RPGs'), but that non-WotC games would continue to be carried (some of which were listed). We recently received the following communication from Don Williams, Public Relations Manager for Wizards of the Coast, which is the first offical statement on the topic from the company.
'The recent disclosure of an internal memorandum to our Wizards of the Coast and Game Keeper store employees regarding future roleplaying game inventory strategies has prompted a lot of debate on websites throughout the gaming community. Let me be the first to tell you, we are committed to our Wizards of the Coast stores and to having quality Dungeons & Dragons and other non-WotC roleplaying game products on our retail shelves. In order for this sector of our business to become profitable we needed to revamp our product mix. As retail operators it is our duty to consumers to fill our stores with the products that they want. The moves that we've outlined in the previous memorandum and this brief statement were made to reflect our strong commitment to the Wizards of the Coast retail division and the RPG fan base.'
