Yesterday the big news was that Spartan Games was closing down, and yet there was another that also decided to shut its doors, Tor Gaming. Earlier this week another one as well.... it was a bad week for gaming.
Tor Gaming
https://torgaming.co.uk/
Statement date: Friday 25th August 2017.
Tor Gaming was started back in 2010 with the intention to product the tabletop wargame Relics and with it, bring some originality to your gaming table. We tried to create a world that was distinctly different to what was already being presented from several fronts, and I like to think we managed in this task.
Unfortunately, the last few years have been a difficult trading time for Tor Gaming. Running a business in a niche market is never easy but the gaming industry has become very crowded in the last few years for a number of reasons. As such, I have made the difficult decision to close Tor Gaming and sell off the Relics IP and product range.
The reasons for Tor Gaming closing are many faceted but as I mention above the gaming market is a much more crowded than it was when I started out. The arrival of crowdfunding platforms certainly shook up the industry and made it even easier for new companies to appear and vie for the limited funds our customers have to spend in this hobby of ours. I have made use of them a number of times for Relics and whilst they are good for raising funds I have found each time I ran a project I had a nasty taste in my mouth afterwards.
Coupled with the fact that the traditional ‘distribution model’ of selling product to end users through retailers is a difficult task in this industry as retailers have only so much shelf space and as such are less inclined try out every range that comes along makes continuing to trade in this industry as a producer is difficult.
Over the last couple of years we have seen a steady decline in sales and as such Tor Gaming no longer has the resources to spend on the marketing and advertising required to make our voice heard over all the other voices in this industry. This has ramifications on our ability to develop and produce new products to support the Relics line. We could continue by making use of more crowdfunding projects and moving away from the more traditional ‘distribution model’ for selling but I feel that would be the wrong decision as I am not happy putting the financial risk on to the shoulders of our customers.
It’s been a fun journey but as with all journeys, there has to be an end. For Tor Gaming, that end is here. The journey has been fun and exciting, even frustrating at times. But along the way we have met some great people in this hobby and I am proud to call many of them friends now!
Enquiries
If you wish to contact us about this closure, or you are interested in purchasing the Relics product package and Intellectual property, we invite you to contact us on contact@torgaming.co.uk
On The Lamb Games
August 21 at 6:00am ·
https://www.facebook.com/OnTheLambGames/?hc_ref=ARQaL-Uu5XnPHm7vs8n-ok7wApJR1HKgGyI0PW7Jejr-zXno9bKvEpsO4YOin19rk1A&fref=nf
Ten years ago we started On The Lamb. It was an excuse to make the games we wanted to play, and share them with the world. In those ten years we released three games, multiple books, and over a hundred miniatures. We're proud of our games and we're thankful for our family, friends, and fans for supporting us for the last decade.
Unfortunately, this is our goodbye. On The Lamb is closing down, the webstore will be shut off at the end of the year.