April 27, 2022: Global Challenges Continue To Impact Game Publishing

Although international freight prices and times have stabilized a bit, the world is not yet through the pandemic and the complications brought on over the last few years continue to plague game publishers of all sizes. And it's not just international shipping that is problematic; our own GURPS Girl Genius hardcover books took roughly a month to travel from New York to Georgia, a lengthy and aggravating time that would have been unheard of pre-pandemic.

As every publisher struggles with the pandemic, some are being forced to make hard decisions that dramatically affect their operations. Often these decisions are not made in public and not widely shared, which made El Dorado Games' recent YouTube video capture my attention: I hate to see any game publisher in this position, but I applaud their transparency in sharing the numbers with the world. Better still, it sounds as if they were very protective of their Kickstarter funds, and despite the personal hardships they face, El Dorado Games is doing everything within their power to deliver their promised games to backers. I've never met the El Dorado team, but I am impressed with their openness and dedication to their Kickstarter backers and I wish them well.

Watch the video and then consider helping them out by visiting Gamefound and grabbing the promo pack they've created to help offset their unexpected costs. Good luck to the El Dorado Games team; I hope that they get through this and that they can continue to make and publish new games for many years to come.

-- Phil Reed