One Of The Best Game Companies Is Being Shut Down
Holy Grail Games, the makers of GT and Museum, is shutting down for good because of financial difficulties.
While the digital gaming industry saw a massive increase in revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic, the lack of socializing enforced by the lockdowns had very negative effects on tabletop gaming. The digital gaming market is now facing a slowdown, and hardware manufacturing is picking up the pace; the tabletop industry is struggling to recover from the pandemic, and many companies are now facing financial difficulties and shutdowns. Holy Grail Games is a prime example of one such company, as they recently announced their demise.
Holy Grail Games, the publisher of Rallyman: GT and Museum, announced that it has ceased operations, effective immediately, after six years in business. The reasons for shutdowns are tied to delays and increased costs related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdowns it introduced. The company made the lengthy announcement on its website, explaining that the delays and costs have snowballed over the last two years, resulting in a massive loss of revenue.
The company’s business model was also severely impacted by the increasing costs from 2020 through 2022, as their costs of producing games went up by almost 20 percent, primarily due to the increased costs associated with shipping. On top of that, the company’s publisher and distributor for the US markets increased expenses further, which went over the company’s Kickstarter projects’ budget and cut down their profit margins. This is enough to throw a wrench into the gaming development process, regardless of whether we’re discussing tabletops or digital releases.
However, the company might’ve had the chance to recuperate were it not for messed up logistics by Holy Grail Games’ fulfillment partner, Bollore Logistics—an international transport and logistics giant. According to Holy Grail Games, Bollore Logistics made a mistake in transport, and a number of games ended up being sent to the wrong customers. Naturally, this further reduced Holy Grail Games’ profit margin, damaging the company’s finances and reputation in the process.
Additionally, it would seem that Bollore Logistics held the entirety of Holy Grail Games’ stock at their warehouse, preventing any additional sales from taking place and demanding payment for three separate projects at once. This prevented the company from making any sales during the 2022 holiday season, with invoices piling up—the company filed for bankruptcy soon after they found out about Bollore’s decision to withhold delivery, as the profits from the sales could stave off the company’s collapse. Unfortunately, the profits never came through.
What’s even more unfortunate is that Holy Grail Games isn’t the only one that suffered economic distress. Sure, it was one of the few that succumbed to the pressure of modern business, but other gaming giants, such as Ubisoft, are canceling their titles to cut costs and stay afloat. Even Microsoft had a 13 percent drop in revenue generated by gaming, prompting many to wonder about the future of the Halo franchise. However, the most recent leaks dispelled any negative rumors regarding Halo’s future, and the franchise is here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future.
