When considering the current state of the video game industry, more than half of the market is based off of digital purchases for titles. Although games are played on a physical medium, the same cannot be said for software moving forward. Companies such as Capcom announced it will reduce its stock in favor of digital means with more than 80 percent of sales being intangible product.
Additionally, Nintendo in a separate instance went on to note that even digital sales for its own products is overshadowing physical content as well. With this sudden shift in the market, brick-and-mortar stores face a heavy decline in traffic. It was previously reported that GameStop closed more than 100 locations due to this growing change in the past.
However, Limited Run Games despite the change continues to prove to be successful with its business model delivering physical media for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and the are occasion for PC. The team even nods to Xbox coming soon as well. In an interview with Polygon, the firm elaborates on its plans to open its first store later this year.
We started Limited Run Games back in 2015 because physical media was dying, and it pained us as collectors to see that happening. Something else that has pained us just as long is the death of physical game stores. There [are] certainly stores left, but it’s nothing like the glory days of having a Babbage’s, Software Etc, FuncoLand, and Electronics Boutique in every town. It’s always been a dream to try our hand at a physical store.
Josh Fairhurst, Limited Run Games CEO
Fairhurst goes on to disclose that three quarters of the store will focus on games whilst the remaining portion is to include collectibles and other products. “Roughly 75% of the store will be dedicated to Limited Run’s games and products, while the other 25% will be a mixture of games, vinyl soundtracks, books, trading cards, and merch from other publishers and distributors. We’ll also have a small pre-owned selection in the back featuring customer trade-ins, both modern and retro.”
Additionally, he elaborates on the future of the retailer expanding to the West Coast as the first location is set to open in Cary, North Carolina. “We hope to eventually have a presence on the West Coast, preferably in the Bay Area since there’s a surprisingly low number of game stores there — beyond that we really want to expand internationally and have some kind of physical retail presence in Europe and Japan.”
What are you most interested about Limited Run Games starting to open physical stores?
Source: Polygon
