Alliance Games Distributors is one of the big four games logistics companies. They work with games publishers (vendors) to warehouse, sell and then distribute games to their customers (game stores).
BoardGameGeek has the text of a letter sent to vendors;
As the world responds to the outbreak of COVID-19, our focus is on protecting employees, understanding the risks to our business, evaluating the risks to our industry and examining the Federal Government resources available. While the full impact of this epidemic is still unknown, one thing is certain: supply chain disruptions have cash flow implications across the extended industry that can’t be underestimated.
While we work to understand the current industry landscape, the unfortunate truth is that we are no longer receiving consistent payments from our customers. This requires that at this time, we hold payments to vendors previously scheduled to release this week. This is a difficult decision and not one we make lightly. As this situation continues to evolve, we are committed to building out a plan for payment and will have more information to share later this week.
Thank you for your patience and understanding during these difficult times.
Games publishers might be on three months, six months or even nine months terms (hopefully not), so Alliance delaying a payment means withholding three months of games sales from the publisher. It’s a big hit, but if Alliance doesn’t have the money to pay, they don’t have the money to pay.
Alliance is part of the Geppi Family Enterprises, who also own Diamond Comics who provide a similar service from vendors like Marvel and DC to customers like comic book stores.
The news comes on the back of Asmodee cutting Game Alliance out of an exclusive agreement and getting into logistics for themselves; not just for Asmodee’s own games, but for other company’s games, in the US.
It’s not great news for the hobby; games or comic books.
Whereas supporting your local game store is cool, right now, you should also consider buying directly from publishers or buying in digital is worthwhile.
Are you going to be impacted by Alliance’s cash flow troubles? Geek Native would love to share your story, so please get in touch.
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