Tor Gaming Is Closing Its Doors
August 25, 2017 by thisisazrael
Tor Gaming creators of stitchpunk tabletop game Relics and producer of many fine miniatures have confirmed they are closing via a statement on Friday 25th August 2017.
Below is the full statement from Tor Gaming.
"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!"
It saddens me deeply to have to break our second piece of somber news today.
Again all our thoughts here at the BoW Team are with the staff at Tor Gaming and those affected by this news.
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Sad news. I backed their first kickstarter and love their models, and it is a good game.
Best of luck what the future brings.
Man what a shitty start to the weekend between this news and Spartan Games also going down.
Real shame as well, the Relics setting and ruleset really had something unique and there were still tons of designs and armies that could have been made in the future. Had so much fun with this game and the models, heck have a full army still left to paint up. Sad times!
shame some nice figures.
I’m gutted to hear this. I loved the miniatures for this game and was hoping they’d be going along to Derby Worlds again this year.
It really has been a nasty two weeks in between this sad news and both Spartan Games and On the Lamb Games closing down as well.
https://www.facebook.com/OnTheLambGames/photos/a.431400237914.217224.347886992914/10155670175307915/?type=3
What a sad thing, always wanted some Ridend, totaly adore their knights.
Turning in to a black Friday
Damn, first Spartan and now Tor, very sad losses 🙁
Really sad to see these guys go, as I love their Britannen and Ridend models – quite unusual mini lines.
Sad news to hear, Relics was a good game and Gav who runs Tor is a great guy. He is still working in wargaming as he’s with Sheffield’s Outpost, a gaming store and venue in the city.
Relics was a beautiful looking whimsical game. Sad to see Tor go. Best wishes to their staff and workers. Very Sad.
August the 26th 2017 isn’t a good day for UK miniature gaming.
Sad news, I have a Britannen army that was making its way up my painting cue but now I’ll have to find another game to use them in because they are great minis.
That’s the nature of competition I guess. The resurgence of popularity of GW will undoubtedly have had an effect, as will have the maturing of Kickstarter and how consumers interact with it.
Its a shame for those involved, but it is just nature taking its course and the inevitable result of the laws of economics. In a competitive environment, the weakest go to the wall first.
I think GW’s upswing is indeed taking its toll on the wider industry. We only have so much time to spend and so many options, GW pulling so much attention back is going to mean some systems lose chunks of their player base and spending power.
Just like with Spartan Games going under it’s bummer that Tor Games went under but at same time it would had happened eventually if not to them then to some other small company with so much competition on small market. We might be living in golden age of gaming but not every company can survive.