Games become so popular to the point of out of game creations. Companies or devs would create clothing, posters, accessories, figures, items or collectables for fans to buy and continue to love and support the game even when they are finished playing.
Game merch is expandable depending on what game it is made for.
All merch starts with clothing- Hoodies and shirts, socks. pants, hats and scarfs. Then it delves into accessories- Jewelry, keychains, pins or stickers. Then maybe some figurines, action dolls or funko pop figures. If the game has recognizable items, such as the mario star, zelda shield or the animal crossing bell, then those will be turned into a human sized version and sit on someone’s shelf. Lastly, collectables like cards or figures.
Game merch is really a cute way to show off your interest in a game. Though it can become an expensive hobby, like buying star wars legos or collecting all pokemon cards.
Why does merch exist?
Aside from DLCs or in game purchases, merchandise is a large income source for games.
People buying the game is a one time purchase- Sure a lot of people can buy the game, but most of that goes into keeping the game going, upgrading or paying the dev team and marketing. And again, it’s a one time purchase, people are not paying again to play a second time.
Support is another reason- People love to show off something they like, and if they can do so with clothing, then they will. There’s also a sense of loyalty from a fan when they purchase a few, or even just one, merch item and happily wear it around or show it off.
It creates a connection between the company, or game, to the fan. The more the company is engaging with their audience, the higher chance they will stay or become more popular.Â
Though the downside to relying on merch sales- Smaller games don’t put out merch.
They rely on game sales or donations from fans, but the money is coming from the dev’s pocket, and if they have a team the payment is small or not at all. Though a lot of indie games don’t care for that, such as Lethal Company, Peak or Repo, those games are on the cheaper side, they just care more about people enjoying their games.
On the other side of it, larger games push out so much merch, fans start to not care.
There is only so much a fan will do to support, since they are not bound to do so. A hoodie or shirt purchase may be enough for someone, but when a game pushes out new merch and gets rid of the old ones, then that fan loses the chance to repurchase that item if it were to be damaged or ruined.
Or, since there is too much merch, the designs are now starting to be ambitious and not entirely…stylable. There’s a lot of clothing items that get made that maybe do get purchases, but after a while they aren’t worn- This does come from impulsive buying from fans, as I have too been victim of that.
Types of merch
Of course you have the basics, as mentioned before: Shirts, hats, hoodies, stickers and maybe pants. But then you have the unique items like a character’s clothing item, an item from the game, a book, a plushie, or if the game is large enough, an album.
Whatever can fit on a shelf and look aesthetically pleasing, works the best for merch.
The more unique the merch items are, the more likely fans are to buy them. Take Animal Crossing for example, they sell The Roost Collection, which is based on the cafe from the game. Will someone buy the tea cup to use as an actual tea cup? Maybe, maybe not. But the fact that they can buy it is what makes the fan happy.Â
Plushies are a large portion of merch sales. Especially from a narrative based game, plushies of characters are usually the first ones to sell out.
Fans also love to collect all characters, so it’s always a given that the plushies will be sold out online or out of stock in stores from people finishing their collections.
Legos and other building sets are also a large part of merch. Yes they count as merch.
Having a miniature version of a building from a game, a ship, a scene or an item always looks good on a shelf.
But merch is expensive
There has been a large discourse over the years for what price is reasonable for clothing items. T-shirts are usually $30-$35 dollars while hoodies are $60-$75. But does it really need to be that much?
Yes you can take into account the amount of money it takes to make them- The fabrics, time, location, and labor. But there comes a point where wanting more than 2 items requires spending over $100, while you already spent $70 on the game.
Is it worth it? Sure if you love the game enough.
But some game companies don’t sell out of items because of this issue. Fans are often younger, in high school or college, and don’t have the money to spend on merchandise that doesn’t benefit them.
Purchasing merch is simply just to enjoy an interest more, but when there’s a barrier to this, then it becomes difficult to care about putting money elsewhere in the game- Such as in game purchases or DLC’s.
This discussion is within other industries too, especially music. So when a fan is wanting to support multiple things but is limited on it, then it becomes annoying.
Quantity online and in person
Usually you would buy merch items online- Clothing items mainly. But going in the store and instantly getting the item is so much more fun.
Sure, waiting and stalking the package till it gets to your house adds to the enjoyment and happiness, but when that one space on your shelf is empty and you know exactly what can go there- Getting it in person is so much better.
Of course the main places are Gamestop, Walmart and Target. Maybe Barnes and Noble or any game based store. Though since everyone goes to the same place, it’s a hit or miss if the item is even in stock.
Or you can be dedicated, or determined enough, and sleep overnight outside the store with several other fans.
