Customizable analog games, such as miniature games or table top role-playing games (TTRPG), rely on active engagement by consumers. Their value creation is immediately tied to not only an engaged customer base but to prosumers, who make the game “their own”. This means that business models for miniature games and TTRPGs deviate quite strongly from classic board games. Instead, inspiration can be taken from video games that allow modding and other forms of customer engagement. Similar to video games, points of monetization can vary widely from buy to rent models, leagues and tournaments, and professional work such as miniature painting for hire or paid GMs in TTRPGs. In the same way, consumers can take on different roles, from passive watchers of games to prosumers or even hobby entrepreneurs, with a fluid transition to professional work in the gaming sector.
In this study, I use typologies of business and revenue models to investigate the monetization of customizable analog games from a temporal and a geographical angle. On the temporal scale, I chart the history of Games Workshop’s miniature game Warhammer 40K from Rogue Trader to a worldwide phenomenon of miniature and video games. As an example of geographically different monetization models, I rely on interviews with TTRPG creators and entrepreneurs from 17 different countries to show how the same hobby can have radically different outlooks because of different cultural or economic constraints.
The aim of this study is to show how value and revenue can be created differently in customizable analog games across time and space. This investigation furthermore reveals tensions between hobby and business and between niche and mainstream entertainment.
Author bio
Moritz Botts is an assistant professor of marketing at Turkish-German University in Istanbul. He obtained his doctorate in international management at European-University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder). Moritz’ research focusses on international marketing, cross-cultural research, and sustainability, with recent work on using science fiction media in education and research collaboration.
