MIND'S EYE
A brief update on the state of West End Games
by Reuben Israel Beattie
October 21, 1998
To some, the establishment of West End Games’ webpage would seem to be a sign of the company’s hoped-for return. Admittedly at the moment, it’s main purpose is to sell off the company’s warehouse full of backstock, but it’s still a step forward, right?
Not necessarily. Sadly, I know enough about the proceedings to still be worried. You see, the webpage had already been tentatively put together before the entire crisis of bankruptcy had set in. It was only a matter of having Drew Campbell (WEG’s freelance webmaster and former writer) actually mark it up and put it out on the net. He’d been pitching the idea for some time, with the intent of being the webmaster, and now that things have started into a descent, his opportunity came. In the broadest sense, it’s an attempt to put the proper spin on things, even as the end approaches.
Recapping the whole, sad story....
West End Games has been in a steady decline over the past few years. Despite the success of their Star Wars and Men in Black lines, the company's financial fortunes have fallen prey to poor management, lack of any advertising and marketing plan and, perhaps, a sense of smugness on the part of the managerial team. Marketing approaches from the large franchise bookstores such as Waldenbooks were long ago rebuffed, and their presence in such stores has been marginalized ever since.
The steady decline has led to unpaid payrolls and commissions and defaulted loans. Getting new financing has proven expensive, if not impossible.
And the future doesn't look much better...
A growing litany of lawsuits, along with the bankruptcy already declared, have place WEG in a precarious position, and nothing seems to have changed in the grim land that WEG lives in. There are still the persistant rumours that the license for Star Wars is being considered by such companies as Wizards of the Coast/TSR (one of the industry’s largest companies), Decipher (the publishers of the Star Wars Collectible Card Game and the industry’s only other LucasFilm licensee), and a couple others; but nothing definite has come forth as to what is actually happening behind the scenes.
Only time will tell, I imagine…. For further background data, see Reuben's first column on WEG's troubles
(Reuben Israel Beattie amuses himself by playing strange music far too late at night and handing out Dark Side Points as though they were candy. Beyond this, it is said that he's a fairly decent sort.)