According to an icv2 report, Steve Jackson Games will increase prices on several of their board games effective January 1, 2022. Due to increased overhead, manufacturing, and shipping costs, the prices of Munchkin, Zombie Dice, and Illuminati products will each go up by a few dollars. For example, Munchkin Core Sets will have their MSRPs go from $24.95 to $29.95.
Steve Jackson Games isn’t the first board game publisher to announce price increases this year. Publishing giant Asmodee announced in early September that most of their game lines from Atomic Mass Games and Fantasy Flight Games will receive an MSRP price increase. Again, the price changes are due to the dramatic increase in raw material and transportation costs over the past year.
Atlas Games also increased the prices of their Gloom line of games, with the core game going from $24.95 to $27.95 (a 12% increase).
In mid-September, Steamforged Games sent an email to their trade partners announcing a price increase effective October 1st on many of their products.
And back in the summer, mega-publisher Hasbro announced during a quarterly earnings call a price increase for both their Dungeons and Dragons line and also Magic: The Gathering.
It’s fair to say that these probably won’t be the last publishers to increase the MSRP on their games this year. With ocean freight costs skyrocketing more than 10x this year, and also raw materials going up, publishers need to do something to help cover the expenses. Margins on board games aren’t exactly the most lucrative in retail. Some publishers have even stopped printing MSRPs on their boxes to help give them the flexibility to adjust pricing.
