As COVID-19 (Coronavirus) continues to have a negative impact on the table-top gaming industry, online Magic: The Gathering marketplace, Mage Market, has announced they are shutting down.
According to Mage Market Founder, Peer Richelsen, the decision to close came after the company experienced a dip in revenue of 60% due to COVID-19.
After monitoring the situation for over a month, Richelsen “noticed concerning developments in the “paper” industry of Magic: The Gathering”, such as the cancellation of MagicFests and countless local game stores closing, all of which added significant weight to the decision.
Based on the state of paper Magic and the continuing precautions being taken by Wizards of the Coast, Richelsen fears that the paper Magic industry won’t be able to bounce back for an extended period of time, with a very real possibility of never recovering at all.
Over the past 3 and a half years we’ve given our best to build the most superior marketplace to buy and sell collectibles… [however], we’ve not found a way to build a profitable business fast enough in order to survive such global crisis and revenue fallout.
Rather than attempting to steer the company in a different direction and potentially causing an unknown number of layoffs, Richelsen believes shutting operations down entirely to be the correct course of action, and intends to “pay all employees extended severances and help everyone to find a new job opportunity”.
Read the original article from Peer Richelsen.