Czech retailer Xzone hits record revenue on pop-culture merch

Martin Šovanec, founder and head of the Czech shop Xzone, has reported the best results in the company’s history: in the financial year that has just closed, revenue grew by 40% to CZK 186.5 million, and net profit came to CZK 11.8 million.

That is an absolute increase of CZK 52.9 million on the previous year. Curiously, the decisive role was played not by video games themselves, but by merchandise around two of the best-known gaming brands in Czechia — Kingdom Come: Deliverance and The Witcher.

Xzone once started out as a classic video game shop. But its team quickly realised that the real money lies in related products and in the universes of films, series and comics. Today Xzone is one of the leading Czech sellers of merchandise and pop-culture products: from collectible cards and books to figurines for war tabletop games. The gradual disappearance of boxed games no longer stops the business from growing.

The company names the physical version of the card game Gwent, set in the world of The Witcher, as the main success of the past year — more than ten thousand copies have been sold. Xzone also published the book The Art of Kingdom Come: Deliverance II about the visual design of the game by Warhorse Studios. A significant share of income also comes from the company’s own production.

According to Šovanec, last year was a difficult one, and this year’s figures are doubly welcome: “We have returned to substantial profit despite the gradual end of boxed game sales. Successful products coincided with work to make the company run better. We kept a stricter eye on costs, margins and which areas really make money.”

The change of model, he says, is also visible in customer behaviour: “Today people buy art books, figurines and card games from us, and come in to play. Our own products let us add something to these worlds. The results confirm that it is worth building on.”