We haven’t had a chance to play Marvel: Crisis Protocol miniatures game at Gen Con 2019 yet. We did get a chance to see the various game boards and miniatures on display for the highly anticipated game. Check out below for what was on display including many of the miniatures coming out for the game.
(via Board Game Today)
So, anything going on in geekdom? We’re still at San Diego Comic-Con, so make sure to follow us for lots of announcements and cool stuff!
While you await it, here’s some comic news and reviews from around the web!
Around the Tubes
LA Times – San Diego Police Department sniper monitors Comic-Con – So crazy!
CBLDF – Turkish Leman Censored in Post-Coup Crackdown – Sad to see.
ICv2 – Asmodee Acquiring F2Z Entertainment – This is huge news going into Gen Con.
ICv2 – Hastings Closing All Stores – This could have a ripple affect.
Around the Tubes Reviews
Comic Attack – A-Force #7
Culture Vultures – Bullet Gal
This is a pretty interesting way to start off 2016 for the gaming industry. Mayfair Games (MGI) has announced that Asmodee has acquired the license for the English language publishing and sales of the popular board game Catan. From this, Catan Studio, Inc. has formed and becomes the newest creative unit in the Asmodee group. Mayfair Games will continue to do business as an independent company publishing both Mayfair and Lookout Games products.
Mayfair Games will assist Catan Studio, Inc. and Asmodee North America in the promotion of the Catan brand including but not limited to the continued coordination of the 2016 Catan tournament schedule, Catan Day 2016 and the 2016 Catan World Championship.
MGI continues to retain a controlling interest in Lookout GmbH and Mayfair GmbH, providing a wide range of games worldwide, and distribution to the European marketplace. These efforts will be expanded with a new focus on multi-language and international products.
MGI has also announced the acquisition of several Martin Wallace games as permanent additions to the Mayfair game library. Those titles include Steam, Aeroplanes, Automobile, Test of Fire and Clash of Wills.
Moving forward, all of MGI’s distributor and retailer terms will remain the same. MGI will also be continuing its exclusive agreement with Alliance for all sales in the USA to the hobby market and with Esdevium for the UK market. MGI will be reevaluating and making some adjustments to its distribution strategy in Canada.
Asmodee has been on a role lately. Fantasy Flight Games merged with the company after the company had already acquired Days of Wonder. The company has also shifted how it distributes games causing mixed reactions. This latest acquisition further consolidates the industry around a few major publishers.
Mayfair had also recently done a rebranding of Catan updating the design of the packaging and creating a more universal look.
Asmodee is gobbling up the game industry. The company has announced it will be merging with juggernaut Fantasy Flight Games. This is the second acquisition for Asmodee in six month. The company earlier this year acquired Days of Wonder.
Fantasy Flight Games brings a solid list of licensed games including Star Wars, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings and Sid Meier’s Civilization, and Games Workshop’s various worlds. It also helps Asmodee get a further foothold into North America, as Fantasy Flight has a great infrastructure with which they can build.
In return, Fantasy Flight gets better access and distribution in Europe. Asmodee oversees has distribution companies in the UK, Germany and the Benelux countries. They also act as a distributor for other brands not their own in various European countries.
Fantasy Flight Games will continue to operate as a fully independent publisher in the Asmodee Group out of its Roseville, MN headquarters and Fantasy Flight CEO Christian T. Petersen will continue in his current position, while also becoming a significant shareholder of the combined entity.
Most games will not be affected, though some games that are a better fit for Asmodee may shift over to them and vice versa.
This is news you might have expected to be announced at Gen Con, but a little over a week since the convention has ended it has been announced that Asmodee has acquired Days of Wonder in a merger. Days of Wonder will now be a wholly owned subsidiary of Asmodee.
That means Asmodee will now be adding to their line of games hits such as Ticket to Ride and Small World. This gives Asmodee a bigger presence in the U.S. game market as well as Days of Wonder’s digital game expertise. The company has found massive success with their Ticket to Ride app.
Asmodee’s North American and European operations are quite different. In North America, the company is the publisher for it’s own games. In Europe, the company owns distribution companies and sells more than just its own games.
WizKids Games today announced that the company has entered into an partnership agreement with Asmodee Germany to localize several award winning game titles.
Asmodee becomes WizKids German language partner in Europe for games including the Mage Knight Board Game, Attack Wing: Dungeons & Dragons, Quarriors! Dice Building Game and Star Trek: Attack Wing. This is just the beginning as WizKids said they’d be expanding their plans in the future.
