News Digest 148
This is a copy of the “script” we used to organise Brainwaves Episode 148. It is not a full transcript but should give you an overview of the news as we reported it. Quotes are in italics.
Headlines
Spiel des Jahres Awards interviews
- We announced the winners in the last episode and to follow up on this, here are the interviews Oliver did with the designers of the winning games during the awards ceremony.
Spiel des Jahres 2024 awards ceremony controversy
https://www.spiel-des-jahres.de/preisverleihung-kennerspiel-des-jahres-2024
https://medium.com/@baddeo/why-i-wear-55cb9459d8e7
- During the Spiel des Jahres awards ceremony on Sunday the 21st of July 2024, Matteo Menapace, co-designer of Kennerspiel des Jahres winner e-Mission (Daybreak), was seen to be wearing a watermelon slice sticker on his t-shirt.
- Watermelon slices have become synonymous for Palestinian support since the start of the Israel-Gaza war, because they feature the colours of the Palestinian flag.
- However, the watermelon slice sticker that Menapace wore was in the shape of what is known as Greater Palestine. That shape is considered anitsemitic in Germany because it implies the dissolution of the state of Israel.
- While the significance of the sticker was missed during the awards ceremony and therefore appeared in many of the videos, Harald Schrapers, chairman of Spiel des Jahres, and Christoph Schlewinski, deputy chairman, asked Menapace to remove the sticker as soon as it became clear what it represented.
- The following day, on Monday the 22nd of July, during the Spiel des Jahres press conference, Harald Schrapers made a statement about what happened. The statement is in German and you can find a link to it in our show notes. The following is our English translation:
- “The Spiel des Jahres Association has been supporting the ‘Spielend für Toleranz’ [literally translated as ‘Playing for Tolerance’] initiative for years and thus unequivocally positions itself against all forms of racism and anti-Semitism. We find it intolerable that a game designer we invited wore a symbol on stage that must be perceived as anti-Semitic by Jews. With this action, the designer also behaved extremely uncooperatively towards the other parties involved in his game (designer, developers, publisher).”
- As the news became more widely known, a large number of people took to social media to criticise the Spiel des Jahres’ decision as being disproportional and to show their support for Menapace.
- Peer Sylvester, German board designer of games such as The King is Dead and Brian Boru: High King of Ireland, responded to some of the social media posts trying to put the situation into context by saying:
- Most of my [social media] timeline is now divided. The first impulse of most [German board game] media people was an outcry about the supposingly anti-Semitic pin, while the American side is outraged because of the ‘free speech violation’. I think its hard to overstate how common the conception of the first interpretation is here [in Germany].
- Germany is very sensitive towards anti-Semitism that makes it difficult to have nuanced debate, as people often regard the extremist reading of the symbols as true.
- […]
- The political climate [in Germany] is very sensitive on this issues, with a big hesitance to criticise Israel in any way, for fear of being misunderstood. That’s why this conflict has led to extra sensitivity.
- A few days later, on Friday the 26th of July, Matteo Menapace posted his response on Medium:
- My decision to wear a watermelon sticker on the Spiel des Jahres (SdJ) stage on Sunday was to show solidarity with Palestinian civilians.
- The watermelon is a symbol of Palestinian resilience in the face of decades of oppression. I bought the sticker from Wear The Peace, an organisation that donates 100% of their profits to humanitarian aid.
- I acknowledge the current and historical context that has led to SdJ as a German institution to respond with heightened sensitivity to allegations of antisemitism. I take those allegations very seriously.
- However, debating the shape of the sticker and pushing for an antisemitic interpretation is a distraction. Instead, I want to draw attention to the reality of thousands of Palestinian people who are being wiped off the map, and are in dire need of humanitarian and medical services.
- No human being or group of people should be erased because of their ethnicity, religion or nationality. I hope we can all agree on that.
- All humans deserve peace and justice. I believe this won’t be possible until the end of what the International Court of Justice has recently defined as unlawful occupation. What we can do as citizens of Western nations is to put pressure on our governments to take responsibility for their historical role in this injustice, and end our complicity with their funding and enabling of war crimes.
- These actions and views are entirely my own, and do not necessarily reflect those of anyone else involved with Daybreak / e-Mission.
- There has been no further response from Spiel des Jahres as of time of recording.
Hasbro earnings
https://www.fastcompany.com/91163137/hasbro-earnings-reveal-monopoly-go-made-3-billion-dollars
- On Thursday the 25th of July, during its second-quarter earnings call with investors, Hasbro announced that tabletop game sales in Q2 of 2024 were up 3% year on year in the Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming segment, from US$298.5 million in Q2 of 2023 to US$307.6 million in Q2 of 2024.
- Magic: The Gathering sales, including both tabletop and digital, were up 8% year on year, from US$311 million in of 2023 to US$336 million in of 2024.
- Part of the increase was due to the success of Modern Horizons 3 as the fastest-selling Magic: The Gathering set of all time in the first week of release.
- Chris Cocks, CEO of Hasbro, compared the success of Modern Horizons 3 to that of Lord of the Rings MTG set when he said:
- “We expect Modern Horizons 3 to, if not be our best-selling set of all time, to certainly be a contender for it.”
- Digital sales showed the biggest increase. They were up 87% year on year, from US $77.1 million in of 2023 to US$144.4 million in this of 2024.
- The main contributor to the rise was the mobile video game Monopoly Go!. It made over US$3 billion in revenue since its launch on the 11th of April 2023, making the company the top licenser of video games in the past year.
- For the full year, Monopoly Go! is expected to generate around US$105 million in licensing revenue for Hasbro. (“income earned by a company for allowing its copyrighted or patented material to be used by another company”)
- Highlighting the success of Monopoly Go!, Cocks said on the call:
- “We don’t quite get the seasonality yet. However, where I do think we have some bullishness is on the mid- and long-term [prospects] for the game. When you look at games that reach this ‘hyperscale’ like Monopoly Go! has . . . 10 of the 20 best-performing games have been out for five or more years. So, this is a game that’s going to be a really strong and positive annuity for us for a long time to come.”
- Overall sales in the Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming segment were up 20%, mostly driven by digital and an international publishing deal. In comparison, Q1 sales were only up 7%.
- Wizards of the Coast was extremely profitable, driven by increases in higher-margin digital sales, supply chain productivity gains and lower royalty payments.
Wizards of the Coast’s operating profit in Q2 of 2024 was US$247.1 million, up from US$142.3 million in Q2 of 2023. - Cocks also announced that pre-orders for the new Dungeons & Dragons core books are going better than expected and that digital revenues are over half the sales for the brand due to the success of D&D Beyond, which now has over 18 million registered users.
- The Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming segment was mostly responsible for carrying the company. Overall, Hasbro sales were down 18%, mainly due to the sale of eOne, the film and television division.
Earnings in Q2 of 2024 were US$138.5 million, a big improvement when compared to the US$234.9 million loss in Q2 of 2023.
Diana Jones Award
- The annual Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming is presented to the person, product, company, event, movement, concept or any other thing that has, in the opinion of its committee, best demonstrated the quality of “excellence” in the world of hobby-gaming. It is sometimes described as “the Nobel Prize of gaming.”
- In a Twitter post, the Diana Jones Award announced on 1st of August the winner for 2024 as United Paizo Workers, the first workers union in the tabletop gaming industry which was voluntarily recognised in 2023 from Paizo Inc management.
- As we reported in episode 144 of the cast, the union was one of the nominees for the 2024 award, alongside:
- Adepticon, a miniatures games convention in the Midwest,
- Ami Baio, a game designer and owner of Pink Tiger Games,
- Fastaval, an RPG and board game convention in Denmark, and
- TTRPGs for Trans Rights in Florida, a charity bundle organized by Rue Dickey.
- Alex Speidel, the organiser of the Union said this when receiving the award
- “I want to talk about fear for a minute. When you’re organizing a union, you encounter a lot of fear. People are afraid of losing their job, they’re afraid of making management mad, and even those of you who are leading the charge are swallowing a ton of fear that you’re leading your coworkers into ruin.
- The games industry is small. One of the biggest fears we encounter is the fear that standing up at work, that forming a union, will get you put on a list somewhere that says at the top “do not hire this person.” We love what we do—we love making games—and so this fear that taking this huge step will be the end of the road for us is so persistent.
- By nominating us for the Diana Jones award, you have said that advocating for yourself and your coworkers is not something to be feared. By naming us the winner, you have absolutely obliterated this huge barrier. I can’t begin to tell you what this means to us, what it’s going to mean for the industry and every single worker in it.
- To the workers: You can do this. You can make your workplace—your lives—better. You don’t have to live at the whim of investors, you don’t have to fear for your jobs, and you don’t have to make company leadership solve every problem on their own. You deserve a seat at the table, and the luminaries in our industry have just said that they agree.
- Thank you so much to the Diana Jones committee for your solidarity. Thank you to the 46 Paizo staffers who formed our initial bargaining unit, and the 60 of us standing strong together. To our stewards—Andrew, Brian, Jenny, Joe, and Rue, and to everyone who served on the organizing committee, this makes all the long hours worth it. We couldn’t have done this without the support from the CWA—Ted Hooker, Art Clemens, and everyone on the CODE-CWA campaign. To the 40+ Paizo freelancers who held the line: we couldn’t have gotten here without you, and we will never forget your bravery. Solidarity forever!”
- Alex was joined on stage by the two of the people he thanks, Jenny Jarzabski and Rue Dickey. The award was given out by game designer Matt Forbeck.
- Alex posted on Bluesky the day after the event saying this
- I am once again begging other game workers to email me at Our union is great. Our union is 60 people. The whole industry needs and deserves this, and we can help you.
- The Brainwaves team congratulate the winner.
News
Braincrack woes
- Braincrack Games is a UK games publisher behind such games as Farsight, Dead & Breakfast, and Venice
- The publisher crowdfunded their most recent game The Gig, a real time dice roller and placement themed around instruments in a jazz band, and most countries have received their copy.
- However, there is one large country whose backers have not seen their copies- Canada. On the 17th of July, backers received an update from Lewis Shaw, Braincrack Founder, which offered an explanation for the situation:
- “Last year we accepted support from another company, and they strongly recommended we switch to a new US fulfilment partner, called Gamerati. We weren’t aware of how they operated, but took the advice in good faith and changed our plans. We asked for a quote a few times, but didn’t get one, and this should have set alarm bells ringing, but I kept the faith.
- As we had done previously, we sent US and Canadian orders in one shipment to the US, hoping that they would be able to manage a fee-free postal injection to you as our previous fulfilment partners had done. We gave them the order info, and after the games had arrived with Gamerati, we were told all the orders had been shipped out.
- Then we found out (from you guys) that in fact nothing had been received outside the US. At this point, Gamerati told us that actually no, they didn’t ship to Canada. Great! Then they gave us the bill for the US fulfilment, which was substantially more than we were expecting. We knew we couldn’t afford it (literally) so we asked that your games be set aside until something could be arranged.
- We tried everything, even asking if they would be willing to send your games onwards to you if you guys paid them for delivery directly. We tried introducing them to a distributor so that they could sell some of the un-sold stock themselves to help pay the bill. But they weren’t happy with anything we proposed (and admittedly, I can’t put the blame entirely on Gamerati for this.)
- Eventually, despite my best attempts, Gamerati decided to take possession of our stock and cut off communication with us entirely.
- So, to cut a long story short:
- We no longer have the games that we made for you.”
- On the email, Shaw offers an apology for the silence on Braincrack’s end:
- “As discussed in previous updates, our business has been struggling financially for quite some time. It’s been a long line of delays, price increases, unexpected costs, interest rates, overheads, and so on and so on. Compound this with the fact that (if I’m being completely honest) financial planning has never been my strongest skill, and the result is a very difficult journey indeed.”
- “I take no pleasure in failure, and honestly, watching the business we spent 8 years building slowly go up in flames is breaking me.”
WOTC continues to be evil
https://www.enworld.org/threads/wotc-removes-digital-content-team-credits-from-d-d-beyond.705711
- Wizards of the coast, a Hasbro subsidiary that is the publisher of Dungeons and Dragons and Magic: The Gathering, seems to be removing credits for folk that worked on their books. This story was first reported on ENworld
- Faith Elisabeth Lilley, one of the members of that team said this:
- I just discovered that I have been removed from book credits on D&D Beyond for books I worked on while at Wizards of the Coast.
- Background:
- While at Wizards (so after D&D Beyond was purchased) – with numerous books, my digital content team and I worked directly with the book team on the content, reading through rules drafts, suggesting changes, giving ideas, and catching issues. We had a full database of the content and understood exactly how it interacted.
- Given that we were contributing to the content in the books, I felt it reasonable to request that team be added to the credits, but was informed the credits section was already too crowded with the number of people involved and many of the marketing team had already been dropped from credits. I felt strongly that anyone actually contributing to what is in the printed book should be credited though, so we agreed a compromise, that the team would be added to the credits page on D&D Beyond only, as there is no issue with “not enough space” on a web page.
- I’ve added screenshots here that I had for some of the books.
- At some point recently, those credits pages have been edited to remove the credits for me and the content team. Nobody reached out to let me know – it just happened at some point, and I only just noticed.
- We’ve even been removed from the digital-only releases, that only released on D&D Beyond, such as the Spelljammer Academy drops.
- I’m not angry or upset, just yet again, really disappointed, as somehow I expected better.
- Elizabeth goes onto say that the team gave lots of feedback on the books, and had contributed ideas for content that found its way into some of the books. Elizabeth no longer works for Wizards of the Coast
Funforge not forging fun
- Funforge, publishers of Tokaido, has been having fulfilment issues with its crowdfunding projects.
- After finally delivering Namiji, the follow-up to Tokaido, Funforge has had years long delays for Monumental, the Matthew Dunstan designed civilisation game. A kickstarter for a reprint funded in 2020 to the tune of 467,294 euros and was meant to deliver the following year.
- Well it is now 2024 and there are still no signs of the games, leading Boardgamewire to try and find out what was going on.
- It turns out that a US$250k hit for extra costs on the campaign has effectively left the games in limbo, waiting at delivery hubs for Funforge to raise the money to finally get the products shipped out.
- The company posted in December 2023 that shipping was about to begin but that is yet to happen. An update was promised in May, but still nothing had been heard.
- Funforge CEO Phillipe Nouhra told Boardgamewire that there should be a backer update soon
- “Fortunately, we found a solution, through an important contract that should be signed in the weeks to come, to solve most of our financial issues and therefore to be able to deliver almost all of the remaining games.”
- “Yes, I said there would be an update in May, and no, we haven’t posted it. That’s the truth, and the reason why is that the company has been facing a lot of financial challenges for several months, notably because of the loss of money suffered by the Monumental campaign.”
- The company has been selling some copies of the game they have to raise funds which has understandably angered backers further. They have also cut the team size in order to try and cut costs, including their communication director Charlotte Noailles.
- Nouhra said that the impending update
- “Will summarize all of this and inform our community that we are planning to complete the deliveries by September”.
- He also said this about the state of Kickstarter
- “You have no idea how tired I am of all this. This is also the reason why we decided to definitively give up on KS. The business model is globally broken, way too dangerous and deceptive for the backers.
GAMA Announces First Tabletop Game Retailer Survey
https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/57477/gama-announces-their-first-tabletop-game-survey
- GAMA, the Games Manufacturer Association, a non-profit trade organization for the hobby games industry, is going to conduct their first tabletop game retailer survey.
- The survey will compile information about store types, sales numbers, product mix, marketing and other points of interest. It is planned to be an annual survey to give retailers, publishers and industry professionals benchmark data to gauge changes and trends in the industry.
- The survey will be anonymous, but stores will have the opportunity to add their name and email to receive a copy of the results.
- The last day to take the survey will be the 14th of August 2024 and results are expected on the 28th of August 2024.
- To take part, find a link to the survey in the show notes.
Berlin Brettspiel Con 2024 visitor figures up
- Berlin Brettspiel Con is an annual board game convention with exhibition space, live discussions and live play, as well as a large open gaming area. It was held this year during the weekend of the 19th to the 21st of July and has reported an increase in visitors.
- That vindicates the organiser’s decision to move the event to a new home this year, the Estrel Convention Center, a modern, fully air-conditioned convention space. The convention was previously held in an old railway station for many years, which was a charming venue, but couldn’t cope with the high summer temperatures.
- According to Berlin Brettspiel Con, the event set a new record by attracting around 16,000 visitors. Additionally, the so-called “badge” ticket, which allowed visitors to take part in the two “Game Nights”, was completely sold out four weeks before the event, much sooner than it ever had been.
- The free game library also saw 50% more games being lent than last year.
- The next event is planned to run from Friday the 1st of August to Sunday the 3rd of August 2025.
Gary Gygax day
https://www.visitlakegeneva.com/blog/post/celebrating-50-years-the-birthplace-of-dungeons-dragons
- As you may know, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, is the birthplace of the RPG Dungeons & Dragons®. The game took the world by storm and in recent years has had a massive resurgence leading to a huge growth in tabletop roleplaying. Gary Gygax created the game along with Dave Arneson.
- To celebrate the 50th anniversary year of D&D, Lake Geneva is opening an array of new experiences and tributes to mark the occasion. For example, you can visit Gary Gygax’s house on Center Street in downtown Lake Geneva. There is also a bench in Elm Park dedicated to him, as he was known to visit the park to get inspiration.
- However, that’s not all. Lake Geneva has gone one step further and declared Gygax’s birthday of the 27th of July as Gary Gygax Day.
- You might have missed it this year, but maybe it’s time to book your 2025 summer holiday in Lake Geneva and take part in the celebrations next year.
- Thank you to Simon Marr from our Discord for bringing this story to our attention.
- Discussion: I don’t really know what to say about this one.
Dave Arneson estate questions publisher
https://www.arnesonestate.com/press
- Sticking with D&D history for a moment.
- The estate of Dave Arneson put out a statement on the 28th of July regarding the publisher “Studio Ink Bat” and their product “Age of the Wolf”
- Studio Ink Bat are releasing the project at Gencon and the cover page says ‘Dave Arneson’s Age of the Wolf’
- According to the Arneson estate Studio Ink Bat are claiming this is the last work of Dave Arneson before his death in 2009. The statement says they were contacted by the studio who initially said they were planning on giving 100 copies away for free at Gencon 2024. The estate asked for the following
- We asked Studio Ink Bat multiple times to show us any documentation they have (e.g., notes, correspondence, or a contract) that shows Dave Arneson worked on this project or granted any rights to his intellectual property (his name or the Blackmoor name).
- 2. We asked Studio Ink Bat multiple times to send us the manuscript so the Arneson family could review it to determine if it is something the Blackmoor trademark could be attached to (e.g., would the family license the Blackmoor name to Studio Ink Bat based solely on the quality of the content). We received only a tiny sample which contained elements easily copied from previously published material.
- 3. We asked Studio Ink Bat to temporarily remove any public notices about the project until points 1 and 2 have been addressed. This would protect them from potential liability and was a first step for Studio Ink Bat to demonstrate an appreciation for Dave Arneson and his creations. Immediate action would also have shown respect to his family members.
- None of these requests have been met according to the statement.
- Studio Ink Bat replied to the estate saying, and the estate paraphrases this,
- “Well, since we’re giving the book away for free we don’t need your permission”
- As the statement points out, this is not high IP law works.
- The estate also claims that during a telephone call between the parties, the Studio called the Arneson Estate “stupid”.
- The promise of free books at GenCon also seems to be erroneous. From the statement
- we discovered they are not giving the “Age of the Wolf” away for free, but instead “shadow selling” their book at GenCon 2024. The admission fee for their 14 paid events at GenCon is $48 per person and comes with a “free Age of the Wolf book.” Do you think an unknown company’s first publication could sell out all 14 events at GenCon for $48 a head if they weren’t using Dave Arneson’s name and the Blackmoor trademark to promote it? We don’t believe so. They are using the Arneson and Blackmoor names to sell a publication we can only believe is a fake.
- The statement makes it clear that the family would love to find more of Dave’s work and help promote it and they finish by saying this
- Again, the Estate and the Arneson family are excited to discover a new Arneson Blackmoor setting – assuming it is real. Thus, we are more than happy to review the manuscript, but Studio Ink Bat has chosen to be unethical in our estimation.
- Thanks to Corey from our Discord
Jobs, Opportunities, and Events
https://www.facebook.com/groups/TabletopJobs
Elizabeth Hargrave List
- GenCon, the largest US tabletop trade show, is taking place in Indianpolis as we record.
- While most of the news coming out of the convention is new releases and not the sort of thing we cover, we did want to draw you attention to some of the folk exhibiting.
- In the run-up to the convention, Elizabeth Hargrave, designer of games such as Wingspan, Tussie Mussie and Undergrove, shared a filtered Board Game Geek list of feature GenCon games, which showed games from women and gender non-conforming game designers. Even though the event is over, the list is still available for viewing. So follow the link in our show notes and peruse the list and maybe even “thumb” some of them to support these designers.
Pegasus Designer Days
https://pegasus.de/en/designer-days
- Pegasus is going to be holding virtual meetings with budding and established designer. The Pegasus Designer Days will run from the 24th to the 26th of September 2024, and registration will be open from the 5th of August until the 15th of September 15.
- Successful applications will be given ten minutes to pitch their game to the publisher in a video call. If the publishing team like the game, a playable prototype will requested, which will be tested extensively in the following weeks.
- All designers will receive feedback for the games they present and any games that Pegasus Spiele really like will be given an offer of publication.
- So if you’re a budding or established designer, register now.
2024 Inventor Pitch & Innovation Conference
https://www.chitag.com/2024-inventor-pitch-innovation-conference
- Registration for the 2024 Inventor Pitch & Innovation Conference is now open. The event takes place at the Embassy Suites in Rosemont, Illinois and runs from the 7th to the 9th of November.
- Global Toy & Game Industry’s Premier Pitch & Education Event
- The event is still finalizing plans, but there will be keynote speeches, conference panels and more.
- Find out more by going to their website – there is a link in our show notes.
Board Game Raffle in Aid of The Trussell Trust / UK Food Banks
- Oliver is running a monthly raffle in support of The Trussell Trust, which runs a large number of food banks across the UK.
- Tickets are £1 and you can win prototypes or review copies of games, which have been played a few times, but are still in very good condition. Sometimes there are also brand new games on offer.
- All proceeds, minus platform fees, payment charges and postage costs, go directly to this amazing charity that campaigns for a future where nobody needs to use emergency food.
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Outro
Monopoly Go board game
https://www.polygon.com/24199990/monopoly-go-board-game-announcement
- Earlier in the podcast we reported that Monopoly Go, the mobile adaptation of said game, made $3 billion since launch. So what better way to make more money than making a board game adaptation of Monopoly Go, the board game adaptation of the mobile game adaptation of the board game.
- Every player gets a wee board of their own, and when they land on a coloured property space they place part of a landmark on their board. FIrst to four landmarks wins.
- Stuff from the mobile game, like bank heists will affect the game and slow landmark building.
- Dunno when it’s out.
- Scopely, the mobile games company behind Monopoly Go! says that players have passed “Go” over 100 billion times, made more than 15 billion visits to jail and built over 150 billion Landmarks, such as bridges or a Mr. Monopoly Statue of Liberty.
Monopo-Lee-ds
- Staying with Monopoly, in 1935 it was first produced in the UK by Waddingtons in Leeds.
- 90 years later Leeds has been transformed into a city-wide game to celebrate the history of the city’s association with the game
- Areas around the city are coloured like the iconic properties (for example the Royal Armouries is brown) and lots of activities are at these locations to do. Doing so and getting location values will get participants stamps.
- Alongside these are large statues of the famous playing pieces.
- It runs until September.
- I occasionally feel like we should get money from Hasbro due to the amount of time we’ve talked about Monopoly. But also I feel weird about taking money from Hasbro because I hold them in… mistrust.
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