News Digest 152

This is a copy of the “script” we used to organise Brainwaves Episode 152. It is not a full transcript but should give you an overview of the news as we reported it. Quotes are in italics.waves

Headlines

Mythic Games France liquidates 

https://annonces-legales.leparisien.fr/annonce/23cba43f-8a82-48c1-8f57-6a2285e239c3

• Mythic Games, the Luxembourg publisher of games such as 6: Siege, Super Fantasy Brawl and Steamwatchers, has dissolved their French operations under the Mythic Games French Sarl brand.
• A legal notice on the French website LeParisien confirms that the French operation with a capital of EUR 2,000 has gone under the control of liquidator Pascal Léonidas Vesperini, who was previously the manager of the company, who will carry out the liquidation of operations and the company’s closure.
• This French arm of the company existed to pay employees of that country, but it has lain unused since the firing of most permanent members of staff 2 years ago. 
• Mythic is a Luxembourg-based company, and that part of Mythic is still operational. 
• Mythic Games has been in financial trouble for some time. We originally reported on these in March 2023, followed by the news in January 2024, that CMON bought Mythic’s games HEL: The Last Saga and Anastyr. Additionally, Mythic Games was embroiled in a number of controversies, some of which we covered on the cast. This included delays to multiple Kickstarters, going back to backers multiple times for more money, and asking reviewers to not mention the companies reputation in reviews. 
• Boardgamewire, a board game-focused news site, have been putting questions to Mythic to try and get a firm answer on the future of the company. Leonidas Vesperini, one of the co-founders, told Boardgamewire they have been waiting on payments from creditors for several months and should be able to say by the end of the month if they can continue or not. 
• So it seems that Mythic Games’ troubles continue and while the closure of their French subsidiary may improve the company’s cashflow, it is unclear how it will affect the Luxembourg parent company’s future. If you would like to know the full extent of Mythic’s dealings you can check out our ‘review’ of 6 Siege on the site. 

Funforge ‘saved’ by Tokaido deal

• Funforge, a French board game publisher best known for the Tokaido series of games, has sold that franchise to Stonemaier Games in the States. Stonemaier is the publisher of the cultural juggernaut that is Wingspan amongst other titles. 
• Boardgamewire reported on the 11th of October on the deal, with Funforge hoping that it will allow it to sort out its finances and put the company on a more even footing. 
• FunForge was struggling to fulfil its outstanding Kickstarter campaigns after the COVID pandemic left the company with more than 250,000 US Dollars of unexpected costs.
• FunForge’s game Monumental was one of those campaigns that received a large amount of criticism about the lack of communication by the company, which had gone silent on its official updates about the game for eight months while it tried to find a solution.
• Eventually, in late July this year, FunForge revealed that the company was within weeks of signing a contract which would give it the funding to ship Monumental to its backers finally. As it turns out, that deal was the sale of Tokaido, Tokaido Duel and Namiji to Stonemaier.
• European backers have already been receiving copies since September and FunForge expects all backers to receive theirs by the end of the year.
• While FunForge’s deal with Stonemaier Games is clearly a lifeline for the company, the loss of an evergreen line of games from the portfolio creates a new challenge.
• Philippe Nouhra, FunForge’s CEO, was interviewed by BoardGameWire at this year’s Spiel Essen, during which they said that they are going to focus on smaller box games with a lot of content for the near future. However, first of all, the company wants to do right by their backers and clear the air.
• In the interview, Philippe describes FunForge’s current situation and future plans as follows:
  • “Yes, it [the deal with Stonemaier Games] saved the company because it allowed us to clean everything, […] but we are not in a super comfortable situation. So my goal right now is to clean everything so that no customer is upset […] and we are okay to start again with the future. […]
  • “The goal is not to do just small games, we want to do small games with a lot of content. […]”
• Please read the full article and interview on BoardGameWire’s website, a link to which you will find in the show notes.

Spiel Essen Sold Out

https://www.spiel-essen.de/en/press?view=article&id=222&catid=12

• Spiel Essen, the world’s largest annual board game fair, which is held in Essen, Germany, announced in a press release that this year had completely sold out of visitor tickets for all four days of the event.
• For the first time in the fair’s history, all tickets for Thursday and Friday had sold out before the 2024 show began, and by the end of the event, Saturday and Sunday tickets also had sold out.
• Around 204,000 people from over 80 nations attended from the 3rd to the 6th of October, which exceeds 2023’s figures of 193,000 attendees.
• Carol Rapp, managing director of the organizing Merz Verlag, which owns and runs Spiel Essen said this about the challenges the large visitor numbers presented:
  • ”This year, we worked with a ticket quota for the first time to create a pleasant experience for as many people as possible and to comply with safety regulations. There could never be more than nearly 50,000 people on-site at the same time. We ensured wide aisles and good walking paths for easy movement in the halls and to the booths.”
• There were also 923 exhibitors from 52 countries promoting more than 1,500 new products.
• The exhibition space covered 68,500 square meters in six halls at the Messe Essen exhibition centre, making it the largest Spiel Essen to date.
• Carol Rapp describes the difficulty of organising the exhibition space as follows:
  • “When we had to open a waiting list in June because we couldn’t immediately accommodate all exhibitors’ requests, we knew that this year there would be more space used again. We had to do a lot of puzzle-solving to coordinate the requests for more playing space and the wishes of new exhibitors. I am very proud of us as team for tackling this huge task together and, through much communication, managing to offer nearly everyone a spot at SPIEL.”
• After replacing its mascot Meeps with AI-generated art for the marketing of last year’s fair, this year Spiel Essen re-introduced Meeps and featured it heavily in the marketing of the 2024 event.
• At the show, a life-size version walked the halls, which offered photo opportunities for attendees. Meeps also featured in a board game that was specially designed for the show and you could buy a plush toy version of Meeps as well.

News

Barnes & Noble to list game designers 

https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/57959/barnes-noble-begin-listing-game-designers

• As reported by ICv2, Barnes & Noble, an American bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States, has announced that it will include the names of game designers in game listings on its website.
• That announcement came after the Tabletop Game Designers Association (TTGDA) had reached out to Barnes & Noble asking the bookseller to include the information. TTGDA also offered to help Barnes & Noble by using the BoardGameGeek database to get the names of designers for the games listed on the bookseller’s website.
• Founding members and initial board members of TTGDA, Geoff Engelstein, Elizabeth Hargrave and Sen-Foong Lim, had wanted major retailers to list designers in their product catalogues since the association was founded last year.
• While for many major retailers, such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble, listing the author of books alongside the publisher is common practice, board game designers have so far not been specifically called out.
• Geoff Engelstein, TTGDA President, explained it as follows:
  • “Barnes & Noble highlights book authors and musical artists on the listings for their creative works. We believe that game designers also deserve recognition for the creativity and hard work required to bring a game to life.”
• Sabrina Falcone, Barnes & Noble Senior Merchandise Manager, said this of the plan:
  • “Tabletop gamers are always eager to learn more about the people who create the games they love. By adding game designer credits to our listings, we are not only enhancing the shopping experience but also helping our customers connect with designers in the gaming community.”

NAC Wargames hands out Nazi memorabilia

The Other Side of the Hill crowdfunding campaign: https://gamefound.com/en/projects/masqueoca/the-other-side-of-the-hill/

Publisher’s response on BGG: https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8461574/the-other-side-of-the-hill?commentid=12438977

Gamefound update about the Iron Cross medal: https://gamefound.com/en/projects/masqueoca/the-other-side-of-the-hill/updates/5

• During Spiel Essen, which took place earlier this month, NAC Wargames, a Spanish publisher and distributer of board games, wargames, card games, strategy games and books, was showing off their crowdfunded game The Other Side of the Hill, among others, at their stand.
• The Other Side of the Hill is a boardgame that simulates the struggle for power within the German High Command during the Second World War. Players take on the role of military leaders trying to advance their careers within Nazi Germany.
• In update #12 of their crowdfunding campaign, the publisher confirmed that they expected their game would most likely be seen as controversial, especially when shown at a board game fair held in Germany and one where war games are still more of a niche genre, which is mostly due to the country’s recent history.
• However, NAC Wargames decided to offer backers of the game’s crowdfunding campaign a special promo at Spiel Essen, if they picked up their game there: a replica German Iron Cross medal.
• In Germany, the Iron Cross is no longer awarded since the Second World War, due to the symbol’s close affiliation to the Nazi regime. Recipients of the medal during the Nazi dictatorship were asked to replace it with a version of the Iron Cross where the Nazi Swastika was replaced by a trifoliate Oak Leaf Cluster.
• Nazi memorabilia and symbols are illegal in Germany and people can face imprisonment for distributing or producing them or using them as a means of propaganda.
• NAC Wargames’ replica Iron Cross does not feature any Nazi symbology, which means it does not contravene the law. However, the combination of the colours on the ribbon and the shape of the cross itself make it effectively a replica Second World War Nazi Iron Cross.
• NAC Wargames had announced the medal in update #5 of their Gamefound page for The Other Side of the Hill, a link to which we have put in the show notes. In that update, they made it clear that the medal was exclusively for Kickstarter backers.
• In response to NAC Wargames handing out the medal at Spiel Essen, a number of people spoke out against the company on social media and on Board Game Geek.
• While there was some confusion at first and people thought that the medal was available for purchase at Spiel Essen, it later became clear that it was only available for backers of the crowdfunding campaign.
• A Board Game Geek user called Ediciones MasQueOca, where MasQueOca is the parent company of NAC Wargames, responded in defence of the company’s actions as follows:
  • In no way has this been offered in Essen, it is only for backers and was explained some time ago in an update in Gamefound. It is a commemorative medal of the first edition of the game. No more.
• We put a link to the relevant Board Game Geek thread into the show notes, so that you can see the whole conversation.
• We also reached out to MasQueOca via Board Game Geek for a comment. They had this to say:
  • “We do not identify with the terms or associations that some have attempted to impose on us. A quick look at our ongoing projects will show that we are fully committed to producing historical games with great respect for the context in which they are set. That is all there is.”

Matagot shrinks catalogue

• Matagot, the French publisher of games like Kemet and Inis, has announced its intention to consolidate their catalogue to focus on more family friendly titles. 
• Speaking to Boardgamewire they said that the recent Kemet: Rise of the Gods Gamefound campaign was a moment of operational transition. These heavier games never sold well in their native country but making french versions was imperative for the company. 
• A spokesperson for the company said
  • “It’s important to point out that the Matagot team loves and has enjoyed clear success in the heavy games category with titles such as Kemet, Inis or more recently Galactic Renaissance.
  • “At the same time, the company has also been recognized for publishing games aimed at a broader audience, such as Takenoko, River Dragons, Raptor, and Captain Sonar, dating back to the early 2010s.
  • “This created an unclear editorial direction, with the catalog ranging from children’s games to massive crowdfunding projects. A choice needed to be made.
  • “The second factor is tied to our home market: Matagot, being a French publisher firmly rooted in its domestic market, recognizes that said market, unlike its English-speaking counterparts, shows less interest in heavy games.
  • “While niche expert player groups exist in France, they are relatively small and highly demanding. Sales are usually in the hundreds of copies, rarely surpassing even a thousand, leading to a growing weariness from specialised shops.
  • “Even Matagot’s biggest successes in that category, such as Kemet Blood & Sand or Inis, despite steady sales worldwide, never sold really well in France. As a French publisher, making French versions of these titles was a ‘must’ but also taxing and wasteful.”
• Matagot has signed deals with Kolossal Games in the US and Grail Games in Australia to take on publication of its heavier titles.

Steve Jackson Games announces Fighting Fantasy Deal

https://www.sjgames.com/fightingfantasy

• Steve Jackson Games, the US publisher of Munchkin, Car Wars, and others, has announced a deal to publish 50 of the Fighting Fantasy titles. The deal was announced with a press release on Steve Jackson Games’ site. 
• Fighting Fantasy was a series of choose your own adventure books published in the 80s and 90s by Sir Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson (not the Steve Jackson that owns the US company!). Those two also established Games Workshop. The original series of books sold over 20 million copies worldwide. 
• Sir Ian said of the deal
  • “To have a new publisher in the USA is a special moment in the history of Fighting Fantasy. We have known Steve Jackson (US) for more than 40 years, having distributed Steve Jackson Games in the 1980s when we owned Games Workshop. Steve also wrote three fantastic Fighting Fantasy books which caused a lot of confusion at the time when people didn’t realize there were two Steve Jacksons! We look forward to exciting times ahead in the USA for new and existing Fighting Fantasy fans.”
• The first five books will be released in early 2025, with 5 more following later in the year. 
• For an extra bit of confusion the Steve Jackson that established the US company at the centre of this deal, did write some of the Fighting Fantasy books.

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Thanks to Mike from Boardgamewire for being so diligent a journalist

Outro

English Heritage games

• A wee different thing for the outro this time. After Essen Spiel, new releases are a bit quiet so I thought we could take a look into some company branded games. 
• English Heritage (different from National Trust) maintains a lot of ruins and ancient sites around England, but alongside that they have a series of board game syou can buy in their shop, alongside the stalwart Chess and card games. 
• How about English Heritage Risk, where you lead medieval armies to capture various regions of England, but “if your army is not victorious by the end of the Middle Ages, then the battle is over and all armies must retreat as the king’s men regain control of the land.”
• If Risk is too martial for you, how about English Heritage CLuedo? Although I was unable to find a clear picture of the board and components, it seems to be more along the lines of discovering ancient treasures (like roman coins, or Excalibur) left by famous English people (like Charles Darwin or Queen Victoria) at ENglish Heritage sites (like Hadrian’s Wall). 
• If that doesn’t float your boat how about not one but TWO different MOnopoly versions? Yes there’s English Heritage Monopoly AND English Heritage Castles Monopoly! One has you collecting various sites and activities of the company, and one has you… getting castles.   
• I don’t know if any of these are good (they very well might be) but I gotta say, Historic Scotland, pull your finger out. 

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