Hello everyone, Darryl here with this week’s gaming news! ICv2 sales rankings are in for the tabletop gaming industry, BattleTech faces yet another lawsuit from Harmony Gold, DragonFire product line information announced, and more!
ICv2 released their quarterly sales rankings for hobby game stores for the second quarter of 2017. For those unfamiliar with their ranking methods, ICv2 polls a large list of independent hobby stores to track sales, which is useful information for those in distribution or in the gaming market, to track what is and isn’t selling. It’s not a perfect method as it leaves out mass market retailers or online distributors such as Amazon or DriveThru, so no need for a flamewar if your most-hated game ranked higher than your favorite. However, it is a good snapshot of where the industry is. And to give you an idea of what kind of market we’re looking at, ICv2 released their numbers for the hobby games market for the fiscal year of 2016. The United States and Canada had $1.4 billion in sales showing growth of 21% over 2015 with all markets within the industry showing between 17% to 29% growth. The largest category is collectible games at $750 million in sales, and the smallest is tabletop roleplaying at $45 million.
The top five selling tabletop roleplaying games are Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, Star Wars, Adventures in Middle-Earth, and Shadowrun. Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner stated in an interview in particular sales of Dungeons & Dragons were up 50% from 2016, stating “Dungeons & Dragons is performing at a very high level. I think Dungeons & Dragons is back and the team has done some very expansive marketing around that.”
In other sectors of the industry, Scythe took the top spot for board games, beating out Catan, Clank!, Jim Henson’s Labyrinth, and Pandemic. The entire list for board games is a bit of a shake-up as only half of games on the list are from Asmodee, as they previously had eight of the top ten spots. Card and dice games (non-collectible) have some familiar but surprising faces with Arkham Horror, Codenames, Smash Up!, Sushi Go!, and Marvel Legendary topping the list. The surprise is that all of the games in the top spots have been out for some time (some several years with no expansion) but now top the list, while one of the normal leaders Munchkin is down to the number eight spot and the perennial list-topper Cards Against Humanity is nowhere to be seen. Collectible games and toys are more what you’d expect with Magic: The Gathering, Pokemon TCG, and Yu-Gi-Oh TCG topping the list, and miniature games HeroClix taking the fifth spot, D&D Fantasy Miniatures taking the eighth, and Pathfinder Battles finishing off the top ten. Finally, non-collectible miniature games have a slight surprise as the top sellers are Star Wars X-Wing beating out Warhammer 40K even with their new edition. The rest of the top five are D&D Nolzur’s Marvelous Minis, Star Wars Armada, and Warmachine.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one. Harmony Gold, the rights holders to Robotech, is filing suit over the use of mecha designs in BattleTech. This time, they’re going after Hairbrained Schemes, creators of the Kickstarter-funded BattleTech video game currently in beta and, of course, it’s over the Unseen. If you don’t remember this from the olden days of gaming, BattleTech creators FASA Corporation licensed the designs of several mecha from anime series from their original Japanese creators to use in their mecha wargame, including several designs from Macross. Harmony Gold licensed the rights to Macross to distribute the series in the United States, which they combined with other anime series, rewrote the entire story, and called their new show Robotech. In the late 80s and early 90s, a lot of legal…for lack of a better word, let’s just say “stuff” happened and Harmony Gold claimed that FASA Corporation’s license was invalid because they owned the rights to Robotech and therefore exclusive rights to all things related to Robotech, including the mecha designs from Macross. This is a vast oversimplification, but the matter was settled and that’s why you never saw formerly iconic mechs like the Battlemaster, Warhammer, and Phoenix Hawk in official BattleTech products until the past few years, when the designers were retooled to be “original”.
But not original enough for Harmony Gold, who have filed suit against Hairbrained Schemes, Jordan Weisman personally, Piranha Games (who are not affiliated with the BattleTech game, but are the creators of the MechWarrior Online MMO launched in 2013), and “Does 1-10” (this is a legal term that basically means there are other people Harmony Gold wants to sue but they don’t have their identities yet, so they are “John and/or Jane Does”). As of this point, no real movement has happened other than procedural filings and a motion to seal some portions of the discovery (that means everyone involved is agreeing to a court-enforced NDA over any trade secret material entered into evidence in the trial). The full complaint can be read in the link above.
In other news, a group of Dungeons & Dragons players in Springport, NY, were assigned a $1000 fine for “illegal gambling” according to Geek Native. According to a now-unavailable Google+ post from Cris Sidhe, the gaming group received the notice that they faced a $1000 fine with potential jail time plus $1000 per day the group continued operation. Reportedly, this was due to a report received that, on Sunday evenings, multiple cars parked in front of their location and they walked in with dice and other “strange” items. A court date was originally set for August 17, but was canceled after Sidhe’s lawyer contacted the judge. The original fine was reduced to a court order to cease and desist all illegal gambling.
DragonFire, the deckbuilding game for Dungeons & Dragons from Catalyst Game Labs, now has a release date and expansion information. The game will launch in September to hobby chains with a later release to other retail outlets (Amazon currently has a listed delivery date in December) with a retail price of $59.99. The retailer kit will include four copies of the game along with a “demo version” plus two copies of explains available on launch, Wondrous Treasures ($14.99), Heroes of the Sword Coast Character Packs ($24.99), Dragonfire Adventures: Shadows Over Dragonspear ($19.99), and Dragonfire Adventures: Chaos in the Trollclaws ($19.99). In addition, retailers will get an exclusive promo pack, Treasure Pack. The game is based on Shadowrun Crossfire, but has been redesigned in order to better reflect the themes and feel of Dungeons & Dragons and Forgotten Realms.
Talisman returns to tabletops directly from Games Workshop in a revised fourth edition. The classic board game originally released in 1983 will be back on store shelves before the end of the year. The game has been out of print since Games Workshop did not renew their license agreement with Fantasy Flight Games in February, though it hasn’t been hard to find during this period as distributors and stores still sold versions produced by Fantasy Flight. While this “revised” edition will contain changes, Games Workshop has not announced what those changes may be. They also have not announced whether they will be reprinting any of the nine expansions for Talisman that Fantasy Flight produced under license, but have announced six brand new expansions with the first two titled The City and The Dragon.
Zombie Orpheus Entertainment is well known for their loving comedic takes on tabletop gaming and gaming culture. So much so that, once a rights issue was cleared up with Amazon, The Gamers: Dorkness Rising quickly became a Trending video on Amazon Prime once it was available again. I could go on more about them, or you can read an article I wrote for their website about their crowdfunding success stories. And with The Gamers: The Shadow Menace coming soon, this is a great time to back their Patreon and further support their efforts in making original, independent gaming films. At the $1 level, you get access to a monthly exclusive Nodwick comic strip and access to a wiki on the world of The Gamers, JourneyQuest, and more. At the $5 level, you get early access to new episodes and access to their exclusive premium streaming service. And of course, there’s more levels which include access to live streams from the set, 50% off coupons for merchandise, access to workshops on crowdfunding and filmmaking, and a lot more.
Cool Mini or Not is bringing Westeros to Kickstarter with A Song of Ice & Fire: Tabletop Miniatures Game. Okay, right off the bat, let me warn you this is licensed on the books and not on the television show. So don’t expect Tyrion Lannister to look like Peter Dinklage or Ned Stark to look like Sean Bean. That aside, the core rules are focused on the early part of the series and so expect a lot of names you recognize (and a few you probably don’t even if you read the books (because I can’t believe I’m the only one who forgot Howland Reed existed). The base set contains 103 miniatures with more being added with every stretch goal. The only pledge level is $150 for the base game and all stretch goals, and as it’s a CMON Kickstarter, they’re already through several of them even though the project will run through Tuesday, August 14.
Marathon of Heroes is a fifth edition game module for four to six Level 5 characters from Fail Squad Games. It’s 26 miles between the players and the horde of the great dragon Vatrastrom, and the only things between them and the loot is a vast array of terrifying minions and the dangers of the dragon’s volcano lair itself. The adventure will run at least 36 pages (possibly longer with stretch goals) and is tailored to run over four sessions, give or take depending on side quests. The PDF version is available for a $7 pledge, the print version is available for $13, and there are more pledge levels with other Fail Squad Games products included. This Kickstarter is fully funded and closes on Thursday, August 3.
Spire is a stand-alone roleplaying game of urban fantasy revolution where Spire, the city of a thousand gods, chafes under the despotic rule of the high elves. The lawless undercity is a refuge of hacked-together lost technology from bygone eras, haphazardly hotwired back to life with cheap copies available for sale at the right price. Which might just give you the edge you need against the high elves, bloodwitches, and more. The PDF of the core rulebook is available for a £15 (about US$20) pledge, while the print version is available for £35 (about US$46). This project is fully funded and runs until Thursday, August 17.
Finally, today is Gary Gygax Day. Explore your imagination with friends and roll some crits. Image by Brian Patterson of D20Monkey.
That’s all from me for this week! Find more gaming crowdfunding news at the EN World RPG Kickstarter News website, and don’t forget to support our Patreon to bring you even more gaming news content. If you have any news to submit, email us at news@enworldnews.com. You can follow me on Twitter @Abstruse where I will probably be whining because I’ve had a cold for two days and I’m a big baby when I’m sick, or you can listen to the archives of the Gamer’s Tavern podcast. Until next time, may all your hits be crits! Note: Links to Amazon and/or DriveThru may contain affiliate links with the proceeds going to the author of this column.
ICv2 released their quarterly sales rankings for hobby game stores for the second quarter of 2017. For those unfamiliar with their ranking methods, ICv2 polls a large list of independent hobby stores to track sales, which is useful information for those in distribution or in the gaming market, to track what is and isn’t selling. It’s not a perfect method as it leaves out mass market retailers or online distributors such as Amazon or DriveThru, so no need for a flamewar if your most-hated game ranked higher than your favorite. However, it is a good snapshot of where the industry is. And to give you an idea of what kind of market we’re looking at, ICv2 released their numbers for the hobby games market for the fiscal year of 2016. The United States and Canada had $1.4 billion in sales showing growth of 21% over 2015 with all markets within the industry showing between 17% to 29% growth. The largest category is collectible games at $750 million in sales, and the smallest is tabletop roleplaying at $45 million.
The top five selling tabletop roleplaying games are Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, Star Wars, Adventures in Middle-Earth, and Shadowrun. Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner stated in an interview in particular sales of Dungeons & Dragons were up 50% from 2016, stating “Dungeons & Dragons is performing at a very high level. I think Dungeons & Dragons is back and the team has done some very expansive marketing around that.”
In other sectors of the industry, Scythe took the top spot for board games, beating out Catan, Clank!, Jim Henson’s Labyrinth, and Pandemic. The entire list for board games is a bit of a shake-up as only half of games on the list are from Asmodee, as they previously had eight of the top ten spots. Card and dice games (non-collectible) have some familiar but surprising faces with Arkham Horror, Codenames, Smash Up!, Sushi Go!, and Marvel Legendary topping the list. The surprise is that all of the games in the top spots have been out for some time (some several years with no expansion) but now top the list, while one of the normal leaders Munchkin is down to the number eight spot and the perennial list-topper Cards Against Humanity is nowhere to be seen. Collectible games and toys are more what you’d expect with Magic: The Gathering, Pokemon TCG, and Yu-Gi-Oh TCG topping the list, and miniature games HeroClix taking the fifth spot, D&D Fantasy Miniatures taking the eighth, and Pathfinder Battles finishing off the top ten. Finally, non-collectible miniature games have a slight surprise as the top sellers are Star Wars X-Wing beating out Warhammer 40K even with their new edition. The rest of the top five are D&D Nolzur’s Marvelous Minis, Star Wars Armada, and Warmachine.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one. Harmony Gold, the rights holders to Robotech, is filing suit over the use of mecha designs in BattleTech. This time, they’re going after Hairbrained Schemes, creators of the Kickstarter-funded BattleTech video game currently in beta and, of course, it’s over the Unseen. If you don’t remember this from the olden days of gaming, BattleTech creators FASA Corporation licensed the designs of several mecha from anime series from their original Japanese creators to use in their mecha wargame, including several designs from Macross. Harmony Gold licensed the rights to Macross to distribute the series in the United States, which they combined with other anime series, rewrote the entire story, and called their new show Robotech. In the late 80s and early 90s, a lot of legal…for lack of a better word, let’s just say “stuff” happened and Harmony Gold claimed that FASA Corporation’s license was invalid because they owned the rights to Robotech and therefore exclusive rights to all things related to Robotech, including the mecha designs from Macross. This is a vast oversimplification, but the matter was settled and that’s why you never saw formerly iconic mechs like the Battlemaster, Warhammer, and Phoenix Hawk in official BattleTech products until the past few years, when the designers were retooled to be “original”.
But not original enough for Harmony Gold, who have filed suit against Hairbrained Schemes, Jordan Weisman personally, Piranha Games (who are not affiliated with the BattleTech game, but are the creators of the MechWarrior Online MMO launched in 2013), and “Does 1-10” (this is a legal term that basically means there are other people Harmony Gold wants to sue but they don’t have their identities yet, so they are “John and/or Jane Does”). As of this point, no real movement has happened other than procedural filings and a motion to seal some portions of the discovery (that means everyone involved is agreeing to a court-enforced NDA over any trade secret material entered into evidence in the trial). The full complaint can be read in the link above.
In other news, a group of Dungeons & Dragons players in Springport, NY, were assigned a $1000 fine for “illegal gambling” according to Geek Native. According to a now-unavailable Google+ post from Cris Sidhe, the gaming group received the notice that they faced a $1000 fine with potential jail time plus $1000 per day the group continued operation. Reportedly, this was due to a report received that, on Sunday evenings, multiple cars parked in front of their location and they walked in with dice and other “strange” items. A court date was originally set for August 17, but was canceled after Sidhe’s lawyer contacted the judge. The original fine was reduced to a court order to cease and desist all illegal gambling.
DragonFire, the deckbuilding game for Dungeons & Dragons from Catalyst Game Labs, now has a release date and expansion information. The game will launch in September to hobby chains with a later release to other retail outlets (Amazon currently has a listed delivery date in December) with a retail price of $59.99. The retailer kit will include four copies of the game along with a “demo version” plus two copies of explains available on launch, Wondrous Treasures ($14.99), Heroes of the Sword Coast Character Packs ($24.99), Dragonfire Adventures: Shadows Over Dragonspear ($19.99), and Dragonfire Adventures: Chaos in the Trollclaws ($19.99). In addition, retailers will get an exclusive promo pack, Treasure Pack. The game is based on Shadowrun Crossfire, but has been redesigned in order to better reflect the themes and feel of Dungeons & Dragons and Forgotten Realms.
Talisman returns to tabletops directly from Games Workshop in a revised fourth edition. The classic board game originally released in 1983 will be back on store shelves before the end of the year. The game has been out of print since Games Workshop did not renew their license agreement with Fantasy Flight Games in February, though it hasn’t been hard to find during this period as distributors and stores still sold versions produced by Fantasy Flight. While this “revised” edition will contain changes, Games Workshop has not announced what those changes may be. They also have not announced whether they will be reprinting any of the nine expansions for Talisman that Fantasy Flight produced under license, but have announced six brand new expansions with the first two titled The City and The Dragon.
Zombie Orpheus Entertainment is well known for their loving comedic takes on tabletop gaming and gaming culture. So much so that, once a rights issue was cleared up with Amazon, The Gamers: Dorkness Rising quickly became a Trending video on Amazon Prime once it was available again. I could go on more about them, or you can read an article I wrote for their website about their crowdfunding success stories. And with The Gamers: The Shadow Menace coming soon, this is a great time to back their Patreon and further support their efforts in making original, independent gaming films. At the $1 level, you get access to a monthly exclusive Nodwick comic strip and access to a wiki on the world of The Gamers, JourneyQuest, and more. At the $5 level, you get early access to new episodes and access to their exclusive premium streaming service. And of course, there’s more levels which include access to live streams from the set, 50% off coupons for merchandise, access to workshops on crowdfunding and filmmaking, and a lot more.
Cool Mini or Not is bringing Westeros to Kickstarter with A Song of Ice & Fire: Tabletop Miniatures Game. Okay, right off the bat, let me warn you this is licensed on the books and not on the television show. So don’t expect Tyrion Lannister to look like Peter Dinklage or Ned Stark to look like Sean Bean. That aside, the core rules are focused on the early part of the series and so expect a lot of names you recognize (and a few you probably don’t even if you read the books (because I can’t believe I’m the only one who forgot Howland Reed existed). The base set contains 103 miniatures with more being added with every stretch goal. The only pledge level is $150 for the base game and all stretch goals, and as it’s a CMON Kickstarter, they’re already through several of them even though the project will run through Tuesday, August 14.
Marathon of Heroes is a fifth edition game module for four to six Level 5 characters from Fail Squad Games. It’s 26 miles between the players and the horde of the great dragon Vatrastrom, and the only things between them and the loot is a vast array of terrifying minions and the dangers of the dragon’s volcano lair itself. The adventure will run at least 36 pages (possibly longer with stretch goals) and is tailored to run over four sessions, give or take depending on side quests. The PDF version is available for a $7 pledge, the print version is available for $13, and there are more pledge levels with other Fail Squad Games products included. This Kickstarter is fully funded and closes on Thursday, August 3.
Spire is a stand-alone roleplaying game of urban fantasy revolution where Spire, the city of a thousand gods, chafes under the despotic rule of the high elves. The lawless undercity is a refuge of hacked-together lost technology from bygone eras, haphazardly hotwired back to life with cheap copies available for sale at the right price. Which might just give you the edge you need against the high elves, bloodwitches, and more. The PDF of the core rulebook is available for a £15 (about US$20) pledge, while the print version is available for £35 (about US$46). This project is fully funded and runs until Thursday, August 17.
Finally, today is Gary Gygax Day. Explore your imagination with friends and roll some crits. Image by Brian Patterson of D20Monkey.
That’s all from me for this week! Find more gaming crowdfunding news at the EN World RPG Kickstarter News website, and don’t forget to support our Patreon to bring you even more gaming news content. If you have any news to submit, email us at news@enworldnews.com. You can follow me on Twitter @Abstruse where I will probably be whining because I’ve had a cold for two days and I’m a big baby when I’m sick, or you can listen to the archives of the Gamer’s Tavern podcast. Until next time, may all your hits be crits! Note: Links to Amazon and/or DriveThru may contain affiliate links with the proceeds going to the author of this column.
