Fantasy Flight Games Discontinuing RPGs?

Back in January, it emerged that FFG was laying off a lot of staff, including RPG staff. Now, GM Chris over at d20 Radio is reporting that the company is discontinuing all RPG development, including Star Wars, Legend of the Five Rings, and its relatively newer Genesys universal system.

He says that all currently announced products will be produced, but in the long-term the RPG production is ending. There's some speculation regarding sales of companies to each other (FFG's owner is Asmodee, which is owned by PAI Partners who bought it from Eurazeo), but it's only conjecture. More info at the link below!

Fantasy Flight Games Long Term Plan will Discontinue RPG Development - d20 Radio

This article is a follow-up to a prior article published on January 8, 2020. We at d20Radio are sad to announce that we have independently confirmed [...]

www.d20radio.com

FFG's Katrina Ostrander appears to have confirmed the news:


Back in January, FFG laid off over 14 staff, and shut down Fantasy Flight Interactive. Reports were that the tabletop RPG department had been "shuttered" -- reduced to a couple of full timers. It sounds now like the cut is more severe even than that.

 

[Reynard]

I'm fairly positive that it is an overall tabletop games license. Part of the reason FFG could never release PDFs for the Star Wars RPG was because PDFs were considered digital and thus were under EA's purview.

Which is one of my favorite examples of corporate culture Just Not Getting It.

 

[imagineGod]

So the cat is finally out of the bag.

When we were told of the layoffs at Fantasy Flight Games, we also heard "nothing to worry" they said. "We will hire freelance contractors" they said.

Well, I guess role playing games are not profitable to parent company Asmodee, especially when compared to card games, even for the small hobby stores who sell way more card booster decks than RPG books.

Plus, all the recent collections of Star Wars books like "Allies and Adversaries" or "Gadgets and Gear" should have been telltale signs that role playing games at Fantasy Flight Games were on death row.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

The time travel and maybe the parallel worlds are canon in Star Wars, and the TTRPG could allow a open door for the return of the Expanded Universe. Why not allowing in DM Guild fans publishing their own version of the franchise? For example adding new ideas from the last years as digital immortality or mind uploading tech.

Disney has got more (now forgotten) sci-fi franchises to test new ideas in the screen, for example the sword of the swashbucklers and the alien legion.

Hasbro and EA could agree something about digital content.

 

[Bravesteel25]

The time travel and maybe the parallel worlds are canon in Star Wars, and the TTRPG could allow a open door for the return of the Expanded Universe. Why not allowing in DM Guild fans publishing their own version of the franchise? For example adding new ideas from the last years as digital immortality or mind uploading tech.

Disney has got more (now forgotten) sci-fi franchises to test new ideas in the screen, for example the sword of the swashbucklers and the alien legion.

Hasbro and EA could agree something about digital content.

That all has just as much a chance of happening as the EU being made canon again. It doesn't even matter if Hasbro and EA came to an understanding because Disney controls the license. They wouldn't allow any of that.

 

[Morrus]

Is it possible to find out whether FFG has the overall tabletop license or both board game and RPG licenses? That answer would go a long way toward getting an idea of whether we're likely to see a new SW RPG in the near-ish term. Also, do we have any idea how long FFG's Star Wars license has remaining?

Turns out Hasbro has board games. FFG has RPG and minis games. We don’t know the terms of FFG’s license, no.

 

[Morrus]

The time travel and maybe the parallel worlds are canon in Star Wars, and the TTRPG could allow a open door for the return of the Expanded Universe. Why not allowing in DM Guild fans publishing their own version of the franchise? For example adding new ideas from the last years as digital immortality or mind uploading tech.

Disney has got more (now forgotten) sci-fi franchises to test new ideas in the screen, for example the sword of the swashbucklers and the alien legion.

Hasbro and EA could agree something about digital content.

Wait, why doesn’t Hasbro buy Disney?!?!

 

[Reynard]

Turns out Hasbro has board games. FFG has RPG and minis games. We don’t know the terms of FFG’s license, no.

So, from a license perspective, does that make Imperial Assault a miniatures game? Seems like the li9ne could get pretty blurry.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

We don't know the Disney's plans about buying other company (EA Games or Sony Pictures?). Hasbro doesn't want to be controlled, and even Mattel said no when Hasbro talked about a fusion.

Maybe Hasbro will buy some Asmodee/FFG franchises when this doesn't work so well.

 

[Morrus]

So, from a license perspective, does that make Imperial Assault a miniatures game? Seems like the li9ne could get pretty blurry.

I guess?

 

[hutchback]

I don’t think the license is a simple split of board games vs miniature games. FFG produced a dice game, card game, two straight up board games (Rebellion and Outer Rim), and of course the RPG.