Studio Agate Takes Over 7th Sea From Chaosium

French publisher Studio Agate is taking over the development and creation of 7th Sea from Chaosium. The news was announced today by Chaosium, alongside a survey to help shape the future of the swashbuckling game. Per the press release, Studio Agate will launch a Patreon page that will give free access to developer insights and progress on future progress. A Kickstarter is also in the works to launch the "next chapter" of the game line.

7th Sea is a pirate-themed game with a core mechanic involving a dice pool of d10s. Players determine the number of d10s they roll based on their trait and skill scores and then add the results together to create scores of 10 or more to make successes that can be spent over a round to influence the narrative or succeed in certain actions.

Studio Agate is best known for developing French language translations of RPGs, including 7th Sea. Last year, Agate successfully launched an English language 7th Sea product - The Price of Arrogance - via a Kickstarter that raised over $190,000.

Ownership of 7th Sea passed from AEG to Chaosium back in 2019. The ownership status of 7th Sea was not addressed in the press release, so it appears that deal involves publication rights and not outright ownership of the IP.

 

[ngenius]

Great news! Though I am surprised by the lack of commentary here. Lest we forget, John Wick's 7th Sea was the first Kickstarter to raise more than one million Dollars, way before the many new ones over the past few years. And the fans of 7th Sea have remained loyal for more than a decade, almost like the fans of Legend of the Five Rings, another game whose first edition was written by John Wick.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/johnwickpresents/7th-sea-second-edition

There is a survey to offer insights, which I am reposting below to get more responses for Studio Agate.

Shape the Future of 7th Sea!

Ahoy, adventurers! As part of this thrilling new chapter for 7th Sea, we’re turning to you, our amazing community, to help guide the future of the game. Your input is vital as we set sail on this exciting journey, and we’d love to hear your thoughts! Below, you’ll find a short 3-question survey...

forms.gle

 

[overgeeked]

pirate-themed game

Swashbuckling adventure, not pirate.

 

[overgeeked]

That's wild. Didn't they just finish fulfilling the last Kickstarter last year?

 

[Desdichado]

Lest we forget, John Wick's 7th Sea was the first Kickstarter to raise more than one million Dollars, way before the many new ones over the past few years. And the fans of 7th Sea have remained loyal for more than a decade, almost like the fans of Legend of the Five Rings, another game whose first edition was written by John Wick.

And then he wrote Orkworld...

 

[Micah Sweet]

Great news! Though I am surprised by the lack of commentary here. Lest we forget, John Wick's 7th Sea was the first Kickstarter to raise more than one million Dollars, way before the many new ones over the past few years. And the fans of 7th Sea have remained loyal for more than a decade, almost like the fans of Legend of the Five Rings, another game whose first edition was written by John Wick.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/johnwickpresents/7th-sea-second-edition

There is a survey to offer insights, which I am reposting below to get more responses for Studio Agate.

Shape the Future of 7th Sea!

Ahoy, adventurers! As part of this thrilling new chapter for 7th Sea, we’re turning to you, our amazing community, to help guide the future of the game. Your input is vital as we set sail on this exciting journey, and we’d love to hear your thoughts! Below, you’ll find a short 3-question survey...

forms.gle

I in no way remained loyal to 7th Sea once 2e was released, or L5R once AEG sold it to Fantasy Flight. In both cases the setting and the mechanics changed far too much IMO for them to feel like the same games, and went in directions I didn't care for in any case.

That's ok. I still have all my old stuff.

 

[Elvish Lore]

I don't want some weird story game where success is determined first and then portioned out over play; it was a strange conflict model that totally undercut dramatic tension. Kind of hated it.

I'm not saying that 7th Sea needs to focus on traditional game mechanics, I'm fine with going very gamist. But can we have an approach that allows for game play that feels epic and thrilling, not trite and reductive.

 

[DEFCON 1]

I was not a fan of the mechanics of 7th Sea 2nd Edition either. In the few times I've run it in the past few years, I've instead used the 1st Edition game with did my own rebalancing of the Skills and Knacks system. I love the Roll & Keep system of 1E, there were just issues with the proliferation of unnecessary and barely-used Skills and Knacks that kept getting added to the game with every subsequent Nation and Secret Society splatbook that got released.

 

[GrimCo]

I was and still am fan of 7th sea 1st edition. Own pretty much all the splatbooks. It's my favourite system to run historic games, no magic/low magic swashbuckling fantasy. 2ed changed mechanics too much. Didn't like it, didn't run it, have no intention of ever running it. But i hope they do well and if 3ed ever comes out, i hope they go more 1st ed route, with more mechanical crunch.