As promised, GAMA announced its new Executive Director today. John Ward, a retired army officer with over 23 years military experience, replaces Anthony Gallela, who has moved on to become the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Bucephalus Games. Ward comes most recently from a criminal justice background, having
Category: Industry
Discworld author Terry Pratchett knighted
That’s right – fantasy author and occasional gamer Terry Pratchett has been knighted for his work in literature. Dealing with early-onset Alzheimer’s since last year, Sir Terry is the author of the immensely popular Discworld books – if you haven’t heard of them, you just don’t go into bookstores, do
Hasbro drops Scrabulous lawsuit
‘Tis the season to resolve one’s differences, it seems. Scrabulous, an online clone of the classic word game Scrabble, was created by two brothers in India and went on to become tremendously popular on Facebook. (Why the brothers thought they had the right to do this, I have no idea.)
More WotC layoffs
Just like back in August, Wizards of the Coast has laid off employees today. Rumors are still swirling about the number of employees affected, though around 24 seems the prevailing estimate. According to a post at ENWorld by Paizo CEO Lisa Stevens, today’s layoffs include the following: Randy Buehler (VP
State of the Mongoose 2008 report posted
Still a significant publisher in tabletop gaming, Mongoose Publishing has just given its fans a status update in the form of its annual State of the Mongoose report (also copied below). Points of interest include plans for Hammers Slammers, a full color Traveller-powered game based on David Drake’s classic sci-fi
Gen Con "sale" actually hostile takeover attempt
Those of you who’ve been following the comments of the already know, but it’s worth repeating in the main news feed: according to Adrian Swartout, President of Gen Con LLC, the “Gen Con Acquisition Group” that filed a letter of intent to buy Gen Con – well, that’s most likely
Gen Con sale pending to "Acquisition Group"
that activity continues on the Gen Con front: a for purchase of the assets of Gen Con LLC, currently undergoing Chapter 11 restructuring, was filed last Thursday with the bankruptcy court. The letter names a “Gen Con Acquisition Group” as the buyer, though the group’s members are not identified. The
Catalyst added to WizKids shakeout
Just since our story yesterday on the continuing WizKids closure situation, it was pointed out that another hat was thrown into the ring for picking up the pieces. Catalyst Game Labs has made an offer to Topps to acquire HeroClix, Pirates, BattleTech/MechWarrior, and Shadowrun. Catalyst’s proven track record withClassic BattleTech
Lucasfilm drops Gen Con lawsuit
Finally, something optimistic to post about. LivingDice.com has the news – Lucasfilm has dropped the lawsuit against GenCon, per the dismissal notice filed with the courts earlier today. Naturally, the hope is that things will get sorted out in bankruptcy proceedings, allowing all parties to resume business as usual –
Upper Deck has second round of 2008 layoffs
The season of cutting back is fully underway. We hadn’t mentioned the Mattel layoffs yet, so if you hadn’t heard, now you know. In addition, our sources say that Upper Deck has just had more layoffs, and this round is more severe than the company’s cutbacks in early May. If
Shadowrun and BattleTech safe despite WizKids closure
Despite yesterday’s news that WizKids will be closing down, the concern some have expressed over the future of Shadowrun and Classic Battletech licenses is apparently unnecessary. Catalyst Game Labs, which licenses the two game properties from WizKids, posted the following announcement on its site (copied below): The Topps Company announced
WizKids officially shut down
So yeah – Topps is formally exiting the hobby games market and terminating all WK product lines, or what’s left of them anyway. The predictable noises are being made about changing economic times and etc., but one wonders whether the sports trading card business is really that much better to
Audio Report: Miniatures and fear, sort of
Since it was recorded just a few days before Halloween, the latest episode of the OgreCave Audio Report naturally focuses on – miniatures? Yep, Mike and I muse on the recent D&D Miniatures news, and on the sorts of miniatures games a cross-training gamer should have on hand. Then we
OgreCave interview – Stan!
You’ve seen his name floating around the industry for years now, at companies like TSR and Wizards of the Coast, to recent ventures like The Game Mechanics and Super Genius Games, and even in Kobold Quarterly – the man, the myth, the Stan! From Star Wars and Ravenloft to d20
Reasons given for refusal of GenCon charity donation
Apparently the recent decision by the Christian Children’s Fund to refuse $17,000 from a GenCon charity auction has raised enough of an uproar that an explanation is being offered (to both the Escapist and directly via email to concerned gamers). According to Cheri Dahl, VP of International Communications and Fundraising