Asmodee Acquires Fantasy Flight Games in Huge Board Game Merger

JonB

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Sep 16, 2012
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Asmodee Acquires Fantasy Flight Games in Huge Board Game Merger



This is the second major United States acquisition this year by the billions-backed European board game publisher.

France-based board game publisher roleplaying games [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/asmodee]. Asmodee is a large French publisher of board games owned by the Eurazeo investment group, which manages some $6 billion in assets. The terms of the acquisition are not being disclosed.

This news follows Asmodee's August acquisition of popular California-based publisher Days of Wonder, [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/137037-Asmodee-Buys-Days-of-Wonder-and-Merges-With-Ticket-to-Ride-Publisher] a merger which is now apparent was simply the first step in a broader strategy in North America. Fantasy Flight, like Days of Wonder, will continue to operate out of its North American headquarters as an independent publisher, though some operations will be streamlined alongside Asmodee's. Christian T. Petersen, CEO of Fantasy Flight Games, will continue in that role while becoming a major shareholder in the combined company. "Fantasy Flight Games has enjoyed tremendous growth over the last 10 years," said Petersen in a press release, "By joining forces with Asmodee, we'll be able to continue that growth."

There aren't many changes to be made at Fantasy Flight, and no losses or changes of its many licenses to make games based on popular IP as diverse as Game of Thrones or Sid Meier's Civilization are expected. Asmodee intends to expand and improve Fantasy Flight Games' organized play support in European regions to be comparable to that of the United States, though those improvements will take over a year. Some Fantasy Flight Games properties might make transitions to other Asmodee brands, but no details were provided.

[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tabletop/]

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Crimson_Dragoon

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Jul 29, 2009
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That's a surprise to me. I never realized Asmodee was that big, certainly not bigger than Fantasy Flight. I honestly would have expected this acquisition to go the other way.
 

Ark of the Covetor

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Jul 10, 2014
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Crimson_Dragoon said:
That's a surprise to me. I never realized Asmodee was that big, certainly not bigger than Fantasy Flight. I honestly would have expected this acquisition to go the other way.
FFG put out some fantastic products, but they've been struggling to meet demand for a fair while now, and outside of hardcore boardgame/non-Magic CCG junkies they were pretty much only known for the Dark Heresy/Rogue Trader 40K RPG systems until they started putting out X-Wing, DUST, and now Imperial Assault.

Unfortunately in the medium term I think this deal could threaten the 40K RPGs - acquiring FFG through Asmodee could signal that Eurazeo are interested in moving into miniature wargames as well as boardgames, and if the current board of Kirby-brand Lackeydroids have demonstrated one thing, it's that they're happy to leave huge chunks of potential revenue on the table if taking it would mean the loss of one iota of control or would require them to change direction away from incessant and counterproductive cost-cutting - I can see them dumping their entire RPG line and severing ties with FFG just to avoid the notice of FFG's new overlords.
 

Weaver

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Apr 28, 2008
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So long as FFG can keep making board games I like I guess this doesn't matter.
 

subskipper

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Sep 5, 2014
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I really had no idea Asmodee were that big to be honest. As a European, I hope this makes FF games and events more accessible over here as well.
 

New Troll

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Sounds to me the main gains is FF will now have an easier international span while Asmodee secures a foothold in North America. So both companies' games will get broader releases.
 
Jan 12, 2012
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Ark of the Covetor said:
FFG put out some fantastic products, but they've been struggling to meet demand for a fair while now, and outside of hardcore boardgame/non-Magic CCG junkies they were pretty much only known for the Dark Heresy/Rogue Trader 40K RPG systems until they started putting out X-Wing, DUST, and now Imperial Assault.

Unfortunately in the medium term I think this deal could threaten the 40K RPGs - acquiring FFG through Asmodee could signal that Eurazeo are interested in moving into miniature wargames as well as boardgames, and if the current board of Kirby-brand Lackeydroids have demonstrated one thing, it's that they're happy to leave huge chunks of potential revenue on the table if taking it would mean the loss of one iota of control or would require them to change direction away from incessant and counterproductive cost-cutting - I can see them dumping their entire RPG line and severing ties with FFG just to avoid the notice of FFG's new overlords.
I can see that switch being a boon to GW, if handled correctly. If they can reclaim the licenses, they can run off new editions of the 40K books and provide the same expansive universe of books for Warhammer Fantasy, which FF screwed up royally and then abandoned. Miniature sales won't recover until they restructure their whole business, but the universes are still popular, and if recent WotC history and the buckets of Kickstarters going on have proved anything it's that a moderately good RPG with familiar branding can turn in a modest but steady profit.

It would be rough to do, especially over how close the new games could be to the old ones, but taking it in-house or to a smaller designer will let them make money while keeping up the time-honoured GW tradition of cranking out shelves' worth of splatbooks.