On Monday, Asmodee North America announced the upcoming departure of CEO Christian Petersen. The founder of Fantasy Flight Games, and then CEO of Asmodee NA after the merger with Asmodee in 2014, is leaving the company at the end of the year.

Petersen said in the announcement that his departure has been “long-planned” and that he is leaving to “focus on family, health, and the pursuit of other interests.”

With the leadership change also comes a restructuring of the company. Two separate business units will emerge, Asmodee North America Publishing led by Steve Horvath and Asmodee North America Distribution led by Andre Kieren.

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TCGplayer has received a $10 million equity investment from Radian Capital. The company says the money will allow it grow staff while it expands its collectible market portal and retail support service from CCGs to board games, roleplaying games, comic books, sports cards, and video games.

Mayfair Games is closing up shop and has sold all its remaining game assets, as well as its majority stake in Lookout Games of Germany, to Asmodee North America. Lookout will continue to operate as a design studio of Asmodee.

Spin Master has signed a distribution deal with Toysmith for a variety of toy brands, including games and puzzles from Spin Master’s Cardinal subsidiary. The arrangement, which takes affect in June, will see Toysmith as exclusive distributor to the specialty market for the covered ranges.

North Star Games has instituted a minimum advertised pricing (MAP) policy, which is “non-negotiable for all North Star Games’ resellers and will be strictly enforced to ensure the continued value of its brand.” The company also issued a statement saying that, effective immediately, except for two unnamed parties, all sellers will be restricted from participating in Amazon’s Third-Party Marketplace. North Star promises to monitor product listings and suspend or terminate the accounts of those sellers that do not comply.

Hasbro has signed on as the master toy licensee for Power Rangers (Saban Brands), UglyDolls (STX Entertainment), Super Monsters (Netflix), and Top Wing (Nickelodeon), though only the announcement for Power Rangers specifically mentions games.

According to NPD, Mattel’s UNO card game was the top selling game in the United States in 2017.

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As part of a major investment in the growth of its UK games business, Ravensburger is recruiting for a Games Product and Development Manager in Bicester, Oxfordshire. The focus of the position will be on working with inventors to develop new products for the local market, as well as adapting games from the company’s international portfolio. Familiarity with licensed products will be helpful but the work will cover family games, children’s games, strategy board games, action games, card games, and brainteasers.

The Strong and National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York needs a Vice President for Marketing and Communications. A minimum of 10 years experience is required. Responsibilities include working with senior leadership on marketing initiatives, public relations, admissions pricing, membership programs, digital strategy, and managing the museum’s portfolio of trademarks. The selected candidate will also work on the National Toy Hall of Fame and World Video Game Hall of Fame induction programs.

A European Sales Associate is wanted by Pegasus Spiele. Previous experience in sales is required. The focus will be on the Italian market, so fluency in Italian is also important.

Among other open positions at Asmodee North America in Roseville, Minnesota are Mass Market Specialist and Amazon Account Manager. For the former, the job is to develop marketing plans, manage the website editorial calendar, and oversee a staff of writers and graphic designers. For the latter, the job is to maintain relationships with Amazon and Amazon Marketplace 3rd party sellers, place orders and track inventory, forecast and monitor sales, and manage new product launches.

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The Asmodee Group today launched new branding consisting of a new logo, new motto—”Great Games, Amazing Stories”—and new corporate website. The company described the changes as…

An expression of Asmodee’s ambition to offer a narrative transmedia experience around its intellectual properties, while continuing to develop and expand its premium physical and digital games catalogue.

After a series of acquisitions that’s united major game properties and design studios under the Asmodee umbrella, the company looks to be taking steps toward a broader business strategy. As an example, the company on the same day separately announced the formation of Fantasy Flight Interactive, a digital development studio “not just adapting tabletop games, but creating fresh, new digital experiences based on Fantasy Flight Games’ beloved brands.”

It was also recently reported by Variety that Sony Pictures is in negotiations to acquire the film rights to Catan from producer Gail Katz, with potential plans for a series. It’s not clear, however, what Asmodee’s role might be in those plans, as Katz’s acquisition of the movie rights dates back to 2015.

Asmodee’s new logo is meant to focus on the company’s B2B position in the industry. Branding for the group’s various publishing studios (Fantasy Flight Games, HeidelBear, Asmodee Studio, Space Cowboys, Days of Wonder, Plaid Hat Games, Ystari, Z-Man Games, and Pearl Games) will not change.

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It’s only been about a year-and-a-half since Asmodee consolidated operations and abandoned Fantasy Flight Games’ exclusive deal with Alliance Game Distributors (in favor of a portfolio approach with ACD, Alliance, GTS, Southern Hobby, and PHD). Effective this month, though, Asmodee North America back to exclusive with Alliance, claiming the arrangement will benefit hobby retailers.

Alliance Game Distributors is building a dedicated team of Asmodee Sales Specialists who will work directly with retailers to help them grow sales by understanding the retailer’s specific needs and providing in-depth product knowledge of ANA products and services. This sales team will also provide greater visibility into stock availability, allocations, and other retailer initiatives, as well as sending retailer feedback to ANA.

At the same time, Asmodee is restructuring its broader sales policies and assigning all specialty retailers (new or existing) to one of three categories. Flagship Accounts are for those with brick-and-mortar stores that provide in-store gaming space. These will have access to the full range of ANA products, early access to new releases, and benefit from organized play support. Toy and Gift Accounts, for those without in-store gaming space, will be limited to the top-selling, broad-appeal titles and restricted to general release dates. General Accounts are for those with different business models, perhaps such as event sales, game cafes, and primarily online businesses. These will be able to participate in organized play and sell the full catalog but not benefit from early access. All three types of account will henceforth be permitted online sales but also must commit to a minimum advertised price (MAP, of no more than a 20 percent discount off of MSRP).

Coiledspring Games has signed on as exclusive U.K. distribution agent for Iello Games’ full product line and for Games Workshop’s Talisman: The Magical Quest board game.

Ares Games of Italy will be distributing the English-language games of Phalanx (UK) worldwide except for Europe. This includes existing products, such as Germania Magna: Border in Flames and Hunger: The Show, as well as the soon to be republished classic, Hannibal & Hamilcar – Rome vs. Carthage (due November 2017).

CMON is no longer handling U.S. distribution for Ankama Products (Krosmaster board games).

This week marks the formal launch of a distribution arrangement that sees Passport Game Studios carrying the product line of Rule & Make of Australia. These include Skyward: The Airborne City, Entropy: Worlds Collide, Smiths of Winterforge, Robots & Rockets, Tavern Fame, and more. Passport also recently expanded its existing distribution partnership with the Polish game company, Granna, to bring the CV series of board games to Canada.

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Pinnacle Entertainment Group (Savage Worlds RPG) is recruiting for a part-time Production Assistant, by which the company apparently means they will do a little bit of everything: project management, marketing, sales, customer service, and graphic design. Working remotely is a possibility.

Panda Game Manufacturing needs Account Managers to work with publisher clients, one with an Asia focus, one with a France focus, one with a Germany focus, and one general. Also the company is looking for a Project Manager. Everything is remote.

Asmodee North America (Fantasy Flight Games) is looking for a Legal Assistant, an Application Developer, a Help Desk Support Technician, and people to work in the FFG Games Center. All positions are in Roseville, Minnesota.

In Rhode Island, there’s a Design Manager position available with Hasbro Gaming. Duties involve coordinating between market feasibility, production, licensing relationships, and other aspects of product development.

Hasbro subsidiary, Wizards of the Coast, has a several openings, including Software Developer, Program Manager, and Digital Marketing for MtG in Renton, Washington; Community Coordinator in Spain; and WPN Senior Store Lead in Germany.

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North Star Games is hiring. The company is looking for a Content Marketing Manager and a Customer Service and Shipping Coordinator. The former will run the social media program and company website. The latter will be responsible for distributing samples, demo copies, and replacement parts. Both positions are located in Kensington, Maryland, just up the street from me. Get the job and we can hang out!

Among a few others positions, Asmodee North America is searching for an Organized Play Coordinator to run international Catan tournaments and a Licensing Coordinator for administrative functions related to licensing partners.

Open positions with Panda Game Manufacturing include Web Developer and Prepress Specialist. There are actually two of the latter, one of which requires fluency in both English and Mandarin Chinese.

GTS Distribution needs Account Representatives in Woburn, Massachusetts; Hauppauge, New York; and Jacksonville, Florida. Responsibilities include sales to retailers and representing GTS at industry events.

Paizo has openings for a Webstore Coordinator and a Technology Manager, the former to consider products and deal with suppliers, the latter to manage “internet operations strategy.”

MYMIC needs someone at the Pentagon with a Top Secret clearance to support war games and tabletop exercises.

SAIC needs two people to help with the “execution of analytic games, tabletop exercises, conferences, presentations, and reports,” one a Defense Policy Analyst with a current TS/SCI clearance, the other a part-time Student Intern.

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A new version of Ticket to Ride is on the way, one with ships as well as trains. Ticket to Ride: Rails & Sails maintains the same style of game-play as the original but challenges players with an additional layer of strategy that trades off between steamships and locomotives. Each route on the board—the world on one side and the Great Lakes region on the other—requires one or the other. There’s a deck of ship cards for claiming routes separate from the train cards. And players decide how they intend to balance between the two travel options by selecting a number of trains and ships to work with at the beginning of the game.

Other new features of Rails & Sails include harbors, which players can build for additional points in port cities they’ve already connected, and tour tickets, which award bonus points for connecting multiple cities (more than just the two found on normal tickets).

Ticket to Ride: Rails & Sails will debut at Gen Con and should hit retail outlets shortly thereafter. MSRP is $80 or €70.

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