Hachette Livre to Acquire Gigamic

French book publisher Hachette Livre today announced that it has entered in to exclusive negotiations for the purchase of Gigamic from founders Jean-Christophe Gires and Stéphane Gires. Gigamic, also based in France, publishes a variety of strategy and family games, with its best-known titles probably being Quarto and Quoridor.

For Hachette Livre, which already publishes party games (quiz games, etc.), and which added mobile games to its portfolio in 2016, this investment is part of a strategic decision to explore the leisure activity market that sits alongside publishing, in particular all the segments of the consumer gaming market.

Stéphane Gires will continue to manage Gigamic after the transaction closes.

According to the Hachette Livre announcement, Gigamic’s annual sales exceed €15 million.

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Spin Master has singed a 3 year licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Consumer Products for DC comics properties. The agreement covers games, puzzles, action toys, remote control and robotic vehicles, and water toys beginning in spring 2020.

PlayMonster (5 Second Rule, Yeti in My Spaghetti) is partnering with Audax Private Equity to finance additional expansion through “organic growth and add-on acquisitions.”

Goliath continues to grow, acquiring U.K. based Vivid Toy Group and moving in to the Italian market through a partnership with distributor MacDue. With the acquisition of Vivid, Goliath plans to launch 20 new games in the U.K. market next year.

Drumond Park has signed on with Tomy UK as exclusive distributor for all the former’s games in the U.K. and Ireland.

NSKN Games (Dice Settlers, Teotihuacan) and Board & Dice Games (Beet Empire, Dice Brewing) are merging. The combined company will continue operations under the Board & Dice name.

With the passing of designer Greg Stafford and earlier Stewart Wieck, of the games’ latest publisher, Nocturnal Media, the RPGs King Arthur Pendragon and Prince Valliant have been transferred again to Chaosium.

After a couple of messy PR situations involving insensitive or extremist material in game books, Paradox Interactive is stepping back from the publishing business but not abandoning the World of Darkness altogether. Instead, Paradox is moving to a licensing model and integrating White Wolf’s operations in to the parent company. Modiphius Entertainment, which was already handling distribution, is taking over development and publication for Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition. This will include production of various supplements (such as The Fall of London Chronicle and Players Guide), as well as oversight of other licensees (Onyx Path Publishing, Elderwood Academy, Dogmight Games, and others).

Impressions Game Distribution Services is being acquired by Flat River Group. The latter is a toy and game distribution company with business in e-commerce and crowdfunding fulfillment. Impressions founder Aldo Ghiozzi will continue with the combined company.

Scientific Games and Hasbro have extended their license agreement through 2025. The agreement covers the use of Hasbro properties, including Monopoly, Battleship, Clue, Yahtzee, and others for lotteries, slot machines, online gaming, and now also table games.

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Selling to Walmart

On June 28th, Walmart is conducting an Open Call event at its headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, where potential suppliers will have an opportunity to pitch their products to company buyers. The theme of this event is made-in-the-U.S.A., meaning Walmart will be focused on identifying new products in all categories produced domestically.

Applications to participate in Walmart’s 2017 Open Call are due May 18th but space is limited.

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According to market research firm NPD Group, game sales in the United States grew 21 percent from the year before, reaching a total of $1.77 billion in 2016. The games category, in fact, was the third largest segment of overall toy sales, falling just behind collectibles and outdoor & sports toys at 8.7% of the total market.

Also of note, within the collectibles segment, blind pack sales grew 60 percent 2015-2016 and were six-times greater than in 2013!

Youth electronics were up 3 percent. Building sets were down 3 percent.

NPD reported similar growth in the U.K., where the games & puzzles segment also increased 21 percent year-on-year.

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Google Exec to be New Mattel CEO

Margaret “Margo” Georgiadis, most recently President, Americas at Google, will become the new CEO of Mattel effective February 8th. She will also join the Board of Directors.

Vacating the CEO position is Christopher Sinclair, who joined Mattel’s board in 1996 and took over the CEO position from Bryan Stockton in 2015. Sinclair is credited with helping turnaround the company, which in recent years lost its #1 position in the industry to Lego and the Disney princess license to Hasbro. He will stay on as Executive Chairman of the Board.

Stockton received good news recently when a Deleware court put an end to a Mattel shareholder suit that sought to force the company to seek the return of $10 million in severance that was paid when the former executive was let go.

In addition to Google, Georgiadis held past positions with Groupon, Discover Financial Services, and McKinsey & Company. Her hiring comes as Mattel puts more effort in to technology-based products, including a 3D printer and a personal assistant appliance.

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Asmodee Swallows Three More

German publisher and distributor Heidelberger Spieleverlag is merging with Asmodee. Post-merger, it’ll continue operations out of Walldürn as Studio Heidelberger, developing new products and producing localized versions of Fantasy Flight Games titles.

The same is happening with two other European board game companies, publisher EDGE Entertainment (Spain and France) and distributor Millenium (Spain).

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Paper Money

MattelMattel’s fourth quarter gross sales were 3 percent higher in 2015, absent the impact of currency exchange rates, compared to the same period in the previous year. Full-year gross sales were up 1 percent in constant-currency terms, buoyed by 7 percent growth in Fisher-Price and a 22 percent rise from Hot Wheels. Mattel’s entertainment business, which includes both the digital and tabletop games categories, grew 16 percent.

A recently announced “strategic partnership” will see Stronghold Games handling all English-language games of eggerspiele in North America.

The two Toys “R” Us stores in Ireland are shutting down just 6 months after opening.

Queen Games has begun providing its games direct to distributors in North America, ending its distribution arrangement with Asmodee NA. Queen Games will use Ship Naked for fulfillment, with Hit Point Sales also providing an alternate sales vehicle.

For its part, Asmodee has acquired Nordic and Dutch distributor Bersgala Enigma and is renaming the company to just “Enigma”.

Patch Products of Beloit, Wisconsin has acquired STEM and construction toy company, Roominate. Patch also changed its name to Playmonster.

Spin Master has acquired the Etch A Sketch and Doodle Sketch brands, including all related patents, trademarks, tooling, and inventory, from The Ohio Art Company.

Bay Tek Games has purchased Skee Ball.

Playmore Games of Finland announced the closing of an Angel round of funding with €250,000 from Nolwenture Ltd. and Davigia Ltd. The investment will be used to expand the company’s distribution network for tabletop games, as well as to develop its Dized application for enhancing tabletop games with digital content.

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Geek Chic Acquires Crash Games

Crash Games LogoMaking a move outside the furniture business, Geek Chic has acquired Crash Games. Terms of the deal were not announced but Crash Games founder Patrick Nickell will remain at the head of the company. Based on a statement released today, it appears the move is primarily aimed at allowing the game company to extend beyond its core market of Kickstarter backers. Crash Games has plans to publish six board games in 2016.

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According to Bloomberg, Hasbro and Mattel have discussed a potential merger. No concrete steps are said to have been taken for a deal that would likely face significant regulatory and other hurdles. And in fact, other sources suggest the deal is definitely not going forward. But imagine the crossover potential! I’m thinking the next American Girl Girl of the Year is a competitor on the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. Or what might the attachments look like for a Monster High Mr. Potato Head?

Hasbro Mattel Crossover Potential

Paper Money

FunskoolApparently working toward an IPO, CMON Limited (also known as CoolMiniOrNot) has secured $5.3 million in a series A financing round through Quantum Asset Management of Singapore.

Toobeez, maker of eponymous construction toys, has signed a deal with the MRF Group of India, making the former exclusive distributor of Funskool brand products in the United States—puzzles, games, infant and preschool toys, and arts & crafts.

After a short 4 month effort with two stores, Toys “R” Us is calling it quits on Ireland.

Kalmbach Publishing of Wisconsin, which puts out the magazines Discover and Model Railroader, among others, is entering the game business with the purchase of Rather Dashing Games, publisher of Dwarven Miner and more. Rather Dashing’s Mike Richie and Grant Wilson will remain on to run the operation.

Burning Wheel Headquarters has taken over publishing duties for the Dungeon World roleplaying game. Designers Sage La Torra and Adam Koebel will continue to direct development of the game.

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