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Mergers, Splits, and Distribution Deals: Twilight Creations, Passport Game Studios, Goliath, Ankama, and More

Mergers, Splits, and Distribution Deals: Twilight Creations, Passport Game Studios, Goliath, Ankama, and More
From gallery of W Eric Martin
One type of news item that I receive somewhat frequently, but rarely post about is an announcement of a special relationship between two companies, whether that be a merger, a purchase, a distribution deal, or something else. Yes, I'll post a standalone news item when the companies are large enough (with that phrase being defined in an obscenity-like manner) to merit immediate coverage, but for other such announcements, ones that don't portend big changes in the hobby game industry, I place them in a folder and aim to get to them later. Now is finally that time:

• Let's start with one of the most recent developments by first looking to the past. In June 2016, Mayfair Games announced that it had purchased "a controlling interest" in Kentucky-based Twilight Creations, with TC owner Kerry Breitenstein staying on board to oversee the creative side of the company as the Vice President of Design and Production.

On September 8, 2017, however, Breitenstein announced via Facebook that "Twilight Creations is no longer part of Mayfair Games". Within a week, TC had launched a new website, starting business on its own once again. I asked Breitenstein for details on this unexpected turn of events, and she wrote, "Mayfair decided they didn't want to continue with Twilight Creations, so I acquired the company back. There are many things on the horizon, and there will be more seen from Twilight now." A second edition of Martians!!! is one such project, along with a second edition of The Haunting House. Both titles will likely be Kickstarted, with the latter project allowing "people to personalize their house as far as names on the welcome map and hopefully some other ways", according to Breitenstein.

From gallery of W Eric Martin
• On Oct. 2, 2017, U.S. company Passport Game Studios announced a distribution partnership with Spanish publisher ThundeerGryph Games that will start in 2018 with three titles: Dead Man's Doubloons, Pot de Vin, and Tao Long: The Way of the Dragon, all three of which were featured at SPIEL '17 in late October.

• In May 2017, Passport updated its distribution deal with Polish publisher Granna so that Granna titles such as CV and CVLizations would be available to distributors and retailers in Canada.

From gallery of W Eric Martin
• In September 2017, mass market game publisher Goliath Games, which is based in the Netherlands and has multiple offices around the world, acquired Jax, Ltd., best known for the early 1980s title Sequence, which has remained in print for decades and had numerous spin-offs titles over the past 35 years.

Both Goliath and Jax, Ltd. were founded in 1980, and until this acquisition, both companies had remained family-owned by their original founders. In a press release announcing the deal, Goliath's founder Adi Golad said, "Both of our companies share similar origins of using grassroots promotion to build games from the ground up. Globally, Sequence will be a great fit with our other evergreen titles such as Rummikub and Tri-ominos." (Goliath acquired the mass market U.S. game publisher Pressman in 2014.) Jax, Ltd. will continue to develop its own titles and maintain its own brand in Minnesota, says Goliath president David Norman, "while enjoying the benefit of Goliath's significant global resources, including R&D, logistics, TV and digital marketing campaigns."

From gallery of W Eric Martin
• Continuing to step back in time, in August 2017 Renegade Game Studios announced a partnership with French publisher Origames to create "Renegade France", which is intended to "localize Renegade games for the French market as well as focus on supporting the French fans". French versions of Clank!: A Deck-Building Adventure and Clank!: Sunken Treasures are the first titles to hit the market from this partnership.

• In other Renegade news, in November 2017 the publisher hired blogger and photographer Steph Hodge (a.k.a. punkin312) as marketing coordinator/social media guru and Dan Bojanowski as senior producer, a role which entails overseeing new in-house game designs as well as working with international partners.

Board Game Publisher: Ankama
• Old news indeed, but in May 2017 CMON Limited and Ankama ended their distribution partnership, with CMON selling off their remaining stock of Ankama titles, then saying "that is that". Ankama followed this announcement in August 2017 with one of their own stating that the company would now represent itself in English-speaking markets, starting with the 2017 release of DinoParty, a game for youngsters in which you apparently toss dinosaur figures onto landscapes to get them into new homes, and Stellium, with players serving as architects of the universe who create things one randomly-drawn sphere at a time.

• In other CMON Limited news, the publisher hired Édouard Guiton as senior artist in November 2017. You can see Guiton's work on CMON's new version of Council of 4 and Massive Darkness, among other titles.

• In May 2017, Greater Than Games became the fulfillment partner for Perplext, with all of that company's stock probably taking up no more space than a coffee maker on the counter in the break room. GTG already provides fulfillment services for Stonemaier Games, Genius Games, Sixpence Games, and Studio 202 Games.

• Finally, we have this fresh item:

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