As for the reason behind the split, I put the question to Hans im Glück's Moritz Brunnhofer, and he replied, "All contracts were cancelled out of our will and decision." That said, the six Carcassonne mini expansions already announced by Rio Grande Games will still be released by RGG. Santa Cruz, HiG's early 2012 release, still has no English-language publication lined up at this time.
On its Facebook page, Z-Man Games has been soliciting readers to submit out-of-print or never-released-in-English titles from HiG that they'd like to see. Odd to see so many wishes for Die Macher given that the game was published in English...
• To continue with Z-Man news, the new edition of Wok Star is on hold until mid-2013, according to a BGG user who spoke with Z-Man's Zev Shlasinger at the 2012 Origins Game Fair. The game's designer, Tim Fowers, chimed in later in that thread to note that he's "working with [Z-Man] on getting the game down to 4 rounds".
• As noted in this BGGN post, Z-Man's new edition of Rüdiger Dorn's Goa was originally expected to be released at the end of May 2012 – and copies did show up at Origins – but the bulk of the shipment didn't make it into the expected container, as noted by Filosofia's Sophie Gravel, so the game is now expected out in the U.S. in July 2012.
• U.S. publisher Gamewright has picked up Gene Mackles' self-published and 2012 Mensa Select-winning IOTA for publication. IOTA plays like a mash-up between Qwirkle and Set, with players adding cards to a grid over the course of the game based on whether the cards being played match – or don't match – other cards in their number, color or symbol. The game comes packaged in a box the size of a package of mints, and Gamewright's version seems like it will be equally compact.
• English rules for the "Commands & Colors" half of Samurai Battles – the Richard Borg half of this Borg/Krivenko design from Zvezda – can now be downloaded from this page on BGG.
• In addition to The Dancer, a Neuroshima Hex! army pack coming in July 2012 from Portal Publishing, designer (and BGG admin) Rustan Håkansson has a big civilization game coming from Finnish publisher Lautapelit.fi in Q4 2013. Here's a short write-up on Nations:
Nations is an intense historical board game for 1-6 players that takes 90-180 minutes to play. Players control the fate of nations from their humble start in prehistoric times until the beginning of World War I. The nations constantly compete against each other and must balance immediate needs, long-term growth, threats, and opportunities.
Victory points (VPs) are mainly gained by building up a great Heritage during the game, and through Wonders and Buildings at the end of the game. The game lasts eight rounds, and the nation with the most VPs wins.