BattleLore sold to Fantasy Flight Games!

[Whiterook]

WOW...this is huge! For those that know of Day's of Wonder's track record of focusing a lion share of time and resources to their BattleLore game system, and hence, not so much to it's Memoir '44 title, I think this is actually great news. Fantasy Flight Games can do a much ncer job with support and sales of BattleLore...and this leaves Days of Wonder open to revive efforts to a greater extent to the Memoir '44 line, as well as new games. It is my opinion this is a WIN-WIN!

From the Days of Wonder folks:
Forums - Days of Wonder: Get Board Game Fever!


"Days of Wonder has announced an agreement to sell the BattleLore Game System to Fantasy Flight Games. You can read the announcement on our Press Releases Page.

Why did Days of Wonder do this deal?
We progressively came to realize that we did not have the proper resources to support and develop this game system in a way that would simultaneously please the fans, deliver on the vision we had initially outlined and meet our own internal financial goals; With fuel, labor and plastic costs out of China rising continuously, we decided to face reality, bite the bullet and do the right thing by finding a partner with the resources and a deep love of the genre and product. We are firmly convinced we could not have found a better home for BattleLore than with Fantasy Flight.

Why are BattleLore products no longer available in the web store?
As part of this agreement, we are transitioning our entire inventory of BattleLore products to FFG. This transition will occur in the coming weeks. As a result, effective immediately, all BattleLore products are now marked as unavailable on our web store, as we prepare to ship our inventory to FFG.

I preordered "For Troll and Country". What will happen to my order?
These Troll Battle Maps are currently on a boat and will arrive at our warehouse sometime in October. We want to thank those who have already pre-ordered the map sight unseen, and have made the decision that we will fulfill your order at no charge, (i.e. you will receive a free copy of the map) once the Troll Battle Maps arrive. You do not need to do anything at this stage, this will happen automatically when we receive the Troll Battle Maps.
The remainder of our stock of Troll Battle Maps will then be shipped to FFG, who will take responsibility for the distribution of the remaining Troll Battle Maps.
For European Customers only: We will of course refund your payment for the amount of the Troll Battle Map before sending you the Map free of charge, since in Europe orders are charged when entered into our web store.

I am a US/Canadian reseller and have some outstanding orders with my distributor, Alliance Games, regarding the Troll Battle Maps. What will happen to my pre-orders?
All the details are not finalized, as there may be pricing changes from FFG for this expansion, but Alliance is still expected to stock the Troll Battle Maps when they become available. And of course Alliance will also continue to carry the other BattleLore products going forward, but on FFG's behalf once the transition is completed, in September 2008.

I am a European reseller and have some outstanding orders with my distributor regarding the Troll Battle Maps. What will happen to my pre-orders?
Please contact your local distributor directly.

I am missing some parts. Who will I get them from?
For the time being, you can continue to contact us with customer requests for spare parts. Once the transition is complete, we will transfer our inventory of spare parts to FFG, at which point they will assume responsibility for support of the game.

What will happen to the BattleLore forum and my scenarios on DOW's web site?
We will keep this forum and the Adventure scenarios alive for the foreseeable future. Once FFG's own forum is up and running, we will progressively retire ours, though not necessarily shut it down. This will partially depend on whether we can find a way to export the scenarios out to FFG's site. If not, we will let you produce PDFs of the existing base of scenarios.

What does this agreement mean?
At the end of August, DOW will transfer to FFG all of its inventory of and rights to the BattleLore game system. FFG will then take on the development, marketing and sales support of the game. Future announcements will be made directly by FFG.

What happens to my web code number?
When we finally discontinue the Adventure editor, once BattleLore has transitioned over to FFG, we will also stop accepting any unused BattleLore web code numbers.
So if you have an unregistered code, you should register it now, just to be safe, and use it to gain access time to some of our existing online games, such as Gang of Four and Ticket to Ride.
Note that even if you still have some Time Credit left on your online account coming from other Web Code numbers, the time you will gain from entering your BattleLore web code numbers will cumulate: So don't hesitate nor wait, and enter your BattleLore web code numbers while they are still valid!

What does this mean for Memoir '44?
Memoir '44 is in no way impacted by this deal. If anything, it means that we (DOW) will have even more time to devote to the development of expansions for this game. We understand that some of you may be skeptical, but believe that in the coming months and years you will see a steady stream of expansions (not all just Battle Maps Wink) coming your way. We will be making some announcements shortly, in September, once the BattleLore transition is under way. We will also publish a full schedule of the expansion and base game reprint shortly.

What does this mean for other games?
We have a number of exciting new games which we will announce in the coming months. Stay tuned!

I am angry/upset/concerned and have some other unanswered questions. What should I do?
Please post your questions on the BattleLore forum on our web site, after this message, and we will do our best to answer them."

[KG_Panzerschreck]

I agree with you WR, this is good news indeed for anyone interested in seeing something other than BattleLore come out from DOW.

[Whiterook]

Yeah, it's almost like Days of Wonder put Memoir '44, for instance, so far back on the back burner, that gamers have been straining to remain patient waiting for new expansions and products. Members at the DoW web Forum have been pleading for a LONG time for a British Expansion, for instance...now maybe the company will have more time to devote to such things, as the market is quite obviously there.

I'm sure there's a lot more behind this story than is coming out in the news release...but I definitely take it as good news!

[KG_Panzerschreck]

Their games are wonderful. I have Cleopatra and the Society of Architechs & Shadows over Camelot along with most of the Memoir '44 series. If they continue to to produce games of this quality there is no end to what they can do.

[Whiterook]

Agreed. I think the biggest problem Days of Wonder has faced over the past couple years is, BattleLore completely overwhelmed their Marketing, Research & Design, and attention.....it's just a juggernaut. I think it's been pretty clear that the Memoir '44 fans on their forum, for instance, have felt "left out in the cold" with that game while so much emphasis has been placed on BL. That's just my opinion. And in my estimation, I think this is really a win-win with BL going to Fantasy Flight Games!

[KG_Panzerschreck]

Originally Posted by Whiterook

Agreed. I think the biggest problem Days of Wonder has faced over the past couple years is, BattleLore completely overwhelmed their Marketing, Research & Design, and attention.....it's just a juggernaut. I think it's been pretty clear that the Memoir '44 fans on their forum, for instance, have felt "left out in the cold" with that game while so much emphasis has been placed on BL. That's just my opinion. And in my estimation, I think this is really a win-win with BL going to Fantasy Flight Games!

As we now know with the pending release of the Med expansion for Memoir '44 {And the re-issues of out of print copies of the Russian and Pacific Expansions}, this whole thing is going to be very good for we Memoir '44 fans.