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Fantasy Flight Interactive closing down; layoffs across all FFG departments it seems

Com_Raven

Com_Raven

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For those unfamiliar with the name, Fantasy Flight Games is the company behind some of the biggest names in nerdy board games (such as Imperial Assault or the various Game of Thrones games). FFI was created a few years back to bring their games to digital platforms (like the Lord of the Rings Living Card Game on Steam and Xbox Game Pass).

Only took a week to have the first game dev layoffs in 2020 :(

Gamasutra: Fantasy Flight Interactive to close after company-wide layoffs
 

KoolAid

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,676
For a moment I thought all of FFG was shutting down and almost shit my pants

Still sucks though
 
OP
OP
Com_Raven

Com_Raven

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KoolAid said:
For a moment I thought all of FFG was shutting down and almost shit my pants

Still sucks though
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Supposedly there are cuts across the entire company, including a lot in their rpg department. I would assume the big performers like board games or Keyforge should be safe. Still sucks, of course...
 
adj_noun

adj_noun

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
17,182
Sad to hear. Not completely surprising given how LOTR Adventure Card Game didn't exactly set the world on fire, but I was hoping they'd at least get a shot at Arkham Horror.

I wonder if it would have done any better if they'd gone for a tabletop translation instead of the pseudo-Hearthstone mechanics.
 
Nappuccino

Nappuccino

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
13,008
adj_noun said:
Sad to hear. Not completely surprising given how LOTR Adventure Card Game didn't exactly set the world on fire, but I was hoping they'd at least get a shot at Arkham Horror.

I wonder if it would have done any better if they'd gone for a tabletop translation instead of the pseudo-Hearthstone mechanics.
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I know I would be interested in a digital platform to play the actual AHLCG on my PC . . . and I bought a lot of the physical cards already.
 
adj_noun

adj_noun

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
17,182
In retrospect, I suppose changing the name to The Lord of the Rings: Adventure Card Game - Definitive Edition a while back was a telling hint that something was up.

That does has a note of finality to it.
 
Bane

Bane

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Oct 27, 2017
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KoolAid said:
For a moment I thought all of FFG was shutting down and almost shit my pants

Still sucks though
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A former employee was on reddit earlier, before any announcement had been made, claiming that not only was FFGI closing but that most if not all of the RPG division was being laid off and that overall there was "massive" layoffs in the company.
 
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OP
Com_Raven

Com_Raven

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Bane said:
A former employee was on reddit earlier, before any announcement had been made, claiming that not only was FFGI closing but that most if not all of the RPG division was being laid off and that overall there was "massive" layoffs in the company.
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I could see them killing some game lines. Game of Thrones LCG had a lot of rumors lately (and more world championships in the future), for example.
 
OhSatan

OhSatan

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Bane said:
A former employee was on reddit earlier, before any announcement had been made, claiming that not only was FFGI closing but that most if not all of the RPG division was being laid off and that overall there was "massive" layoffs in the company.
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The RPG stuff I think was in whispers since a while back with also a lot of shuffling in the design teams of some boardgames.

But this seems bigger than what was brewing.
 
Mr.Deadshot

Mr.Deadshot

Member
Oct 27, 2017
20,285
Too bad. But why didn't they bring their biggest board games digital with 1:1 adaptions? I guess licensing is a problem at least with Star Wars stuff. But there is so much more. Is it really that hard to adapt board games to digital including good online modes?
 
Rolento

Rolento

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Oct 25, 2017
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OhSatan said:
The next time maybe adapt 1:1 the ultra successful but hard to find LCG game and not try to change everything about it.
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This entirely.

The one line that isn't ending but taking a "reevaluation break" is the LotR LCG as the lead designer has moved to the Marvel LCG and FFG still wants to work with the LotR LCG and their license but don't know where to take it currently.
 
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Bane

Bane

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
5,905
Com_Raven said:
I could see them killing some game lines. Game of Thrones LCG had a lot of rumors lately (and more world championships in the future), for example.
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Yeah, and I've never got a good grasp on how Star Wars Destiny performs. Every now and then I hear rumors or whatnot that it's not been a huge hit after the first few sets but it seems like it does pretty well. And I've also heard that the Five rings LCG hasn't been what they expected but I know next to nothing about that one so have no clue how true that might be. And as much as they've tried I don't think Terrinoth will ever be a thing, I imagine Heroes was the last gasp for that world.

I was actually thinking last night about how I could see them eventually just going the LCG route with all of their card games and now I wonder about that even more.
 
shodgson8

shodgson8

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Aug 22, 2018
4,237
Hope this doesn't impact the app for Journeys In Middle Earth...really enjoy the game but the heavy reliance on an app to play makes me nervous.

Best wishes to any of those affected by the job losses.
 
ArkkAngel007

ArkkAngel007

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
4,992
At least the Mansions of Madness stuff will stay up it seems. Not surprised about the rumblings over on the RPG end. Genesys didn't become their 5e, and their Star Wars line has been heavily pirated from the cost of each small, hit or miss supplement.

Star Wars Destiny has been selling at pretty deep discounts at FLGS lately as well given how long much of it has been sitting around.
 
Drax

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Oct 25, 2017
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Com_Raven said:
For those unfamiliar with the name, Fantasy Flight Games is the company behind some of the biggest names in nerdy board games (such as Imperial Assault or the various Game of Thrones games). FFI was created a few years back to bring their games to digital platforms (like the Lord of the Rings Living Card Game on Steam and Xbox Game Pass).

Only took a week to have the first game dev layoffs in 2020 :(

Gamasutra: Fantasy Flight Interactive to close after company-wide layoffs
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Is this just impacting fantasy flight or asmodee as well?
 
Bane

Bane

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
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Drax said:
Is this just impacting fantasy flight or asmodee as well?
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This incident today is just for FFG but Asmodee has been up for sale since '18. I think at one point both Disney and Hasbro were rumored to be interested.

EDIT: They were purchased by a private equity group in 2018 apparently.
 

Joco

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Oct 29, 2017
1,446
I take it Lord of the Rings: Adventure card game won't come to anything besides PC then?
 
Son of Liberty

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That's sad to hear. I play board games occasionally, with most of them being made by FFG, and they are a ton of fun. Hopefully there won't be any more cuts.
 
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