Fantasy Flight Games

Last updated
Fantasy Flight Games
Company type Division
Industry Tabletop games
Founded1995;29 years ago (1995)
Founder Christian T. Petersen
Headquarters Roseville, Minnesota, United States
Key people
  • Chris Gerber (CEO)
Products Role-playing games, board games, card games, dice games
Number of employees
64 (2010)  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Parent Asmodee North America (2014–present)
Website fantasyflightgames.com

Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) is a game developer based in Roseville, Minnesota, United States, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, card, and dice games. As of 2014, it is a division of Asmodee North America.

Contents

History

Fantasy Flight Publishing was founded in 1995 by its CEO Christian T. Petersen. Since the release of its first game product ( Twilight Imperium ) in 1997, the company has been doing business as Fantasy Flight Games (FFG). Since that time, FFG has become one of the biggest names in the hobby games industry, being a marketplace leader in board games and maintaining strong businesses in the card game, roleplaying game, and miniature game categories. [1]

From 2000 through 2008, FFG produced a series of supplements and adventures for Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition under the Open Gaming License. This series was collectively known as Legends & Lairs. These books included supplements for classes, expanded magic, and environments, as well as a series of Instant Adventure booklets. [2]

In 2008, FFG partnered with Games Workshop to represent Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 settings in role-playing, board, and card games. [1] FFG announced the end of that partnership on September 9, 2016. Effective February 28, 2017, FFG no longer offers for sale any games made in conjunction with Games Workshop. [3]

In August 2011, Fantasy Flight Games acquired the license for card, miniature and role-playing games set in the Star Wars universe. [4] They have also created board and card games for the well-known licenses Game of Thrones , Battlestar Galactica , and The Lord of the Rings , as well as board games based upon popular computer games: Doom: The Boardgame , StarCraft: The Board Game , and World of Warcraft: The Board Game . They are also known for revising and reprinting popular or cult classic games, including Cosmic Encounter , Arkham Horror , Talisman , and Netrunner .

From 2010 to 2013 FFG was Dust Studio's partner in publishing and distributing Paulo Parente's miniature wargame Dust Tactics. Commenting on the shift in 2013 Petersen stated “it became clear that Paolo and the Dust games would be better served by a partner who specializes in the unique business of miniature games.” [5]

Fantasy Flight Games was known for their game franchise Midnight , which was also made into a movie called Midnight Chronicles [6] by the company's short-lived Landroval Studios. [7] As of 2012, it appears that Midnight is no longer produced or supported by Fantasy Flight. [8]

On November 17, 2014, it was announced that Fantasy Flight Games had agreed on a merger with French board game publisher Asmodée Éditions. [9] [10]

Asmodee has helped to bring some of Fantasy Flight's board games to digital form, and in October 2017, Asmodée and Fantasy Flight announced the formation of Fantasy Flight Interactive, a division of the merged companies to bring more of Fantasy Flight's physical board games to digital implementations. [11] However, as part of a company-wide layoff, Fantasy Flight opted to close Fantasy Flight Interactive in January 2020. [12]

In December 2019 through January 2020 Asmodee announced they were moving towards focusing on Fantasy Flight Games' core boardgame-, dice- and card- games. Their tabletop role-playing games like Star Wars and Genesys will move to Edge Entertainment and Miniatures games like X-wing and Armada to Atomic Mass.

Games

Living Card Games

Living Card Game is a term trademarked by Fantasy Flight Games for expandable card games. FFG defines a "Living Card Game" as a variant of collectible card games. [13] LCGs have regular expansions and deck construction like CCGs, but do not have the "blind buy purchase model" of CCGs. Instead of randomized starter decks and booster packs, LCGs have starter sets and expansion packs with fixed non-randomized distribution of cards. Their starter sets come with pre-constructed starter decks, and are designed to be self-contained; they can be played by themselves or expanded for constructed play with expansions. [14] Expansion packs are released on a monthly or near-monthly basis, each containing 60 cards, with a number of copies of each unique card equal to the limit of the number of copies a player is allowed in their deck (e.g. three copies of each card in an Android: Netrunner pack).[ citation needed ] Larger "deluxe" expansions are released less frequently, and typically contain many more cards and sometimes introduce new game mechanisms.[ citation needed ]

Many games from other companies use a similar distribution model, but because "Living Card Game" and its initials "LCG" are registered trademarks of Fantasy Flight Games, other publishers do not use this term. [15] For example, Upper Deck Entertainment relaunched VS System in 2015 as an LCG-style game but markets it as a "Two-Player Card Game" or "2PCG" [16] and similar Doomtown: Reloaded was called an "expandable card game". [17]

Fantasy Flight Games currently prints the following LCGs:

Fantasy Flight Games has previously printed the following LCGs:

Fantasy Flight has also printed Blue Moon Legends, which is a comprehensive collection of Blue Moon and its expansions. Although it has similar gameplay and a fixed card set like a Living Card Game, it was not released in the Living Card Game line.

KeyForge

Fantasy Flight Games published the card game KeyForge in 2018. Created by Magic: The Gathering designer Richard Garfield, KeyForge differs from other collectible card games (CCGs) in that the game uses procedural generation to create unique decks. Commonly, CCGs are sold in pre-built decks or boosters packs. Fantasy Flight Games calls KeyForge a "unique deck game" because each deck contains a procedurally designed character unique to that deck called an Archon. [18] IGN described the game as "a bold new idea and a vastly different kind of game format", but questioned the randomization model, speculating that "people won't be spending tons of money on single rare cards, but that may have been replaced with spending tons of money on random deck boxes in the hopes of getting lucky with a great card combination. [19] On June 22, 2022, it was announced that Ghost Galaxy had acquired KeyForge from Fantasy Flight Games. [20]

Awards

2016 Origins Awards

[21]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Games Workshop</span> British maker of miniature wargames

Games Workshop Group is a British manufacturer of miniature wargames, based in Nottingham, England. Its best-known products are Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000.

<i>Netrunner</i> Collectible card game designed by Richard Garfield

Netrunner is an out-of-print collectible card game (CCG) designed by Richard Garfield, the creator of Magic: The Gathering. It was published by Wizards of the Coast and introduced in April 1996. It was produced until 1999. The game took place in the setting for the Cyberpunk 2020 role-playing game (RPG), but it also drew from the broader cyberpunk genre.

<i>A Game of Thrones</i> (card game) Collectible card game

A Game of Thrones: The Card Game is an out-of-print collectible card game produced by Fantasy Flight Games. It is based on A Song of Ice and Fire, a series of novels written by George R. R. Martin. The first set was Westeros Edition and was released in August 2002. It has since won two Origins Awards. The game's primary designer is Eric Lang, the lead developer is Nate French, with Damon Stone serving as associate designer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legend of the Five Rings</span> Collectible card game and setting

Legend of the Five Rings is a fictional setting created by John Zinser, Dave Seay, Ryan Dancey, Dave Williams, DJ Trindle, Matt Wilson and John Wick and first published by a joint venture between Alderac Entertainment Group and ISOMEDIA in 1995. The setting primarily involves the fictional empire of Rokugan, though some additional areas and cultures have been discussed. Rokugan is based roughly on feudal Japan with influences from other East Asian cultures such as China, Mongolia and Korea. This setting is the basis for the Legend of the Five Rings Collectible Card Game as well as the Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Game. Legend of the Five Rings was also the "featured campaign setting" of the Oriental Adventures expansion to the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons, though this book is now out of print.

<i>Call of Cthulhu: The Card Game</i> Card game based on the Cthulhu Mythos

Call of Cthulhu: The Card Game is an out-of-print card game produced and marketed by Fantasy Flight Games from 2004 to 2015. It is based on Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu role-playing game, the writings of H. P. Lovecraft, and other Cthulhu Mythos fiction.

<i>Descent: Journeys in the Dark</i> 2005 board game

Descent: Journeys in the Dark is a two to five player high fantasy dungeon crawl published by Fantasy Flight Games in 2005. Descent was designed and produced by Kevin Wilson. The game is based on an improved version of the mechanics of FFG's licensed Doom: The Boardgame. In Descent, players take the roles of adventurers who delve into underground complexes in search of treasure. One player takes the role of the Overlord, who controls the enemies and plays cards to hinder the hero players. Descent differs from other games in the genre in that the Overlord player's goal is to win by exhausting the other players of victory points, rather than merely to facilitate play. The Overlord's resources are limited by the rules of the game, which require them to hoard and expend "threat" points, which are generated in response to the hero players' actions, in order to hamper the other players and to bring out additional monsters to defeat them. This mechanism is very much reminiscent of The Lord of the Rings when playing with the Sauron optional expansion.

Blue Moon is a German expandable card game (ECG) designed by Reiner Knizia and published by Kosmos and Fantasy Flight Games in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Collectible card game</span> Game played using specialized playing cards

A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards. It was introduced with Magic: The Gathering in 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warhammer: Invasion</span> Card game

Warhammer: Invasion is a Living Card Game (LCG) designed by Eric M. Lang and produced by Fantasy Flight Games from 2009 to 2013, set in the Warhammer Fantasy universe. Like Fantasy Flight's other LCGs, Invasion is sold as a core set, which can be played on its own, or built upon with expansion packs. Each pack has a fixed set of 3 copies each of 20 cards. There are six factions in Invasion: Dwarves, Empire, Orcs, Chaos, High Elves, and Dark Elves. The first four have decks in the core set, while the elves' decks are available in the Assault on Ulthuan expansion.

<i>Android: Netrunner</i> Expandable card game

Android: Netrunner is an Expandable card game (ECG) produced by Null Signal Games, previously by Fantasy Flight Games. It is a two-player game set in the dystopian future of the Android universe. Each game is played as a battle between a megacorporation and a hacker ("runner") in a duel to take control of data. It is based on Richard Garfield's Netrunner collectible card game, produced by Wizards of the Coast in 1996.

<i>The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game</i> 2011 fantasy strategy card game

The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game is a card game produced by Fantasy Flight Games since 2011. As part of the Living Card Game (LCG) genre, it is a cooperative and strategic card game set in Middle-earth, a fantasy world featured in literary works by J. R. R. Tolkien, including The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and tabletop role-playing games published in 2014. For video games, see 2014 in video gaming.

<i>Warhammer 40,000: Conquest</i> Card game

Warhammer 40,000: Conquest was a Living Card Game (LCG) produced by Fantasy Flight Games from 2014 to 2017, set in Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 universe.

A Game of Thrones: The Card Game Second Edition is a Living Card Game (LCG) produced by Fantasy Flight Games from 2015 to 2020. It is based on A Song of Ice and Fire, a series of novels written by George R. R. Martin. The second edition of this LCG, it is not backwards compatible with the first edition that preceded it.

<i>Arkham Horror: The Card Game</i> 2016 American deck-building card game

Arkham Horror: The Card Game is a cooperative living card game produced by Fantasy Flight Games since 2016. It is set in the universe of Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu role-playing game which is itself based on the Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft and other cosmic horror writers. The title refers to Lovecraft's fictional town of Arkham, Massachusetts which is mentioned in many Mythos stories.

Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game is a Living Card Game (LCG) produced by Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) from 2017 to 2021. It is a two-player game set in the world of Rokugan. During the game, players take on the leadership of one of the Great Clans which define Rokugani society, and they are cast into conflict against another clan. The conflicts will decide the future of Rokugan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KeyForge</span> Card game

KeyForge is a card game designed by Richard Garfield and published by Ghost Galaxy. It was released in 2018 and was originally published by Fantasy Flight Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Expandable card game</span> Card games where each has their own deck

Expandable card game (ECGs), also known as living card games (LCGs), or non-collectible customizable card games - card games where each player has their own customizable deck of cards. Unlike in collectible card games (CCGs), where a player buys a starter deck of cards but then expands and improves that deck by purchasing booster packs containing a random distribution of cards, such decks are usually made from one or more sets sold as a complete whole, eliminating randomness while acquiring the cards.

References

  1. 1 2 "What Is Fantasy Flight?". Fantasy Flight Games. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
  2. ↑ "bibliogroup:"Legends - Google Search". www.google.com. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
  3. ↑ "A New Path Forward". Fantasy Flight Games. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  4. ↑ "Use The Force". Fantasy Flight Games. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  5. ↑ "Battlefront Miniatures to take over Distribution of Dust Tactics". dust-models.com. May 2, 2013. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  6. ↑ Fantasy Flight Games at IMDb   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  7. ↑ ICV 2 | http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/9117.html
  8. ↑ "Latest on the disappearance of the Midnight RPG". Against the Shadow. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014.[ user-generated source? ]
  9. ↑ Forbes Magazine (2014-11-17). "Fantasy Flight Games Merging With Asmodee". Forbes . Retrieved 2014-11-20.
  10. ↑ ONeill, John (19 November 2014). "Asmodee Acquires Fantasy Flight Games". Black Gate.
  11. ↑ Minotti, Mike (October 24, 2017). "Asmodee partners with Fantasy Flight for new digital board game studio". Venture Beat . Retrieved October 24, 2017.
  12. ↑ Wawro, Alex (January 7, 2020). "Fantasy Flight Interactive to close after company-wide layoffs". Gamasutra . Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  13. ↑ Definition of Living Card Games by Fantasy Flight Games | http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_npm.asp?eidm=14
  14. ↑ "LCG Player's Guide". Fantasy Flight Games. Retrieved 28 June 2013.
  15. ↑ LCG Trademark of Fantasy Flight Games | https://trademarks.justia.com/778/12/lcg-77812599.html
  16. ↑ VS. SYSTEM 2PCG Introduction FAQ | http://upperdeckblog.com/2015/05/vs-system-2pcg-introduction-faq/
  17. ↑ "Doomtown: Reloaded". BoardGameGeek. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
  18. ↑ Hall, Charlie (2018-08-07). "KeyForge is a remarkable new card game gunning for both Magic and Hearthstone". Polygon. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  19. ↑ Marks, Tom (2018-08-01). "KeyForge, the next Game from the Creator of Magic: The Gathering, Uses Billions of Unique Decks - Gen Con 2018". IGN. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  20. ↑ "There has been a shift!". keyforging.com. 2022-06-22. Retrieved 2024-07-14.
  21. ↑ "Academy | 2016 Origins Award Winners". www.originsawards.net. Archived from the original on 2016-07-10. Retrieved 2016-07-22.

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