Vicious rumour - more bad news for Epic? |
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firestorm40k
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Post subject: Vicious rumour - more bad news for Epic?  Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2006 5:33 pm |
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Hello, just thought I'd report this - a rumour I heard today.
Basically today I popped in to the local independent GW stockist to ask if they run any games of Epic.
Cut a long story short, the staff there mentioned a rumour that GW is going to be bought out by Hasbro.
I'd never heard this before, they were saying if it's true it'll be good as the prices of core squad/regiment sets for 40k/WFB will decrease.
I've been musing about this since, however, and I think if this turns out to be true it'll be more bad news for Epic, and all the Specialist Games...
I just think that if GW gets taken over by an even bigger multi-national company, its policies will become even more about 'MAKE GAMERS BUY THE NEW PRODUCTS WE WANT THEM TO!' than they are now, and all side/low profit/loss making lines (i.e. SG) will be completely abandoned.
Does this make sense? I can only see this being bad for Epic if it is true...  
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Dwarf Supreme
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Post subject: Vicious rumour - more bad news for Epic? Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2006 5:56 pm |
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To be honest, it wouldn't surprise me. Hasbro has been buying game companies for years, which can be a mixed blessing. Hasbro's purchase of Avalon Hill was catastrophic, whereas its pruchase of Wizards of the Coast seems like a good thing. WotC continues to pump out a steady stream of new products and Hasbro has messed with D&D.
Heck, it some ways I welcome someone new stepping in and running GW. They could hardly do a worse job.  If the rumor is true, it could actually be good for Epic. I don't know how the other SG games would fare.
When I see him Saturday, I'll try to remember to ask my nephew if he's heard anything.
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dafrca
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Post subject: Vicious rumour - more bad news for Epic? Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2006 6:07 pm |
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Except I first heard that Rumor more then two years ago.
I think it is just some poor guys dreams.
If it is true, it sure is taking a long time to finalize. 
dafrca
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javelin98
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Post subject: Vicious rumour - more bad news for Epic? Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2006 7:40 pm |
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Actually, Hasborg might let SG spin off into a separate company and license the 40K/Warhammer IP. After all, Hasborg has many more IP lines to work from, and GW, thanks to its own inept management, has nothing but Warhammer. And here I thought diversification was a basic business philosophy.
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Heresiarch
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Post subject: Vicious rumour - more bad news for Epic? Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2006 7:54 pm |
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| Quote (Dwarf Supreme @ 23 June 2006 (10:56)) | | To be honest, it wouldn't surprise me. Hasbro has been buying game companies for years, which can be a mixed blessing. Hasbro's purchase of Avalon Hill was catastrophic, whereas its pruchase of Wizards of the Coast seems like a good thing. WotC continues to pump out a steady stream of new products and Hasbro has messed with D&D. |
Never happen...
Hasbro bought WotC solely for the Pokemon CCG rights which Wizard's owned at the time. With Magic being a tertiary consideration.
Even with D&D being a smash success by game industry standards it's still piddly-ass small potatoes when compared to the volumes Hasbro deals in. Hasbro owning D&D is an accident.. not a deliberate plan.
Most people I know at the higher end of the food chain still expect WotC to get unloaded by Hasbro at some point in the not so distant future.
Just to put things in perspective when I was still doing sales one of my larger clients, a series of mall chain stores here in Canada, would order perhaps 6 copies of the players handbook per store come Xmas... to put it in perspective they'd order 600 copies of Axis & Allies at the same time. Per store.
Pokemon and to a lesser extent Magic had/have some mass market cross over... GW?
Not even remotely in the same league I'm afraid.
They may be a 1000 pound gorilla by game industry standards but when you consider the entire game industry's total sales volume is probably about what a single hit PC game makes in a release...
*shrug*
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nealhunt
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Post subject: Vicious rumour - more bad news for Epic? Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2006 7:58 pm |
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While I can't say for sure, I'd guess it stems from the fact that Hasbro owns Milton Bradley and MB teamed up with GW on marketing a bunch of games.
In any case, they are both publicly traded companies and if there were anything going on it would be pretty easy to verify.
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Dwarf Supreme
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Post subject: Vicious rumour - more bad news for Epic? Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2006 8:24 pm |
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| Quote (Heresiarch @ 23 June 2006 (19:54)) | Hasbro bought WotC solely for the Pokemon CCG rights which Wizard's owned at the time. With Magic being a tertiary consideration.
Even with D&D being a smash success by game industry standards it's still piddly-ass small potatoes when compared to the volumes Hasbro deals in. Hasbro owning D&D is an accident.. not a deliberate plan. |
Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that Hasbro bought WotC for the rights to D&D. I was merely pointing out that D&D has survived despite Hasbro's takeover.
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Heresiarch
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Post subject: Vicious rumour - more bad news for Epic? Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2006 8:35 pm |
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| Quote (Dwarf Supreme @ 23 June 2006 (13:24)) | | Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that Hasbro bought WotC for the rights to D&D. I was merely pointing out that D&D has survived despite Hasbro's takeover. |
Oh... don't get me wrong DS... I did understand what you meant by that it's more just a case of they've succeeded because they've been ignored by Hasbro. I believe the term I'm looking for is benign neglect.
Hasbro really was just focused on the Pokemon at the time.
The fact it cratered just after they bought it though is really kind of funny though... just like another certain company who thought the gravy train would never end with a licence...
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Dwarf Supreme
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Post subject: Vicious rumour - more bad news for Epic? Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2006 8:38 pm |
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| Quote (Heresiarch @ 23 June 2006 (20:35)) | The fact it cratered just after they bought it though is really kind of funny though... just like another certain company who thought the gravy train would never end with a licence...
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Gee, who could you be talking about?
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"I don't believe in destiny or the guiding hand of fate." N. Peart
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jb1
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Post subject: Vicious rumour - more bad news for Epic? Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2006 8:59 pm |
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...all i can add is wait and see....in the mean time does anyone have any Eldars that i can shoot up?
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Ilushia
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Post subject: Vicious rumour - more bad news for Epic? Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2006 8:59 pm |
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On the other hand WotC still produces massive amounts of different things and sells them in exceedingly large quantities. I really don't know what Hasbro would buy GW to own though... 40K? Not likely, it's not their core target audience. WHFB? Again, not the kind of people they tend to market to. LotR? Well, that's getting closer. But still doesn't seem like it'd be worth their cost to buy out the company just for that one game, especially given how rare it seems to be to sell. Comparatively EVERY hobby and comic-book store in this area carries MtG cards, and NONE of them carry LotR minis (most carry clicky-games though). From Hasbro's perspective it'd be a horrible business decision to buy out GW... They wouldn't really get anything that they'd find that useful out of it, and they'd have to spend a lot of money to expand what GW has now if they wanted to seriously increase it's sellability.
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dafrca
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Post subject: Vicious rumour - more bad news for Epic? Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2006 10:31 pm |
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Heresiarch
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Post subject: Vicious rumour - more bad news for Epic? Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2006 10:55 pm |
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| Quote (dafrca @ 23 June 2006 (15:31)) | To be honest, quite a few Game Companies have fallen for that trap, and in some cases it killed them. 
To many people think a trick license means auto sales. It does not. |
West End Games and the Star Wars licence springs immediately to mind on that score. And Xena & Hercules...
Agents of Gaming and both the Starsiege: Rebellion and to a lesser extent even B5.
Iron Crown and the Middle Earth CCG.
Mayfair Games and the Sim City CCG.
And the list goes on and on and on... especially if it involves ccgs.
Frankly GW is, as you say Dafrca, just the latest in a long line of game companies.
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MaksimSmelchak
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Post subject: Vicious rumour - more bad news for Epic? Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2006 4:10 pm |
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Hi Guys,
I've become a "narsty" skeptic... I don't beleive much until I've seen it for truth anymore...
My experience with SG soured me. Jervis and staff were great... the greater company, GW, has significant problems.
Shabbat Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.
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