I heard a disturbing rumor

Groomie · I heard a disturbing rumor

I heard that Wizkids is getting the axe from Topps. Has anyone heard if Battletech is going away or will someone rescue it (again)?

Ahh, for the good old days of FASA and West End Games....

admin

Catalyst Labs owns battletech now. Since they took over several releases have hit the shelves on time with demand. if wizkids gets the ax it's the heroclixers that are sad pandas!

Pete

Jerod is right. Wizkids only owns some of the rights to the Intellectual Property at this point. Catalyst Game Labs owns Classic Battletech and from what it looks like, they are doing well with the franchise.

New hardcover books come out every so often and they made that fantastic new "starter" box set that flew off the shelves!

I for one would love to see the demise of the "Clix" battletech/mechwarrior stuff once and for all and get back to the real game of Classic Battletech for good.

-Peter

jpat

Catalyst does not, in fact, own CBT, though. They're the licensee from WizKids, now Topps. The initial indication is that "nothing changes." I can't see why it would, but that's the thing that companies in transition always want to say. I suspect things are status quo as far as CBT is concerned, though.

Groomie

The saddest part is that the guy who started wizkids was one of the original Fasa people. CBT is in danger of being sold off or discontinued. Topps isn't doing well apparently. Heroclix is clearly the showboat of the Wizkids line, and it was well supported. To me it looks like CBT might go away and Mechwarrior might be continue with whoever buys Heroclix. My thinking here is that the Clix mechanic is what a prospective buyer might be purchasing, and if they buy Heroclix, they probably want the Mechwarrior clix, too. Otherwise, if there is no buyer, then that means the final end for the Battletech Line. Either way, CBT seems to be in more danger than Mechwarrior despite the licensing and sales.

This has happened before to other companies like Decipher Games, West End Games, TSR, and others. West End Games failed even as the Special Edition Movies were being brought out again in theaters and the Prequel Trilogy was being produced. TSR was bought by Wizards who were themselves purchased by Hasbro. Decipher lost their Star Wars CCG license when Hasbro bought Wizards, and Wizards has consistently failed to produce a decent Star Wars CCG ever since. A lot of D+D players have been very unhappy with what is the undisputed best selling role playing game of all time ever since.

What this all boils down to is that with the economy heading the way it is, and with Gaming being a luxury and not a necessity, we are all going to see games going away soon. Today Heroclix and Battletech are in danger of going away. My concern is what happens when Hasbro decides that not enough people are buying 4th edition D+D.

wogit460

http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/13720.html

Battletech's all good.

jpat

I'm not an alarmist about this. I think CBT will be maintained by Topps, though it's certainly possible it could be sold off. The system's actually on an upswing, unlike Mechwarrior.

jpat

According to the CBT forums, Topps has taken the CBT and Shadowrun properties off the table, as in they're no longer up for sale. Since Catalyst still has a contract to develop this stuff for the next couple of years anyway, I don't think we'll see a change in the status quo. It's a little irritating that Topps didn't take Catalyst's offer for the properties, but it's not all that surprising either. While I'd hoped that them making the offer public meant that they had a pretty good shot, I guess I was overly optimistic. Apparently, Catalyst still wants the defunct WizKids properties, so those looking for a Pirates revival or the like might still be in luck.