Here at Goonhammer, we know that it’s hard to keep track of all the news happening all the time in the games industry. So much is always going on with games of all sorts, and their related media, it can be a real blink-and-you’ll miss it situation.
That’s why every week, we round up five of the biggest stories in the gaming sphere from the past week in the Games Industry News Roundup. Our trusty news boy, Dan “Swiftblade” Richardson, is here with the scoop.
Warhammer: Underworlds Tightens Warband Roster in New Roadmap
Games Workshop revealed the planned year one roadmap for the new edition of Warhammer: Underworlds that’s on the horizon, giving fans of the game a glimpse into the release plans for the game as well as the future of Underworlds organized play.
While the Warhammer Community article does tease the release of several new warbands over the coming year, the bulk of the post explores what’s happening to previous warbands in the new edition. Four bundles of previous warbands themed around each grand alliance will be released following the release of the new Embergard core set, with each bundle containing four warbands and their appropriate card decks. Fans who already own these models can purchase a box set only featuring the cards from these new sets.
Much like Kill Team, Underworlds is limiting the number of playable warbands in official organized play. While the article does clarify that all of the previously released warbands will get digital rules and will be playable in the new edition, only some will get physical re-releases and be allowed in tournament formats. Limiting the number of warbands allowed in organized play, while certainly disappointing to some longtime fans, makes plenty of sense considering the large number of warbands released for the game over the years since the launch of Underworlds
Lastly, the post mentions that Underworlds will be receiving quarterly balance updates with the new edition, with the article saying that the updates “will use data from events and playtesting to further hone and refine the balance of the game.” While balance updates like this are now common in Games Workshop’s game systems, these updates coming to Underworlds may be the herald of a big push by the company for Underworlds to find success in larger tournament scenes.
Riot Games Downsizes League of Legends Design Team, While Promising to Make Team Even Bigger in the Future
Riot Games announced last week that members of the League of Legends design team are being laid off, promising fans that the layoffs aren’t even about money but are actually about the quality of the game. You can’t be mad about layoffs if it’s not about money, right?
I wish that last sentence wasn’t a bit. I truly do. But in the announcement post on Twitter/X, Riot Games co-founder Marc Merrill wrote, “This isn’t about reducing headcount to save money—it’s about making sure we have the right expertise so that League continues to be great for another 15 years and beyond.”
Even more bizarre, Merrill then goes on to say that despite these layoffs, Riot plans for the League development team to be even larger than it is today as the game moves into the next stage of its life. Merrill writes in a follow-up reply to the announcement that, “While the League team will ultimately be larger after these changes, what matters more than size is having the right team, right priorities, and a sustainable approach to delivering what players need. If we’re solving the wrong problems, more resources won’t fix it.”
While the need for these layoffs at all is unclear from the outside looking in, Riot does make it clear in it’s post that those laid off from the team will be given benefits such as six months pay, job placement assistance, and health coverage. According to IGN, who reached out to Riot Games, the number of those impacted by these layoffs is 27 people on the development team and five people on the publishing team. This is the second time Riot has been in the headlines this year for cutting jobs, with the company slashing over 500 roles earlier this year.
Wizards Gives Fans First Look at Upcoming Magic and Marvel Collaboration
Wizards of the Coast gave both Magic the Gathering fans and Marvel Comics fans a special little treat at New York Comic Con this past weekend by giving attendees a first look at the upcoming Marvel Comics Secret Lair super drop.
The Marvel Secret Lair set, the first in a “partnership years to come” according to senior product designer Daniel Nguyen, will be limited run as opposed to print on demand. Nguyen told Polygon in an interview that “We made a lot of it. We’ve been gathering our numbers. So it’s not print-to-demand, but we’ve printed quite a bit.”
The set itself will focus around five of Marvel’s most iconic characters, with each character receiving their own Secret Lair drop. Each set will feature a new legendary creature version of the Marvel super hero, which will be legal in Commander, Legacy, and Vintage play formats, as well as the usual themed versions of released cards already seen in Secret Lair releases. The five characters that are coming to Magic in this new set are: Black Panther, Captain America, Iron Man, Storm, and Wolverine (who could, for the record, totally beat up Nicol Bolas).
The Marvel Comics Secret Lair Drop will go live on the Secret Lair website on November 4th, and will be available while supplies last.
Lost Kurt Vonnegut Board Game GHQ Finally Sees Light of Day
Kurt Vonnegut is one of the most well known American writers of the 20th century, with his science fiction book Slaughterhouse Five casting a long shadow over both modern science fiction and antiwar literature. Vonnegut was apparently a man of many talents, as he also designed an entire board game that was thought lost to time until now.
Vonnegut’s game, called GHQ (short for General Headquarters), places players in the position of a general controlling their forces on an eight by eight grid. From there, the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library description elaborates that “players command infantry, armored vehicles, artillery, and the powerful airborne regiment, maneuvering to capture the opposing Headquarters,” claiming that GHQ players need to use real world combined arms tactics to succeed.
Vonnegut wrote GHQ following his first novel in 1954, Player Piano. While writing his next novel, Vonnegut designed GHQ as a way to supplement his meager income, and pitched it in 1956 to various publishers. Despite his attempts, Vonnegut was unable to sell the game to a willing buyer, and filed away the notes until they were rediscovered by NYU faculty member Geoff Engelstein in the archives of Indiana University.
Now, with the approval of Vonnegut’s estate, GHQ is available to the public for the first time. Copies of the game include all of the pieces needed to play, the rules, and a 24-page booklet that shows Vonnegut’s design notes for the game and the process he went through to create GHQ.
Mythic Games Isn’t Dissolved Yet, but Might Be Soon
Floundering French Board Game Developer Mythic Games was falsely reported as having officially gone out of business by several outlets earlier this month, but according to reporting from BoardGameWire the company’s days may still be numbered.
The incorrect reports were due to a notice in a French newspaper published on October 10th of this year. The notice declares the liquidation of a subsidiary of Mythic Games that was created to pay employees of Mythic. However, Mythic laid off all it’s full time permanent staff two years ago and has been relying on freelance work to design its games, so the closing of the dormant subsidiary company meant nothing in terms of Mythic’s larger fate.
But that doesn’t mean the troubled board game company is out of the woods yet. According to a BoardGameWire interview with co-founder Leonidas Vesperani, Mythic is waiting on payments from several creditors. If these payments don’t come through by the end of the month, Vesperani expects that Mythic will be unable to continue operating.
Mythic games found massive success with video game tie-in board games like Darkest Dungeon on crowdfunding platform Kickstarter. When the pandemic sent the board game industry into crisis in 2020, Mythic’s decision to push ahead instead of cutting operating costs caused the company to spiral into a financial crisis. Since then, it has asked backers of previous kickstarter campaigns to donate more money to deliver projects and threw in the towel completely on some already funded projects, selling the rights to the games to board game giant CMON.
If you’re feeling generous, you could say that the future of Mythic is unclear at best. While dissolution seems more like a question of “when” than “if” for the company, the ongoing status of its remaining high profile projects, like wave two of the Darkest Dungeon board game, remains a frustrating mystery.
And that wraps it up for our Games Industry News Roundup this week! Join us again next week for more news about the tabletop games industry and related media.
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