by 12 comments on "The US-China trade war, the cost of paper, and the economics behind roleplaying games"

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Since early 2018, the United States has been in the grips of a trade war with China. A series of escalating tariff increases on imports between the two countries has hit both hard, along with the global economy. After a short truce, negotiations appear to have failed, and President Donald J. Trump has announced plans…

Read More The US-China trade war, the cost of paper, and the economics behind roleplaying games
by 0 comments on "13–19 May 2019: Trade War, D&D Live Announcements, Satanic Panic"

This has been a busy week in the industry, and not unexpectedly: D&D Live saw three days of Dungeons & Dragons hype, with a host of product announcements. Another bit of news that we should have predicted: the US Trade War with China could hit the RPG industry soon, with a new wave of proposed…

Read More 13–19 May 2019: Trade War, D&D Live Announcements, Satanic Panic
by 0 comments on "6–12 May 2019: Plagiarism, Saltmarsh, Beholder"

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After our scramble to keep track of the news last edition, this has been an oddly sedate week. Perhaps the RPG world is holding its breath before the weekend-long marathon of D&D Live, coming 17–19 May, along with the release of Ghosts of Saltmarsh. Speaking of which, this week we have a few previews of…

Read More 6–12 May 2019: Plagiarism, Saltmarsh, Beholder
by 0 comments on "29 April–5 May 2019: Origins Awards Nominations, Pathfinder for D&D 5e, Shadowrun 6"

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This has been a huge week in roleplaying games, with a whole host of big announcements. We have the nominations for the Origins Awards, which feature at least one peculiar choice. We have a whole host of upcoming projects announced: Paizo are making a product for D&D 5e, Shadowrun is getting a sixth edition, Gen…

Read More 29 April–5 May 2019: Origins Awards Nominations, Pathfinder for D&D 5e, Shadowrun 6
by 0 comments on "15–28 April 2019: RPG Industry Booming, Critical Role lands $11 million, Chris Spivey takes on the Weird West"

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Well, we’re back! We took an unscheduled break last week as Amy got hit with a lurgy, so this week we’re catching up with a fortnight’s worth of news. And oh, boy, has it been a big two weeks. First off, we have the release of a number of industry and company reports from 2018…

Read More 15–28 April 2019: RPG Industry Booming, Critical Role lands $11 million, Chris Spivey takes on the Weird West
by 0 comments on "8–14 April 2019: #DnDSelfie, Cthulhu Computer Games, Ethics"

This was set to be a quiet little update, with some lovely selfies, a Washington dragon, and yet more computer and board game adaptations. At the last minute, however, the ugly business of harassment in the industry raised its head again. A Peculiar Response to Harassment Content Warning: Links mentioned in this story contain some…

Read More 8–14 April 2019: #DnDSelfie, Cthulhu Computer Games, Ethics
by 0 comments on "1–7 April: Top Selling Games, April Fools, Computers vs. RPGs"

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April Fools naturally brought a string of fake products and inevitably broke a few hearts. There’s big news as Chaosium takes over publishing a classic. James gives us a look at some of the top-selling games of 2018. We take a look at tabletop RPGs becoming computer games (and some reflection on what makes tabletop…

Read More 1–7 April: Top Selling Games, April Fools, Computers vs. RPGs
by 0 comments on "25–31 March 2019: Chinese censorship, Midwest moms, Acquisitions Incorporated"

If there is a theme to this week’s news, it’s that in roleplaying games, politics matter. We see censorship in China leading to the destruction of RPG sourcebooks. We see how racist immigration policies in the 19th Century led to a racist RPG in the 21st. We see how Wizards of the Coast and creators…

Read More 25–31 March 2019: Chinese censorship, Midwest moms, Acquisitions Incorporated
by 0 comments on "18–24 March 2019: Bloodlines 2, Stranger Things, What D&D Means to Us"

Last week we had some announcements that we all saw coming: the much-hinted-at Vampire: The Masquerade computer game release by Paradox Interactive, and the trailer for the third season of Netflix’s RPG-filled, 80s nostalgia horror, Stranger Things. We were also delighted to see a handful of personal essays by gamers and RPG fans talking about…

Read More 18–24 March 2019: Bloodlines 2, Stranger Things, What D&D Means to Us
by 0 comments on "11–17 March 2019: Adapting RPGs, Remembering Larry DiTillio, Cthulhu in Australia and Japan"

This week we see a host of announcements related to adaptations: RPGs being made into movies, movies being made into RPGs, RPGs into computer games, miniature-lines into RPGs, and so on. We get some reminiscences on Larry DiTillio’s work at Chaosium, and on the global reach of Chaosium’s Call of Cthulhu. In addition, we have…

Read More 11–17 March 2019: Adapting RPGs, Remembering Larry DiTillio, Cthulhu in Australia and Japan