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Dungeons & Dragons is still in the spotlight this week, with two mainstream media outlets focused on the venerable RPG. At the same time, the game celebrates its 45th anniversary with a very pricey accessory. There’s a host of new product announcements, including a new old/old new line from Games Workshop and a French edition…
Read More 11–17 November 2019: Sapphire Anniversary, Mainstream Media
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Roleplaying’s time in the spotlight continues this week! We learn that Critical Role is partnering with Amazon Prime to extend and host their cartoon based on the popular D&D livestream. Meanwhile, EN World looks at the past few years of brands creating RPG content as a marketing ploy. We see some RPG history: RPGs after…
Read More 4–10 November 2019: Brand Partnerships, Sales Numbers, The Inevitability of Monopoly
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This week we learn that Wizards of the Coast is pushing further into the digital D&D space, purchasing a computer games studio that is already working on a Dungeons & Dragons game. In other digital news, a number of OneBookShelf accounts have been hacked, Roll20’s industry report shows movement in the top 10 RPGs, and…
Read More 28 October–3 November 2019: Digital Platforms, RPGs in Asia, Asia in RPGs
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We’re back after a short holiday, and although things have been relatively quiet, the news has built up. Let’s dive in! We get a glimpse of the small but growing presence of RPGs at the Essen Spiel convention. There’s some talk about the past, present, and future of Intellectual Property and Licenses in RPGs. And…
Read More 7–27 October 2019: Essen, Licensed Games, Werewolf 5th Edition
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The news is certainly thorny this week, containing a smorgasbord of grim news, a cornucopia of ugh. For starters, Zak Smith is back in the news. Smith has been in the spotlight numerous times over various allegations of harassment, abuse, and assault. This week, his long-time collaborators have published a book defending him, and it’s…
Read More 23–29 September 2019: Ugh.
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Busy week! Let’s get right into it. The struggle over unionisation at Kickstarter continues, and we can see its ripples in the RPG community. Meanwhile, Fandom, which bought D&D Beyond earlier this year, has acquired the Cortex RPG, and has plans for it. In weirder news, a Pro-Wrestler’s mocking of Dungeons & Dragons draws a…
Read More 16–22 September 2019: Kickstarter; Kayfabe; Sales
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We are beginning to see the news pick up again after the lull of the last few weeks. There are rumblings about Kickstarter’s anti-union practices, and we see one publisher considering whether to continue using the platform. We could see a call for a boycott in the near future, and we will be interested to…
Read More 9–15 September 2019: D&D History, Consent in Gaming, Carnival Row
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We’re back after a little rest with a slightly-later-than-normal update! (Can I just say that I highly recommend holidays? — Amy) This week we’ve got a fair bit of early D&D history, with a focus on the game’s contentious authorship. Notably, an article from Kotaku argues that Dave Arneson was the real genius behind role-playing…
Read More 26 August—2 September 2019: Dave Arneson, Tariffs, Crunch
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This week, our main story is a sad one: Flying Buffalo founder and RPG luminary, Rick Loomis, has passed away. There are some moving tributes to his work and influence, as well as some ways for gamers to support his family. We have some gaming industry news: the Critter “Hug of Death” hits Chaosium, the…
Read More 19–25 August 2019: Rick Loomis, American Football, Les Bijoutiers Fantaisistes
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Featured Image: Cover Art for Demigods by Jason Mills. Artist: Minerva Fox We’re in that eye of the storm before Gen Con, and this week is a fairly quiet one — apart, of course, from Twitter. The Twitter debates we’ve noticed this week have been around two particular articles: Bloomberg on the subject of professional…
Read More 8–14 July 2019: Paid Gaming; LGBT Representation; Awards Season