News Collider - Board Game News 3rd March

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The latest and best board, card and RPG News of the last 7 days!

In this week's News Collider we also have video game tie in news, TV show ti-in news, we also ponder why Amazon can not keep a secret and what the likely impacts of the coronavirus are on the board game industry.

D&D Mythic Odyssey of Theros

Another Dungeons & Dragons sourcebook another leak, this time it wasn’t Amazon...oh no, Amazon just leaked the details AFTER the book was leaked by Penguin Random House.  Oh well, maybe next time eh?  Mythic Odyssey of Theros will be the second sourcebook released this year (following this month’s release of Explorer's Guide to Wildemount) and it will also mark the second crossover for Dungeons & dragons with Magic: The Gathering.

Mythic Odysseys of Theros will be an ancient Greek flavoured sourcebook (so I’m guessing a little bit like Odyssey of the Dragonlords) and will pit adventurers against Gods, Titans and a whole host of ancient Greek style Legendary monsters.  New races will include the Satyr and the Leonini (a cat-like race) and some subclasses such as the Bard’s College of Eloquence and the Paladin’s Oath of Heroism (which have previously been available to playtest as part of the Unearthed Arcana).  Players will also be imbued with Supernatural Powers to set them on the path to becoming Legends!

Mythic Odyssey of Theros will hit shelves on the 2nd June. 

Plaid Hat Goes Independent

Colby Dauch, Founder of Plaid Hat Games, painted half of his face blue and marched into the office of the Asmodee Fat Cats demanding his independence, said something along the lines of taking his games but never his freedom!  At least that’s how it happened in my head.  More likely it was a very civil discussion as Plaid Hat Games separates itself from the Asmodee group.

Colby isn’t able to take back all of the games he bought with him in 2015 as part of the F2Z acquisition. The big Plaid Hat titles, like Mice and Mystics and Stuffed Fables, will now be published by Z-Man Games, with Dead of Winter now being published by Fantasy Flight Games.

The two companies will stick work closely together not now as a publisher and distributor separately.  

Tales From The Loop First Trailer

Amazon Prime recently dropped the first look trailer for their upcoming show: Tales From The Loop, which some will know is a very popular and multi-award-winning RPG (and it was a very successful Kickstarter alongside its sequel, Things From The Flood).

The show isn’t based directly upon the tabletop RPG sadly but draws its inspiration from the short stories and artbook by Swedish illustrator Simon Stålenhag (which was also a very successful Kickstarter).  The concept is very simple (and to me sounds like it could have been a classic 80’s Speilberg movie); The Facility For Research In High Energy Physics, known locally as The Loop, is built under the countryside of rural Sweden.  The Loop make huge scientific and technological advances possible and the people who live there benefit hugely from having the Loop beneath their feet.  At least until strange beasts from another time start to show up.

The TV show switches Sweden for somewhere USA (obviously) and airs from the 3rd of April

Asmodee Looks for Video Game Developers

Announced last week, board game behemoth Asmodee is opening up its 250+ strong catalogue of board game Intellectual Properties to video game developers with the intention of creating “deep publishing partnerships”.  Asmodee will still continue to develop their own digital adaptations of their games via Asmodee Digital, but these licensing opportunities aim to create greater synergy, tell deeper stories and bring further enrichment to gamers.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Gameplay Trailer

Is it still news if everyone (who cares about it) already knows?  I don’t know, but I do know I want to watch it again. And again.

But, in case you missed it, Larian Studio’s founder Swen Vincke played through a demo of the upcoming game during the New York Toy Fair last week.  See what you think about it:

 It has also been confirmed that it will be going into Early Access on Steam later this very year. 

The Expected Impact of the Coronavirus

A number of publishers spoke about the potential impact the coronavirus will have on the plans and schedule for the coming year during the New York Toy Fair.  Although no-one really knows exactly what to expect, and the impact differs from publisher to publisher (and game to game) there were some common threads:

• Since the Chinese New Year break that was due to end on the 8th Feb was extended with many factories only partially opening this would affect any games that were due to begin manufacturing in early February.  It is still not clear when the factories will be fully functional either.
• Chinese ports are also running at reduced capacity affecting goods that were/are awaiting shipment.