Welcome home.
This is Audio EXP for the 27th of April, and the episode title is “Indie TTRPGs mock billionaires as Embracer’s billions fail”
[The following is a transcript of Audio EXP: #239]
[Also on Stitcher | Spotify | Apple]
Greyplains won the April Spotlight vote, and the interview with Jacob Haines is live.
Greyplains is, right now, an unusual TTRPG because it’s not an ashcan version, beta or final. It’s the pre-artwork edition.
Given that first impressions matter so much, I asked Jacob about his decision to publish the rules without the art. He had a surprisingly straightforward response.
This week, for me, the headline news is about the huge gaming company that owns the Star Wars TTRPG, most of Middle Earth in terms of rights, and about 9,000 other IPs. I’m talking about Embracer.
They own Edge Studios, Dark Horse, Asmodee, Fantasy Flight Games and many others.
The final straw was the collapse of a $2bn deal with the Savvy Games Group.
Not heard of Savvy Games? Well, they’re essentially a vehicle for the Saudi government.
It’s hard to imagine the company with Lara Croft and Tomb Raider in its stable of titles doing business with Saudi Arabia, and gamers have not been shy about telling Embracer what they think of the proposals. I don’t believe those protests had much to do with the deal’s collapse.
Without the $2bn, Embracer is splitting in three but they’ll be controlled by Lard Wingefors, the Embacer boss. The three companies are;
- Asmodee who’ll be the tabletop games arm.
- Coffee Stain & Friends who’ll do mobile gaming and both free-to-play and premium PC and console games.
- Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends who’ll published LotR content, AAA Games, Tomb Raider and will own Dark Horse.
That’s the fate of one of the world’s biggest game companies, so let’s talk about some small ones.
DriveThruRPG’s PocketQuest is oe, and that’s a tabletop game jam all about heists. Each game in it must be a complete game and no more than 25 pages. Geek Native has, this week, been talking about creativity with some of the indie game designers in it.
We kicked off with Rat Race by Emiland Kray
Rat Race is an anti-capitalist game about the corporate ladder, and Emiland told us that their favourite part of making the game was finding ways to insult the billionaire class.
Next up, we talked to Dan Bronson-Lowe of Almost Bedtime Theatre about the game The Heist Episode.
In this game, you can bring your favourite player characters to a heist in a dream, and yeah, Inception is a touchstone.
Dan told us a favourite part of designing the game was finding ways to mesh mechanics from several other games together.
The third PocketQuest title we looked at this week was Pest Laid Plans by Guy MacDonnell.
This game can be a solo one or run with a GM and a group and the characters are undesirable animals planning a heist.
What was the creative challenge that Guy found the most rewarding? That was learning the Affinity software to make it.
This week, Bronwen, ever vigilant with upcoming entertainment news, has two trailers that made the “check out” recommendation.
The first is the Deadpool & Wolverine Easter-egg filled risky masterpiece.
I say risky only because I sense it gives a lot of plot.
The second is Atlas, and I’ll admit that I had no idea this was coming and it looks fantastic.
In Atlas, Jennifer Lopez is an AI hunting, er, analyst. The trailer looks great.
I can do better than show you a trailer for Spy x Family Code White as I’ve had an early look at the film. Actually, it’s out now in some cinemas in the UK and Europe.
My spoiler-free and super short review is that it’s not as good as the TV anime series, but it’s still a blast. Go watch it.
Lastly, I’m still behind on bundle coverage but there’s an incredible series of Ars Magica 5th edition at the Bundle of Holding. One new offer was made each day for a week.
Ars Magica is a simulationist tabletop RPG set in a mythic Europe; you play as a troupe of characters because your mage will sometimes be locked away researching for years.
On that note, avoid multi-billion dollar deals and billionaires, and I’ll see you next week.
Share your thoughts with the community by adding a comment to this post.
