Lorcana lawsuit and Dice Tower deletion
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Another week, another story which threatens to be the big one everyone’s still talking about when the 2023 year in review pieces start appearing. Disney’s Lorcana has already amassed a huge following - but the surprise lawsuit from Upper Deck claiming the game’s mechanics are stolen throws a huge spanner in the works ahead of its August launch. Elsewhere the UK Games Expo was a huge success in terms of numbers, and I had a fantastic few days demoing games and meeting up with publishers and notaries from board games Twitter. I’ve already booked my hotel for next year - let me know if you're going and hopefully I’ll see some of you there!
Upper Deck sues Ravensburger, claiming they stole their work-in-progress game to repackage as Lorcana
One of the biggest tabletop gaming releases of the year is under threat after Upper Deck revealed it was suing Ravensburger, the publisher of the upcoming Disney Lorcana trading card game, and its lead designer Ryan Miller. The complaint alleges Miller took his work on Upper Deck’s previously unannounced game Rush of Ikorr with him when he left the company in 2020, transporting it to his new employer to create Lorcana. The lawsuit comes just a few weeks ahead of Lorcana’s planned launch in August.
Dice Tower deletes Darwin’s Journey review video after ‘pretty big’ rules mistake
Board game reviews giant The Dice Tower has deleted its review of Kickstarter success Darwin’s Journey after acknowledging it made a “pretty big rules mistake” before handing the game a 7/10 rating. The Dice Tower picked up a lot of support over its quick decision to take down the video and apologise to the publisher ThunderGryph Games and designers Simone Luciani and Nestore Mangone. But ThunderGryph founder Gonzalo Aguirre Bisi, while saying he appreciated the removal of the video, questioned whether many in the board game industry were spending enough time learning and playing individual games before reaching conclusions for their reviews.
GAMA: Cancelling Kentucky expo contract would have ‘lethal’ financial impact
Hobby games trade body GAMA has looked into scrapping the planned move of its annual trade show to Kentucky in the wake of anti-LGBTQ laws passed by the state - but said the $1.8m cancellation cost would have a "lethal impact" on the organisation. GAMA signed a deal to move its annual trade show to Louisville, Kentucky in 2019, and is now booked at the venue until at least 2026. But the GAMA board said members had been questioning that choice in the wake of Kentucky passing a suite of anti-LGBTQ laws, including a ban on transgender medical treatment for those under 18. GAMA said it would be “expediting” work on finding a replacement site for 2027 onwards, and was looking at interim safety measures including a shuttle service between the airport and the event site.
UK Games Expo soars to record 32,000 visitors to cement post-Covid recovery
The UK's largest hobby gaming convention, UK Games Expo, has fully emerged from the shadow of the Coronavirus crisis by posting a record 32,000 visitors at this year's event. I attended this year, and while the Sunday of the three-day event didn’t feel too crowded, the Friday and Saturday were absolutely rammed with people, and getting into demo games frequently proved tricky. Huge draws at this year’s event included the showcase for Lorcana, which attracted huge queues at the Ravensburger booth all weekend, and swarms of people around booths for Inside Up Games’ Earth and the new edition of Warhammer 40,000.
UK Games Expo directors apologise after RPG runner’s session was rejected for mentioning sexual orientation, queerness
Far less positive for the UK Games Expo organisers was the news that one RPG session runner had their scenario rejected because it included “themes of sexuality or orientation”. UKGE directors Tony Hyams and Richard Denning apologised for the situation, saying a volunteer had made an “error of judgement” in conflating “sexual content” with “sexual orientation”. UKGE is sensitive to sexual content in RPGs run at the event in the wake of a 2019 incident, which saw a man thrown out for leading his RPG group through a scenario in which they were kidnapped and gang-raped.
Other news:
Earth clings on with most new owners in May despite Heat: Pedal to the Metal challenge | BGG Stats
Z-Man Games founder Zev Shlasinger to leave WizKids after seven years
Nemesis, Frostpunk board game designer’s book on game design reaches crowdfunding goal
Azul designer’s Spiel des Jahres nominee Sanssouci finally coming to the US
And finally…
NFL player Cassius Marsh Sr has offered a $500,000 bounty to whoever funds the sole copy of The One Ring card in the new Magic: The Gathering Lord of the Rings set.
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