> Michael Schwartz writes:
> > > Multisim is dead...
> >
> > Very bad news indeed, and not just for the French.
>
> Apart from anything else it means Issaries has lost a source of
> revenue (the Multisim license fees). It also raises this
> question: what happens to the Multisim properties that were
> developed under that license but were more than simple
> translations of existing work? (For example, the Pavis book and
> the Zola Fel campaign?)
It's part of the basic license deal that Issaries can freely use any material developed by the second party, so Issaries already has those rights, and has in fact used them in the past.
> Do they revert to Issaries? Can they in fact be sold to another
> company? Would that other company be able to use/sell them without
> also striking a deal with Issaries?
I can't imagine the licensing deal surviving in any form without Issaries agreeing to it. I imagine that Issaries would prefer to have no strings attached to any possible HQ licensing deal ...
> It'd be nice to see, say, Oriflam, step up and arrange a license
> deal with Issaries,
And many French fans would also like this to occur.
But it's uncertain that this would be commercially viable for the time being ; I guess much would hinge on how well HQ sells in France, but there's no reason to be over-optimistic, unfortunately.
The core fan base isn't big enough to support the game without help from the RPG community-at-large.
> and get ahold of the existing Multisim assets
> in the HW line...
I'd personally prefer them to concentrate on new, unpublished material, including the Sartar stuff. ... wishful thinking ...
> It's sad to see Multisim go down;
Yeah ... :-(
It's a sad day for everyone involved with them, especially the freelancers, and especially those working on current projects or having worked on recent ones.
:-( :-( :-(
> they had a whole array of
> really interesting rolegame environments (Agone, Guildes,
> Nephilim). I'm tempted to rush out and spend money on snapping up
> core rulebooks galore...
It's worth pointing out that the reason Multisim went bust has nothing to do with their RPG lines, which were profitable ... so some of these may survive, although many freelancers including most authors have been adversely hit by this catastrophe, which isn't going to help the RPGs involved.
I've no idea what will happen to their stock, but one possibility is that it will be purchased by the French RPG distributor Mill�nium. Makes sense, as that's where most of the stock is physically located.
My personal guess is that the N�philim and Agone RPG lines will survive, as they are commercially successful, although it may be some time before any new books come out. R�ve de Dragon has a cult following, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a new incarnation of the game in a few years time (this is about the third company to publish this game that's gone bust ... ). I can't see any of the other lines surviving, including Fading Suns ... and including the HW licence. The sad fact is that the French gamers simply failed to make the jump from RQ to HW. But perhaps they'll like HQ better ?
This is all very sad news ...
Julian Lord
Powered by hypermail