A spokesperson for Diamond Comic Distributors told ICv2 that there was no exclusive distribution deal for The Walking Dead: The Prison Board Game as of Monday. "We have not agreed to an exclusive distribution deal for this game," Diamond VP-Purchasing John Wurzer said. "We have been having discussions regarding the possibility of a distribution agreement, but none is in place."
The Kickstarter project for the game was canceled over the weekend, with its organizers saying that because of a new exclusive distribution deal with Diamond Comic Distributors and Alliance Game Distributors, the Kickstarter was no longer necessary (see "'Walking Dead' Board Game Kickstarter Canceled").
We asked game designer Keith Tralins, who created the Kickstarter project for The Walking Dead: The Prison Board Game, about the situation, and he said, "I can't really comment right now, other to say [sic] that discussions are ongoing."
So the situation as this is written is that the Kickstarter has been canceled, but there’s no distribution deal either.
Diamond and Alliance have had exclusive distribution rights to other board games based on The Walking Dead. The Z-Man game was exclusive to the companies as part of an overall exclusive deal for all Z-Man products (see "Z-Man Goes Exclusive with Alliance"). The companies had an exclusive on The Walking Dead Risk and Monopoly (see "'The Walking Dead Monopoly' and 'Risk'"). And Diamond and Alliance now have an exclusive on the games based on The Walking Dead TV show as well, through their exclusive deal with Cryptozoic Entertainment (see "Diamond Alliance Gets Cryptozoic Exclusive").
We’ll keep you posted if the situation changes.
According to Both Sides
Posted by ICv2 on April 1, 2014 @ 1:11 am CT
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