Fast Forward, the Lake Geneva, Wisconsin-based game publisher, continues to move aggressively into the world of d20 publishing by reaching agreements to handle marketing and distribution for established d20 publishers.  Fast Forward's latest thrust is an alliance with the RPG publisher Pinnacle.  Shane Hensley, President of the Pinnacle Entertainment Group, told ICv2 that under the new agreement Fast Forward 'will handle our solicitations, shipping, and mail order fulfillment.'  Under the terms of the agreement Fast Forward will be marketing and distributing Pinnacle products and fulfilling both wholesale and consumer orders on Pinnacle items. 

 

Pinnacle Entertainment produces an average of two products per month, and products such as Pinnacle's Hell on Earth d20 and its new Savage Worlds RPG will provide a nice additional boost to Fast Forward's monthly listings that already include books from FanPro and Sovereign Press.  In fact, Fast Forward's agreement with Pinnacle mirrors the company's deal with Sovereign Press (see 'Fast Forward to Distribute Sovereign Press').

 

Fast Forward's agreements illustrate the growing impetus toward consolidation in the footloose and fancy free world of d20 publishing, where at least some of the myriad of small publishers feel they can benefit by outsourcing marketing and distribution efforts while maintaining editorial control over their creations.  When queried by ICv2 about the reasons for combining forces with Fast Forward, Pinnacle's Shane Hensley simply said, 'So I can stop unloading trucks and packing boxes and concentrate on making the best games I know how!'