Asmodee North America has acquired the worldwide English language rights for Catan from Mayfair Games, according to the companies. Catan will be published by the newly formed Catan Studio, which along with Fantasy Flight Games, Asmodee, and Days of Wonder, will make up the creative groups within Asmodee North America (see “Asmodee, Fantasy Flight, Days of Wonder Consolidate”).
Catan Studio will be run by Peter Fenlon, formerly CEO of Mayfair Games. The new unit will be “…dedicated to the development of a broad array of Catan content as well as growing, supporting, and nurturing the Catan community.”
“I am very proud and honored that through this acquisition, we are becoming a major partner to Catan GmbH and the Teuber family, with whom we share common values and vision for Catan and for board games,” Stephane Carville, CEO of Asmodee Group said of the deal. English language versions currently represent over 50% of the worldwide sales of Catan.
The addition of Catan to a portfolio that already includes other top games Ticket to Ride, Star Wars X-Wing, and many more makes Asmodee NA even more of a force in the North American games market. In a lighter vein, the company also recently acquired English rights to Spot It (see “Asmodee Acquires ‘Spot It!’”). Catan really bridges both worlds, with both a mainstream and a hobby games audience.
Bob Carty, formerly VP-Sales and Marketing at Mayfair, now describes himself as consultant at Catan Studio on his LinkedIn page.
Mayfair, which will continue as an independent company, will continue to have a role in Catan marketing, including the coordination of the 2016 Catan tournament schedule, Catan Day 2016, and the 2016 Catan World Championships. Mayfair will also continue to distribute Catan during a transition period, after which Asmodee NA will take over that function.
Mayfair will also continue to publish Mayfair and Lookout Games titles, and announced that it has acquired permanent rights to Martin Wallace titles Steam, Aeroplanes, Automobile, Test of Fire, and Clash of Wills.
Mayfair plans to maintain its exclusive distribution relationships with Alliance in the U.S. and Esdevium in the U.K., but will be “making some adjustments to its distribution strategy in Canada.”
Mayfair staff going forward:
- Larry Roznai, President of Mayfair, will now take the additional role of CEO formerly held by Fenlon, who’s moving to Catan Studio.
- Alex Yeager will now be VP of Acquisition & Development, taking on duties previously held by S. Coleman Charlton.
- Daniel Decker will be the new VP of Sales.
- Julie Yaeger will be Director of Marketing. Yaeger and Decker will collectively take on the responsibilities previously held by Carty.
- Loren Roznai will be Executive VP
- Jim Miles will be Director of Event Management.
For more on the Catan Studio side of the deal, see "ICv2 Interviews Catan Studio Pete Fenlon."
