Having secured a long term extension for the Shadowrun, MechWarrior, and Battletech licenses (see "Catalyst Keeps 'Shadowrun'"), Catalyst Game Labs has announced a very ambitious plan for its Shadowrun line.  What Catalyst refers to as "The Year of Shadowrun" will include the launch of the Shadowrun: Crossfire, The Adventure Deck-Building Game this spring, the Shadowrun 5th Edition RPG this summer, the Shadowrun Sprawl Gangers tactical miniatures game in the fall, and a Euro-style board game, Shadowrun: Hostile Takeover in the spring of 2014.
 
The first new Shadowrun initiative, the Shadowrun: Crossfire deck-building game will be a cooperative DBG for two-four players set in the gritty cyberpunk fantasy world of Shadowrun.  Designed by Fire Opal Media and some of the best designers in the business including Gregory Marques, Mike Elliott, Rob Watkins, Rob Heinsoo, Jay Schneider and James Line, Shadowrun: Crossfire deftly mixes RPG elements with cooperative play, a combination that its designers claim will "take DBGs to a new level."
 
Next in line is the Shadowrun Fifth Edition RPG, the latest iteration of the popular RPG that mixes fantasy and technology in a dystopian near-future setting.  The new version of the game is based on the popular 4th Edition, but it adds new elements including a streamlined matrix, increased gear options, faster character creation to a version of the game that is grittier and deadlier than ever before.
 
Shadowrun: Sprawl Gangers, designed by Ross Watson and Randall N. Bills, is a competitive, skirmish-level miniatures game for two players that is ready-to-play right out of the box.  The highly detailed miniatures for Sprawl Gangers will be produced in conjunction with CoolMiniOrNot, the organization that has run three of the most successful Kickstarter miniatures game products (Zombicide, Relic Knights, and Sedition Wars).
 
The Euro-style Shadowrun: Hostile Takeover board game, which is due in the spring of 2014, features intrigue, shifting alliances, and secretive schemes as players assume the roles of the leaders of megacorporations attempting to assert dominance over the city of Seattle.