Confirming long-standing rumors, Wizards of the Coast has announced that it has reached an agreement with new company Paizo Publishing, LLC for Paizo to publish Dragon and Dungeon Adventures magazines.  And in a three-way deal between WotC, Lucasfilm, and Paizo, the new company will also manage the Star Wars Fan Club and publish Star Wars Insider (both formerly done by WotC).  The founders of Paizo are long-time WotC employees, and the staffs of the WotC Publishing Group will follow them to Paizo. 

 

Lisa Stevens, CEO of Paizo, is a game industry pioneer present at the founding of both White Wolf and Wizards of the Coast.  At Wizards of the Coast, she has had a variety of posts, including VP of Event Marketing and Brand Manager for the Star Wars roleplaying game.  Stevens will also serve as President of the Star Wars Fan Club.  Johnny Wilson, President of Paizo, is the former Group Publisher of Periodicals at Wizards of the Coast.  Also joining Paizo from the WotC Publishing Group are editor-in-chief Dave Gross and art director Scott Ricker, among others. 

 

A few changes are planned.  Star Wars Gamer will cease publication, and the frequency of Star Wars Insider will be increased to eight times a year.   Fiction from Star Wars Gamer will appear in Star Wars Insider, while adventures for the Star Wars RPG that appeared in Star Wars Gamer will continue in Dungeon Adventures. 

 

According to the announcement, the move represents '...another example of Wizards of the Coast's ongoing initiative to focus on what we do best, design and bring to market great games for our consumers.' 

 

No confirmation yet on another rumor that's been floating around for some weeks, that WotC is selling its bleeding retail operations to Hot Topic or to a management team formerly of Hot Topic.