European video game publisher Paradox Interactive announced it has entered into an agreement to purchase Harebrained Schemes, LLC (HBR), the Seattle-based game developer founded by game industry veterans Jordan Weisman and Mitch Gitelman.
HBR will now function as an internal studio and division under the Paradox organization. It will be led by its own internal management and creative teams, and continue to design and develop more games like the recently released BattleTech computer game (see “'Battletech' Returns”). According to the announcement, Paradox will “…acquire 100% of the shares in Harebrained Holdings Inc, sole owner of Harebrained Schemes, LLC, from Harebrained Bag of Holding Inc. Paradox pays a fixed purchase price of US$7.5 million at the time of acquisition plus an additional purchase price corresponding to 25% of the acquired business’ earnings before publishing costs over the next 5 years to the extent such earnings exceed the fixed purchase price.”
Weisman is an acclaimed designer in both the video game and tabletop game space, known for founding FASA Corp, 42 Entertainment, and WizKids. He is the creator of Shadowrun, Crimson Skies, and BattleTech/MechWarrior. One of HBR’s first products was a hybrid tabletop / online miniatures game called Golem Arcana (see “Jordan Weisman on 'Golem Arcana'”).
“Mitch and I started Harebrained to create the kind of story-rich tactical games we loved,” said Jordan Weisman, CEO of Harebrained Schemes, “and for the last seven years, our studio has been fueled by our team’s passion and by the generous support of our fans. As the scale of our games has grown and the marketplace has gotten extremely noisy we felt that HBS needed to team up with a company that could provide us the financial stability and marketing expertise that would allow us focus on what we love doing - making great games and stories.”
Paradox Interactive recently announced partnerships with several prominent board game companies to create licensed tabletop versions of its popular properties (see “Paradox Interactive Unplugs”). Paradox acquired (in 2015) and is now a sister company of White Wolf Entertainment, which is about to release new tabletop versions of Vampire: The Masquerade and Werewolf (see "New Versions of 'Vampire' and 'Werewolf' RPGs").
Jordan Weisman and Mitch Gitelman Will Run HBR as Internal Studio
Posted by Nicole Bunge on June 5, 2018 @ 6:38 pm CT
MORE GAMES
In 'War of Kings' and 'Inhuman Royal Court' Sets
January 14, 2025
Atomic Mass Games has announced the War of Kings and Inhuman Royal Court packs for Marvel: Crisis Protocol.
Bandai, NECA the Next Two
January 14, 2025
The bankruptcy petition filed by Diamond Comic Distributors lists 30 unsecured creditors, with Penguin Random House the largest creditor and Bandai and NECA the next two.
MORE NEWS
In Black History Month Comic and Followup One-Shot
January 14, 2025
A two-part prelude in DC’s 2025 Black History Month comic and the followup one-shot will usher in new lineup for the superhero team.
Universal Bids for Alliance, Will Acquire Diamond UK
January 14, 2025
Diamond Comic Distributors has filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy; Universal Distribution has agreed to acquire Diamond UK and has submitted a stalking horse bid for Alliance Game Distributors.