Z-Man Games parent F2Z Entertainment has acquired Plaid Hat Games, the companies announced Wednesday.  Plaid Hat is the publisher of hit game Dead of Winter (see "Top 10 Board Games—Spring 2015"), Mice and Mystics, and others.  The new entity will operate out of Dallas, Texas under the name F2Z USA Corp.

Plaid Hat Studio Manager Colby Dauch sounded ready to focus on game design and development, and leave the rest to the parent.  "As Plaid Hat Games has grown, the other aspects of the board game publishing business have devoured more and more of the team’s time and attention," he said.  "This acquisition by F2Z Entertainment allows the Plaid Hat Games’ team to turn their attention back to what they do best as they are bolstered by a super-star production, logistics, sales and marketing team."

Sister company Filosofia will release new Plaid Hat games simultaneously in French, with other language editions planned.

Digital adaptations of some Plaid Hat Games through F2Z Digital Media are planned.

F2Z Entertainment publishes Z-Man Games, Filosofia, and Pretzel Games (see "Z-Man Parent Announces New Imprint").  It was formed when Filosofia acquired Z-Man in 2011 (see "Canadian Company Buys Z-Man Games").  It got bigger when Hans Im Gluck, publisher of perennial bestseller Carcassonne, moved from Rio Grande to Z-Man Games for U.S. distribution in 2012 (see "Hans Im Gluck Goes with Z-Man Games").

One big question for retailers about the acquisition is what will happen to Plaid Hat’s distribution.  Z-Man Games went exclusive with Alliance Game Distributors in 2012 (see "Z-Man Games Goes Exclusive with Alliance"); Plaid Hat is sold through a range of distributors.