WizKids Executive Vice President Martin Stever is leaving the company.  A longtime veteran of the comic book and game industries, Stever worked at Capital City Distribution, Valiant, and Wizard before returning to academia and gaining an MBA from the prestigious University of Chicago Business school.  After receiving his degree Stever worked for Microsoft and World Online before joining WizKids, where his tenure coincided with the company's rapid growth and emergence as the dominant power in the burgeoning Collectible Miniatures Games category.  ICv2 talked with Stever about his tenure at WizKids and the current state of the market.

Why are you leaving WizKids? Did the merger with Topps have anything to do with your leaving? 

First, the deal with Topps was great for Topps and great for WizKids, and I remain a huge advocate of the merger.  However, the deal has just moved me from being a top manager of a small company to middle manager of a medium size company.  Working at Microsoft,I ran a large group.  At World Online & Tiscali, I was in senior management of two very large telco's.  So my feeling is that as a career strategy, moving back into middle management isn't a good long-term play.  That shouldn't be read as a slam on Topps, because it is not.  It's simply my hope that my next job will again be in senior management.

What departments did you oversee at WizKids?

I was responsible for all sales and most of marketing.  I had my thumb in a little bit of everything--corporate strategy; marketing strategy; scheduling WizKids releases; working on the big picture issues that determine how WizKids has been viewed by retailers, distributors, and consumers; listening to those same groups; cheerleader; spokesman; on occasion I've cleaned the sink in the office kitchen.

Will there be any structural changes after you leave, or will they give someone else the same responsibilities?

I don't think that it's been finally determined what the new structure will be.  Jordan, Don, and the guys from Topps are working on that.  One reason I'm staying until November 20th is to make sure there is a smooth transition.  That gives them some time to work it out, while making sure WizKids is keeping all of its commitments to customers and insuring that I don't leave any of my colleagues in a tough spot.

What are your reflections on your time at WizKids, during which the company grew tremendously?

I've had a blast at WizKids.  I'm very lucky to have worked with a bunch of great people, with whom I will remain friends.  I was lucky to have gotten some great games to sell.  I think that here at WizKids I've been able to realize my vision of how a company can be successful in this business while remaining 'the good guys.' 

Jordan has had great ideas for products.  Jim Long and his team, especially Matt Robinson and Jon Leitheusser, have worked their tails off to refine those ideas into truly great games.  Layer on top of that a solid management team, enthusiastic artists from a variety of disciplines, a dedicated bunch of sales guys and marketing people, and you have a recipe for success.  WizKids has been a real team effort during the last two years.   All the people working for me have made me look good--Jenny, Brian, Liz, Madalyn and Ray especially.  Good products to sell, a good team, and some good luck equal tremendous growth.

How do you view the future of CMGs?

I believe CMG's will continue to grow in popularity.  Like CCG's, there will be winners and losers, but the overall volume line will tilt up.  I doubt there will be any games to reach the success level enjoyed by WizKids in the short term.  I also believe the aging demographic of gamers favors CMG's in the long run. 

Unlike CCG's, I don't believe we'll ever see an explosion of releases. The investment needed to launch a CMG is so much larger than a CCG, every release will be carefully considered and they won't be coming from anyone without serious financial resources.

How do you view the other sectors of the modern game industry, CCGs, RPGs, and board games?

Board games remain my hobby.  Any week I don't travel, the game designers come over Saturday to play a few board games.  It's a great time to be a board gamer.  Between Mayfair, Eagle, Fantasy Flight, and others we can't get to all the good games.  It's great!

Clearly CCG's are having a great Yu-Gi-Oh year.  Unfortunately, I don't think independent retailers have not gotten as many of those dollars as they realized during the Pokemon boom.  I think this year is really what we'll see every year for the rest of our lives.  There will be a few mass market CCG's with traction--one going large, a few core hobby CCG's with traction, and many CCG's with no traction.

I don't have RPG's on my mind right now.  It's great to see games like Rifts and GURPS bubbling along--that's what my friends are playing. After the success of D&D 3.5, I wonder if we'll see 3.6 next summer?