Now at the dawn of the century it was time for a new "impossible journey". Octo28 years to the day that noted London eccentric, Phileas Fogg accepted and then won a £20,000 bet that he could travel "Around the World in 80 Days". “They’re gateway games.Winner of the Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year) for 2004. “Our games like Ticket to Ride are available at Target and Toys ‘R’ Us,” Kaufman said. While ICv2 measured the growth in hobby games for hardcore players, Ticket to Ride has a more mainstream audience. “Once you get people to like your game, like Monopoly, it can last a long time.” “Ours is a very different kind of business,” he said. That’s not a long-term business, and we see a shakeout happening.ĭays of Wonder, meanwhile, can leverage the strengths of both physical and digital offerings. “The vast majority of game makers spend money to acquire customers who don’t spend money. “There is more money spent on electronic games versus board games, but the competition and business model in digital is so difficult,” Kaufman said.
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Board games also have prominent roles at other gaming events such as the PAX series of conventions. That makes the event larger than the E3 video game tradeshow. And the Gen Con board and role-playing game conference attracted more than 57,000 people to Indianapolis last week. Market researcher ICv2 said last week that the hobby-game market in North America hit $700 million at retail in 2013 - thanks in part to board games that have mobile-app counterparts. “The Internet drove that because it made it a lot easier to find these games and people to play with. “We rode the wave of European-style games moving over to the U.S.,” Kaufman said. Days of Wonder rivals include Hasbro and Mayfair.
What is nice is that they value our team.”īoard games have seen a resurgence as consumer taste for more sophisticated experiences has grown. As they expand into the digital realm, they feel that our digital design team will be a key asset. “They convinced us their vision was good. “They approached us and thought we were a good fit,” Kaufman said. The company has been profitable ever since its second year.Īsmodee recently closed its own round of funding as part of an effort to compete on a global scale. So they formed their own board game company in 2002 and didn’t raise any venture capital. Hautemont previously cofounded Ray Dream and ran a seed investment fund, Ridge Ventures. Hautemont and Kaufman were tech entrepreneurs who wanted a break from the Silicon Valley grind. Altogether, Days of Wonder has sold more than 5 million games, and it has its own internal development group. “By combining forces, we’ll be able to further our great company project - providing great titles to the gaming community and developing the game market across all borders.”Īsmodee and Days of Wonder had a partnership, as Asmodee distributed the board games in Europe.
“I’m thrilled that such a successful publisher as Days of Wonder has decided to join Asmodee Group,” said Asmodee president Stéphane Carville. Ticket to Ride is consistently in the top 10 grossing board games in the Apple App Store and in the top 200 across all categories. More than 1.8 million digital copies of Ticket to Ride Online have sold on Steam and iOS. The apps served to increase awareness of the physical board games and increase demand for them. While games like Ticket to Ride are available on the iPhone, Kaufman said in an interview that the main business of Days of Wonder was selling board games for around $50.
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