Osprey Publishing is expanding its product list with the creation of a dedicated games division. Osprey Games will follow the great successes enjoyed by the company’s miniature wargaming lines with new products, and will also expand to include board and card games, allowing Osprey both to strengthen and diversify its position in these thriving niche sectors.
With the 2008 release of Field of Glory in collaboration with Slitherine Strategies Ltd, Osprey Publishing began to focus specifically on a hobby with which it had always had a very close relationship – miniatures wargaming. While Osprey books had long provided guides for figure painters, scenario writers and wargamers of all stripes, Field of Glory was the first product specifically created for this audience. Hot on the heels of this incredibly successful release came other projects, including the Force on Force modern rules (with Ambush Alley Games) and Renaissance and Napoleonic versions of the Field of Glory rules. More recently, the Bolt Action World War II rules (with Warlord Games) and the Osprey Wargames series of smaller rulebooks have established Osprey as one of the foremost publishers of wargaming rules.
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In addition to expanding the existing wargaming lines, Osprey Games is also going to develop board and card games, applying Osprey’s reputation for high-quality artwork to a whole new market, and is set to start recruiting for a Games Developer to manage this side of the division. The board and card game hobby has become increasingly popular in recent years, and, much like wargaming, can be seen as a natural extension of Osprey’s publishing pedigree.Interesting, but hardly unexpected. My one fervent hope, having played several of their 'small book' releases (In Her Majesty's Name, Of Gods and Mortals and Dux Bellorum), is that they'll employ at least a part time proofreader/editor who plays wargames[1]. There's a common thread running through several of their rulebooks that, while they're very prettily laid out books, it's a royal pain to find anything in the rules in a hurry. They just aren't geared for the gamer to find rules in mid-game.
[1] Say... wait. I've done that. :D
I think that most wargames publishers could use a good technical writer. Ideally, get the tech writer to write down the rules after the designer's explained it to him.
ReplyDeleteI love lots of what Osprey does, but Bolt Action suggests that the Osprey name on a game isn't going to be an automatic recommendation to me. I'll take it as it comes…