Reply To: Could Heroquest be finally coming back again?

[ced1106Participant 6224xp 1]

> What i honestly don’t understand is why Hasbro does not hand HeroQuest to Wizards of the Coast to make the game set in the Forgotten Realms (to combine the D&D brand with HeroQuest). I totally expected that to happen after Gamezone proved the market value of the brand, and the fact that Hasbro/Wizards could use the name without permission from the MoonDesign people who have the US trademark on the name.

Probably lawyers. And I wouldn’t risk my job by intentionally stepping over someone’s IP. HQ is such an IP mess and Hasbro/MB owns so many other IP’s outright, that the legal costs of sorting out HeroQuest don’t seem to be worth it for them. Dark Tower, owned by MB, also wasn’t worth it to them, but was also licensed to Restoration Games.

> In the end, the D&D brand by itself is probably enough value.

Yeah, that. Same goes for Candy Land, Cherry-O, and all the other IP’s Hasbro/MB *knows* they own. Remember that Hasbro/MB bought the rights to *all* the Avalon Hill games, and only thought one was worth reprinting. EDIT: Just remembered that Hasbro/MB bought WotC for the Pokemon CCG license, not Magic or D&D. I vaguely thought D&D was almost even discontinued at one time by Hasbro/MB since it made little money compared to other Hasbro/MB products (?).

BTW, Go ask your grandfather (: about Pit. Pit was one of the iconic Parker Brothers games, now owned by Hasbro. Despite being a classic game for over 100 years, the most recent publication was under license, by Winning Moves, not by Hasbro/MB.

EDIT: I guess you could say that RG *is* how Hasbro/MB would like to make money from HQ. RG essentially takes out a lot of risk for Hasbro/MB. RG (hopefully) untangles the IP rights (eg. with Moon Design)l RG provides the game development for the target audience (hobby market). RG handles the sales and distribution of the game (eg. through hobby channels). And, also importantly, RG takes all the capital risk in manufacturing the game. Fireball Island (MB), Dark Tower (MB), and now HeroQuest (MB/GW) are all Hasbro/MB licenses, and Hasbro/MB may be satisfied with this arrangement.

Now, all RG needs to do is bring back HeroScape… 😀