Catalyst Game Labs License Extension Imminent

Posted on June 14th, 2010 by Randall Bills
After weeks of discussion, The Topps Company and Catalyst Game Labs are both pleased to announce that a license extension to the popular intellectual properties of BattleTech and Shadowrun is under final review. All terms have been agreed upon, and the paperwork should be ready for signatures very soon. In the meantime, Catalyst Game Labs continues to operate as manager for the two brands under the operations extension allowed by their original license.

“Working with The Topps Company continues to be a pleasure,” said Randall Bills, Catalyst’s Managing Developer. “We feel we are improving relations every day.”

Tina Trenkler, The Topps Company manager overseeing Catalyst’s operations, said, “We are very happy to have Catalyst continue to be involved with these important licenses and are fully supportive in helping them regain their footing.”

Catalyst Game Labs recently released an historical sourcebook for BattleTech, Operation Klondike, which is being received as one of their best titles in the last year, and will be shortly releasing for print publication Technical Readout: 3085 for BattleTech, as well as Corporate Guide and the much-anticipated Sixth World Almanac for Shadowrun.

Catalyst Game Labs

Catalyst Game Labs is dedicated to producing high quality games and fiction that mesh sophisticated game mechanics with dynamic universes-all presented in a form that allows beginning players and long-time veterans to easily jump into our games and fiction readers to enjoy our stories even if they don’t know the games.

Catalyst Game Labs is an imprint of InMediaRes Productions, LLC, which specializes in electronic publishing of professional fiction. This allows Catalyst to participate in a synergy that melds printed gaming material and fiction with all the benefits of electronic interfaces and online communities, creating a whole-package experience for any type of player or reader. Find Catalyst Game Labs online at www.catalystgamelabs.com

Topps Company, Inc.


Topps is an international marketer of entertainment products, principally collectible trading cards, confections, sticker collections, and collectible strategy games.

The Topps Company was founded in 1938 as Topps Chewing Gum, and in its early years produced a popular penny “Topps Gum” from a factory in Brooklyn, N.Y. After World War II, the company developed Bazooka Bubble Gum, and in 1950, added trading cards to its product line. Baseball cards appeared in 1951 and quickly became a vital part of pop culture, a tradition that continues to this day, and includes football (both American and European) and basketball, in addition to entertainment cards and stickers and albums. In July 2003, Topps acquired WizKids, LLC a designer and marketer of collectible strategy games. Topps maintains offices in Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, and Argentina, in addition to the U.S.

June 12, 2010
Sandstorm and Posthuman Studios Play Ball…
Filed under: News, Press Release — Jennifer @ 1:54 pm
Lake Stevens, WA June 12th, 2010

“How’d you like to play dodgeball?”

There’s something to be said about flying into town for negotiations and getting taken directly to a parking lot game of dodgeball at midnight in Wicker Park, Chicago. When you’re in the gaming industry, work and play go hand in hand—you can’t make fun if you aren’t having it!

We’ve been fans of Eclipse Phase since it premiered. And just as big of fans of Rob, Adam, and Brian—the creative masterminds behind the ground-breaking transhumanist game. So when the opportunity came up to partner Sandstorm and Posthuman Studios, we jumped. (And threw down.)

You’ve gotten a taste of what Posthuman can create with Eclipse Phase—and we’re absolutely thrilled to be partnering with them to bring a full lineup of new Eclipse Phase books to fans in the coming year. We’re also very excited to be partnering with Posthuman to bring new games to the gaming market, such as the tongue-in-cheek card game of Celebrity Trash Culture, Paparazzi!

We look forward to our partnership with Posthuman and everything the future holds in store for us–whether that’s resleeving our digital consciousness, using a telephoto lens to snap indiscriminate photographs, or playing another round of street dodgeball.

Posthuman Studios LLC and Sandstorm Productions LLC. The Storm is Building.

****

Posthuman Studios LLC is a creator-owned game design collective founded by game-industry veterans Rob Boyle, Adam Jury, and Brian Cross in 2008. In 2009 they launched the critically-acclaimed Eclipse Phase, which immediately became a hit with its innovative setting, stellar production, and Creative Commons licensing. They currently have several additional projects in development, including the Paparazzi! card game.

Sandstorm Productions LLC is a Kansas based capitalization and production company dedicated to partnering with premium studios to bring the best games to market. In addition to WildFire and Posthuman, their partner studios include Closet Nerd and Glowfly Games. Sandstorm assists with the capitalization and production of a wide range of gaming products, from classic RPGs to family and educational board games.

For more information, contact Sandstorm at Press@Sandstormllc.com or visit the following websites:

www.posthumanstudios.com

www.sandstormllc.com

May 10, 2010
I’ve been neglecting this blog for too long, and now I have a pile of news and updates to catch up on.

Catalyst Woes: In March some unfortunate news came to light at Catalyst Game Labs concerning, as they put it, the improper “co-mingling” of company funds. I’m not going to comment on the situation here, but you can read what CGL has to say in the press releases on their website and there are numerous threads full of rumor and speculation on various RPG forums. Due to what was going on, however, both Adam Jury and myself decided to part ways with CGL. We also immediately went about severing the license between Posthuman Studios and CGL for Eclipse Phase, so now that game is entirely back in our hands. Many of our friends and former colleagues have also distanced themselves from CGL, and WildFire also severed their license and reclaimed their Cthulhutech line. It remains to be seen how the CGL situation will play out, but I’m very sad that many of my friends have had their livelihoods disrupted by this turn of events.

Posthuman Futures: On the positive side, Adam, Brian, and myself are making progress on taking Posthuman Studios up a few notches. We plan to continue publishing Eclipse Phase (and also some other games) in the future and are arranging our business so that Posthuman will handle all EP production itself. We are making an arrangement with a new publishing partner who will handle our printing, warehousing, and fulfillment. We’re doing our best to turn misfortune into opportunity, and we have some exciting plans in the works, so expect to hear much more from us soon.

Lake Stevens, Washington June 10th, 2010

Sandstorm and WildFire – Setting the Gaming Industry Ablaze

Isn’t it strange how you can sit down at a business meeting, and as soon as the zombies start crawling out of the fields of wildflowers, the ties come off and people start having fun? Business in the gaming industry should be about having fun. It should be about making awesome games that people love to play. And, of course, it should be about making good business decisions, even when faced with the rise of unmentionable gods and invading hordes of aliens.

That’s why we at Sandstorm are delighted to announce that we’re joining forces with WildFire to bring a great lineup of games to the gaming industry. From their award winning CthulhuTech game world to new, fun (and rather addictive) games—like Poo—currently available or in production, WildFire has an ambitious plan for future releases. With Sandstorm’s capitalization and production management services, it’s a match made in heaven. Or in monster-strewn hell, depending on your taste. From the moment we joined forces, we’ve hit the ground running to bring you the games you’ve been itching for.

Stop by and visit us at Origins and GenCon to see the new lineup of coming CthulhuTech books, play a game of Poo, or just chat a bit about monsters, mayhem, and the future.

WildFire LLC and Sandstorm Productions LLC. The Storm is building.

*****

WildFire LLC is the creative mastermind behind the ENnie Award-winning and Origins Award nominated CthulhuTech roleplaying line, as well as the Origins Award nominated Poo: the Card Game. They will also be releasing the Chthonian Stars roleplaying line for the Traveller roleplaying game later this year, a Lovecraftian sci-fi exploration set in the near future. The creative partners at WildFire have nearly a half century of industry experience behind them designing roleplaying, miniatures, and casual games. Their planned release schedule over the coming years contains several exciting new product lines that are sure to set the market on fire!

Sandstorm Productions LLC is a Kansas based capitalization and production company dedicated to partnering with premium studios to bring the best games to market. In addition to WildFire, their partner studios include Closet Nerd Games and Posthuman Studios. Sandstorm assists with the capitalization and production of a wide range of gaming products, from classic RPGs to family and educational board games.

The following was just posted to CGL's website, and I was asked to disseminate it far and wide:

>>>>>
Catalyst Game Labs recently completed a detailed financial review of the company. We learned that over the past several years the company has achieved dramatic growth in terms of demand, increased total revenues and strong sales with an increasing market share in the gaming industry, despite a lackluster economy. We are thrilled by that news and are eager to move forward with our upcoming original game Leviathans, along with our other new casual games. We also remain committed to plans for our beloved licensed games: Shadowrun, BattleTech, Eclipse Phase, and CthuluTech.

While we wish the review had only uncovered positive news, we also discovered our accounting procedures had not been updated as the company continued to grow. The result was that business funds had been co-mingled with the personal funds of one of the owners. We believe the missing funds were the result of bad habits that began alongside the creation of the company, which was initially a small hobby group. Upon further investigation, in which the owner has willingly participated, the owner in question now owes the company a significant balance and is working to help rectify the situation.

The current group of owners was presented with this information on Monday. Administrative organization for the company is under review, and accounting procedures have been restructured, to correct the situation and provide more stringent oversight. We feel the management team at Catalyst did the responsible thing by seeking this financial review and we will continue to restructure as needed. We are in discussions with our partners and freelancers to remedy any back payments that may also be due as a result of this review.

We are embarrassed that this situation did occur but we hope our eagerness to make these changes, along with our reputation for making great games, will encourage you to stand by us. We understand that for a few employees the news was too stressful and we wish them all the best in their new endeavors. However, the majority of the team remains and will continue to bring great entertainment to you all. We appreciate the support our friends, freelancers, and fans have provided us in the past and look forward to a successful future.
>>>>>>

While I don't imagine this answers all questions people may have, I hope this sheds some light on the situation, particularly Catalyst's determination to continue producing products and to remedy back payments to freelancers. I remain open to questions people may have.

Jason H.

There is a press release up on the CGL website about the issue. It's short, so here it is in its entirety:


Catalyst Game Labs Negotiating To Part Ways With WildFire And Posthuman Studios

Catalyst Game Labs is currently engaged in negotiations to end its agreements with WildFire and Posthuman Studios. Once the terms are finalized, Catalyst will no longer publish CthulhuTech or Poo: The Card Game for WildFire, nor will they co develop and publish Eclipse Phase for Posthuman Studios.

“It’s been fantastic to be involved with growing CthulhuTech alongside WildFire, while also launching Posthuman Studios’ Eclipse Phase,” said Randall Bills, Managing Developer. “We love both of these universes and want to seem them grow and flourish. However, in our current situation we need to re-focus on our core brands of BattleTech and Shadowrun, while developing our original games. As such, while we are parting ways with both companies, we’ll be doing everything we can to support WildFire and Posthuman Studios as they assume the full mantle for their game lines.”

Future details surrounding CthulhuTech will be found at www.cthulhutech.com, while future Eclipse Phase details will be found at www.eclipsephase.com.

To turn this back on topic a bit... This was just posted to CGL's site.

Eclipse Phase Leaving Catalyst
As noted earlier today on the Catalyst site, we are in negotiations to sever the licensing agreement between Catalyst Game Labs and Posthuman Studios. Here's what Catalyst had to say:



What this means is that in the very near future the Eclipse Phase IP will be back fully in the control of Posthuman Studios. We are already talking to several potential publishing partners, and our goal is to get both the Eclipse Phase Core Rulebook reprint and the EP Gamemaster Pack into distribution as soon as possible, followed soon after by Sunward.

Unfortunately we won't have any solid information on release dates until this matter is completely resolved. We'll be sure to post that information here once we know. Thanks to all of our fans for their patience and continued support!

The Next Phase of WildFire, Pt. I
April 5, 2010

5-April-10

As of 3:21 pm today, Catalyst Game Labs transferred ownership of all remaining CthulhuTech and Poo inventory to WildFire, the legal copyright holder of both properties.

As of January 3rd, 2010, WildFire terminated any and all business relations with Catalyst Game Labs, due primarily to non-payment of royalties, in addition to other contractual breaches.

Since that time, WildFire has been trying to work with Catalyst for that company to pay WildFire the remaining royalties owed. Things have progressed very slowly. In order to relieve a portion of that debt all at once, the best solution for Catalyst Game Labs was to transfer ownership of WildFire inventory to that company.

More changes are expected within the week, and more information will be released as they happen.

Posted by Matthew Grau at 15:58