Three Indie Companies doing Coop Games, decide to do Coop for real
/In our latest blog we thought we’d talk about a new collective being formed by independent board game companies.
In the increasingly competitive space of boardgames, three small studios have decided to work together instead and help each other create and distribute games to players.
The three companies are:
Underground Games, whos games include Jagged Alliance: The Board Game and the co-op time-jumping and storytelling game Castle Von Loghan,
Auroch Digital who are currently kickstarting the space-themed game Mars Horizon: Blast Off! and who created the unique dark-humor take on the US political scene, Elections of US America Elections.
Joining them are newcomer Bos Taurus Diceworks who are working on an as-yet unannounced major IP title
This cooperation is more than an business decision - it is the attempt to have a different answer to the current trend in the games industry as a whole, where the larger companies gobble up indie developers and the remaining indies compete for an ever smaller part of the revenue. Instead of competition, the companies choose cooperation based on shared values and ways to run a business. The three companies also have called on other independent developer to join their cooperation and push the envelope on how games can be created and brought to players.
All companies originally met though digital game development but as all had a passion for board games, meeting at a recent conference they realised that they were having parallel experiences and realised there was much more to be gained by working together than working apart. In addition with underground Games being located in the major market of Germany and Auroch Digital & Bos Taurus Diceworks both being based in also major market of the UK, having a foot in each makes sense. Between the three companies they realised that there was a wealth of design experience, art talent and production skill - however each time one of them needed to solve a problem or improve a process, the learnings from this were only sitting in one place. By working together they realised they can share best-practice from manufacturers to how best to approach board game expos.
Jan Wagner of Underground Games said, “I have known and loved the works and the people of Auroch and Bos Taurus for a long time and all of us have worked as independent studios for a long time. For us, this cooperation goes far beyond simply helping each other become more visible in the market or reaching out to new players: We want to work with people who share the same values, the same love and the same passion for creating great games and truly build something in the spirit of sharing and growing together instead of competing.”
Dr Tomas Rawlings of Auroch Digital added, “There are a lot of shared interests but more than that shared values; we want to make amazing games for our players but we’re also committed to building up the parts of the boardgame experience that don’t always get a focus - from customer support to seeking better environmental standards for the materials used in making games.”