Re: FFG/AMG/Asmodee, I think we have to look at it from *both* ends of the idea that corporations aren't charities. If FFG had satisfied its parent company and other stakeholders that X-Wing would remain profitable, the game wouldn't have been moved to AMG. If AMG had a way to make X-Wing profitable that they knew how to execute with minimal effort, they would have done it. In fact it seems like they THOUGHT they did have a way, or else the whole 2023-2024 competitive season + the scenario packs + the starter packs don't make any sense. If they wanted to do nothing, nothing was right there to do. It seems like making X-Wing generate profit for shareholders (which as we all know is the only judgment of merit under capitalism) is not a trivial problem. That said, sunsetting a game that had THAT kind of presence at Adepticon HAS to be read as a massive L in the industry. Either the expectations set by Asmodee are unrealistic, or AMG has no ability and/or desire to maintain a popular game, or, almost certainly, a twisted combination of both and other stuff. The thing I keep coming back to is that almost everyone I know bought 2 or more scenario packs, which are just cards and cardboard, for over $20 a piece. If those products weren't breaking even, what are we even doing here? There's no plastic-manufacturing end to blame. And tweaking and recombining extant pilots and upgrades and putting them into new scenarios doesn't seem like something that should be breaking the bank for development and playtesting, compared with when we'd get 2-4 new ships per wave.
I generally agree but I think you have to remember that Asmodee moved everything to AMG in order to cut costs and slim down the books as we learned later because they were selling themselves to Embracer group. There's no evidence that X-Wing under FFG wasn't profitable, it's just a common thing large corporations do when selling. Move their assets around and cut the higher salaries.
Re: FFG/AMG/Asmodee, I think we have to look at it from *both* ends of the idea that corporations aren't charities. If FFG had satisfied its parent company and other stakeholders that X-Wing would remain profitable, the game wouldn't have been moved to AMG. If AMG had a way to make X-Wing profitable that they knew how to execute with minimal effort, they would have done it. In fact it seems like they THOUGHT they did have a way, or else the whole 2023-2024 competitive season + the scenario packs + the starter packs don't make any sense. If they wanted to do nothing, nothing was right there to do.
It seems like making X-Wing generate profit for shareholders (which as we all know is the only judgment of merit under capitalism) is not a trivial problem. That said, sunsetting a game that had THAT kind of presence at Adepticon HAS to be read as a massive L in the industry. Either the expectations set by Asmodee are unrealistic, or AMG has no ability and/or desire to maintain a popular game, or, almost certainly, a twisted combination of both and other stuff.
The thing I keep coming back to is that almost everyone I know bought 2 or more scenario packs, which are just cards and cardboard, for over $20 a piece. If those products weren't breaking even, what are we even doing here? There's no plastic-manufacturing end to blame. And tweaking and recombining extant pilots and upgrades and putting them into new scenarios doesn't seem like something that should be breaking the bank for development and playtesting, compared with when we'd get 2-4 new ships per wave.
I generally agree but I think you have to remember that Asmodee moved everything to AMG in order to cut costs and slim down the books as we learned later because they were selling themselves to Embracer group. There's no evidence that X-Wing under FFG wasn't profitable, it's just a common thing large corporations do when selling. Move their assets around and cut the higher salaries.