TL;DR - Christian T. Petersen is stepping down as ANA CEO.
Thank you for creating Armada... the greatest of all games!
Thank You Christian
Thanks for the news alert,
I just read his bio at wikipedia and it is quite impressive how he was involved at gaming and developing these wonderful games. When I think of it, twenty years ago I would never imagine I would be playing with miniatures at the age of super computers and console games.
From Wikipedia -
Early life
Christian T. Petersen was born in the United States, but grew up in Denmark ; he was still in high school there when he founded Pegasus Spil Import – a company that imported Avalon Hill games into Scandinavia – and Games Weekend – Denmark's second gaming convention. [1] : 344 Petersen returned to the United States in 1991 and began studying for his BA in Economics at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota.
Fantasy Flight Games
In June 1995, after four years of college, Petersen founded Fantasy Flight Publishing. [1] : 344 The name for Fantasy Flight originates with Petersen's first company, Pegasus Spil Imports; Petersen originally wanted to call his new company Pegasus Publishing but he found Pegasus used too often by other companies and instead he chose a name that was representative of the pegasus: a fantasy flight. [1] : 344
The original idea for the Fantasy Flight Games company came from Petersen's love of European comics, and by negotiating with European publishers Petersen came up with the rights to three comic books: Lucky Luke , Spirou & Fantasio and Percevan . [1] : 344 He started off publishing the comics he had licensed, and when he found out that people wanted more popular European comics like Asterix and Tintin , he started importing and distributing those and when he discovered that people were interested in him distributing even more books, he started doing that too, creating Downtown Distribution . [1] : 344 From reading Comics & Games Retailer , Petersen had good data about the gaming field available to him, so, combining this with his Danish gaming expertise, Petersen started getting into game publication by designing Twilight Imperium (1997). [1] : 344
Fantasy Flight Publishing became known as Fantasy Flight Games (FFG), and by early 1998 Fantasy Flight sold off Downtown Distribution – which represented the last remnant of its comic business – and thereafter focused almost entirely on the gaming market. [1] : 344 Petersen was a long-time fan of Chaosium 's Call of Cthulhu , and because of this interest, Petersen decided that he would like his new publishing company to produce Call of Cthulhu material – and so he acquired a license from Chaosium to publish a series of supplements. [1] : 344 With Darrell Hardy , Petersen wrote the Nocturnum trilogy of adventures for Call of Cthulhu : Long Shades (1997), Hollow Winds (1998) and Deep Secrets (1999). [1] : 345 Petersen and Kevin Wilson designed the Game of Thrones (2003) wargame, and Doom: The Boardgame (2004). [1] : 347
As CEO of Fantasy Flight Games, Petersen has led the company to publish more than 400 titles, making it one of the most successful publishers in the hobby games industry. [2] In addition to his responsibilities as CEO, Petersen manages the day-to-day operations of Fantasy Flight's development and design department. [2] Petersen has designed many of Fantasy Flight's games throughout the years, including Twilight Imperium (all editions), the A Game of Thrones board game, World of Warcraft: The Board Game , and The Lord of the Rings Trivia Game , and his credits as co-designer include Diskwars and Vortex (also entitled Maelstrom ) with Tom Jolly , the A Game of Thrones CCG with Eric Lang , and The StarCraft Board Game with Corey Konieczka . [2]
He made the Game of Thrones board game, too. That is an incredible board game!
17 minutes ago, Nostromoid said:He made the Game of Thrones board game, too. That is an incredible board game!
I would go as far to say it may be the most perfect strategy board game of all time.
I hope the company can continue in the direction Mr. Petersen has led it!
1 hour ago, Tiberius the Killer said:I would go as far to say it may be the most perfect strategy board game of all time.
It's a fantastic game, but let's not get carried away here! There are far more balanced and engaging strategy board games (i.e. the Matagot trilogy: Cyclades, Kemet, Inis... among others).
That aside, Petersen really is a fantastic designer. I have enjoyed many of his games immensely, and some of his games are in my top games. All the best to him!
I just wounder what is the impact of his desision on SW:Armada will be? Is this the real case of delay of new expansions or a death sentence to a game? I hope for the first but afraid of the last
8 minutes ago, maxster said:I just wounder what is the impact of his desision on SW:Armada will be? Is this the real case of delay of new expansions or a death sentence to a game? I hope for the first but afraid of the last
45 minutes ago, maxster said:I just wounder what is the impact of his desision on SW:Armada will be? Is this the real case of delay of new expansions or a death sentence to a game? I hope for the first but afraid of the last
I guess that depends if Petersen had a particular love for Armada, and what his replacement will bring in that regard. Will the new person be someone with real love for gaming, or will he be a corporate suit? With Asmodee on the market, there's no telling what might happen. Obviously, there will be a replacement before Asmodee is taken over, but I shudder to think what might happen if it's bought out by some venture-capital raider, like Bain Capital.
12 hours ago, LostFleet said:Christian T. Petersen was born in the United States, but grew up in Denmark ;
...
The original idea for the Fantasy Flight Games company came from Petersen's love of European comics, and by negotiating with European publishers Petersen came up with the rights to three comic books: Lucky Luke , Spirou & Fantasio and Percevan . [1] : 344 He started off publishing the comics he had licensed, and when he found out that people wanted more popular European comics like Asterix and Tintin , he started importing and distributing those ..
Wow, that sounds a lot like me. I was also born in the United States and grew up in Europe (Netherlands in my case). I also grew up on those European comics. Asterix, Tintin, and Lucky Luke were also favorites of mine. Instead of Spirou & Fantasio I had Suske and Wiske ( Spike and Suzy in English, which just doesn't sound right to me).
There's something just very different about the European comic books, compared to American ones. Since I didn't grow up on American ones the way that a lot of people in our gaming and nerdy communities did, a lot of the Marvel/DC stuff feels rather bizarre to me. I have been enjoying the Star Wars comics, though. Nevertheless, there's a difference to the artwork, pacing, and dramatic styles of American comics compared to European ones.
48 minutes ago, Mikael Hasselstein said:I guess that depends if Petersen had a particular love for Armada, and what his replacement will bring in that regard. Will the new person be someone with real love for gaming, or will he be a corporate suit? With Asmodee on the market, there's no telling what might happen. Obviously, there will be a replacement before Asmodee is taken over, but I shudder to think what might happen if it's bought out by some venture-capital raider, like Bain Capital.
Wow, that sounds a lot like me. I was also born in the United States and grew up in Europe (Netherlands in my case). I also grew up on those European comics. Asterix, Tintin, and Lucky Luke were also favorites of mine. Instead of Spirou & Fantasio I had Suske and Wiske ( Spike and Suzy in English, which just doesn't sound right to me).
There's something just very different about the European comic books, compared to American ones. Since I didn't grow up on American ones the way that a lot of people in our gaming and nerdy communities did, a lot of the Marvel/DC stuff feels rather bizarre to me. I have been enjoying the Star Wars comics, though. Nevertheless, there's a difference to the artwork, pacing, and dramatic styles of American comics compared to European ones.
Expect the worst, hope for the best.
that being said, I’m getting some Bioware Deja vu.
To Mr. Petersen,
You will be sorely missed.
As someone who watched TSR crumble and fall 'off-mission' once the key people/drivers left, I do worry that the next managers will be less about the games and more about the rehashing stuff because it's profitable.
The original TSR crew would halt business to play the games (now a science in itself called playtesting), but the next managers stopped those shenanigans and then shovelled crap for the next 5 years.
The purity of FFG was always the key differentiator in my mind. There are many places to go get our plastic-crack fix, I choose FFG first because of it's commitment to the essence of gaming. As a teenager, I sought solace in the fantasy worlds as my world was the last place I wanted to be in, so many years later, I know how powerful a good gaming system/community can be.
I thank you Mr. Petersen for your diligence and vision. I'm a little jealous of your success, because you had the stones to make something happen, and I am happy for you that you can pursue your own path (as a parent and working stiff, I get the need to spend time with the peeps, that's what it's all about - kind of like the hokey-pokey).
It will be interesting how long before you make an appearance elsewhere (I'm sure there's a no-competition clause somewhere in the arrangement).
Thank you.
One of the millions of adoring fans.
He is a fantastically nice guy, excellent designer, and a truly passionate and attentive CEO. The industry has really lost one of its best assets.
About the only thing I didn't like was his merging FFG with Asmodee, which in my opinion seemed to be a bit of a step backwards for FFG and didn't really seem to deliver as much on those promises of better support for Brick-n-Mortars and better distribution (though I guess stock and availability did get a bit better).
Here's hoping his replacement is as passionate of a gamer and designer and not some numbers-focused bottom line sort of suit. Is this where we start the petition for Alex Davy as ANA CEO?
Edited by AllWingsStandyingBy
2 hours ago, AllWingsStandyingBy said:Is this where we start the petition for Alex Davy as ANA CEO?
Hah not a terrible idea - maybe occasion #2 where you and I agree? Huzzah, today will be a good day!
On 7/31/2018 at 12:11 AM, Crabbok said:TL;DR - Christian T. Petersen is stepping down as ANA CEO.
Thank you for creating Armada... the greatest of all games!
Thanks for the video and the news update.
I've been playing Twilight Imperium for years and one of the reasons I was first interested in Armada was the Petersen link. Much of the greatness of Armada is the choices that have to be made around activation order and types of command, both of which exist in TI and make both games real brain stretchers!
I didn't realise he was also involved in GoT boardgame, another great game.
On 7/30/2018 at 4:51 PM, Tiberius the Killer said:On 7/30/2018 at 4:32 PM, Nostromoid said:He made the Game of Thrones board game, too. That is an incredible board game!
I would go as far to say it may be the most perfect strategy board game of all time.
I'm curious. What makes GoT the most perfect strategy board game compared to, say, Rebellion? I've played TI and Rebellion, but not GoT.
On 7/31/2018 at 8:42 AM, AllWingsStandyingBy said:Is this where we start the petition for Alex Davy as ANA CEO?
I like Alex Davy, but being a game designer is not the same skillset as being a CEO (not that they're mutually exclusive, of course).
I'm just hoping for someone who wants to put more emphasis on Armada and campaigns. It would really be awesome if they wanted to figure out something to tie some of their different SW games together. It might generate more cross-fertilization of consumer bases - ie. X-Wing players buying into Armada, Armada-players buying into Legion, etc.