The Asmodee Group has announced the acquisition of acclaimed publishing group Plan B Games.
Founded in 2016 by Sophie Gravel, with 18 employees based in Canada and Germany, the group operates four internationally renowned games publishers: Next Move, Plan B Games, Pretzel Games and Eggertspiele. The group’s output includes titles that have been nominated for top industry awards including the Spiel des Jahres and Kennerspiel des Jahres – board gaming’s equivalent of the Academy Awards.
One such heralded title is Azul, which has sold over two million copies worldwide and is available in 35 languages as well as winning coveted prizes such as the Spiel des Jahres, Deutscher Spiele Preis and l’As d’Or. The game’s success has been attributed to factors including its accessibility, high-quality components and a distinctive, appealing visual design.
Among Plan B’s other multi-award-winning games are Camel Up (winner of the 2014 Spiel des Jahres), Century: Spice Road (a trilogy translated into 23 languages and winner of the Golden Geek Best Card Game award in 2017) and Great Western Trail (ranked as one of the 10 greatest games of all time on industry-benchmark site BoardGameGeek.com).
“I am delighted to see the Plan B Games family become part of the great Asmodee team,” said founder Sophie Gravel. “Their tremendous network will offer our collections a broader distribution base as well as a bigger community of players worldwide. We will continue to strive to publish games with the same care and attention to detail that has always been our driving force. Our goal remains the same: to offer unforgettable playing experiences, both through the depth of our gameplay and premium-quality materials.”
Stéphane Carville, CEO of the Asmodee Group, added: “The Plan B group has demonstrated, year after year, its creativity and sense of aesthetics in creating highly successful games such as Azul, which will naturally find its place among our pillar brands alongside the likes of Catan and Ticket to Ride. We are very pleased that Sophie Gravel and her teams, with whom we have developed a close partnership through the years, will be joining our group and participating in the development of our games catalogue.”
Plan B games will be available to the UK trade exclusively through Asmodee UK.
