TableStar Games Has New Owner

Peter Hansell, former art director for TableStar Games, has purchased the company from previous owner Anthony Thompson. TableStar had apparently closed shop in January 2008 at the same time that it was planning to ship the completed Wealth of Nations. As Hansell notes in a letter accompanying the sale notice:

Thompson kept me on board as a part time employee to do product support and basic marketing. Since we had already committed to the GAMA Trade Show in Las Vegas I went and we had a great show. People seemed excited about a new Euro board game. This eventually let to TableStar doing more shows including Origins and GenCon.

Everywhere we went Wealth of Nations was getting a great reception and I personally did not want to let it all go. I kept emailing people, sending out games and working on the business. We sold almost 2,000 units in June alone and the game was moving well.

Thus when Thompson approached Hansell about purchasing the company, he agreed to do so, completing the sale on October 1, 2008. As for future releases, Hansell notes that he’s weighing the merits of a half-dozen projects, one of which is an expansion for Wealth of Nations; only two or three of those projects will be produced in 2009. Hansell says, “We are going to support a more diverse line of games. There will be a mix of Euro games, casual games and family games.”

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