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Überplay Out of Business
Game publisher Überplay hit the market with New England in 2003, then a flood of titles in 2004, some good, others not so much. After that first year, the number of new releases slowed considerably, with a rerelease of Ra in late 2005, followed by English-language versions of a few Abacusspiele titles – California, Nottingham, Jericho – in 2006 even though these games already included rules in English (as well as three other languages). After much delay, Überplay released Hollywood Blockbuster in English; at the same time, though, many of the company’s games were being dumped through the clearance site Tanga.com, leading to widespread speculation that the company was in trouble.
As of April 28, all doubt has now been resolved as the Überplay website now bears nothing more than a black screen, a note about “ceasing operations,” and a recommendation for other publishers of strategic Eurogames. Thanks for your work, Jeremy Young and Matt Molen, and best of luck with SimplyFun and other future endeavors.
Posted by W. Eric Martin on Apr 28, 2008 at 04:30 PM in News, Boardgame News / 1075
Comments:
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I can’t say that I’m surprised, but I am saddened. They had some very good titles (along with the duds that every company has). On the other hand, maybe this means that Web of Power can make a reappearance and Traumfabrick can get a better English language edition. Posted by David Reed on Apr 28, 2008 at 05:32 PM | #
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It’s a little unfair to dismiss the Abacus games as already having English rules. The important thing is that Uberplay *published* and distributed them in the U.S. making the games more widely available. Posted by Jonathan Degann on Apr 28, 2008 at 07:49 PM | #
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It’s too bad. We were all really excited when Uberplay came along, as they seemed to have the money and the savvy to really make a mark in the U.S. gaming industry. But for some reason, they floundered, while other publishers like DoW and Z-Man were flourishing. It wasn’t through lack of effort--maybe they were trying to do too much (and they seemed to have more than their share of bad luck as well). At any rate, we still have some fond reminders of their efforts on our shelves. Thanks, guys, it was fun while it lasted. Posted by Larry Levy on Apr 28, 2008 at 08:27 PM | #
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Thanks for the Chicken Tongiaki! Posted by Jonathan Franklin on Apr 28, 2008 at 11:30 PM | #
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I wonder who will publish now their successful games like For Sale. Posted by Javier Barón on Apr 29, 2008 at 03:36 AM | #
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Interesting that they closed up. In an interview by Eric Burgess on Boardgame Babylon regarding Tanga, it was asked if Uberplay was getting out of the game business. They answered “no” and that they would be release many new titles in 2008. That wasn’t even six months ago. I guess liquidating other companies’ inventory with Tanga is a much more profitable thing to do. Posted by Kevin Rutherford on Apr 29, 2008 at 07:59 AM | #
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