Guys, it’s always great to chat. How’s this past year been for Asmodee Entertainment?
Alexander Thieme: It’s been great – we’ve had lots of exciting launches. There’s been merchandise from Fanattik and the CATAN cookbook is out now. The cookbook got a lot of attention from press in the US, which is always a good sign! We’re always looking forward in this job but it’s nice to take stock and look at how these cool deals have come to fruition.

Ness Jack: It’s been a real evolution for the team since Asmodee Entertainment launched four years ago. I was there at the beginning when we were focused mainly on Aconyte books… Now we have a raft of products out there across lots of different categories – jigsaws, puzzle books, statues, collectables. It’s a pleasure to see all these ranges out there.

I can’t remember which of you said this – and I assume it’s a positive term! – but you’ve described yourselves as a ‘two-headed monster’. How do you work together?
AT: Well, Ness onboarded me – she was one of the earliest members of the team. We had three weeks in the office together before the pandemic and then lockdown hit. We got on really well in those weeks, so we decided to create a virtual office during the pandemic. Every morning we’d have a virtual meeting… Sometimes we wanted to feel like we were back in the office, so we’d be in that meeting just working and not even talking to each other!

NJ: I learnt a lot of licensing terminology just by listening to Alexander witter away to himself in those meetings.

AT: Ha! It’s true! I’d also bounce ideas off of Ness and involve her in my deals. Ness always had a huge strength in organisation but that’s when she got a taste for licensing I think! I knew she had a talent for it too! I was ill for a bit last year and Ness jumped in perfectly. She loved it and so we made her officially a fully-fledged licensing manager.

NJ: I love this industry. Everyone is always so excited about what they’re working on – even the problems are exciting! And as Alexander says, I’m more of an organised person and he’s more of a creative thinker, so we work well together. We have great fun every day.

AT: Absolutely. Our strengths and weakness complement each other wonderfully. Ness can finish my sentences!

Let’s dive into Asmodee Entertainment’s exciting licensing slate. You have a Werewolves of Miller’s Hollow film in the works at Netflix. Why did this board game suit a movie?
NJ: We’ve got to give our colleague Etienne Bonnin and the team credit for this; it’s really exciting. Werewolves of Miller’s Hollow is a phenomenon in France in particular; the game has an incredible following there. Videos of the game being played gets millions and millions of views. The IP itself has everything you’d want in a mystery movie. It’s ripe for storytelling.

AT: It’s going to be along the lines of a Jumanji – action, tension, mystery, adventure and a lot of fun. It’s what you experience in the game.

Does this move also put a spotlight on how your wider portfolio could suit both the big and small screen?
AT: The media team is working on all sorts of exciting projects. Live action, animation, movies, TV, gameshows, unscripted TV… They’re talking to lots of people all the time! There’s lots of opportunities and hopefully Werewolves is the first of many.

I want to loop back to Ulysses’ CATAN cookbook! It’s an eye-catching launch – why did a cookbook make sense for this beloved tabletop game?
AT: In German, there’s a phrase: ‘Passt wie Faust auf Auge’. It means ‘Fits like fist on eye’ – meaning something’s a perfect fit!

That’s a relief!
AT: Ha! Well, I think it’s a good fit for a couple of reasons. First of all, CATAN is a very social game. You get together, have some food and drinks and play the game. Online, there’s quite a lot of fan-created CATAN food. Someone baked an edible CATAN board! From that side, it worked. And the game itself is focused on the island of Catan and its natural resources. We wanted to explore what people who live on the island would eat. There might be a lamb stew, or a pie… So it’s about food for your CATAN game night and food that might be cooked on Catan – there are some great recipes in there.

I’m sold! Now, since we last spoke, your range with Fanattik has launched – and it looks great. There are some real deep cuts – like an Arkham Horror police badge and a Hacan Medallion from Twilight Imperium – and even the bottle openers are beautiful! Is it exciting working on a range like this that caters for real fan service with serious quality?
AT: Fanattik has launched different products that hopefully appeal to different people. The bottle openers are great gamer swag. The collectables tap into core fandom by recreating in-world items. The product that stunned me the most was the Ticket to Ride trophy items – they are beautiful. You can use them to reward players who achieve certain aims at the end of a game, but I’d have one out on display!

NJ: Don’t tell the boss, I’ve never played Twilight Imperium – but I want the ingots that Fanattik have done. They are incredible. For fans, having something from these worlds that they can touch and feel brings a whole new level of immersion to their gaming experiences.

Earlier this year you announced a partnership with your sister company at Embracer Group, Dark Horse Comics. What can we expect from this collaboration?
NJ: At Gen Con we showcased a statue that Dark Horse created of Togashi Yokuni, a key protagonist from Legend of the Five Rings. It looks fantastic and gained lots of attention at the show. We’ve worked with Dark Horse before on art books and now on collectables and they’re a brilliant partner. There’s also a Legend of the Five Rings comic in the works – that’s exciting. It’s fun to see our transmedia approach in action with our colleagues across Embracer.

AT: There’s huge potential in what we can do with partners across the Embracer family. There’s lots of projects still to be announced and it’s a fantastic place to be.

Before I let you go, BLE is weeks away and you guys are walking the show. What categories are you interested in? Who would you like to bump into?
NJ: We’re interested in location-based entertainment. It’s interesting to see what other companies are doing in that space. We’ve dabbled in this space with the Arkham Horror escape room in Seattle that we launched with Hourglass. That’s done incredibly well, and we actually extended the license at the beginning of the year.

AT: It’s an exciting way to get fans, and those new to our brands, into these universes – and it’s a growing market too. Elsewhere, we’re looking for back-to-school and plush partners for brands like Dobble and Arkham Horror. Bringing board game brands into back-to-school is quite novel and we see huge potential in that area.

Guys, huge thanks again! See you at BLE!

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Asmodee Entertainment has partnered with Pollard Banknote to launch printed instant lottery tickets around Catan and Ticket to Ride in the US and Canada.

“Catan and Ticket to Ride are incredibly strong brands and perfectly fit within Pollard Banknote’s already strong licensing portfolio,” says Asmodee Entertainment’s Licensing Manager, Alexander Thieme.

“I’m excited to see how a powerhouse partner like Pollard Banknote will expand the product offerings to fans and introduce our wonderful brands to new fans along the way!”

Brad Thompson, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Pollard Banknote, added: “Board game adaptations have historically been well-performing standouts in the instant ticket category.

“The addition of Catan and Ticket to Ride to our licensed line-up is a real coup, and we’re excited about where we can take these brands together with our clients. They’re undeniable cultural forces we’re confident will appeal to new and seasoned instant game players alike.”

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The Scout Store has entered into a licensing partnership with Asmodee to develop a range of licensed ‘Dobbly-as-Scout’ merchandise, featuring the mascot from the smash-hit game Dobble.

The partnership will also see the launch of a Scouts edition of Dobble, developed in parallel by Asmodee.

“This new license agreement signed with Asmodee is the culmination of Scout Store’s license strategy: partnering with a globally recognised company whose values and ethos align with our Scout values,” said Thomas Robertson, Scout Store’s Managing Director.

“As an integral part of our strategy, we believe that a Scout version of the famous Dobble will help our customers and members relate to the products and therefore increase their connection and experience while playing the game. We are delighted to see that our new friends at Asmodee also share this vision and we can’t wait to see the new range of Scout Dobbly products in the market.”

Alexander Thieme, Licensing Manager at Asmodee Entertainment, added: “Helping this partnership to become reality has been a great honour and joy. The upcoming range of merchandise and the game itself will undoubtedly bring lots of joy to Dobble fans in the UK and no doubt become instant collectibles.”

The Scouts game and Dobbly merchandise range is expected to release in Spring 2023.

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Alexander, it’s always great to catch up! To get the ball rolling, how did you come to be working in licensing?

Do you think having worked in so many different areas of that business proved useful when moving into licensing?
Absolutely. Licensing was a brilliant combination of everything I’d done before, and it gave me the opportunity to speak with lots of really interesting people about their wonderful businesses. It’s what I’m doing now with Asmodee, day-in day-out.

It’s one of the busiest jobs I’ve ever had in my life, and it’s also one of the most exciting. Every call is interesting – different people, markets, industries… I’ll speak to someone about licensed coffee one minute, and the next call will be about a graphic novel for kids. I really, really love it.

I can imagine that variety keeps things interesting – and the Asmodee portfolio of brands is just as diverse. It spans gaming icons like CATAN, to fast-paced card games like Dobble, to the vast worlds of Twilight Imperium. That must lead to all sorts of unique licensing opportunities?
It really does. One of the slogans at Asmodee is ‘A game for every gamer’. We can expand that now to ‘A brand for every licensee’. We have an incredibly wide catalogue of brands, and each has a different fanbase. We have kids, families, casual gamers, hardcore gamers – it’s fantastic.

You have something like Ticket to Ride on one side – a game with wide appeal; you can find it everywhere. Then there’s a brand like Arkham Horror, which has a lot of superfans and is very big. And then, for example, there is Twilight Imperium – one of the best games in the world, with a fantastic universe that has a hobby gamer following, or Legend of the Five Rings, which has a small but rabid fanbase. There are about 300 brands in Asmodee’s catalogue, so it’s a full spectrum!

And having that spectrum can help blow categories wide open for you guys, right? In apparel, Dobble might lend itself to kidswear while Twilight Imperium could be a nice fit for something more high-end…
It always depends on the partner’s abilities and needs. When I have conversations with potential licensees, I always want to find out what they want to do because our brands need to marry up with their needs. This exploration is an exciting and creative process.

I’m interested in Asmodee’s first few steps into licensing. How many of your games were ‘brand-ready’ and how many did you have to build up licensable assets for?
They were all ready for licensing, but like any company that’s starting a licensing programme for its brands, we had to do some work. That said, I’m not sure any brand is ever fully ‘brand-ready’ – they’re always evolving.

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Also, what you need to be brand-ready differs from brand-to-brand. For example, if we explored Dobble plush, what needs to be in place for that deal to happen is different to what needs to be there for something centred around the deeper world of Arkham Horror.

The good thing is that we don’t just give our licensees a style guide and say “off you go!” We talk to them, give them additional inspirational material to spark their creativity and help them develop ideas. A successful licensing project needs both the creativity of the licensee and the proper support of the brand owner.

I always say to partners “No matter how silly an idea is, don’t censor yourselves – just ask us and see if we say no.” There have been some left-field creative ideas that we’ve absolutely loved.

Yes, and we’ll dive into some of those in a moment. You mentioned fans earlier. How passionate are the fanbases around your brands?
Our fans are very connected – emotionally and socially – to our brands. And that even goes for a simple game like Dobble. The experiences around the table involving our brands form part of these fans’ identity. These games are a big part of people’s social circles and family lives; it’s a deep, emotional connection. They want merchandise that speaks to them and reflects the experiences they hold so dear. This means our products need to come from a creative place.

Speaking of creativity, can you give me a few examples of recent product lines that highlight how creative licensees can be with your brands?
Rollacrit’s CATAN ranges are a great example. They have three lines… One focuses on in-world organisations like The Bricklayers Union of Catan. Another centres around the ‘Greetings from Catan’ range that imagines terrains from the island like a tourist destination. And finally, there’s the ‘Catan Seaside Resort’ series, which is inspired by the beaches of the game.

Then you have something like Ata-Boy’s CATAN collection. They have a clear focus on things like fridge magnets, buttons and keyrings, working with classic imagery and insider jokes from the game, like ‘No One Wants Your Sheep’. It’s a clever way to show off your fandom.

And then you have a partner like Just Funky, who sit somewhere between the two. They have a very unique style, that I love. Each partner has taken a different creative spin on the brand, and every kind of CATAN fan can find something for them across these collections.

Absolutely – and that will extend to cookbooks too, right?
Yes, we have a CATAN cookbook on the way from Ulysses Press! It’s all about different dishes inspired by the different landscapes seen in the game. We also have a cookbook coming out based on Ticket to Ride, and that’s about taking consumers on a culinary journey.

It sounds left field, but when you dive into them, they make total sense. If something doesn’t feel right, it doesn’t happen. We only sign deals that make sense and feel right. It should never feel like too much of a stretch.

CATAN cookbooks, CATAN beer… What’s the value of doing brand extensions that surprise people?
There are different types of fans, and fandom itself follows the psychological principle of symbolic self-completion. You want to surround yourself with things that are part of your identity. It needs to speak to you, and also speak to those around you. In merch terms, that means there’s ‘in-your-face’ product and the more subtle ‘guerrilla’ style of product. Either way, it needs to speak to fans and these irreverent, playful products fit the bill for some consumers looking to be surprised and entertained.

A good example of this is the Welbeck puzzle books for CATAN, Unlock! and Ticket to Ride. They also have puzzle books in the works for Pandemic and Dobble. It’s easy to think ‘How could you do a puzzle book for Dobble?’ but it’s fantastic. I saw a sample chapter recently and was gripped! When you find a partner who knows what they’re doing, you can create some really engaging content.

Do the studios behind the games get involved in this creative process with your licensees?
Well, what’s great is that the studios have strong connections with the gaming community. Asmodee, at its core, is at the heart of the boardgame community as most of us a board gamers. The people that make our games do so with a lot of passion, and board game players are passionate too. So, style guides are great, but they’re not the be all and end all. Licensees also engage with us, our studios and our gaming community – and that often leads to a flurry of ideas that resonate with fans.

For any licensees reading, what areas are of interest to Asmodee Entertainment at the moment?
We’re looking for partners in graphic novels for two of our biggest brands, Arkham Horror and Terrinoth Legends. We’ve had some great experiences in that segment already and know how powerful that style of storytelling can be, so we think it’s time for these two brands to find a home in the graphic novel space.

I’m also looking at collectible plush, be it aimed at families around Dobble or geeky plush for something like Arkham Horror. We think there’s some really cool things we could do in plush. Also, I’m always looking at publishing formats, because they marry up wonderfully with games.

Generally though, we are open to talk about any product or product category, be it CATAN coffee or Dobble stationary – there are many opportunities! My colleagues are also working on some really exciting media projects and in video games. The sky’s the limit.

We’re covering lots of live brand experiences at the moment. Is that area of interest too?
Absolutely. It’s a small market still, but there’s lots of potential there. And we have already launched some great things in this area. For example, if you live in Seattle, you can go to Hourglass Escapes and try out the Arkham Horror escape room. It’s really, really cool.

Alexander, this has been great! I have one last question – how do you fuel your creativity?
My biggest source of inspiration is in talking to people. The back and forth with licensees is fertile ground for creativity. People bring their experiences, their backgrounds and their needs, and that comes together with our experiences and our needs for a unique mix that fires up creativity.

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Asmodee Entertainment has partnered with Ulysses Press to create and release cookbooks based on the Catan and Ticket to Ride board game brands.

Scheduled for publication in Spring and Summer 2023 respectively, the hardcover cookbooks will each feature original recipes inspired by the games.

“This cooperation is something we wanted to do for a long time and I’m very excited that with the Ulysses team we found such a passionate partner,” said Alexander Thieme, Licensing Manager at Asmodee Entertainment.

“Having seen the first ideas for the books, I’m absolutely sure that fans of both gaming brands will love these books. With tens of millions of active players in North America alone these books will find themselves in a great many kitchens and on a great many coffee tables before too long.”

Ulysses Press Editorial Director Casie Vogel added: “We’re absolutely thrilled to be working with Asmodee Entertainment, Catan and Ticket to Ride.

“With our experience and track record to create beautiful, pop culture-themed cookbooks and the huge fandom behind these games – our staff included – we’re excited to create books that families and friends can enjoy, all while bringing their favourite games to life through food.”

The official Catan cookbook will be available for pre-order this fall, and both books will be distributed by Simon & Schuster.

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Asmodee Entertainment has partnered with Ablaze to create a graphic novel based on Spot It – known as Dobble outside of North America.

Characters from the card game – including Dobbly the anthropomorphic hand from the Dobble logo – will appear in an original adventure story, written by Derek Fridolfs and illustrated by Gabriele Bagnoli.

“I’m very excited to be working with the team at Asmodee on this project, and on such an iconic, global brand,” said Rich Young, VP Creative and Managing Editor at Ablaze.

“We are planning to deliver something unique and fun here, that I think fans of the game and graphic novel fans will both enjoy immensely.”

Alexander Thieme, Licensing Manager at Asmodee Entertainment, added: “I am so very glad that with Rich and the Ablaze team we found such a passionate partner. Seeing the first art concepts and reading the first story bits show me that this project is going to be a very popular addition to the brand family and will bring old and new fans so much new joy.”

The Dobble graphic novel will launch in summer 2022.

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Asmodee Entertainment has teamed up with Rollacrit to further establish Catan as a lifestyle brand with launches across apparel, accessories, collectables and homewares.

“Catan is a property rich in resources for us to cultivate and grow into items that will delight fans,” said Erin Zipperle, founder and CEO of Rollacrit.

“We are excited to build this partnership with Asmodee into a new world of fun, high-quality products for fans to enjoy. We look forward to bringing that same expertise and enthusiasm to other Asmodee properties in the future!”

This new range of Catan merchandise will be developed by Rollacrit’s designers, who are themselves fans of the game.

“Catan is a cherished part of millions of people’s social lives,” added Alexander Thieme, Licensing Manager for Consumer Products at Asmodee Entertainment.

“Building a new world on the untouched island of Catan, the haggling for sheep, bricks and grain and the fun around the table are something I would have loved to express outwardly in other walks of life back in my very active Catan days. When Erin and his team of geek design veterans formed up as Rollacrit, I knew they needed to be part of the Catan merch family. I’m so very pleased that we are able to announce this today.”

The first product will land in Q4 2021.

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Asmodee Entertainment has signed a partnership with Plainview Shoes to launch a line of Catan-inspired footwear.

The range, launching in 2021, will span cosy, comfortable footwear ‘inspired by Catan’s themes of trading, building and settling’.

“We are excited that we can add Catan to our portfolio of gaming footwear,” said Lyndon Tucker, President of Plainview Shoes.

“After partnering with Capcom for footwear based on various videogames, Catan was the logical choice for us to expand into tabletop games and its huge fanbase. Gaming properties in the licensed footwear space are greatly underrepresented and we know there are a great many fans out there who look to express themselves with gaming-inspired footwear.”

Alexander Thieme, Licensing Manager at Asmodee Entertainment, added: “We know how important Catan is for its fans. Trading, building and settling is an integral part of many of their social lives, be it through regular gaming nights or through Catan tournaments.

“The game is a regular social anchor for many and with its elegant, nature-focused design elements, it has already become a lifestyle brand. It is great to see Plainview coming on board as one of the first apparel licensees in the US, following Hot Topic.”

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