Early Spring 1998/Vol. 5 No. 1 Last Autumn, something happened (very quietly) that most of us
train gamers were not aware of --MicroProse bought Hartland Trefoil
from Francis Tresham, the originator of the 18xx series of train
games. In the interest of keeping us all informed, I have included
below a copy of the press releases from both Hartland Trefoil
and MicroProse. Chris Lawson of the UK, designer and publisher
of 18xx gamekits, has graciously consented to allow me to reprint
his comments. I considered him to be the best source of information
on this situation. Press Release - HARTLAND Trefoil Ltd Hartland Trefoil Ltd., the specialist board game company that
originated Civilization and the '18XX' game system, have [sic]
been bought by MicroProse Inc., the American computer game company
who have been producing the computer version of this game. The many enthusiasts for Hartland Trefoil products can be assured
that the change will open wide horizons. Francis Tresham who founded
Hartland Trefoil in 1974 will now be available to MicroProse in
the origination of new computer game concepts. It is also anticipated
that all properly licensed products of Hartland Trefoil will continue
to be available, normally from existing sources. Even more significantly,
the highly qualified Hartland development team has transferred
intact to a brand new company Tresham Games Ltd. The first priority
of the new company, which retains the former directors, will be
to ensure that '1825' remains available and that new Units and
kits for the game system continue to appear. The second priority
will be to develop totally new games. About the only major difference
between the new company and the old one is that Tresham Games
will be adequately financed. Press Release - MicroProse MICROPROSE, INC. ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION OF CREATOR OF CIVILIZATION
? BOARD GAME ALAMEDA, California, December 2, 1997 ? MicroProse® , Inc. (Nasdaq:
MPRS), a worldwide interactive entertainment company, today announced
the acquisition of Hartland Trefoil, Ltd., the original creator
and publisher of the CIVILIZATION? board game. The acquisition
further establishes MicroProse, the publisher of the award-winning
and best-selling SID MEIER'S CIVILIZATION® family of computer-game
products, as the preeminent holder of worldwide computer game
and board game rights under the CIVILIZATION brand. Francis Tresham, creator of the CIVILIZATION board game and General
Director of Hartland Trefoil, will continue to design games as
a consultant for MicroProse. "As publisher of the internationally
well-known CIVILIZATION family of computer games, we are delighted
to be joining forces with the creative mind behind the outstanding
CIVILIZATION board game," said Derek McLeish, Senior Vice President
of Marketing for MicroProse. "The combination of our computer
game products and Hartland Trefoil's board game products further
strengthens one of the most recognized brand names in the industry." To date, MicroProse's CIVILIZATION computer game products have
generated sales of more than two million computer games worldwide
and rank as one of the most critically-acclaimed series in computer
gaming history. With the original game already inducted into the
Computer Gaming World Hall of Fame, SID MEIER'S CIVILIZATION®
II was hailed as the "Game of the Year" in 1996 by Time Magazine,
PC Gamer and Computer Retail Week and "Strategy Game of the Year"
by Computer Gaming World. More than a year after its initial release,
it remains one of the top 20 best-selling games in the United
States. MicroProse, Inc. is a leading developer and publisher of interactive
intertainment software for use on CD-ROM-based personal computers.
The company is also developing software for use on next-generation
32/64-bit console machines, the Internet and online gaming services.
The company has five development studios located in Alameda, California;
Hunt Valley, Maryland; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Austin, Texas;
and Chipping Sodbury, England. Products are available nationally
and internationally and are sold through major distributors, retailers
and mass merchants. Product and company information is available
for download from the MicroProse Web site at www.microprose.com. SID MEIER'S CIVILIZATION and MICROPROSE are registered trademarks
and CIVILIZATION, CIV, CIV II, CIV II FANTASTIC WORLDS and ULTIMATE
CIVILIZATION II are trademarks of MicroProse, Inc. or its affiliated
companies. All Rights Reserved. This information can be found at the MicroProse site. (http://www.microprose.com/) The following comments can be found on Chris Lawson's web site:
It would seem to me that the reason for MicroProse buying Hartland
Trefoil would be to obtain the name Civilization. Back in April
1997, Activision obtained the rights to the trademark Civilization
from Avalon Hill. This led to a bout of name calling between MicroProse
and Activision as to who were the "true" owners of the name. To
strengthen their claim, MicroProse purchased HT lock, stock and
barrel. Around this time also, GT Interactive broke off the merger
talks they were having with MicroProse, coincidence? The end result of all this would seem to be Francis receiving
an unexpected sum of money for nothing. For the 18xx hobby there
is the big question of what attitude will MicroProse take. How
are royalties for 18xx games going to be paid. Is MicroProse really
interested? Will they "allow" new releases of 18xx games? Let's
hope so, my opinion is that they are not really concerned as they
are not in the board game market. While I have been told that MicroProse has no interest in the
Board Game market, it would seem to imply that they wanted the
rights to the names (of Civilization and 18xx) and/or they are
looking at board games as a starting point for further computer
games. I understand they plan to use Tresham Games in a consultant
role for this (i.e. to see if a board game design is suitable
for such conversion). How it will effect the hobby 18xx "cottage industry", I guess
only time will tell. I am one of the few gamekit producers who
actually pay a royalty for the 18xx gamekits, most others do not.
We may see a different attitude now a large company has the rights
(and may want to enforce them). It may also effect companies such
as AH who produce Adv. Civ and 1830 for the PC (but I suspect
not). I expect that Francis will now act as a sort of middle man between
MicroProse and companies like Mayfair and even amateurs like myself.
Maybe things will run as Winsome Games who has touted Carl Burger's 1831 have also remained
silent. Personally, I can only await with interest this further development
in the shake-up of the train gaming world. For train gamers, we
live in interesting times. Home | The Manifest | All Aboard | Train Gamers Gazette Questions or comments? Email tgatrains@aol.com. The contents of this Web Site are copyright © 1998 by The Train
Gamers Association, Inc. All rights reserved. Designed by Scott Lininger. Last modified Tuesday, 16-Jun-1998 12:39:40 CDT
.
MicroProse Buys out Hartland Trefoil
Founded in 1971 by game designer Francis Tresham, Hartland Trefoil
published the original CIVILIZATION board game in 1980 and has
marketed the game worldwide through licensing relationships with
distributors and third-party publishers of board game products.
Since approximately 1982, the Hartland Trefoil board game has
been distributed outside Europe by Avalon Hill Game Company. Hartland
Trefoil has also developed and published other popular strategy
board game products such as 1829 and SPANISH MAIN.
MicroProse recently released its CIV II FANTASTIC WORLDS? expansion
CD-ROM that features science fiction and fantasy-based scenarios
and an advanced scenario construction kit. Where past CIVILIZATION
games focused on historical occurrences, CIV II FANTASTIC WORLDS
gives strategy enthusiasts and gamers alike the chance to explore
19 new, incredible science fiction and fantasy scenarios where
anything can happen ? and does. In mind-boggling, alternate worlds,
players can meet up with everything from dinosaurs to aliens,
as well as create their own worlds using the scenario construction
kit. Other CIVILIZATION products are currently in development
including the recently announced ULTIMATE CIVILIZATION II ?, a
multiplayer version of the best-selling, award-winning SID MEIER'S
CIVILIZATION II.
Blackwater Station (http://freespace.virgin.net/chris.lawson/18xx/). I have condensed and compiled them from several different commentaries
so as to present it in a cohesive format for our readers.
I am with Chris on this issue. At the moment, it would appear
that MicroProse is merely attempting to solidify its rights to
the name "CIVILIZATION" and nothing more. But who knows what will
happen in the future? The people at Mayfair have remained mute
on the subject but I suspect that they are unwilling to say anything
until they have a full understanding of their rights and responsibilities
in this situation. From previous conversations with the former
owners of Mayfair, it was my understanding that the rights to
publish 1856 and 1870 were granted on an individual game basis.
What this means in terms of future 18xx releases no one knows
as of yet.
~Editor
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