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It is reported by Reuters that Monarch Avalon has agreed to sell its game division, The Avalon Hill Game Company, "to a newly formed Hasbro subsidiary" for US$6 million. Employees of Avalon Hill are said to have been laid off, although the deal still requires approval by Monarch Avalon's shareholders. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, Hasbro's goal was to eliminate a competitor in the computer games field. (Avalon Hill had become a publisher of game software in recent years, but had failed to achieve market success with the product line.) Avalon Hill is generally considered the first of the wargame companies, publishing its first military boardgames in the late 1950's. The company accounted for 40% of its parent corporation's 1997 revenues. The future of Avalon Hill's products is unknown, but most experts expect Hasbro to show little interest in continuing non-software game production and sales. The company magazine, The General, will be discontinued. Shipments of existing titles will continue for the time being. |
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