The Slitherine Group and Ageod Join Forces
The dawn of a new era for turn-based strategy games
Epsom, UK, December 5, 2012 – The Slitherine Group, world leaders in development and publishing of strategy games, and Ageod, Developer and Publisher of many strategy blockbusters are joining forces. This means that Slitherine, Matrix and Ageod, the three major players in the digital strategy and wargaming market, are now merged. The Group's aim is to continue to expand this increasingly vibrant niche sector, not only through the variety and number of releases, but also by taking its titles to the new platforms on offer.
Throughout 2012 the Slitherine Group released 30 titles on a range of platforms including PC, MAC, PS3, X360 and the new tablet platforms. The Group has achieved double digit growth in turnover and has hit the strategy games headlines with a number of very important launches, such as Battle Academy on iPad, Commander- The Great War and Close Combat: Panthers in the Fog for PC. This move is the next milestone for the group, which since its merger with Matrix Games in 2010 has undoubtedly become the world leaders in the strategy games market. The merger with Ageod will further consolidate this position.
"We always keep an eye on opportunities to improve and increase our reach to real gamers", said JD McNeil, Chairman of the Slitherine Group. "Ageod's core values have always been close to our own and this merger just seemed such a natural step for us all. Together the three companies in the Group are much stronger, we are now able to share resources, ideas and plans for the new generation of titles that our audience is crying out for. I am sure our fans will be just as excited by this news as we are".
The new Ageod will have the primary task of developing the AGE engine and expanding its capabilities to embrace new opportunities, not only in terms of the number and quality of releases, but also in respect of the platforms we will be working on.
"Ageod has a large community of loyal fans and we have continued to expand this over the years by making our players a part of the development process", said Philippe Thibaut, co-founder of Ageod. "With the Slitherine Group we now have access to secure funding and an even bigger community of strategy gamers, so we will be able to create bigger and better games, on a variety of platforms".
AEGOD will continue to operate its current forums and sell its catalogue of games from its existing website. In future it will also utilize the Group's standard copy protection methods and e-commerce systems operated by Plimus. This will also enable customers to purchase a full boxed version of their favorite titles direct from the site.
....wow..... :o
That's good news. Thanks for sharing!
That's great news. To celebrate, let's have a new, big sale. ;D
Didn't Ageod distribute their games through Matrix prior to the Paradox marriage? This should come as no surprise.
Looking forward to what the combined efforts of these companies can bring us.
I hope this merger works out well for all concerned.
This is a winning combination!
Wait, what does this mean for Paradox? Did they sell Ageod to Slitherine/Matrix, or are they now bundled with Ageod? And if them, what about 1C?
I HAVE CONFUUUUUUSION!!!
Quote from: JasonPratt on December 05, 2012, 03:14:17 PM
Wait, what does this mean for Paradox? Did they sell Ageod to Slitherine/Matrix, or are they now bundled with Ageod? And if them, what about 1C?
I HAVE CONFUUUUUUSION!!!
Ageod and Paradox split earlier this year.
You know, the only thing that surprises me...is that I'm surprised.
I really shouldn't be: These three companies have been the major leaders in computer wargaming for the last decade now. About the only one they're missing now is Battlefront!
Quote from: Greybriar on December 05, 2012, 12:29:55 PM
I hope this merger works out well for all concerned.
Seconded.
Quote from: JasonPratt on December 05, 2012, 03:14:17 PM
Wait, what does this mean for Paradox? Did they sell Ageod to Slitherine/Matrix, or are they now bundled with Ageod? And if them, what about 1C?
I HAVE CONFUUUUUUSION!!!
The details remain vague, but it was announced a while ago that Paradox and AGEOD essentially "divorced".
EDIT:
Kushan ninja'ed me!
And I just read over at AGEOD that The Civil War 2 is coming (http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?27293-AGEOD-Matrix-and-Slitherine-merged!-A-message-to-the-players)!!!
Quote from: Kushan on December 05, 2012, 03:35:00 PM
Quote from: JasonPratt on December 05, 2012, 03:14:17 PM
Wait, what does this mean for Paradox? Did they sell Ageod to Slitherine/Matrix, or are they now bundled with Ageod? And if them, what about 1C?
I HAVE CONFUUUUUUSION!!!
Ageod and Paradox split earlier this year.
Heres the "divorce" announcement (http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?24740-Paradox-Interactive-amp-Paradox-France), but it does say this
Quote
...that we will all continue working together moving forward, both with already released Paradox France games as well as actively seek opportunities to work together in other areas.
Guess the "together" part didn't take and the divorce is offically final now...
Does this mean AGEOD's awesome prices are gone :-\
Yup. No more deeply discounted AGEOD games.
Quote from: Tuna on December 05, 2012, 05:14:45 PM
Does this mean AGEOD's awesome prices are gone :-\
And beyond that, does this mean AGEOD'S wide distribution is now gone?
Quote from: Greybriar on December 05, 2012, 12:29:55 PM
I hope this merger works out well for all concerned.
I think it will. They
do seem to share similar developing philosophies, for the most part anyway.
So far, it's been a good experience with
Scourge Of War joining the Slitherine-Matrix group as nothing has changed much other than dropping of the activation DRM, which is wonderful. I would imagine that AGE games would similarly continue on as they always have, but with some extra distribution bells & whistles.
AGEOD games were a great price before discounts!
This seems like it'll be a good match. Looking forward to AACW2.
Quote from: bbmike on December 05, 2012, 04:59:20 PM
And I just read over at AGEOD that The Civil War 2 is coming (http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?27293-AGEOD-Matrix-and-Slitherine-merged!-A-message-to-the-players)!!!
Excellent.
Quote from: Kushan on December 05, 2012, 03:35:00 PM
Quote from: JasonPratt on December 05, 2012, 03:14:17 PM
Wait, what does this mean for Paradox? Did they sell Ageod to Slitherine/Matrix, or are they now bundled with Ageod? And if them, what about 1C?
I HAVE CONFUUUUUUSION!!!
Ageod and Paradox split earlier this year.
That was dang quick. What was it?--one year with two joint games developed, Alea Jacta Est (which has been an award winning monster success, on the Age engine) and whatever that Napoleon game was (on... whatever engine that was)?
Ageod and Matrislith definitely make a much better pairing, as they've been distributing everything through Matrix forever anyway. I was never comfortable with the news that Ageod and Paradox had 'married' in the first place: their games are just too different.
(Note to self: add "Matrislith" to my name list of fictional characters, probably as female villain...)
Quote from: Tuna on December 05, 2012, 05:14:45 PM
Does this mean AGEOD's awesome prices are gone :-\
I'm not sure how that will work out for gamers – Alea Jacta Est download is £15.99 at Gamersgate and AGEOD's own site, but for some reason it's £16.99 plus VAT of £3.40 at Matrix for £20.39! You don't get any perks like blue coins except at GG.
I'm just looking at download prices here - I didn't check Steam but perhaps I should have - I'm not sure how Matrix justify such a margin above and beyond their obvious price competitors - almost 21.5% more expensive for the same item, certainly the costs of providing the download service are unlikely to be so dramatic as between the three businesses.
In the EU it is normal to show prices including VAT. Matrix show an ex-VAT price in the online brochure, but adds VAT after a gamer has made their choice but before a gamer enters into a contract for sale with them. It can be confusing or even potentially misleading for a customer. However, if you've previously bought from Matrix before you should be familiar and aware of that. There may well be good reasons for this, given that Matrix deal with a multi-jurisdictional marketplace, although if Matrix do display prices in GBP, then I'd prefer to know what I'm expected to pay total at the outset. It would be interesting to know for sure why this is.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-Matrix, and they offer some excellent games in a niche market, which must raise commercial issues in respect of long term survival. I'm just wondering whether the net impact of the merger is just going to make AGEOD games a very much more expensive proposition? I hope not.
I am so happy to hear of this news. I hope this means greater financial success for all three companies. I think I may have to celebrate this merger by purchasing some of their games tonight. I'm sure there's one or two that I don't already own. ;)