Thursday, January 7, 2016

Mayfair Loses Catan

The Catan line of games, which has been licensed and produced by Mayfair Games since time immoral here in the states, or at least since the early 1990s, will move to the newly formed Catan Studios, part of Asmodee NA. What does this mean?

For customers, probably very little, though you might see more discounting of Catan products in the future.  Mayfar Games has a pretty strong MAP program and enforced it pretty consistently, meaning you wouldn't find Catan discounted often below Mayfair's 20% allowed MAP.  The games published by the companies making up Asmodee NA, Days of Wonder, Asmodee and Fantasy Flight, were much less concerned about the discounting of their products to the ultimate consumer. There is no indication yet as to whether this situation will continue under the newly formed Asmodee NA. Customers may see much deeper discount prices on Catan or a tightening up on discounting across all of the lines.

For retailers, it means easier access to the Catan line. For a number of years, Alliance Distribution had an exclusive agreement with Mayfair Games, meaning if a store wanted to carry Catan, it had to have an account with Alliance Distribution.  Now, companies wanting to carry Catan will be able to purchase it from one of 5 distributors, meaning if one has run out of stock, a store can turn to another.

For the five distributors carrying the Asmodee NA lines, it is also good news as Catan is still a very strong game brand. It was out second best selling line in terms of number sold, only bested by Cards Against Humanity. Distributors having access to Catan, as well as the other Asmodee NA games, should see an increase in their bottom lines.

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