This point has really been bugging me since the announcement.  At first, like many of you, my instant reaction to the announcement was "awesome...can't wait for an FFG styled Star Wars board game.". But when I go back and re-read the license terms, it looks like FFG was not granted a license to produce Star Wars board games.  Their announcement specifically mentions "card games, RPGs and miniatures" with board games be suspiciously absent. This is the exact same product range that WotC's SW license covered. I am afraid that the board game license was retained by Hasbro, which is a major shame for us hobby game enthusiasts. Hopefully someone from FFG will clarify what the terms are regarding board games. Still, as a long time Star Wars RPG fan and a big BIG FFG fan, I am tickled pink that they will have a chance to work on a new Star Wars RPG. Also, I found the LotR LCG to be quite enjoyable to I am looking forward to the Star Wars LCG as well. 

Everyone here has a cooler username than me. *sigh*

On-topic, I think I speak for everyone when I say I'd be onboard with a Star Wars board game. It seems like a glaring omission, given FFG's renown when it comes to board games. I have not played any of their RPGs, but would be curious to give their interpretation a try. So far, whenever I played a Star Wars rippage it was always because of the "Star Wars" part, not because I had any particular love for Wizards' d20 setup. A game that is built from the ground up to capture the flavor of Star Wars is something I would love to see.

Yeah I'm pretty sure Hasbro still have the board game rights and therefor we wont *sadly* be seeing an FFG interpretation of Star Wars as a tabletop board game. We'll have to settle for their miniatures game, RPG and any card games they come up with. 

 Yeap...got a reply back from FFG.  Hasbro does indeed still have the license for making Star Wars board games.  Guess that means we are stuck with Star Wars trivia pursuit, Monopoly and Risk for the time being.  Quite a shame as I am sure we all agree that we were really looking forward to FFG producing Star Wars board games with their trademark style and high quality.  Hopefully, when the license expires, FFG will be able to obtain that portion of it as well.  Even so, I am still looking forward to what FFG has in store for us...especially with regards to the RPG.

 That it, indeed, sad news.  I would really have liked to see some SW boardgames.

 Blast....I was hoping for a SW type game similiar in nature to FFGs Doom/Gears of War/Descent. :(  That's ok...at least I'll get a mini's and card game..that alone makes me happy as a SW-fanboy.

It's difficult to really know what Lucas Licensing is thinking at any given time, but the way I see it, the best way for FFG to guarantee themselves a shot at the board game license when Hasbro's license expires, is by having success with the games it is already putting together. I'm a card gamer at heart, so this doesn't bother me as much, but I would very much like to see a board game sometime down the road.

Does anyone know when Hasbro's license is due to expire?

Maybe instead of a board, they could print a map on a giant card, and you could maneuver around the card using minis.  That should be covered.

Adam said:

Well what is this X-Wing project they are advertising? That looks like some kind of board-game type thing?

I'm sure of the Star Wars LCG is a success (and if LOTR is anything to go by it freaking well will be...) So that might encourage them to duplicate lisence or obtain some kind of project lisence from Lucasarts...

It's not like 'ole georgie boy has demonstrated any kind of 'holding back' when it comes to making money outta his franchise.

X-Wing is in all likelyhood, a Wings of War clone/rebrabding/retheming/whatever. The designers of WoW commented on BGG how they were approached awhile back to create a sci-fi version of that game.

Wings of war is more miniature game than board game. More likely to get around Hasbro's hold on the SW boardgame license this way.

Klaen said:

In the Gen-Con demo they use a play mat. But it's not required for playing the game. Distances aren't measured in squares or hexes, they use a ribbon.

MarthWMaster said:

I have no clue when it expires, Joshua.

But I will say that this is a sticky situation even when viewed at its most basic and we will likely not see a SW boardgame produced by FFG.

Hasbro has a tight hold on it for one thing. and the entire SW IP value revolves around how successful each company is with it. If FFG are outrageously successful with the IP in their card/miniature and roleplaying games, then it will be that much less likely that FFG will get it because Hasbro will likely hold it just to keep someone else from being too successful.

The way I see it, Hasbro is investing up to $20 Million this year on Boardgame R&D in an attempt to play "catch-up" after a fairly major loss this year because the consumers wised up and realized that there was more to boardgaming than starwars monopoly and trivial pursuit.

They want back into the 'game' so to speak. They wont let that SW IP pass quietly into the night so someone else can do it better and cut even more into the market share that Hasbro has so long enjoyed dominance in.

Meanwhile, we get more Star Wars monopoly. Not even a reprint of fun ameritrash games such as Queens Gambit.

Our only hope is that when the license does expire, that Lucas decides to not renew it so another company (likely FFG) can actually do something with the board game license. But since ol' Lucas owns shares in Hasbro (and why wouldnt he? SW actions figs were a HUGE money maker) I doubt that it will leave The Great Assimilator known as "Hasborg" anytime soon, if ever.

Hellfury said:

Imho, Hasbro is only interested in maximizing their profit. If they don't make enough profit with their Star Wars board game license, they'll happily release it. Keeping it out of spite would be unrational and doesn't make any business sense. They happily stopped to renew their license for card games, minis, and rpgs after all.

I understand that every financially successful company eventually draws a following of haters, but really, Hasbro is neither good nor evil. All Hasbro cares about is making big profits. If that means dropping licenses, they'll do it. If it means acquring licenses, they'll do that instead. They don't have any hidden agenda; it's quite easy to see what they care about (hint: it's not creating 'great' boardgames!).

The only 'danger' to other gaming companies is that Hasbro may get interested in buying them. But they've shown time and again that they're very good at estimating the value of a brand and exploiting it to the fullest by concentrating on key products, polishing them, and opening new markets for them.

 I didn't think they had the license for card games, minis, or RPGs.  I have never even heard of a Hasbro RPG, not so sure about minis or card games either.

Adam said:

It's because Wizards of the Coast is owned by Hasbro.