Mantic discontinues The Walking Dead

[guillotine 16039xp 0]

From Mantic’s blog https://www.manticgames.com/news/the-walking-dead-miniatures-game-comes-to-an-end-in-2022/

Is there perhaps a license issue? I was under the impression the game was doing rather well.

[sundancer 42973xp 0]

Sounds like either a license issue or (if I read the spoiler part right) the Story of TWD is over and they don’t want any product in an “old” universe to distract from anything new they might do. (Is the comic really at an end or just shifting generations?)

Maybe the numbers had just not grown enough any more after 8 years to make up development costs for new game parts. And/or refreshing the license was just “too high”.

We may never know :S

[limburger 21704xp 0]

Their license is for the comic version and that one does have an end (of sorts, there is potential for a sequel if you read between the lines of the wiki …).

Based on what they’ve released with the creepy as fck faction (the ones that dress like zombies) I suspect they are near the end of what they can do for the setting without inventing new stuff. They also cover the bigger fights between factions that are near the end of the comic series as well.

So yeah … game over man, game over.

The “Days gone by” expansion set has rules for creating your own characters, which means it already has endless extensibility built into the system. I’m not sure if the anthology covers that bit as well.

the discount code (from the article) is : TWD2022

If you don’t own anything :

1. get the core set
2. the anthology book
3. “Days gone by” expansion (rules for new characters)
4. “Here’s Negan” gives you a bunch more characters + zombies as well as a new game; the anthology adds rules for Rick instead of Negan
5. all of the 0 cost digital bits (although the anthology covers all the errata and rules)
6. (optional) all the extra dice you can get

There’s probably more that is ‘nice to have’ (like the equipment cards and extra dice).

After that pick whatever expansions and characters you like.
The one annoying bit is that expansions can include scenarios for characters that are in boosters without specifying which ones they require.

[warhammergrimace 13766xp 1]

It may have something to do with the fact that the TV show is coming to an end. Without the show being on TV then interest in the game might drop off. A case of quit while you’re ahead, rather than ending up with a dead product. Viewing numbers for the TV franchise had been dropping for sometime as well, so there may be a thought that the game will also see a drop off. Or those numbers have already started to drop as the TV show has become less popular.

[limburger 21704xp 0]

It is based on the comics … NOT the tv-show as the latter has characters that don’t appear in the comics.

Although that may still be related as far as sales are concerned though.

[warhammergrimace 13766xp 4]

I suspect most people who play the game have watched the TV show more than read the comics.

[darkvoivod 7112xp 2]

I did end up reading the comics. I was a huge fan, but when Negan showed up it started getting stale to me. I have 10 hardcovers in my bookshelves and read most of them multiple times.
The series didn’t do anything for me and I stopped watching halfway season 2.

The game I have played only once. On a convention. I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t what I wanted from a zombie game and I prefered my own characters over existing ones, much as I liked Rick, Andrea or Glen.
Shame to see it go. I could see people liking it.

[slayerofworldsParticipant 3449xp 1]

My assumption would be that they have taken the game as far as the can go under the current iteration of the rules, that’s all.

Sales have naturally plateaued at this point, as they would for any game this old.  Or perhaps started to drop.  Either way this would be the time they would consider doing 2nd edition to revitalize the game.  As they are not doing that, then its pretty much a given that it is just not worth the investment.

As to why it isnt worth it, well it could be a dozen different reasons… or combination of reasons.  But at the basic foundation it just is not worth the investment.

 

 

 

[limburger 21704xp 0]

it’s not the age … it’s the simple fact that they’re not releasing stuff just to release stuff.
Does this game even need a ‘2nd edition’ ?
I think the anthology pretty much covered any gaps in the rules.
It’s not designed to be ultra competitive and there aren’t any tournements using it, so no one is exploiting any remaining issues.

Yes, the market has trained us to expect ‘new’ stuff at regular intervals as well version updates/reboots for core sets for as long as there are profits to be had.

I think that even if this was as big as Kings of War in sales they would have the capacity to give it the attention it needs.
It was a good run and probably *the* example of how to add a neutral 3rd party threat without overcomplicating the game.

[fightcitymayorParticipant 2104xp 1]

Robert Kirkman ended the comic at about the time Mantic’s sales were trailing off. Mantic transitioned from the plastic use-straight-out-of-the-package models to assembly required in-house resin, which lowered sales even further. The latest wave (The Kingdom) was barely acknowledged by even the stalwart fans. So renewing the license probably didn’t make sense. All good things must come to an end. Although it’s sad that one of the best solo/co-op minis games will now be unavailable.

Wondering if they port the rules to another setting of Mantic’s own IP.

[limburger 21704xp 0]

there’s nothing stopping us from playing the game though.
I’m not sure if the resin is to blame.
I think it simply had an end to what was fun and possible.

They’re not floggin’ a dead horse here … (undead horses would have been cool … )

[collins 16358xp 0]

This is predictable and to be honest id do the same. the game is a lot of fun but ultimately was two many things and didnt lean towards one specific thing.

some of the best mechanics for environmental concerns ive played with. think it is good and will be keeping all my stuff even though nobody near me plays it. thats what the prelude to woodbury expansion is for! (solo play)

[schnitzelParticipant 945xp 1]

The Walking Dead is based on the comics. The whisperers first appeared in vol.22 November 2014 until vol.27 march 2017. The Kingdom was well known before that. Why did they get released last? I don’t know.

The TWD comic series ended in August 2019 with a little time jump, not that compatible for the tabletop game. Therefore I believe Mantic did not creat the last faction the Commonwealth, with good gear, tools etc. It would be hard to balance them against other factions in my opinion.

You dont need the woodbury expansion for solo play! All Mantic did is change 1-3words for  better solo understanding. The event-card-meening is 100% the same as the pvp cards. But you get nice new individual walkers and dice in the expansion.

I hope Mantic  creates a physical or digital card bundle for people who don’t got everything. It’s cost efficient and community friendly.

The great thing with the whole range of Mantics TWD is that you would get what 3-4 games in one:

– All Out War for solo / coop / Light pvp / more wargame

– Call to Arms for heavy pvp / wargame

– here is negan for short boardgaming as bady

– here is Rick for short boardgaming as goody

[redscopeParticipant 2718xp 1]

My copy arrived today of the core game and the board game. I have not had chance to play the game as yet but I am already having a lot of fun painting up all the figures.

For the price it is great value I just wanted to thank you for posting this as without I might have missed out on the chance to buy them. So while it is sad it is going out of production people getting the chance to pick up a copy cheap before it does was most welcome.

[schnitzelParticipant 945xp 0]

Mantic just announced the the last back-order options:

The Walking Dead resins and MDF available on back order

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