Xeno Games is No More

[Midnight_Reaper]

While researching something else I ran across the Xeno Games home page (http://www.xenogames.ca/) and noticed a new announcement:

Feb 18, 2021: That day has finally come. Xeno Games 
is now sold out of everything and discontinuing 
operations. A fond farewell to this wonderful journey 
that began 19 years ago, when I purchased the 
remaining stock and games of Xeno from Frank Zenau. 
It was a pleasure to be involved with the World at 
War as its publisher during its remaining lifetime. 
It was a pleasure to interact with all the wonderful 
people in the wargaming community. A fond farewell 
to Xeno, the World at War, and to you all. This site 
will be closed down soon. Regards and best wishes! 

What this means for fans of Xeno Games, including The World at War, remains to be seen.

-Midnight_Reaper

[crsluggo]

The end of an era.

I’m curious, how long until World at War and their other titles are considered abandoned IPs and can be distributed freely in the fan community?

[Cernel]

@crsluggo I’m curious too, if there is any professional around which can answer, but what I understand is that it should remain copyrighted until 70 years after when Frank Zenau dies if he is the author.

[Imperious Leader]

@cernel 70 years after he dies? Where do you get this?

[IWillNeverGrowUp]

@imperious-leader said in Xeno Games is No More:

@cernel 70 years after he dies? Where do you get this?

For the US specifically; https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-duration.html

There are exceptions and it varies from country to country.

HOWEVER,

“A trademark is abandoned when the owner stops using it for three years in a row without intending to use it again, according to 15 USC 1127. After three years of non-use, the owner must show tangible, solid evidence to counter a registration attempt by someone else.”

Trademark and Copyright are two very different things, though Intellectual Property can be protected by either or both.

Protecting the mark or copyright will fall to whoever currently holds ownership (including the creator themselves (or company that owns the mark/copyright) while still alive, falling to spouse and/or next of kin).

[IWillNeverGrowUp]

@midnight_reaper said in Xeno Games is No More:

What this means for fans of Xeno Games, including The World at War, remains to be seen.

I’d wager it means that all support for Xeno Games products, including WaW, is finished and they will never produce any copies or parts again.

Someone else may take up the mantle and buy the rights to it if there is enough value in it, but it’s probably a hard sell.

[Midnight_Reaper]

@iwillnevergrowup said in Xeno Games is No More:

@midnight_reaper said in Xeno Games is No More:

What this means for fans of Xeno Games, including The World at War, remains to be seen.

I’d wager it means that all support for Xeno Games products, including WaW, is finished and they will never produce any copies or parts again.

Someone else may take up the mantle and buy the rights to it if there is enough value in it, but it’s probably a hard sell.

Yeah, I don’t see anyone lining up to grab that Xeno Games IP. The map and the rules have been available for free online for years. At one point the rules were up in plain text for anyone to see on the Xeno Games website itself.

The pieces were once one of the only games in town but were never all that great. There are much better alternatives now so I don’t think anyone’s going after those.

Other than name recognition or the rights to a different piece of the Xeno Games legacy I don’t see anybody making a play.

Speaking of making a play, @iwillnevergrowup, Xeno Games was moved to Canada from Florida in the early 2000s. The website has the email address and the phone number of the current proprietor. That phone number has an area code of 450 - which is for the suburbs of Montreal. Do you want a piece of that Xeno pie, since it’s up north of the US?

Just a thought.

-Midnight_Reaper

[IWillNeverGrowUp]

@midnight_reaper said in Xeno Games is No More:

@iwillnevergrowup said in Xeno Games is No More:

@midnight_reaper said in Xeno Games is No More:

What this means for fans of Xeno Games, including The World at War, remains to be seen.

I’d wager it means that all support for Xeno Games products, including WaW, is finished and they will never produce any copies or parts again.

Someone else may take up the mantle and buy the rights to it if there is enough value in it, but it’s probably a hard sell.

Yeah, I don’t see anyone lining up to grab that Xeno Games IP. The map and the rules have been available for free online for years. At one point the rules were up in plain text for anyone to see on the Xeno Games website itself.

The pieces were once one of the only games in town but were never all that great. There are much better alternatives now so I don’t think anyone’s going after those.

Other than name recognition or the rights to a different piece of the Xeno Games legacy I don’t see anybody making a play.

Speaking of making a play, @iwillnevergrowup, Xeno Games was moved to Canada from Florida in the early 2000s. The website has the email address and the phone number of the current proprietor. That phone number has an area code of 450 - which is for the suburbs of Montreal. Do you want a piece of that Xeno pie, since it’s up north of the US?

Honestly, I feel it’s just name recognition at this point so it’s not really something I’d consider tbh. We’ve got our own line of games (with more coming) and our own line of pieces and accessories already.

[Midnight_Reaper]

@iwillnevergrowup said in Xeno Games is No More:

@midnight_reaper said in Xeno Games is No More:

{snip}
Other than name recognition or the rights to a different piece of the Xeno Games legacy I don’t see anybody making a play.

{snip}
Do you want a piece of that Xeno pie, since it’s up north of the US?

Honestly, I feel it’s just name recognition at this point so it’s not really something I’d consider tbh. We’ve got our own line of games (with more coming) and our own line of pieces and accessories already.

Which I feel goes to the point of what I said before - there’s really no reason to try to get those rights. Low how the mighty have fallen.

-Midnight_Reaper

[Gentlegamer]

Mike provided all the game files last year and I uploaded them at boardgamegeek: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3618/world-war/files

[Imperious Leader]

@gentlegamer Where are the map files?

[crusaderv]

I have done one by myself…way better.