If you were waiting on a French copy of Cascadia: Alpine Lakes from Lucky Duck Games, that's not happening. The publisher confirmed last week that it is pulling back on third-party localisations to pour resources into its own studio titles, with Cascadia: Alpine Lakes, Trinket Trove, The Isle of Cats: Duel and Hanami all dropped from the French release plan. For UK shops that lean on Lucky Duck for English distribution of European hits, it is worth watching which titles still get the Lucky Duck treatment.
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Set up your group for freeThe shift comes two years after toy giant Goliath, the company behind Rummikub, acquired Lucky Duck. Global Brand Director Scott Morris told BoardGameWire that localisation had been "an important part of the business" but that it was "resource intensive," and that developing in-house titles offered "more opportunity for long-term value." Goliath's distribution muscle is part of the calculation, freeing the team in Poland to focus on original design.
The good news for fans of Lucky Duck's own catalogue: the studio is doubling down on Chronicles of Crime, the deduction-app series that has sold over a million copies worldwide. Recent originals like the polar exploration game Borealis: Arctic Expeditions, the kitten-stacking push-your-luck game Purrramid, and the deck-builder Oakspire are also getting more support, with several unannounced titles in the pipeline.
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Start organising for freeLucky Duck's Global Publishing Network, the agency arm that pairs publishers with localisation partners abroad, isn't going anywhere. So Cascadia: Alpine Lakes will likely still get a French release through someone, just not from Lucky Duck themselves.
For groups in the UK and Ireland whose tables hum with Chronicles of Crime nights, this is probably good news. More attention on the apps and content you actually play, less stretched-thin licensing work.
Sources: BoardGameWire | Mr-Boardgames
