Schmidt Games

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Schmidt Games GmbH

logo
legal form GmbH
founding 1907
Seat Berlin , GermanyGermanyGermany 
management Axel Kaldenhoven,
Martina Priemer
sales 52.8 million euros (2014; 48.2 million euros previous year)
Branch Board games, puzzles, toys, plush, plush toys
Website www.schmidtspiele.de

Schmidt Spiele is a games publisher in Berlin that focuses primarily on family-friendly board games. The company, founded in 1907, was taken over in 1997 by the Berlin-based Blatz Group, which took over the name Schmidt Spiele. In 2008 the children's game publisher Drei Magier was taken over and in 2017 the toy manufacturer Selecta Spielzeug was taken over , both of which will continue to operate as independent brands.

history

In 1907 , the founder of the publishing house, Josef Friedrich Schmidt , from Amberg, developed the board game Mensch ärgere Dich nicht , based on ancient models, especially the Indian Pachisi . Five years later, the game publisher he founded began series production. His son Franz Schmidt later went into business for himself and founded his own company, also under the name Schmidt Spiele . Before the Second World War, its headquarters were in Nuremberg, then in Munich, and both companies had a sales partnership. Under the influence of the National Socialists, the publishers, like other German publishers, published propaganda games such as the game Mit 'Prien' against England , which was based on the successes of the naval officer and submarine commander Günther Prien .

In 1970 the companies of father and son merged to form Schmidt Spiele. In the 1970s, a fire destroyed the publishers' archives. Since the beginning, the publisher's range has included children's, family and adult games as well as puzzles - among other things, games such as Kniffel , Spitz pass auf , Acquire , Dampfross and the German version of the Games Workshop game Talisman have been published over the years . In the 1980s, the fantasy role-playing game Das Schwarze Auge was developed and produced as a German competitor to Dungeons & Dragons together with the Fantasy Productions publishing house, which specializes in fantasy literature, and the Droemer Knaur publishing house .

In 1997 Schmidt Spiele ran into economic difficulties and was taken over by the Berlin-based Blatz group. Since then, Blatz has offered its products under the brand name Schmidt Spiele and later adopted the name as the company name. In addition to games and puzzles, the company has also had soft toys in its range since the late 1990s. The originally independent children's game publisher Drei Magier Spiele , for which Schmidt Spiele took over the distribution since 2001, became part of Blatz / Schmidt Spiele in 2008.

In January 2017, Schmidt Spiele announced a strategic partnership with the toy manufacturer Schleich in order to jointly manufacture and sell puzzles with accompanying animal figures. In December 2017, Schmidt Spiele took over the insolvent toy manufacturer Selecta Toys and has since continued its products under the Selecta brand.

For several years the publisher also sold board games from Hans im Glück Verlag with games such as Thurn and Taxis , Dominion and Carcassonne . In July 2018, both publishers announced that they would no longer continue this collaboration.

Awards

In 1984 the steam horse board game was named Game of the Year.

In 2011 the game Qwirkle received the award Game of the Year and The Forbidden Island was nominated for this award, in the following year Eselsbrücke was on the nomination list. In 2018, the two games Die Quacksalber von Quedlinburg and Ganz schön clever , both by Wolfgang Warsch , were nominated for the Kennerspiel des Jahres . In addition, several of the company's games have received awards or have been nominated for various game awards. The following list contains excellent games published by Schmidt Spiele, Blatz Spiele as well as the originally independent publishers and now Drei Magier Spiele and Selecta, which are now brands of Schmidt:

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Schmidt plays well above the market , press release from January 27, 2015 ( Memento from September 25, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ https://www.br.de/nachrichten/bayern/neue-zeitausstellung-zu-erfinder-von-mensch-aergere-dich-nicht,Rea695d
  3. ↑ a b History of Monopoly in Germany at fbas.tv
  4. ↑ Illustration and description: Website on German propaganda games , website with manufacturer information , auction offer accessed on May 10, 2012
  5. ↑ Stephan Gedenk: Fantasy Productions. A fox in the game scene. Season 2/94, May 1994; Pp. 31-37.
  6. ^ Puzzled together: Schmidt Spiele and Schleich plan cooperation , press release from January 5, 2017; accessed on July 2, 2018.
  7. ↑ Schmidt Spiele® expands with Bavarian wooden toy brand Selecta , press release of October 24, 2017; accessed on July 2, 2018.
  8. ↑ Reorientation at Schmidt Spiele® and Hans im Glück for 2019. Press release of July 2, 2018; accessed on July 2, 2018.