Employees from the board game design team at Funko Games have claimed the company’s recent acquisition by Goliath resulted in “the vast majority of the studio” losing their jobs. Two former employees of Funko’s tabletop design studio, Prospero Hall, announced their alleged redundancy via social media on January 18.
Funko announced on January 17 that Goliath, a privately owned games company, would acquire the rights to license and distribute its board games portfolio. A press release from Wednesday confirms that Goliath would also acquire the assets of the board game studio Forrest-Pruzan Creative and the Prospero Hall design team. At the time, no restructuring plans were disclosed.
“I was laid off along with the vast majority of the studio as part of the Goliath acquisition of Funko Games yesterday”, says former Funko game development team lead, Chris Rowlands, via Twitter and LinkedIn on Thursday. “Having the opportunity to make amazing things with some of the most talented minds in our industry is not something I take for granted. We changed the landscape of the aisle, took fearless risks, and always put 110% in everything we did.”
Also on Thursday, former Funko game producer Estefania Rodriguez writes on Twitter and LinkedIn: “A chapter closes today as I am one of the many people at Funko Games who got laid off because of the Goliath acquisition”. “I worked at Funko Games as a Game Producer for almost three years and was able to be a part of lots of amazing projects including Jurassic World: The Legacy of Isla Nublar, Star Wars: Rivals, Disney’s Kingdomania, and many more.”
According to anonymous sources that spoke to BoardGameWire, around ten of Prospero Hall’s 30 employees have allegedly been offered alternative roles within Goliath or Funko. Most of the retained roles are apparently in project management or administration.
Funk Interim CEO Mike Lunsford says in Wednesday’s press release: “The transaction is designed to keep with our previously stated goal of streamlining our business by focusing on our core assets”. “We intend to use the proceeds from this transaction to reduce our debt.”
As the new worldwide distributor of Funko’s best board games, Goliath has already announced plans to develop new puzzles and tabletop games, as well as continue marketing existing titles. Funko will continue to receive royalty payments for Goliath’s use of its brand.
Wargamer has reached out to Funko Games and its former employees for further comment, but has not received a reply at this time.
For more recent board gaming news, here’s confirmation that a Brass: Birmingham sequel is on the way. A Betrayal at House on the Hill card game is also apparently on the way from Avalon Hill.