We're not sure about others who read this, but looking back to the beginning of the year is kind of difficult for us - it just seems so long ago. Sometimes it's hard remembering what was for breakfast let alone the events of nearly a year ago. So we've taken a high level view in writing this open letter. We hope it gives readers a better sense of us as a company and provide some insight into our 2008 year.
It started…quickly! We had just released Ted Raicer's Red Storm Over the Reich in November of 2007, so in January of '08 we were still busy with the distributor orders and latecomers to the game. In December/January we put Silent War back in stock and, as evidenced by the order activity, demand for the game was still high. Then in February, Renaud Verlaque's The Price of Freedom hit the streets. So the beginning of our 2008, in fact the whole first quarter, was a blur of activity.
2008 was our 3rd year of business. We released our first games very late in December of 2005, and then there was the long hiatus while the second batch of games came through the pipeline. It took about 22 months to release Red Storm! One thing we learned was…we needed a better pipeline!
In November we were able to get Spanish Eagles out the door and what a beautiful game it is! Brien Miller and Steve Jackson really put their hearts and souls into this production - and believe me, it is a 'production'. There's something really compelling about the Napoleonic era. The color, the pageantry, the pomp…! And Brien was able to capture this in his artwork.
But it was a long stint between releases again - 8 months between The Price of Freedom and Spanish Eagles! We knew we needed to improve this. We still had Spartacus that had always tracked closely with Spanish Eagles in terms of publishing date. However, Eagles presented as ready just ahead, pushing Spartacus to January of '09.
We recognized this problem in the early part of '08 and took steps to improve our publishing schedule, making it more "regular". One of our goals is to honor commitments. So when we commit to a publishing date we'd like to hit it. This is something that's been kind of nebulous in our hobby. Many of you have probably noticed that we set publishing dates for our games. That sets the expectations and creates a sense of commitment for everyone involved in the project - designer, developer, playtesters, artist, and publisher. We haven't hit many yet but we've been awfully close (which is more painful than if we missed it by a mile). A point needs to be made here. Meeting a publishing date does not mean a rush to production! Part of the overall commitment to quality is that the game only goes to print when the designer, developer and we (Bill and Ken) agree that it's ready (sometimes the artist could play a role here, too). This is the main reason we haven't hit those dates yet - we've invested time in extra development, testing and checking, which has yielded good results.
So what did we do to help regulate our publishing schedule? Well! We enrolled some help on the Development and Acquisitions side. Neil Randall is working on several games for us that will appear in 2009 and beyond. Additionally, Neil is working on several game designs of his own that will be published by Compass. We've had numerous discussions with, and sent feelers out to, many designers in an effort to attract great games to our stable. To assume some of the development work that will be coming our way, we've started discussions with future development talent who will come on board as the workload increases.
Highs of the Year. There are 4 distinct highs.
First are the two games we released during the year - The Price of Freedom and Spanish Eagles. The Price of Freedom was our first game involving a card deck, which presented some production/pricing challenges for us. We also released the game with a cardstock map and color booklet. Instrumental in these upgrades was Tim Schleif's artwork. He had created such wonderfully period work that we wanted to convey that to the players, hence the upgrades. Then there was Spanish Eagles. This game is stunning. We know we're biased and all, but it really does impress. That same public feedback has come via posts on CSW, private emails, and made in person to not only us, but also others involved in the production of the game. And we agree…
Second was being able to team with Neil Randall on many of our future projects, some of which he brought to our attention. This should bear lots of fruit in 2009, 10 and beyond. More on this stuff later.
Third was coming to an agreement with Phalanx on publishing Spartacus in a German language edition. Not only was working on the translations a good experience but the added exposure should be of great benefit to us, not to mention building a relationship with Phalanx.
Lastly, is Bitter End. We've said very little about this terrific game. It's been a bit overshadowed by Silent War and the release of new games, what with it being a reprint and all… But as of the writing of this message, there's only about 55 copies left in inventory! Kudos to Todd Davis on his development work on this second edition, and his first commercially printed artwork, which was top-shelf in our opinion. Our hats off to you, Todd.
Lows of the year. We've identified 3.
First was not being able to follow through on the "Signature" edition of YALU. This was the idea to print a limited run of only 500 games but with absolute top-shelf components - double-thick counters with rounded corners, mounted map, foil-embossed game box, and a hand-numbered sequence number for each game written right on the back of the box in calligraphic hand. We received warm support on it but it was clear it was going to be a struggle to get the needed orders. We would probably have made it eventually, but everyone would've had to wait far too long to get the game. So in order to get the game to you in 2009 we opted for our typically high quality game. So it's really a win isn't it!
Second was the length of time between publications, which is covered above, so we won't go over it all again.
Lastly, was not being able to publish Spartacus in'08. We underestimated how long it would take to complete the German language version of the components. We'd like to thank John Firer for his patience during this entire process. He has supported us every inch of the way and we thank him for that. In return, we've made Spartacus as good a product as we can turn out. Of course, that would not have been possible without Neil's tireless work on the development side. Spartacus came to us a good game; Neil made it a great game with some insightful tweaks. Check it out in January of 2009!
So at the end of 2008, we're looking forward to 2009. It's been a good year for us. Like most people and most businesses, we've had our ups and downs this year. But we're still here and we've got some great plans for 2009 and beyond. We've learned a few things that better equip us for the years ahead and we hope that plays out in our games and service.
Thanks to all who bought, played or considered our games in 2008. We hope you've enjoyed owning and playing them as much as we've enjoyed producing them for you. We hope to lure you back in 2009. In a couple of weeks we'll be publishing another open letter with a focus on what to look forward to from Compass in 2009. Don't miss it, because there's a lot happening…
Ken and Bill at Compass
