Decipher, Inc.

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Decipher, Inc.
Type Private
Founded 1983
Founder Warren Holland
Headquarters Norfolk, VA, USA
Industry Role-playing, CCGs, TCGs, card games and board games publisher
Products Star Trek, Lord of the Rings role-playing games, How to Host a Murder board game
Website decipher.fanhq.com

Decipher, Inc. is an American gaming company based in Norfolk, Virginia, USA. They began with three puzzles called "Decipher" then moved on to party games and Pente sets, but since 1994 produced collectible card and role-playing games. Their longest-running offering is the How to Host a Murder Mystery series.[1] Other popular works have included many different card games. Since 2002 Decipher has released two licensed role-playing games; Star Trek RPG and Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game.[2][3]

Contents

[edit] History

From the start Decipher has been largely focused on creating games based on big, popular franchises. In 2001 they lost the rights to the Star Wars game to Wizards of the Coast, ending the long run of the Star Wars Customizable Card Game which was possibly one of their biggest games at the time. The first The Lord of the Rings movie was released that same year, giving Decipher a quick replacement franchise to take over the spot. In 2003 they attempted to market to a younger crowd, to attempt to compete with Yu-Gi-Oh and all the similar games flooding that market. They created three different anime-based games, to varying degrees of success. In 2005 with the wavering success of the .hack and Mega Man cartoons, they were forced to cancel both lines. They also attempted in 2004 to re-release the extremely popular game mechanics of the Star Wars Customizable Card Game in the form of their first non-franchised card game, Wars. Unfortunately it didn't prove to be commercially successful, and was put on hold in 2005.

During 2005, with the overall decline of the gaming industry, in addition to alleged case embezzlement that cost the company millions[4], the company suffered significant financial losses and was forced to layoff as many as 40 employees. With the game industry in a decline, Decipher's future had remained in doubt up until early 2006. However, with a smaller group of employees, Decipher has been able to get back on track. Despite serious delays in products, expansions for both its Star Trek and Lord of the Rings lines have been released.

With the expiration of Decipher's license with Tolkien Enterprises in 2007, the company has released their final expansion set for the Lord of the Rings TCG, Age's End.[5]. On 2007-12-05 Decipher also issued a press release announcing the end of the Star Trek CCG line of product with the next expansion, What You Leave Behind.[6]

During the Holiday Season of 2007, Decipher replaced their traditional FanHQ home page with a teaser promising a that "a player revolution is coming in 2008."[7] Beginning March 31, 2008 Decipher began looking for Founding Members for their new game series Fight Klub.[8]

[edit] WARS Fiction

In collaboration with science fiction author Michael A. Stackpole Decipher, and Stackpole, created numerous eBook PDFs of fiction work for the WARS fictional universe. These PDFs can still be found on the Decipher website, under "WARS".

[edit] SWCCGPC

Following Decipher's loss of the Star Wars franchise rights in 2001, Decipher employees and volunteers of the card game created a new entity, entitled: "Star Wars Collectible Card Game Players Committee" (or SWCCGPC) as a means to keep the game alive. Currently the Players Committee has created 15 virtual card sets, as well as a new advanced rulebook and tournament guide to ease players and tournament directors. The SW:CCG game continues to thrive and grow as it nears its thirteenth year.

[edit] Games

[edit] Card games

[edit] Role-playing games

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Lardas, Mark (2003), “Decipher Cracks the Code to Lasting Success”, TDmonthly 2 (9), <http://www.toydirectory.com/monthly/Sept2003/coolcompany.asp>. Retrieved on 2007-10-02. 
  2. ^ Ivey, Shane (2002). The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game (Review). Revolution Science Fiction [1]. Retrieved on 2007-10-03.
  3. ^ Review of The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game. RPGnet (2003). Retrieved on 2007-10-03.
  4. ^ Waterside bets on cards. Waterside Capital Corporation. Retrieved on 2008-02-02.
  5. ^ Lord of the Rings TCG Ending Long Run. Decipher, Inc.. Retrieved on 2007-10-02.
  6. ^ Star Trek CCG Ending Long Run. Decipher, Inc.. Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
  7. ^ Happy Holidays!. Decipher, Inc.. Retrieved on 2007-12-30.
  8. ^ Fight Klub. Decipher, Inc.. Retrieved on 2008-03-31.
  9. ^ Herndon, Cory. Star Trek Online Customizable Card Game (review). SciFi.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-02.
  10. ^ Herndon, Cory. Tribbles Customizable Card Game (review). SciFi.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-02.
  11. ^ Young Jedi CCG (Review). kidzworld.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-03.
  12. ^ Bates, Lee. Jedi Knights Trading Card Game (Review). SciFi.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-03.
  13. ^ Kitchens, Kevin (2003). Review: Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game. gamingvoice.com [2]. Retrieved on 2007-10-03.
  14. ^ Origins Award Winners (2001). Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Retrieved on 2007-10-02.
  15. ^ Origins Award Winners (2003). Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Retrieved on 2007-10-02.
  16. ^ Origins Award Winners (2002). Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Retrieved on 2007-10-02.

[edit] External links