Troyes Creators Pearl Games Closed as Internal Studio by Asmodee

In extremely sad news this morning Pearl Games have announced that they are being closed as an internal Asmodee Studio. In a statement released on their website by Sébastien Dujardin, one of the games’ companies founders, the news of the studios closure was relayed as well as three layoffs – including Dujardin.

The company is best known for Troyes, The Bloody Inn and Tournay as well as a host of other titles. Troyes is the title that kickstarted the company in 2010, which was purchased by the French Asmodee group. They’ve published 11 games in 13 years, and the conversion from an independent studio to an internal Asmodee one was originally seen as a sign of long term growth and stability.

Their most recent, and final release (for now) is Time of Empires, which we featured in issue 75 and will be reviewing in 76 – it might be a good idea if you have any interest in the game to snap up a copy now before any threats of it going out of print loom in the future.

The company will close officially at the end of March. Dujardin, in the press release, had this to say:

“Why? It seems to me that the most important reason is the evolution of Asmodee, which has become bigger and bigger, to the point that Pearl Games has struggled to keep its place by remaining faithful to its editorial line. Also, the game market has exploded in recent years in quality and quantity. You have to take this into account and adapt to it, and that’s what I will do!”

Dujardin also comments that he is making arrangements to retain the brand and catalogue of Pearl Games moving forward. Which means the company may not quite be dead, but is likely to enter a much slower publishing cycle.

The full release can be read below: