Reiner Knizia’s Ingenious reborn as Axio after legal clash over name

Prolific German designer Reiner Knizia is to announce a new follow-up to the acclaimed abstract tile-laying game formerly known as Ingenious this week.

Knizia originally released Ingenious via Kosmos back in 2004, but was forced to rename last year’s revival of the game to Axio after original label Sophisticated Games filed a trademark for the Ingenious name in September.

Rather than pay a licensing fee to use the original title, Knizia opted to rename the series to Axio, reportedly calling Sophisticated’s request an “immoral and business-damaging reversal of the usual licensor-licensee relationship”. (via BoardGameGeek)

Alongside the transformation to Axio, Knizia is set to unveil a new addition to the series of games at Toy Fair Nuremberg, which takes place all of this week.

Published worldwide by Pegasus Spiele (which will apparently release all future Axio entries, too), the currently untitled flagship Axio title was described by Knizia as being “more modern and more accessible” than the original game.