Bloomsbury Publishing chooses to refocus on books, wargames and RPGs
Osprey Games, the tabletop publishing arm of Bloomsbury Publishing, has announced plans to sell its board and card game business after more than a decade in the hobby gaming space. The company confirmed the move in a public statement on Bluesky, describing the decision as part of a wider strategic shift back toward book publishing while retaining its wargame and roleplaying game lines.
“After 11 fantastic years, Bloomsbury Publishing, the owner of Osprey Games, has made the difficult decision to sell the board and card game line. This was not a decision taken lightly and reflects a strategic refocusing on book publishing. Going forwards, wargames and roleplaying games will form the core part of what we publish,” the statement reads.
“We are immensely proud of the exceptional catalogue of board and card games that we have had the privilege to publish over the years. We have worked with some of the very best designers and illustrators that the industry has to offer, alongside many other incredible contributors, and we are deeply grateful to the talented and passionate team who have brought these games to life.
“During this transitional period, and as we look for a new home for our board and card games, we remain committed to supporting our designers, partners and collaborators, and will continue to release, sell and license upcoming games according to our existing schedules. We will not, however, be commissioning any new board and card games.”
Founded in 2015 as part of the historic military publishing brand Osprey, Osprey Games quickly carved out a strong reputation in modern tabletop gaming with a catalogue that blended accessible strategy games, innovative war-themed designs and critically acclaimed card games.
Among the company’s best-known releases are the multi-award-winning Undaunted series by David Thompson and Trevor Benjamin, beginning with Undaunted: Normandy and expanding into titles such as Undaunted: North Africa, Undaunted: Stalingrad and the upcoming Undaunted 2200: Revolution. The publisher also found major success with the deduction game Cryptid, the political strategy game The King is Dead, the civilisation deckbuilder series Imperium, and titles including Wildlands, Brian Boru: High King of Ireland, London, The Lost Expedition, Escape from Colditz, General Orders: World War II and Ofrenda.
More recent and upcoming board game releases include Threaded, Flip Pick Towers, Rattlesnake, CRAB RAGE! and Ayar: Children of the Sun.
Despite the sale of its board and card game operation, Osprey’s tabletop presence will continue through its established miniature wargame and roleplaying lines. The company’s wargaming catalogue includes Frostgrave, Stargrave, The Silver Bayonet, Burrows & Badgers, Ronin, Black Ops and Gaslands, alongside a broad range of historical and miniature-agnostic rules systems that have become a major part of Osprey’s tabletop identity.
Its roleplaying portfolio includes the Osprey RPG line, which has published games such as Those Dark Places, Romance of the Perilous Land, Paleomythic, Jackals and Righteous Blood, Ruthless Blades.
Osprey also confirmed that support for existing board and card game releases will continue during the transition period.
“Finally, a huge and heartfelt thank you to everyone who has supported Osprey Games over the years. Your enthusiasm and belief in what we do has meant more to us than we can say. That’s all for now and we will share updates here as and when we are able to do so. We’ll be at UK Games Expo later this month (stand 3A-448) demoing Threaded, Flip Pick Towers and Rattlesnake, and we hope to see some of you there.” No buyer for the board and card game division has yet been announced.