On 31 August 2026, asmodee announced that it had acquired the "Welcome To… intellectual property and game range" from originating French publisher Blue Cocker.
The original Welcome To... design from Benoit Turpin debuted in 2018 — you can watch Turpin explain the game to me at FIJ 2018 in this video — and it was incredibly successful from launch, with licensing publisher Deep Water Games releasing ten expansions in 2019 as part of a crowdfunding campaign.
In subsequent years, Blue Cocker released the spinoffs titles Welcome to New Las Vegas, Welcome to the Moon (both co-designed by Alexis Allard), and Welcome to La Petite Mort (co-designed by François Bachelart). The Welcome To...: Collector's Edition appeared in 2023, but that won't be the last title in this game line that has sold hundreds of thousands of copies and averages three thousand players daily on Board Game Arena, with more than three million games played on that site to date.
Welcome To... was, as far as I can recall, the first game to feature a "flip-and-write" system in which one or more cards are revealed at the start of a turn, presenting each player with the same information and leaving it up to them to choose which symbols or actions to use when marking a personal score sheet.
Here's part of asmodee's press release announcing this acquisition:
With this acquisition, asmodee will continue to develop and support the Welcome To… universe, ensuring the games remain widely available while exploring new opportunities for players to discover and enjoy the franchise in the years to come...
Blue Cocker founder Alain Balay added: "From the very beginning, our ambition was to create a game that would stand the test of time and bring people together around the table. We are incredibly proud of everything Welcome To… has achieved over the past years, and we are confident asmodee will now carry the brand forward and introduce it to even more players around the world."
Further information about upcoming releases for the Welcome To… franchise will be shared at a later date.
"This acquisition goes beyond bringing a strong IP into our portfolio," added Mathieu Aubert, Head of Collections at asmodee. "We see huge potential to expand the Welcome To… universe, and the team already has plenty of ideas to bring it to life. I look forward to sharing more about our projects in the coming month."
You and I both know what's coming: Welcome To The Shire, followed by Welcome To Tatooine. Any other guesses?
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