UK publisher Osprey Games launched its board and card game line in 2015 with The King Is Dead, a new edition of Peer Sylvester's 2007 game König von Siam, then followed that in the next couple of years with more new editions of older games — The Ravens of Thri Sahashri, Odin's Ravens, Escape from Colditz — as well as original designs such as They Come Unseen, The Lost Expedition, Wildlands, Cryptid, and Undaunted: Normandy, with this design by Trevor Benjamin and David Thompson launching a game line that has been Osprey's biggest success.
On May 13, 2026, Osprey's head of marketing Emily Neat announced that Bloomsbury Publishing, the owner of Osprey Games, has decided to sell its board and card game line. From the announcement:
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.
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.
Thus, Osprey Games will be at UK Games Expo and Gen Con 2026 as originally planned, with Threaded and Flip Pick Towers (both already released), as well as Rattlesnake (due out June 9, 2026) for sale at the former and with Rattlesnake, CRAB RAGE! (due out September 22, 2026), and Undaunted 2200: Revolution (due out October 6, 2026) being available for demo at the latter.
When hearing this news, some gamers wondered whether the Undaunted game line fell into the "board game" or "wargame" category, but a look at the Osprey website—
—shows Undaunted being part of the former category. Neat confirmed this with me and expects the Undaunted line to be part of what's sold. "Within the context of the announcement", she said, "'wargames' refer specifically to the tabletop miniatures rulebooks such as Bolt Action, Frostgrave, Gaslands, etc. and associated projects such as the Frostgrave and Warriors of Athena miniatures produced with North Star Military Figures."
It's a shame to see this line end, partly because Osprey published game designs radically different from one another, but mostly because of the care the company spent on the graphics and packaging of their releases. Each Osprey title tended to look like a unique work of art rather than being just another title in the catalog, specifically a title that could be found in another publisher's catalog. The game's looked like individual projects crafted to deliver a particular experience, with that intention and focus being what tied the game line together.
