Paizo
Founded | 2002 |
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Founders |
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Key people |
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Publication types | Role-playing games, board games, Books |
Fiction genres | science fiction, fantasy |
Official website | paizo |
Paizo Inc. (originally Paizo Publishing
History
Paizo was formed by
The company started producing a bimonthly magazine called Undefeated in 2003,[5] and in 2004, resurrected the venerable science fiction title Amazing Stories.[6] The two publications were placed on hiatus in 2005, and finally canceled in 2006.[7]
In early 2007, Wizards of the Coast announced it would not renew Paizo's license to publish Dragon and Dungeon, leaving a five-year run from September 2002 to September 2007.[8][9][10][11]
Paizo's subsequently began the periodical
In May 2016, Paizo announced a new space fantasy role-playing game, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, released in August 2017.[13][14][15][16][17][18] It is set in a possible future of the Pathfinder setting where Golarion has disappeared.
In May 2018, Paizo announced it was working on a second edition of Pathfinder to refine elements of the rule set to reflect feedback and clarification on the original system over the prior years. The preliminary ruleset was published in August 2018 as Pathfinder Playtest so that players could test out and provide feedback.[19] The final rule set was released on August 1, 2019.[20]
On June 15, 2020, Paizo announced CEO Lisa Stevens was going to step down from daily operations in preparation for her retirement.[21]
Other Paizo products include the Titanic Games line of board games such as Kill Doctor Lucky,[22] and the Planet Stories line of classic fantasy, science fiction and science fantasy novels.[23]
On October 14, 2021, an organization representing over 30 Paizo employees announced the formation of the United Paizo Workers, a
Leaked documents from Wizard of the Coast in January 2023 suggested that Wizards planned to change the Open Game License (OGL), developed for its Dungeons & Dragons products and which Paizo's products are predicated on, to be more restrictive and potentially harm third-party content creators, including Paizo. In response, Paizo announced plans for a new license called the Open RPG Creative License (ORC). Additional publishers, such as Kobold Press, Chaosium, Green Ronin, Legendary Games, and Rogue Genius Games, will be part of the ORC development process.[27][28][29] The ORC will be an open, perpetual, and irrevocable system-agnostic license[28][29] with legal development paid for by Paizo "under the legal guidance of Azora Law", however, the license "will not be owned by Paizo, nor will it be owned by any company who makes money publishing RPGs".[27] Paizo plans to find a "nonprofit with a history of open source values to own this license" and stated that "Azora Law's ownership of the process and stewardship should provide a safe harbor against any company being bought, sold, or changing management in the future and attempting to rescind rights or nullify sections of the license".[27] Polygon reported that "in the weeks that Hasbro spent publicly flailing, customers spent an extraordinary amount of money investing in its competition".[30] Paizo stated that it had "sold through 'an 8-month supply' of the Pathfinder Core Rulebook"[30] within two weeks; the company also reported high demand for other products such as the Pathfinder Beginner Box.[31][32][33]
Reception
Paizo Publishing won the 2005 Silver
References
- ^ a b "paizo.com - Forums / PaizoCon: General Discussion: The History of Paizo". paizo.com.
- ^ "Publishers". diamondbookdistributors.com. 2015-01-07. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
- ^ "Paizo / Press / Archive / 2013". paizo.com. 2013-01-17. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
- ^ "Paizo / Press / Archive / 2014". paizo.com. 2014-03-11. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
- ^ Magazine Publishers of America (2003). "New & Noted 2003 Magazines: January-December 2003". MPA Website:The Definitive Source of the Magazine Industry. Magazine Publishers of America. Archived from the original on 2008-02-10. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
- ^ Bova, Ben (December 26, 2004). "Local action can change the world, one word at a time". Naples Daily News. Archived from the original on 2012-02-07. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
- ^ "Amazing Stories Ends Run". Sci Fi Weekly. No. 563. March 27, 2006. Archived from the original on January 1, 2007. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
- ^ "Paizo Publishing to Cease Publication of Dragon and Dungeon". Wizards of the Coast. 2007-04-19. Archived from the original on April 29, 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-19. (press release)
- ^ Magazine Publishers of America (2003). "Defunct or Suspended Magazines 2007". MPA Website:The Definitive Source of the Magazine Industry. Magazine Publishers of America. Archived from the original on 2007-06-26. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
- Chicago Sun Times. p. A18.
- ^ Julie Bartel (2005-07-01). "The Good, The Bad, and the Edgy". School Library Journal. p. 35.
- ^ "Paizo Publishing Announces the Pathfinder RPG". Retrieved 2008-07-10.
- ^ "Announcing the Starfinder Roleplaying Game!". Paizo.com.
- ^ "'Starfinder' Brings Fan Favorite Fantasy Tabletop RPG to Space". Waypoint. 2017-08-17. Retrieved 2018-07-06.
- ^ "Retrieve 'Starfinder RPG.' Priority One. All Other Priorities Rescinded. - GeekDad". GeekDad. 2017-05-20. Retrieved 2018-07-06.
- ^ "Starfinder hopes to do for space opera what D&D has done for fantasy". Polygon. Retrieved 2018-07-06.
- ^ "Starfinder is here, and it's fantastic". Polygon. Retrieved 2018-07-06.
- ^ "Syrinscape Picks Up License for Starfinder! | Gameosity". Gameosity. 2017-03-16. Retrieved 2018-07-06.
- ^ Hall, Charlie (May 10, 2018). "Pathfinder, with roots in a decades-old strain of D&D, is launching a second edition". Polygon. Retrieved May 10, 2018.
- ^ Gavin Sheenan (March 6, 2019). "Paizo Officially Announces Pathfinder Second Edition Release Date". BleedingCool.com. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
- ^ "Paizo / Press". paizo.com. 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
- ^ Edwin Wong (2008-01-19). "Oddball diversions". New Straits Times Local. p. 16.
- Wired News. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
- ^ "Paizo Employees Unionize". unitedpaizoworkers.org. 2021-10-14. Retrieved 2021-10-14.
- ^ Hall, Charlie (October 14, 2021). "Workers at Paizo unionize, a first for the tabletop role-playing game industry". Polygon. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
- ^ Carpenter, Nicole (October 22, 2021). "Pathfinder, Starfinder publisher voluntarily recognizes workers' union". Polygon. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
- ^ a b c "Paizo Announces System-Neutral Open RPG License". Paizo (Press release). January 12, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
- ^ a b "Paizo Announces Its Own Gaming License Amid D&D OGL Controversy". Gizmodo. January 12, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
- ^ ComicBook.com. January 12, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
- ^ a b Hall, Charlie (2023-02-06). "D&D's OGL controversy turbocharges sales of virtually every other tabletop RPG". Polygon. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
- ^ "Paizo Sells Out Eight Months of Pathfinder Supply In Two Weeks". TechRaptor. 2023-01-26. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
- ^ Anderson, Julia (2023-01-26). "D&D's OGL Controversy Has Pathfinder Selling Out at a Mind-Blowing Rate". CBR. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
- ^ "Paizo Runs Out of 'Pathfinder Core Rulebooks' until April 2023". icv2.com. January 30, 2023. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
- ^ "The ENnie Awards -- 2005 Awards". www.ennie-awards.com. Archived from the original on 3 August 2009. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
- ^ "2012 Noms and Winners | ENnie Awards". www.ennie-awards.com. Archived from the original on 29 August 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
- ^ "2013 Noms and Winners | ENnie Awards". www.ennie-awards.com. Archived from the original on 27 August 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
- ^ "2015 ENnie Award Winners | ENnie Awards". www.ennie-awards.com. Archived from the original on 31 August 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
- ^ "2016 ENnie Award Winners | ENnie Awards". www.ennie-awards.com. Archived from the original on 20 August 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
External links
- Paizo Publishing
- A brief history of game #2: Paizo Publishing: 2002-present, by Shannon Appelcline