Privateer Press
Encyclopedia
Privateer Press is an award-winning role-playing game
and miniature wargame
production and publishing studio founded in 2000 by Brian Snōddy, Matt Staroscik and Matt Wilson. Mike McVey joined the partnership early on as Miniatures Director. The company is currently owned by Wilson following the departure of Snōddy and Mike McVey.
The company's signature products are Warmachine
and Hordes
, tabletop miniatures-based wargames with a steampunk
/magical aesthetic. Noted webcomic creators and game critics Jerry Holkins
and Mike Krahulik
of Penny-arcade
are fans of Warmachine. Privateer press also publishes a house magazine called No Quarter.
The company's products are distinguished by the quality of their art, production values, and game play. They have received many game industry awards, including six Origins awards
and numerous Ennies
.
The company has been a longtime supporter of Child's Play, a charity which gives toys and games to sick kids in children's hospitals around the world. In 2009, Privateer Press bid on and won an item at the annual Child's Play Holiday auction, donated by Harmonix, which brought them the rights to commission a downloadable song track for the Rockband game. The resulting song "Warhammer," written by Jerry Holkins, premiered at Pax
2010 and was made available for download that fall. All proceeds from the track are also donated to Child's Play.
Privateer Press is based in Bellevue, Washington
, where they have their headquarters and American distribution center/factory. They have also licensed a factory in the United Kingdom to increase production capacity for worldwide markets.
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
and miniature wargame
Wargaming
A wargame is a strategy game that deals with military operations of various types, real or fictional. Wargaming is the hobby dedicated to the play of such games, which can also be called conflict simulations, or consims for short. When used professionally to study warfare, it is generally known as...
production and publishing studio founded in 2000 by Brian Snōddy, Matt Staroscik and Matt Wilson. Mike McVey joined the partnership early on as Miniatures Director. The company is currently owned by Wilson following the departure of Snōddy and Mike McVey.
The company's signature products are Warmachine
Warmachine
Warmachine is a tabletop steampunk wargame produced by Privateer Press.The game is played with white metal and plastic miniatures manufactured by Privateer Press representing military characters from the Iron Kingdoms D20 Role Playing Game setting...
and Hordes
Hordes (war game)
Hordes is the name of a 30mm tabletop miniature wargame produced by Privateer Press, announced at Gen Con 2005 and released on April 22, 2006. Although a completely standalone game in its own right, Hordes was designed as a companion to Warmachine, Privateer Press' flagship miniatures game...
, tabletop miniatures-based wargames with a steampunk
Steampunk
Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. Steampunk involves a setting where steam power is still widely used—usually Victorian era Britain or "Wild West"-era United...
/magical aesthetic. Noted webcomic creators and game critics Jerry Holkins
Jerry Holkins
Keith Gerald "Jerry" Holkins né Parkinson is the writer of the webcomic Penny Arcade and co-founder of Child's Play, a multimillion dollar charity that organizes toy drives for children's hospitals...
and Mike Krahulik
Mike Krahulik
Mike Krahulik is the artist for the popular webcomic Penny Arcade and co-founder with Jerry Holkins of Child's Play, a multimillion dollar charity that organizes toy drives for children's hospitals. He goes by the online moniker "Jon Gabriel" or "Gabe"...
of Penny-arcade
Penny Arcade (webcomic)
Penny Arcade is a webcomic focused on video games and video game culture, written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik. The comic debuted in 1998 on the website loonygames.com. Since then, Holkins and Krahulik have established their own site, which is typically updated with a new comic...
are fans of Warmachine. Privateer press also publishes a house magazine called No Quarter.
The company's products are distinguished by the quality of their art, production values, and game play. They have received many game industry awards, including six Origins awards
Origins Award
The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so the 1979 awards were given at the 1980 Origins.The Origins Award is commonly...
and numerous Ennies
ENnies
The Annual Gen Con EN World RPG Awards are annual, fan-based awards for role-playing game products and publishers hosted at Gen Con in Indianapolis, Indiana...
.
The company has been a longtime supporter of Child's Play, a charity which gives toys and games to sick kids in children's hospitals around the world. In 2009, Privateer Press bid on and won an item at the annual Child's Play Holiday auction, donated by Harmonix, which brought them the rights to commission a downloadable song track for the Rockband game. The resulting song "Warhammer," written by Jerry Holkins, premiered at Pax
Penny Arcade Expo
The Penny Arcade Expo is a semi-annual gamer festival held in Seattle and Boston. PAX was created by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, the authors of the Penny Arcade webcomic, because they wanted to attend a show that gave equal attention to console gamers, computer gamers, and tabletop...
2010 and was made available for download that fall. All proceeds from the track are also donated to Child's Play.
Privateer Press is based in Bellevue, Washington
Bellevue, Washington
Bellevue is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, across Lake Washington from Seattle. Long known as a suburb or satellite city of Seattle, it is now categorized as an edge city or a boomburb. The population was 122,363 at the 2010 census.Downtown Bellevue is...
, where they have their headquarters and American distribution center/factory. They have also licensed a factory in the United Kingdom to increase production capacity for worldwide markets.
Products
- Iron Kingdoms
- WarmachineWarmachineWarmachine is a tabletop steampunk wargame produced by Privateer Press.The game is played with white metal and plastic miniatures manufactured by Privateer Press representing military characters from the Iron Kingdoms D20 Role Playing Game setting...
- HordesHordes (war game)Hordes is the name of a 30mm tabletop miniature wargame produced by Privateer Press, announced at Gen Con 2005 and released on April 22, 2006. Although a completely standalone game in its own right, Hordes was designed as a companion to Warmachine, Privateer Press' flagship miniatures game...
- Infernal Contraption
- MonsterpocalypseMonsterpocalypseMonsterpocalypse is a giant monster-themed collectible miniatures game which is published by Privateer Press. Released series include Rise, I Chomp NY, All Your Base, Monsterpocalypse Now and the current series Big in Japan....
- Scrappers
- Grind
- VoltronVoltronVoltron is the titular super robot of an anime series that features a team of young pilots, known as the Voltron Force. The team’s individual vehicles join together to form the giant super robot, with which they defend the galaxy from evil...
External links
- Privateer Press official website.
- http://www.toydirectory.com/PrivateerPress/index.htm Toy Directory Listing.
- http://www.rockband.com/songs/UGC_5004098 Warhammer song on Rockband.