Email I sent Hasbro a year ago

[wallydubbs]

Though I'm a couple years late getting to this, I was wondering if the petition is still out there... I'd sign it.
If I remember Hero Quest 25th Anniversary edition only officially came out in Switzerland because of some trademark issues. I'm not quite in a research mood right now to check.

Sure, there are some things customer service can do, but bringing a game back from the past doesn't seem possible. There has to be some corporate managerial approval, but most corporate guys don't care about what the average people want, all they understand is numbers, primarily in terms of money.
However since Switzerland (or wherever) was the only country that could make the 25th Anniversary edition, this suggests the HeroQuest trademark is owned by someone over there...
Yeah I should do more research before ascertaining what I only think I know... I'll be back.

[wallydubbs]

Update:
Writing a letter to Hasbro won't do anything, they no longer own the trademark. Apparently, now, different companies own the trademark, depending on which country they're in.
The 25th Anniversary edition was not is Switzerland, my mistake, but in Spain. It's owned by a company known as Gamezone.
Here in the US it's owned by Moon Design, who prevented Gamezone from releasing the Anniversary edition in the US.
The website I found said Hasbro still has the rights in the UK, but it was last updated in 2013. I read elsewhere that Hasbro either lost or gave up the rights in 2015 but I can't seem to find who picked it up...

[tb55555]

So I have some experience working with licensors and licenses.

In the case of Heroquest I think the license has become so convoluted and hard to track down that I would bet no one is interested in hunting down the full license or they are afraid of making the other people who own part of it mad.

In this case you have Moon Design, who make Heroquest the RPG currently and has the name and most likely the publishing rights to anything like a book or a manual and the name, Hasbro who owns the game system and publishing rights for the game itself, and Games Worksop who owns the IP (Choas Warriors, Fimir, this brand of Orcs and goblins, the spell groups, names and places mentioned, etc).

Also remember that late in the game's lifetime there was the begining of issues the Elf and Bararian packs came out in the US and were heavily not influenced by GW IP and the Wizards of Morcar and Against the Ogres in Europe were more into the GW IP. Then GW tried to take Heroquest on their own and published Advanced Heroquest as their own without Milton Bradley (Hasbro would not own the rights to anything in it) and then followed up with WarHammer Quest.

On the other hand Hasbro already owns a fantasy world they can play in (D&D) and publishes games that are dungeon delves in a box (The Adventure System Games) without any licensing issues.

So everyone is happy sitting on their own little part without making each other upset.

For Heroquest 25th Anniversary, their control of the license even in their own country is dubious. (They stated they had verbal permission from a game designer, who most likely has no control of it). Plus the the game is almost 5 or 6 years late and the backers are currently taking legal action to get their money back.

Honestly be happy you did not get a response about the letter. If the company acknowledges that they know anything about the license is being published (even if for free) it is diluting the brand and they may be required to hunt it down with cease and desists according to their contract. They are more likely to be happy knowing the game lives on in forums like this and not talking about it so that fans can keep a 20 something year old game going.

[j_dean80]

There's more than enough fan-made stuff to keep the HQ fan satisfied as far as content. Usually more balanced and play-tested too.

I just would like to see the Wizard and Dwarf Packs' content released.

[cornixt]

I wonder how far off GW are from releasing a very light fantasy dungeon crawl. They are clearly trying to get into the casual market with Blitz Bowl and Space Marine Adventures, and the junior 40k comics, they just need a simple product for 7-11 year olds rather than the very board-gamey dungeon crawls that everyone has been producing lately. They couldn't call it HeroQuest but it could be very close in style.

[Daedalus]

A year ago, I remembered reading about someone starting a HeroQuest remake petition. So, I decided to send Hasbro this crazy email and they actually sent me an email back. Now this was just a crazy email I sent trying to find some hope....

I wrote:

Dear Customer Service,

In 1991, Milton Bradley made a game called HeroQuest. This game was a huge hit and even today prices for a complete set are high on ebay. Hasbro bought Milton Bradley, so I am here to demand that the Hasbro Board of Directors re-release the HeroQuest game effective immediately! This is not open for debate. There are no terms. You will take this email to the head of project design as soon as you are done reading it. Go now, go right now. Make those suits listen to our pleas. We need Heroquest. I myself am a Hero and I am on a quest, therefor I need Heroquest. Help me on my quest Mr. or Ms. Customer Service Rep. you're our only hope. Say it with me: HeroQuest, HeroQuest, HeroQuest.

PS: I know you're still setting there! Go spread the word, HeroQuest needs to be re-born!

Hasbro wrote back:

Hi Decipher,

Thank you for contacting Hasbro Customer Service regarding Hero Quest. I certainly appreciate your interest and love for the game!
There are no plans at this time to re-produce that game.
However, I will most definitely share your interest with the appropriate personnel. I'm saying it with you "Hero Quest, Hero Quest, Hero Quest"!
Now I'm going to end this email so that I can spread the word!

Thanks again for your interest!
Susan D.
Hasbro Customer Support

You guys think there could be a real chance of them re-releasing HQ?

Thanks, Decipher, it must have worked!

It sadly took the death of the originator of the term Heroquest and creator of the world of Gloriana, but that was enough for Chaosium to release the trademark in a deal with Hasbro. May the life of HeroQuest as a board game be long and its fan-base flourish!