The company that helped lead a revolution in board games is shutting down

After nearly 40 years in the tabletop industry, the longtime publisher of the popular Settlers of Catan franchise is closing its doors. Mayfair Games has sold its remaining games catalog to Asmodee North America, a massive games publisher and distributor, the company announced.

“As of today, the management team at Mayfair Games, Inc. announces we will wind down game publishing,” the company said in a statement. “After 36 years, this was not an easy decision or one we took lightly, but it was necessary. Once we had come to this conclusion, we knew we had to find a good home for our games which is when we reached out to Asmodee.”

In 2015, Mayfair Games refreshed Settlers of Catan with a new, fifth-edition release, simply called Catan. The following year, it sold the North American license for the franchise to Asmodee North America. Today’s announcement indicates that it will add the entire product line of Mayfair Games to Asmodee’s growing portfolio.

Asmodee simultaneously snatched up Lookout Games, makers of Uwe Rosenberg’s classic Agricola as well as his more recent title, Caverna.

In recent years, Asmodee has been aggressive with its acquisitions. Its stable now includes Fantasy Flight Games, Days of Wonder and F2Z Entertainment, which continue to publish under their own names. That makes the company the publisher of dozens of the most highly regarded franchises in the tabletop industry, including 7 Wonders, Dead of Winter, Dixit, Splendor, Star Wars: The X-Wing Miniatures Game, Pandemic and Ticket to Ride. Internationally, Asmodee distributes Magic: The Gathering, Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! in some European countries. The company also has a successful digital imprint that focuses on bringing tabletop games to mobile devices and Steam.