Beamdog has a partnership with Wizards of the Coast for our Dungeons & Dragons enhanced editions, so Trent was able to approach them about an Axis & Allies online game.” The Axis & Allies license is held by Hasbro’s Avalon Hill - which is connected to Wizards of the Coast. “He played Axis & Allies with family and friends growing up, and was beyond excited when he saw an opportunity to make his favorite board game into a digital adaptation - Axis & Allies Online. “The main reason Beamdog is making Axis & Allies Online is because our CEO, Trent Oster, has a passion for the board game, and he’s shared that with the team - we’re all hooked now!” said Sarah Dawson, the marketing & PR lead for Beamdog, in an email interview today. The connection between Avalon Hill and Wizards is so strong that even the board game brand’s manager, Shelly Mazzanoble, cohosts the weekly Dragon Talk D&D podcast.
And it doesn’t hurt that Axis & Allies publisher Avalon Hill is part of Hasbro, which holds the reins of Wizards of the Coast and D&D. But like with the previous enhanced editions of D&D games, it’s a passion play as well. Axis & Allies Online is a shift for Beamdog, a Canadian studio that has been releasing enhanced editions of classic RPGs such as Baldur’s Gate and Planescape since 2012.
