FEWER, BETTER, NOW: The Evolution of Alderac Entertainment Group

"It is a great time for this interview as I am very focused on new goals and plans for AEG's next 5-10 years right now."

- Justin Spicer

The first line of John Zinser's email is elucidating. Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG) has been a near-monolith in hobby gaming since it's inception nearly 30 years ago. Founded in 1993, AEG began life not as a board game publisher but as a hobby magazine. "When we started AEG, creating games was never something we considered," Zinser begins.

THE PAPER TRAIL

AEG was born to publish Shadis, an award-winning hobby magazine. "Shadis was a very small press publication, and our goal was to build Shadis into a big, independent print voice in gaming." This was the impetus for Zinser, who partnered with Jolly Blackburn to publish Shadis and expand its reach. "Our early business plans were all about increasing distribution so that we could sell more advertising. As AEG, we published our first issue (Shadis #9) and gave away 10,000 copies at Gen Con," explains Zinser, "and that same year, Magic [The Gathering] happened."

The impact of Magic: The Gathering changed the fortunes and outlooks of many, and AEG with Shadis was no different. "We printed the first Magic checklist in Issue #10 and sold 10,000 copies. Magic: The Gathering was such an industry-altering force that we had to scrap our original business plan and figure out a new one."

A NEW KIND OF PLAYING CARD

"Those early years were the Wild West," remembers Zinser. The explosion of collectible card games (CCG), based on the immediate and immense success of Magic: The Gathering, provided a change of course. Zinser, along with Ryan Dancey (who went on to various roles at Wizards of the Coast), wanted to get into the CCGs, though Blackburn was hesitant. "We decided that we would keep Shadis content the way Jolly intended with some coverage of CCGs, and we would also start up Five Rings Publishing to develop our own CCGs."