Mergers and Acquisitions

[Zarniwoop]

So this is not about a game but the relentless Asmodee swallows up another company, this time FFG to go along with other recent acquisitions like Days of Wonder.

Does this mean a brighter future for gaming as these companies are freed to go back to just developing great games with the hassle of the day to day business stuff or does it mark the slow relentless fall into obscurity.

Time will tell of course but I wonder if this is a good thing? mergers in others walks of commercial life are rarely mutually beneficial longer term as one or both lose their individual identity.
I hope these all work out well and our hobby goes from strength to strength but I have a concern that these are happening far too quickly, barely enough time to merge systems and people before the next. There is also the fear that they overstretch their financial ability to cope with all these divergent companies and are forced to liquidise some assets to stay afloat.

I hope they have a well thought out strategy and I further hope that this will spark a continued period of inspired game design and publishing. I have to confess though that I am crossing a lot of fingers as well as praying to the gaming gods to give them a fair wind and calm seas.