Future of Traveller
Traveller Creator Marc W. Miller Passes the Imperial Baton
Breaking News
In a statement released through the Citizens of the Imperium mailing list, Marc W. Miller, the legendary creator of the Traveller franchise announced this morning (US Time), that he had "passed full ownership" of the Traveller franchise to Mongoose Publishing "in order to secure its future". In his email, reproduced below, Marc has stated that he was inspired by another RPG designer legend, Greg Stafford. Stafford, founder of Chaosium and creator of the Glorantha fantasy world, passed away in 2018 aged 70 but had put succession plans in place to ensure the orderly transfer of his intellectual property.
The statement from Miller, born 29 August 1947, was released two days before his 77th birthday.
Update - 28 August 2024: There is now a statement from Mongoose MD Matt Sprange on the Mongoose Publishing forums.
Some years ago, fellow game designer Greg Stafford died, and I was impressed that his company announced almost immediately that he had a succession plan in place, and that his legacy and his designs would live on.
His example was an inspiration to me, and I resolved to emulate him. It would be a terrible loss if Traveller were encumbered, or somehow restricted in its outreach to present and future fans.
With that in mind, I have worked to make Traveller an asset to science-fiction role-players... with our user-friendly Fair Use policies, with the Travellers’ Aid Society programs, with the Cepheus editions of Traveller, and with Mongoose as a primary publisher of their edition of Traveller.
Over the past several years, I have turned over more and more responsibilities to Mongoose, and I have collaborated actively with them as they work to realize the Traveller dream. Earlier this year I passed full ownership of Traveller to Mongoose in order to secure its future.
With that in mind, I point out that, following the example of Greg Stafford, I have a succession plan in place: day-to-day decisions about the Traveller game system are already being made by Mongoose Publishing (with my co-operation and approval), and if anything should happen to me, they would carry on with my full knowledge and blessing.
That doesn’t stop me from speaking my mind: expressing opinions about Traveller, writing stories and lore, and even revealing secrets about the universe.
But Traveller is in good hands, now, and far into the far future.
And I thank you for your (continuing) support for Traveller.
Marc