Chaosium is a heroic stalwart of the tabletop games industry known for Call of Cthulhu, Basic Role-Playing, Pendragon and other games. This year, the company, founded by Greg Stafford, marks its 50th anniversary.
Aged 70, Greg Stafford passed away in 2018, and in many ways, this 50th anniversary is as much a tribute to him as it is to Chaosium’s compassionate commercial success.
1975 - In his home near Oakland Stadium, Greg Stafford founded Chaosium so he could publish White Bear and Red Moon. The game, later known as Dragon Pass, was a board game.
White Bear and Red Moon is set in Glorantha.
1978 - Chaosium published Steve Perrin's RuneQuest.
RuneQuest is set in Glorantha.
1980 - The company became Chaosium LTD and the Basic Role-Playing rules were distilled from RuneQuest.
1982 - Call of Cthulhu was published.
1986 - Hawkmoon, one of the first RPGs with a female lead designer, was published.
1998 - Chaosium's CCG Mythos failed, and Greg Stafford and Sandy Petersen resigned. The company was split up.
2013 - Lynn Willis, Chaosium's long-standing Editor-in-Chief, died.
2015 - Greg Stafford and Sandy Petersen returned to Chaosium. The company took control of RuneQuest and HeroQuest and continued to publish Call of Cthulhu.
2018 - King Arthur Pendragon and Prince Valiant returned to Chaosium's control.
2019 - Sandy Petersen retired from the board. 7th Sea, a John Wick game, was acquired by Chaosium. Additionally, the company secured the rights to Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series.
2020 - The company took over distribution rights for the Spanish TTRPG Aquelerre and the French Wurm.
2021 - Steve Perrin died. Chaosium secured the rights to Cthulhu Britannica and World War Cthulhu, taking over from Cubicle 7. It was also the year the spin-off company Moon Design Publishing partnered with Black Monk Games to create The Chaosium Group.
Creative Commons credit: Cthulhu by Sephiroth-Art.
