The creator of the popular settlement-building board game Catan has died at 70 following a brief illness, his family announced Wednesday.
Klaus Teuber’s game, which launched as The Settlers of Catan in 1995, has gone on to sell more than 40 million copies worldwide, its website says.
"It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that the Teuber family announces that their beloved husband and father Klaus Teuber passed away at the age of 70 on April 1, 2023, after a short and serious illness," reads a statement posted on Catan’s website.
"The Teuber family asks for the opportunity to say goodbye to a loved one in peace for the moment and to accept that they need this privacy," the statement added.
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In the multiplayer game, competitors use five resources to build their colonies, or settlements: wool, grain, lumber, brick and ore. Teuber never thought his game would become so successful and finally left his dental technician job in 1998 "when I felt like Catan could feed me and my family," he told the New Yorker magazine in 2014. The game became a family business.
Teuber was born in June 1952 in the German town of Rai-Breitenbach. He was working as a dental technician in the 1980s outside the industrial city of Darmstadt when he took up designing board games in his basement.
"I had many problems with the company and the profession," he said. "I developed games to escape. This was my own world I created."
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On Catan’s social media, the game’s studio team said "while Klaus’ contributions to the board gaming industry are immeasurable, we will remember him most as a kind and selfless human being, an inspirational leader, and most importantly, as a friend."
"We encourage you to honor Klaus’ memory by being kind to one another, pursuing your creative passions fearlessly, and enjoying a game with your loved ones," the statement continued. "Klaus’ impact on the world of gaming will never be forgotten."
Catan started as a board game but has received expansions and spinoffs, including video game versions. It has been translated into more than 40 languages.
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In 2017, in the Netherlands, 1,096 people set a record for playing the game at once on a specially designed, elongated board called the "Big Game".
The game’s top players also have been competing for annual championships since 2002.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
