Acquisitions are back at Asmodee as board game giant eyes more than 20 buyout targets
Plus: “Despair. Hopelessness. Frustration. Sadness”: board game professionals fear for industry’s future under “reckless” Trump tariffs – but GAMA plans to fight back
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Asmodee, the French board game specialist which became an industry giant by hoovering up other studios and distributors pre-pandemic, is preparing to fire-up its acquisition engine once again as its upcoming split from troubled parent business Embracer Group draws near. The news that Asmodee has more than 20 companies - largely publishers - in its sights as potential acquisitions could change the face of the board game industry once again, as it did in the late 2010s when it took control of major industry players including Days of Wonder, Fantasy Flight Games, Lookout Games, Catan Studio and Z-Man Games. BoardGameWire has a full report on Asmodee’s Capital Markets Day, where new CEO Thomas Koegler and his team outlined the company’s future plans and discussed the state of the industry ahead of its spin-off as an independent business early next year.
We also have an in-depth report into how the punishing import tariffs threatened by US president-elect Donald Trump are likely to rock the board game industry, with publishers and designers telling us the “reckless” move could leave to a “great collapse” of the industry in the US. John Stacy, executive director of US tabletop trade association GAMA, shared his own fears - but also revealed how the group plans to fight back against the plans.
And read on for our full list of all of the rest of the week’s most important board game industry news, our extensive list of designer resources and the latest job openings.
Thanks for reading, enjoy this week’s newsletter!
Mike Didymus-True - Editor
Acquisitions are back at Asmodee as board game giant eyes more than 20 buyout targets
Tabletop gaming giant Asmodee is preparing to “reignite” its strategy of buying up smaller board game publishers and distributors following its upcoming split from troubled owner Embracer Group. New CEO Thomas Koegler said the company has a pipeline of more than 20 acquisition opportunities, mirroring the heavy expansion the business undertook after being bought by private equity firm Eurazeo in 2014.
Asmodee’s previous buying spree saw it acquire more than 40 companies and IPs over the last decade, including over 20 game studios including Days of Wonder, Fantasy Flight Games, Lookout Games, Catan Studio and Z-Man Games.
“Despair. Hopelessness. Frustration. Sadness”: board game professionals fear for industry’s future under “reckless” Trump tariffs – but GAMA plans to fight back
Punishing import tariffs threatened by US president-elect Donald Trump could lead to a “great collapse” of the US board game industry, with publishers, distributors and retailers of all sizes facing the threat of going under, professionals within the industry have told BoardGameWire. Trump has vowed to impose tariffs of up to 20% on all imports to the US, rising to 80% on goods from China – where the vast majority of board games are manufactured before being shipped around the world.
Sony is in talks to buy Kadokawa, the owner of Japanese board game publisher and Tokyo Game Market organiser Arclight
Video game and electronics giant Sony is in talks to buy the $2.7bn parent business of Arclight, one of Japan’s biggest board game publishers and the organiser of Tokyo Game Market. PlayStation maker Sony already owns a 2% stake in Kadokawa Group, which also controls Elden Ring and Dark Souls video game maker FromSoftware and a plethora of other businesses across book, manga and magazine publishing, film and anime.
The potential deal comes just over six months after Kadokawa bought Arclight as part of its continued push to create new IP and “deploy ideas across different types of media”.
Huge demand sees Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle Earth soar to top of new owner rankings in October | BGG Stats
Massive demand for 7 Wonders Duel re-implementation Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle Earth saw the two-player strategy game pick up more than 7,300 new registered owners on BoardGameGeek in October – roughly double the usual total for the most-added game in a month. A total of 7,329 BoardGameGeek updated their profile to say they owned the game last month, according to data collected by BGG user and data visualiser Igor Larchenko.
That figure is streets ahead of the usual new owner numbers for the top spot game. In May last year ecosystem engine-builder board game Earth put on just over 3,700 new users, for example, while dragon-themed Wingspan re-imagining Wyrmspan scored just over 3,200 in February this year.
The Porters, a game about Black railway workers fighting to unionise, has triumphed in this year’s Zenobia Award
The Porters, a board game exploring the struggle of early 20th Century Black Canadian railway workers to overcome racism and organise unions, has become the second winner of the Zenobia Award – a contest aimed at lifting up game designers from marginalised groups. The design from Lucas Cockburn, Neco Cockburn and Alex Goss was praised by judges for its clever design, unique and compelling theme, and its showcase of the difficulty of organising a labour movement while having to work a tiring, full-time job.
The Zenobia Award was created in 2020 to highlight games from women, people of colour and the LGBTQ community which explore hitherto overlooked or ignored areas of human history, covering political, social, cultural, scientific, economic or military affairs – with the hope of mentoring their designers and bringing those games towards publication.
Asmodee’s earnings up despite ongoing sales downturn, as board game giant prepares to unshackle from struggling Embracer video games operation
Board game giant Asmodee has seen its year-on-year sales figures slide for the second quarter in a row – but profits continue to rise at the company as it nears a spin-off from its troubled parent business Embracer Group. Asmodee’s sales were down 6% between July and September compared to the same period last year, falling to about $250m – and were also down 5% year-on-year across the last six months of trading, the company’s latest interim report shows.
The company said its latest quarterly slide was impacted by its sale of Miniature Market, which it divested to a pair of long-serving Asmodee managers during Embracer Group’s massive cost-cutting programme last year.
Hobby titles stake claim for 2025 game of the year in traditionally mass market-focused Toy of the Year awards
A trio of gateway hobby board games have emerged as Game of the Year contenders in the Toy Association’s latest Toy of the Year awards – a prize traditionally dominated by mass-market games. Life in Reterra, Hasbro’s opening gambit for a push into the light-gateway hobby game segment, is up against Ravensburger’s Chronicles of Light: Darkness Falls and The Op’s Gnome Hollow in the award category – an unprecedented showing for hobby games in the 25-year-old competition.
The trio will battle it out with The Op’s light card game Flip 7, UNO variant Show ’em No Mercy and Snap 2 It, an electronic game which sees players compete to become the first to complete a light switch circuit.
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Other news:
Lion Rampant has signed an exclusive Canadian distribution deal with Skybound Entertainment - ICv2
Ravensburger details influencer initiatives for Disney Lorcana - Mojo Nation
As public perception of AI sours, crowdfunding platforms scramble - Polygon
An extensive and thoughtful tribute to game designer Kory Heath, who died earlier this week, from BoardGameGeek news editor Eric Martin
A fundraising drive has been set up to help the young son of popular board game industry professional Amber Cook, who died suddenly at the end of October
A heartfelt thank you here to Jamey Stegmaier from Stonemaier Games, who included BoardGameWire in the company’s annual charity auction drive this year. The winning bid from BGG user Andrea, plus a hefty contribution from Stonemaier, meant our chosen charity, Croydon Nightwatch, received an incredible £2419.50 to help provide food and other essentials to homeless people in my town this winter. Thank you!
Design Zone
Sen and Erica from the Ludology podcast welcome back former host Scott Rogers to dive into his new book ‘Your Turn: The Guide to Great Tabletop Game Design’
Peter C Hayward and AJ Brandon from Blue Beard Entertainment explore the concept of fidelity within board games
Ellie Dix from The Dark Imp ploughs her deep experience of working with co-designers to suggest how you can get the best out of the process
Jamey from Stonemaier Games give his 3 Key Insights from a Year of Social Media Advertising
Game designer Dirk Barsuhn on what inspired his new tile-laying game, Ananda - Mojo Nation
Designer Diary: Joyride: Survival of the Fastest by Duncan Molloy - BoardGameGeek
Seppy Yoon from Fight in a Box explores the different steps of product design
Skeleton Code Machine looks at kill steal mechanisms in Orléans and other board games
The Decision Space podcast talks about the ‘five types of rules’ mentioned in The Rule Book: The Building Blocks of Play by Jaakko Stenros and Markus Montola
Designer Diary: Trekking the World: Second Edition, or Caught Between a Hobbyist Rock and a Family Hard Place by Nick Bentley - BoardGameGeek
The latest Cardboard Philosophy podcast discusses the difference between ‘theme’ and ‘setting’
The Decision Space podcast looks at the gameplay of 2015 design Burgle Bros
The Unboxed game industry podcast talks to Sen-Foong Lim about the secrets of successful co-designs
Joe Slack from The Board Game Design Course on how to add five stretch goals to your board game without breaking the bank
Board game design podcast The Tabletop Takeaway looks at the outstanding design and gameplay systems that make up the excellent Android: Netrunner
Job Watch
US - Lab4Games Brand Ambassador, Asmodee
US - Print Project Coordinator, Asmodee
US - Game Designer, D&D - Wizards of the Coast
US - Prepress & Asset Management Specialist, Wizards of the Coast
US - Marketing Associate, WizKids
US - Illustrator / Graphic Designer, Cardboard Edison
UK - National Logistics Coordinator, Asmodee
France - Organised Play Coordinator, Asmodee
All these jobs are from the very excellent Tabletop Game Jobs Facebook Group - head there to take a look at all the latest listings
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