Asmodee buys Zombicide IP from struggling CMON as first move in new acquisition spree
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Welcome to the latest BoardGameWire newsletter!
Our top story this week is a deep dive into CMON’s hugely consequential decision to sell its flagship IP Zombicide to Asmodee, stripping the company of a series which has raised more than $40m on Kickstarter since its 2012 launch.
The move is obviously a drastic one for financially-troubled CMON, which has been forced into selling its most famous and profitable title - as well of a string of other games including Blood Rage and Rising Sun - after slumping to a $3m loss last year.
But the deal also marks the opening salvo in Asmodee’s reignited strategy of buying up smaller board game publishers, distributors and IPs – which it hopes will mirror the heavy expansion it undertook in the 2010s that turned it from a specialist French operation to a global board game industry heavyweight.
We also have an exclusive report on board game manufacturing giant Panda, which has expanded its production operation outside of China for the first time by launching a joint venture in Brazil. The move comes amid the unpredictability over US tariff policy, which has rocked China-based manufacturing in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, the UK Games Expo continues to go from strength to strength - and has now overtaken US giant Gen Con in trade hall size, putting it second only to Spiel Essen for trade hall floor space, co-organiser Richard Denning exclusively told BoardGameWire. More than 42,000 people attended this year’s UKGE at Birmingham NEC between May 30 and June 1, up almost 7% on last year,
Keep reading for our roundup of all the other recent board game industry news, designer-focused advice and discussion zone, and all the latest job openings in the hobby.
I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter! As ever, if you’re able to help BoardGameWire continue to cover the board game industry and dig into stories no one else is reporting, you can support from as little as $1 a month by clicking here. If you can afford more than $1, that’s wonderful - just increase the quantity via that link.
Have a great week!
Mike Didymus-True - Editor
Asmodee buys Zombicide IP from struggling CMON as first move in new acquisition spree
Financially-troubled board game publisher CMON has sold its flagship IP Zombicide to Asmodee, stripping the company of a series which has raised more than $40m on Kickstarter since its 2012 launch.
The deal is the opening salvo in Asmodee’s reignited strategy of buying up smaller board game publishers, distributors and IPs – which it hopes will mirror the heavy expansion it undertook in the 2010s that turned it from a specialist French operation to a global board game industry heavyweight.
Exclusive: Board game manufacturing giant Panda expands production outside of China for first time amid US tariffs upheaval
Board game manufacturing major Panda has expanded its production operation outside of China for the first time by launching a joint venture in Brazil, as unpredictability over US tariffs continues to weigh on the tabletop industry.
Panda has manufactured more than 70 million board games from China since it was launched in 2007, for companies ranging from Asmodee, Stonemaier and Leder Games to first-time creators launching their projects on Kickstarter or Gamefound. But Chinese manufacturing has been rocked in recent weeks by US tariff policy, with President Trump raising import charges on Chinese goods as high as 145%, before a 90-day ‘truce’ between the countries reduced them to a still elevated 30%.
UK Games Expo “now fully on the world stage of ‘mega-cons'” as record-breaking event surpasses Gen Con for trade hall size, director says
Another year of surging growth has seen the British hobby gaming convention UK Games Expo overtake US giant Gen Con in trade hall size – putting it second only to Spiel Essen for trade hall floor space, co-organiser Richard Denning has told BoardGameWire.
More than 42,000 people attended this year’s UKGE at Birmingham NEC between May 30 and June 1, up almost 7% on last year. While that remains some way off the 71,000 uniques recorded by Gen Con last year, the UK show has managed to just pip its storied US counterpart in the size of its trade halls after expanding out into a larger space for this year’s event.
BackerKit’s quest for investment and the future of crowdfunding – and how their lead investor worked for DOGE
About a month ago, users of crowdfunding platform BackerKit received an email about an opportunity to invest in the company. Most didn’t know what to make of it. Some thought it was a scam and moved on. But even before the ‘equity crowdfunding’ campaign became available to the general public, the company had raised more than $1m from their customers – both backers as well as creators. Thomas Manuel looks to unravel the complexities of the situation, which comes amid a time of extreme economic uncertainty for the tabletop industry.
This article first appeared on the excellent Rascal News, an “independent, reader-supported, worker-owned outlet for journalism about tabletop roleplaying games and the people who make them.” BoardGameWire is republishing it with Rascal’s kind permission – please do visit their site and check out the other exceptional reporting they’re doing!
Toy retailers pick Finspan, The Gang and Trio as winners of this year’s Astra Play Awards
American toy retailers from trade body ASTRA have named Finspan, The Gang and Trio as the board game winners of its latest annual Play Awards – which it says were created to highlight novel designs which are “thought provoking or groundbreaking” within the industry.
Unconscious Mind leads Dice Tower Awards nominations with nods in record seven categories, River of Gold and SETI challenge for five
Unconscious Mind, a worker placement game themed around the psychoanalysis work of Sigmund Freund in the early 1900s, has scooped a record seven nominations in this year’s Dice Tower Awards.
The game, designed by Laskas, Jonny Pac, Yoma and Antonio Zax, will challenge for categories including game of the year, best strategy game, best theming and best artwork, with Cypriot publisher Fantasia Games also in line for a prize in the best small publisher segment thanks to the game.
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Other news:
ACD Distribution’s ACD Expo - formerly ACD Games Day - seals record attendance, exhibitor numbers - ICv2
Cephalofair COO Price Johnson is part of a live Q&A panel being run by BackerKit about navigating crowdfunding during the US tariff uncertainty
Brandon Rollins from Fulfillrite (bias alert! a BoardGameWire newsletter sponsor!) shares some key wisdom from Tavis Parker from The Game Crafter, Nick Haas from Delano Games, and Hung Le from Cartamundi about the challenges and opportunities of manufacturing board games in the US.
Design Zone
Erica Bouyouris and Sen-Foong Lim from the Ludology podcast chat to Burnt Island Games’ Helaina Cappel and Wandering Blades designer Daniel H Kwan about their advice for Canadian designers and publishers in the current economy, and developing a Canadian identity and community as games industry creatives
Game designer Pam Walls discusses what it takes to win a board game design competition
“Inventors don’t need to make it funny, they need to make it fun”: In conversation with Thor Ritz, VP of Game Development at Exploding Kittens - Mojo Nation
The Game Crafter has revealed the semi-finalists in its Geo Facts Challenge, in which designers aims to create a game with “memorable geographical information”
Matthew Dunstan provides ten tips for improving the games you’re currently designing
Mondo David, lead hobby game developer for The Op, on how to make your game design stand out
Mashiu and Jun Sasaki from Oink Games talk with BoardGameGeek’s Eric W Martin about their co-design Rafter Five
The Cardboard Philosophy Podcast tackles ways board games can be made more accessible
Skeleton Code Machine explores the difference between asymmetry and variable player powers
Joe Slack from The Board Game Design Course on how to follow up on your Kickstarter success
Designer Diary: Engine Thieves by Wes Crawford - BoardGameGeek
The Tabletop Takeaway board game design podcast discusses what makes the failure of plans fun, and how you can let players compensate for their own forgetfulness
Peter C Hayward and AJ Brandon explore the different ways of providing players with options on their turn using cards
Designer Diary: Positano by Jeff Grisenthwaite - BoardGameGeek
Shem, Sam and Zach from Garphill Games discuss the design elements they like in Assyria Second Edition on the latest episode of their Lens and Veil podcast
Job Watch
UK - Buyer - Asmodee
Canada - Artistic Director - Plan B (Asmodee)
Germany - Junior Art Director Games - Ravensburger
Netherlands - SEO Content Specialist - 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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