Asmodee’s plan to ‘reignite’ buyouts of smaller companies unaffected by tariffs, CEO says uncertainty ‘presents opportunities for strategic acquisitions’
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Welcome to the latest BoardGameWire newsletter!
Our top story this week is that Asmodee’s plan to reignite its buyouts of smaller publishers and distributors is set to go on despite the huge volatility caused by US tariffs - which are actually presenting acquisition opportunities, according to CEO Thomas Koegler. He also dived into the strategies Asmodee has used so far to mitigate the impact of tariffs, including looking to India, Vietnam and Cambodia as potential alternatives to Chinese manufacturing.
We also report on Renegade Game Studios expanding its distribution in Europe by teaming up with Saga Alliance and HEO - a big win for Saga, which was launched last year by a team including ADC Blackfire founder Alexander Dubynski and former Asmodee Germany CEO Alexis Desplats.
And awards season continues with the unveiling of this year’s Spiel des Jahres nominees, alongside the perennial complaining that the selections aren’t complex enough - despite the jury explaining each year that the point of the awards is to provide entry points and next steps for new gamers. We’ve also got the results of the always excellent and interesting Cardboard Edison Awards for unpublished games - won for the first time this year by a game making use of a digital app. The winner, Dot Com, looks fantastic - if you’re a publisher reading this, please sign it up so I can play a copy!
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I’ll be off next week to play with my kids during their school half-term break, and then I’ll be at the UK Games Expo Thursday to Sunday, so the next newsletter will be in a couple of weeks. If you’re going to UKGE and want to meet up for a chat, please drop me an email! mike@boardgamewire.com
Enjoy the newsletter!
Mike Didymus-True - Editor
Asmodee’s plan to ‘reignite’ buyouts of smaller companies unaffected by tariffs, CEO says uncertainty ‘presents opportunities for strategic acquisitions’
Board game giant Asmodee revealed last November that it was preparing to double down on the heavy expansion it undertook after being bought by private equity firm Eurazeo in 2014, which saw it swell from a specialist French operation to a global heavyweight across publishing and distribution. The company had picked out a pipeline of more than 20 acquisition targets, but that plan was hatched before Donald Trump’s rollercoaster tariffs policy left companies across the board game industry reeling.
But CEO Thomas Koegler says Asmodee’s M&A plan remains unaffected by the tariffs - adding that the uncertainty was actually presenting ‘opportunities’ for acquisitions.
Universal Distribution completes Alliance Game Distributors buyout from Diamond Comics after chaotic bankruptcy auction
Canada’s Universal Distribution has completed its takeover of US peer Alliance Game Distributors, following a tumultuous bankruptcy auction of the latter’s former owner Diamond Comics. Universal agreed to pay a base total of more than $49.6m for Alliance, with the ultimate price tag to be adjusted to account for Alliance’s inventory, accounts receivable and payable, and the average net working capital of the business at the close of the deal.
The deal follows a rollercoasting bankruptcy auction for the assets of Diamond, which, despite having built an almost monopolistic position in comic book distribution across close to 40 years, filed for bankruptcy protection in January owing tens of millions of dollars to a long list of creditors.
Flip 7, Bomb Busters, Krakel Orakel to battle it out for this year’s Spiel des Jahres award
The nominees for this year’s Spiel des Jahres, widely considered the highest profile award in board gaming, have been unveiled ahead of the grand final on July 13. Press your luck card game Flip 7 is up for the main Spiel des Jahres prize alongside collaborative bomb disposal game Bomb Busters and Krakel Orakel, described as a co-operative drawing game for people who can’t draw.
This year’s Kennerspiel des Jahres, awarded to slightly more complex games than the SdJ, will be fought over by Endeavor: Deep Sea, Looot and Faraway, while the children-focused Kinderspiel comes down to Die Mausebande, Cascadia Junior or Topp die Torte.
Renegade Game Studios boosts European distribution amid US tariffs uncertainty with new Saga Alliance, HEO tie-ups
US board game publisher Renegade Game Studios has expanded its distribution in Europe by teaming up with Saga Alliance and HEO, amid ongoing volatility in its home US market due to President Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports. Renegade, which publishes the Heroscape and Axis & Allies lines and board games including Search for Planet X, said the deal would ensure “greater accessibility and availability of Renegade titles throughout the European market”.
Saga Alliance was launched in February last year by ADC Blackfire founder Alexander Dubynski, former Asmodee Germany CEO Alexis Desplats, and Gregory Benassar, who previously spent more than a decade as Asmodee’s head of new business and licensing.
App-assisted, real-time board game Dot Com wins this year’s Cardboard Edison Award, which celebrates the best in unpublished designs
Dot Com, an economic strategy game which uses an app to run players’ money supplies down in real time, has been crowned the winner of this year’s Cardboard Edison Award for unpublished board game designs. The game, designed by former Ravensburger game development intern Sammy Salkind, puts players in the shoes of startup founders battling to build their internet startups during the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s.
Dot Com is the first app-assisted game to win the Cardboard Edison Award since the competition was launched by Suzanne Zinsli in 2016.
Launching a board game YouTube channel in 2025: tariff impact, side gigs and getting back in the saddle
Part 2 of our ongoing series exploring the trials and tribulations of launching a board game-focused YouTube channel in 2025. JC Wollslager is now seven months into his attempt to “flip the script” on How To Play videos with his channel How To Teach, which he believes fills an underexplored niche in the industry. But the chaotic US tariffs situation is affecting more than just publishers and manufacturers - and in this edition JC details the impact on his fledgling channel, his mental health, and what the future holds for the project.
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Other news:
Chinese exporters are offering sweet deals to U.S. businesses. They often come wrapped in fraud - CNBC
Design Zone
Geoff Engelstein from the Tabletop Game Designers Association shares some of the group’s successes from its first year of operation
Erica Bouyouris and Sen-Foong Lim from the Ludology podcast chat to Dekan Wheeler about his time at UltraPro about making accessories for hobby games
Game designer Pam Walls has launched a 24-hour online board game jam using mystery components from The Game Crafter
Adam Porter discusses rejection in board game design, and how to take feedback while remaining professional
Matthew Dunstan explores five board game design myths, and why they might not be the best advice to follow as you learn to create games
Jamey Stegmaier from Stonemaier Games expresses some of his regrets about the name of his company, and provides some advice about naming yours
Asmodee’s Birgitte Bülow on Brick Like This, revamping Hint and crafting ‘clever games’ - Mojo Nation
Skeleton Code Machine looks at why ending a game early feels unsatisfying, and how you can use some psychology to make it better.
Joe Slack from The Board Game Design Course on how to keep your backers excited and engaged both during and after your campaign
Designer Diary: The Birth of Trickerion by Viktor Peter - BoardGameGeek
The Game Design Unboxed podcast chats with Cameron Ring about short form video and social media marketing in the tabletop industry, and the importance of making games you find fun
Peter C Hayward and AJ Brandon take another look at the intricacies of balance in game design
Shem, Sam and Zach from Garphill Games discuss the design elements they like in Lost Ruins of Arnak on the latest episode of their Lens and Veil podcast
Job Watch
US - Senior Marketing Producer, Lorcana TCG - Ravensburger North America
US - Associate Manager, Consumer Insights, Magic: The Gathering - Wizards of the Coast
US - Senior Production Artist, Collectibles Print Innovation - Wizards of the Coast
UK- Illustrator, Uniforms and Vehicle Guides - Games Workshop
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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