CMON warns of ‘prolonged structural downturn’ as it seeks up to $17.5m from investors
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Welcome to the latest BoardGameWire newsletter!
It’s great to be back properly after a summer spent juggling BoardGameWire with the kids’ school holidays - and there’s plenty to catch up on.
CMON has spent the past 18 months fighting to stabilise its finances after losing almost $23m across 2024 and 2025 - leading one of tabletop gaming’s biggest crowdfunding publishers to slash its workforce, sell off some of its biggest game IPs and halt new crowdfunding campaigns to conserve cash.
Those measures have dramatically cut its losses - but its latest financial disclosures show the company remains under severe pressure, with cash reserves having fallen to just $368,000 by early August - which it described as enough to cover less than a month of its daily operating expenses.
BoardGameWire digs into CMON’s finances, its $14m backlog of undelivered crowdfunding campaigns, the collapse of its North American and European revenues, and its hopes of raising $17.5m in fresh capital to stabilise the business - and pursue a new push into digital gaming.
Elsewhere, Bitewing Games is looking to video game IP for its next big hits after making its name with Reiner Knizia designs, PAX launches a second Unplugged convention uncomfortably close to Origins, and Spiel Essen steps up its B2B offering ahead of its biggest-ever show.
Plus: Maestro Media opens its infrastructure to other publishers, Catan expands its sports marketing, and all the rest of the latest industry news - as well as our regular links to designer-focused podcasts and articles, and a roundup of open job positions in the industry.
I hope you find this week’s newsletter useful and packed full of interesting industry news that hasn’t been reported elsewhere. If so, please do help me keep it going by financially supporting the site!
Take care, and have a great week,
Mike Didymus-True - Editor
CMON warns of ‘prolonged structural downturn’ as it seeks up to $17.5m from investors
CMON has warned that its core business is suffering a "prolonged structural downturn" and is still consuming more cash than it generates, despite a drastic restructuring which has seen the board game crowdfunding major halve its workforce, sell off some of its biggest game IPs and halt new crowdfunding campaigns.
After making its name with Knizia, Bitewing Games is looking to video games for its next big hits
After building its reputation through a five-year, 16-game partnership with Reiner Knizia, Bitewing Games is looking to video games for its next big opportunities.
Co-founder Nick Murray tells BoardGameWire about the $700,000-plus success of Balatro-inspired Rolling Deep, adapting Baba Is You and Party House, and why leaving dentistry for Bitewing full-time has raised the stakes around finding lasting commercial hits.
PAX doubles down on Unplugged growth with new Houston show – just 12 days after Origins
PAX is doubling down on the success of its tabletop-focused Unplugged show by launching a second event in Houston, after growing the original into the second-largest tabletop gaming convention in the US after Gen Con.
Spiel Essen launches B2B matchmaking system to help industry professionals find potential business partners
The new system arrives as Spiel prepares for its biggest-ever event from October 22 to 25 this year - with an expansion into all eight main halls at the Messe Essen exhibition centre for the first time expected to see the event challenge its record 220,000 attendance set last year.
After successful debut, Middle East’s first major tabletop games con faces new challenge securing publishers amid US-Iran war
Fledgling Dubai board game convention tabletop.me is facing a very different challenge as it prepares for its second year: persuading overseas publishers the commercial opportunity of reaching the Gulf's growing tabletop market is worth pursuing amid safety concerns around the US-Iran war.
“Our attempts to do things ‘different from the others’ came back to bite us”: Plaid Hat’s Colby Dauch on The Monolith’s Kickstarter failure and rapid turnaround
Plaid Hat Games launched its Kickstarter for The Monolith in June with a trio of successful crowdfunding campaigns under its belt - only to pull the project three days after launch when pledges unexpectedly ground to a halt.
In this first-person piece for BoardGameWire, Plaid Hat founder and CEO Colby Dauch explains why The Monolith exposed flaws that Plaid Hat’s previous campaigns had masked, what the publisher believes it got wrong, and why the changes made for its rapid relaunch appear to be working.
From 1968 Chicago protests to queer life in Georgian London: Summit Award continues to celebrate designs that broaden historical gaming
Battlefields of the Napoleonic Wars, Chicago ‘68, Molly House and Onoda will compete for the fifth edition of the award, which is run by the San Diego Historical Games Convention - an organisation which aims to create a diverse and supportive gaming community dedicated to playing, discussing, designing, and promoting historically-based board games.
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Support BoardGameWire as a Paid SubscriberOther news:
Catan expands sports marketing team-ups with NHL partnership, German handball star deal
Three-year-old DSV Games continues rapid rise with trio of Dutch game of the year award nominations
Asmodee buys flip and write pioneer Welcome To… from Blue Cocker to continue acquisition spree
Solis Game Studio makes ‘major step forward’ through US retail distribution push with Southern Hobby
Design Zone
Game designer Pam Walls grades board game publishers on their contracts, inspired by the TableTop Game Designers recent report on the subject
Liz Davidson from Leder Games and the Beyond Solitaire podcast on why you should go ahead and prototype your game today
Skeleton Code Machine takes a look at how Yahtzee-style mechanisms can be used in tabletop board games
Designer Diary: ASHES: Blackout Protocol by Chus Rivel - BoardGameGeek
Joe Slack from The Board Game Design Course highlights three effective ways to reduce downtime in your designs
Québec: Redesigning Artwork and Accessibility by Anton Hallmann - BoardGameGeek
The Game Design Unboxed podcast chats with Zac Loveless about topics ranging from educational games vs. games you can learn from, the knowledge you gain from creating a themed game, how to decipher and apply playtest feedback and incorporating classic mechanics into something new
The TableTop Takeaway podcast look at some of the game design decisions in eurogame classic Terra Mystica
Garphill Games’ Shem and Sam Phillips and Zach Smith discuss the early years, when Shem was self publishing as a brand new designer
Emberheart co-designer Adam Porter gives his advice on avoiding the most common pitfalls which cost game designers money
Job Watch
US - Operations Manager - Pandasaurus Games
US - Operations Manager - Ghost Galaxy
US - Graphic Designer - Studio Big (Asmodee)
US - Miniatures Engineer - Trench Crusade
US - Senior Games Brand Manager - Goliath
Germany - Accountant - Karma Games
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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