CMON’s 2024 losses even worse than it predicted at over $3m – almost double its profits from the last three years combined
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Welcome to the latest BoardGameWire newsletter.
As I write this edition, news is breaking of heavy layoffs at major gaming and entertainment site Polygon, including in its tabletop games section. Polygon’s tabletop industry coverage under Charlie Hall has been outstanding, running the gamut of deep industry dives on the state and finances of Kickstarter, to championing small TTRPG publishers trying to get their ideas seen.
There are precious few major entertainment news outlets remaining that provide insightful tabletop coverage beyond rewording a few press releases, following the loss of Luke Plunkett at Kotaku two years ago and the shuttering of Dicebreaker in 2024. This industry needs and deserves professional journalism, especially in times of great upheaval - and the loss of so much creativity and expertise at Polygon leaves the whole hobby worse off. Our hearts go out to the team, and here’s hoping they find their way back to tabletop journalism somehow soon.
I’ll keep this brief so you can scroll on to the news, but a quick reminder - supporting good board game journalism is vital! 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.
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter.
Mike Didymus-True - Editor
CMON’s 2024 losses even worse than it predicted at over $3m – almost double its profits from the last three years combined
Board game publishing major CMON slumped to a loss of more than $3m in 2024 – almost double its total profits from the previous three years combined – as falling sales for its crowdfunding campaigns led the company to its lowest annual revenue since pandemic-hit 2020. CMON blamed rising living costs affecting its customers ability to buy games for its 17% drop in revenue last year, which fell to about $37.4m from $45m in 2023, its delayed annual report shows.
The heavy loss continues a painful 2025 for the company, which last week revealed it was laying off staff and halting new game development and campaign launches, citing the ongoing unpredictability in US tariffs.
Chaos escalates in Alliance Game Distributors sale as winning bidder scraps deal, sues owner Diamond Comics, claiming it hid that AGD had lost biggest customer Wizards of the Coast
Chaos continued to engulf the sale of one North America’s biggest tabletop gaming distributors, Alliance Game Distributors, after the winning bidder scrapped its deal and sued bankrupt AGD owner Diamond Comics for the second time in three weeks – this time claiming Diamond concealed from it that AGD had lost its biggest customer, Wizards of the Coast.
The lawsuit throws into further disarray an auction process which initially looked to have been settled on March 25, when Nasdaq-listed Alliance Entertainment (AENT) became the winning bidder for the vast majority of Diamond’s assets, including AGD.
Since this story went to press the bankruptcy court has approved Universal and Ad Populum’s bid for Diamond’s assets - although AENT has continued to fight the process. Full story soon!
GAMA picks Baltimore as new home for annual GAMA Expo, after trade event quickly outgrows new Louisville home
North America’s biggest board games industry trade show, GAMA Expo, is moving to Baltimore after surging attendance numbers left the event straining at the seams again – just two years after the show shifted to Kentucky to handle growing interest. GAMA’s site selection committee narrowed down an initial 30 cities to Chicago, Minneapolis and Baltimore, with the latter winning out due to its accessibility, affordability and “vibrant local culture”, GAMA executive director John Stacy told BoardGameWire.
Stacy told BoardGameWire the Expo had nearly doubled in size since 2023, when just over 2,000 attendees took part in the event’s final show at its former home in Reno, Nevada.
Hachette Boardgames expands to the Netherlands by buying veteran publisher, distributor 999 Games
French book publishing giant Hachette has continued its expansion in the board game market by acquiring 35-year-old Dutch publisher and distributor 999 Games. Hachette began a heavy push into board games in 2019 by picking up French tabletop publisher and distributor Gigamic, French distributor Blackrock Games, and by founding in-house publishers Studio H and Funnyfox.
The expansion into Dutch distribution pits Hachette Boardgames against tabletop gaming giant Asmodee, which operates in the region through the Enigma distribution business it bought in 2016.
Hundreds of Mensa members wrap up four-day board gaming marathon by revealing this year’s Mensa Select award winners
High IQ society Mensa has revealed this year’s recipients of its Mensa Select seal, following its traditional four-day gaming marathon to determine the winners. 25th Century Games saw two of its published titles scoop Mensa Select awards this year, with Agueda: City of Umbrellas and Diatoms both among the seven games recognised.
Hutan, published by The Op Games, and Hachette Boardgames USA’s In the Footsteps of Marie Curie also picked up the seal of approval in the awards, alongside Farms Race: Deluxe Edition from Medium Brow Games, Plundering Times by SimplyFun and Treasure of the Dragons by FoxMind Games.
Online board game seller Boardlandia shuts down after tariffs add “unsustainable burden” to company’s existing challenges
Online board game retailer Boardlandia has become the latest tabletop-related victim of the skyrocketing US tariffs on Chinese imports, with its owners announcing they have closed down the business. Tim and Karissa Fendt, who took over ownership of Boardlandia and its namesake brick and mortar store in 2017, said in a statement that the tariffs had added “an unsustainable burden” to existing financial challenges being faced by the business.
They said that despite pouring their “personal savings, our time, and countless hours of hard work into Boardlandia, striving to overcome these obstacles”, the China tariffs – which currently stand at 145% – had left the pair with “no viable path forward” for the company.
Wingspan publisher Stonemaier Games is suing President Trump after China tariffs threaten tabletop industry
Wingspan publisher Stonemaier Games is suing US president Donald Trump over his decision to impose spiralling import tariffs on China – a situation which has already seen board game businesses shutter their operations and lay off staff. Stonemaier, which says it is facing an upcoming $1.5m bill under the new tariff regime, has joined a lawsuit challenging Trump’s assertion that he can issue tariffs without oversight or accountability from lawmakers in the US Congress.
Company co-founder and CEO Jamey Stegmaier said in a statement, “We will not stand idly by while our livelihoods – and the livelihoods of thousands of small business owners and contractors in the US, along with the customers whose pursuit of happiness we hold dear – are treated like pawns in a political game.”
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Other news:
Trump on possible toy shortage: "Maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30” - Axios
Trump Is About to Steal My Friend’s Christmas — and Yours - New York Times opinion piece centred around The Op Games owner Dane Chapin, who voted for Donald Trump but now fears “there is madness to his method”.
Total Escape Games on how the Colorado-based hobby store is approaching tariffs - including putting stickers on products detailing how much import charges have added to their cost
Hasbro’s “cautious” approach to tariffs depends on more licensed Magic: The Gathering and potential layoffs - Rascal News
China-to-U.S. Container Shipments Shrink as Tariffs Bite - Wall Street Journal
Design Zone
Erica Bouyouris and Sen-Foong Lim from the Ludology podcast talk with Sarah Shipp about using events in tabletop game design to provide variety, increase challenge, change up the narrative and more
Game designer Pam Walls reveals her three Google Docs she believes every game designer needs, from rules and playtester feedback to sell sheets
Game maker Adam Porter asks if America is still a feasible market for board game designers
Jamey Stegmaier from Stonemaier Games discusses whether crowdfunding helps or hampers creativity
Designer Diary: Flash Point: Legacy of Flame by Kevin Rodgers - BoardGameGeek
The Skeleton Code Machine blog looks at minimalist game design through the lens of Compile
Game designer Ellie Dix from The Dark Imp outlines things for freelance designers to consider when decided how much to charge
Joe Slack from The Board Game Design Course explains why it pays off to work with multiple fulfilment partners for your crowdfunding campaign
Designer Diary: 7th Inning Stretch, or Game Design Is 90% Mental, and the Other Half Is Physical by Justin Schroeder - BoardGameGeek
The Game Design Unboxed podcast speaks to Nicole Amato about transitioning into tabletop design after starting out as a video game journalist
Shem, Sam and Zach from Garphill Games look at the strengths of various board game designers via a 5-a-side team ‘snake draft’ on the latest episode of their Lens and Veil podcast
Job Watch
US - Senior Manager, Business Development & Program Strategy - Wizards of the Coast
US - Art Director, Magic: The Gathering - Wizards of the Coast
US - Game Design Producer (Contract/Temporary) - Wizards of the Coast
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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