Embracer commits to Asmodee's future as restructuring ends, plus what board game veteran Zev Shlasinger just learned from his first crowdfunding campaign
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When Asmodee’s owner Embracer Group announced last summer it was launching a massive restructuring programme to combat a huge debt pile built up from years of acquisitions, huge questions marks hung over the board game giant’s future with its parent company. Historically a PC and console game publisher, Embracer had expanded out into tabletop, comics and mobile through a string of M&A deals - and it was unclear if the business was about to undo some of that diversification to help chop away at its $1.45bn debt.
Asmodee has gone from strength to strength since that announcement, however, becoming Embracer’s biggest earner after overtaking its PC and Console Games segment for net sales, and our story below details how tabletop has become “one of the absolute most important businesses” at Embracer, according to CEO Lars Wingefors.
We also have board game industry veteran Zev Shlasinger revealing his insights from launching his first-ever crowdfunding campaign, 25 years after getting into the tabletop business, plus all the rest of the most important board gaming news. BoardGameWire is on a break next week for the Easter holidays, when I’ll be wrangling two small children instead of feature articles and news reports. Please keep your news and tips coming in, and let me know what we’re doing well, what we’re doing badly, and what else you’d like to see us feature on the site - always happy to get your emails at mike@boardgamewire.com
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Mike Didymus-True - Editor
Embracer Group commits to Asmodee’s future as restructuring program ends
The CEO of Asmodee’s troubled corporate owner Embracer Group has praised the tabletop giant as “one of the absolute most important businesses we have”, as the parent company prepares to end a severe restructuring process which has seen it lay off about 1,400 people. Asmodee avoided large-scale job losses during the process, with numbers released last month showing its internal headcount fallen by just 82, to 2,500 people, since Embracer began restructuring last summer.
Asmodee’s future as part of Embracer was unclear throughout the process given that several “large divestments” were trailed by the company – with the tabletop group’s strong performance potentially putting it in the shop window as Embracer attempted to pay down a $1.4bn debt pile. But Wingefors said in this morning’s webcast detailing the Gearbox sale that “Asmodee is one of the absolute most important businesses we have within the group, and I’m very keen to support them”.
After 25 years in the board game industry, Z Man and Play to Z founder Zev Shlasinger just ran his first crowdfunding campaign. Here’s what he learned
Few people in the modern board game industry can boast a career as long and storied as Zev Shlasinger. After launching Z-Man Games 25 years ago, he found huge success bringing games such as Agricola to the US market - as well as signing one of the biggest board games of all time in 2008's Pandemic. After leaving his seven-year role as director of board games at Wizkids last June, Shlasinger wasted no time launching a new publishing house, Play to Z Games, and the company launched its first offering onto Kickstarter at the end of February - marking the first time Shlasinger had dipped his toes into crowdfunding. He tells BoardGameWire how he approached the campaign, lessons learned and what he plans to do next.
Hasbro invests in family card game design from Women Innovators of Play winner Ellie Dix
Toy and game giant Hasbro is developing a board game with Ellie Dix, one of three winners of the company’s inaugural Women Innovators of Play challenge. Hasbro launched the challenge last September, tasking individual or team entrants to submit ideas to be judged on innovation, fun factor and playability, design and aesthetics, mass marketability and manufacturability.
British board game designer Dix, the owner of family board game publisher The Dark Imp, saw her as-yet-unrevealed design triumph in the contest in November, alongside a creation from London-based board and card game enthusiast Sandra Harewood and a co-design from Mandy Goddard and her six-year-old Maggie.
Tributes pour in after death of award-winning veteran wargame designer Dean Essig
Veteran wargame designer Dean Essig has died, leading to an outpouring of tributes from fans and industry friends across social media. Essig’s wargame design career spanned more than 35 years, during which time he founded publishing company The Gamers and spent the last 22 years working with Multi-Man Publishing, the publisher of Advanced Squad Leader and the Operational Combat Series of games, among others.
His death comes four months after he suffered a cancer-related stroke, which saw him involved in an auto-accident.
Two long-time Asmodee managers just bought out Miniature Market from their employer
Asmodee has sold Miniature Market, the US tabletop retailer it bought three years ago, to a pair of the board game publishing giant’s long-serving managers. The sale comes four months after it emerged that “restructuring” had begun at Asmodee, with its parent business Embracer launching a massive cost-cutting programme to cut its $1.4bn debt pile.
Asmodee would not answer questions on whether the sale was related to the restructuring, with a spokesperson only able to confirm to BoardGameWire that Miniature Market was no longer part of the company. Miniature Market is now 100% owned by board game industry veterans Christophe Arnoult and Maud Decombe, who have both had long careers with Asmodee.
Codenames publisher Czech Games Edition has bought its own board game factory
Czech Games Edition, the publisher of titles including Codenames and Lost Ruins of Arnak, has expanded into board game manufacturing by buying the factory it has used almost since its inception 17 years ago. Czech Republic-based CGE has become the co-owner of long-time manufacturing partner Oriens Karton, a board game and puzzle production facility about 30 minutes away from its Prague headquarters.
CGE said Germany and US-based board game manufacturer Ludofact, which co-founded Oriens Karton in 2004, would remain co-owner of the facility. Czech Games made a name for itself in the late 2000s with Vlaada Chvátil-designed games including Through the Ages, Galaxy Trucker and Space Alert, before striking it big with word-guessing game Codenames in 2015.
Wingspan publisher Stonemaier Games seals year-on-year profit rise despite lowest revenue since 2019
Wingspan and Scythe publisher Stonemaier Games saw its profits rise last year despite a continued fall in revenue, which is down almost a third from the record $24.7m the company reached in 2021. Stonemaier’s revenue dropped to $16.7m last year according to the company’s latest annual stakeholder report – down from $20.7m in 2022, and its lowest annual figure since the $12.8m it recorded in 2019.
But company president Jamey Stegmaier told BoardGameWire he had no concerns about the fall in revenue, saying, “Based on our reach and evergreen sales, I think a ‘normal’ annual revenue for us is somewhere between $15m to $20m, with the exact amount depending on when certain products ship.
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Other news:
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Design Zone
Self-publishing checklist -Ellie Dix from The Dark Imp (see above for her Hasbro deal news) with the fifth and final part in her blog series ‘So you’ve designed a game… now what?’
Recurring Problems in Board Game Design - Tony Tran and Emily Vincent talk about how to create a foundation for giving great feedback - UnPub
Manufacturing Your Game - Peter Aoun, a senior project manager with Panda Game Manufacturing, talks to Meeple Syrup Show
Submissions for the BoardGameWorkshop 2024 Design Contest close in seven days - sign up here
Jobs of the Week
US - Public Relations and Communications Manager, Asmodee North America
US - Partnership Manager (Magic: The Gathering), Wizards of the Coast
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