“We’re not giving up”: Star Realms maker Wise Wizard Games lays off staff, citing rising costs, unstable US tariffs situation
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Welcome to the latest BoardGameWire newsletter!
US tariffs volatility continues to hamstring efforts from board game publishers to plan for the future, even as a recent thaw in relations between the US and China saw the rate slide to just over 30% for now. The latest casualty of the see-sawing import charges is Star Realms publisher Wise Wizard Games, which has taken what it called the “heartbreaking” decision to lay off full-time staff to help manage its rising costs.
Wise Wizard says it remains committed to fulfilling its more than $2.5m in overdue crowdfunding campaigns, which include the $1m-plus raising Hero Realms Dungeons it originally estimated would be delivered in February last year.
Board game crowdfunding heavyweight CMON’s ongoing financial troubles rumble on, meanwhile, with the news that its second attempt this year to sell new shares in order to raise money has failed. CMON had hoped to sell more than 360 million newly-created shares, valuing the company at just over $5m, with the money raised going towards developing new games, marketing and events, and general working capital.
And Ravensburger is demanding Upper Deck pays the $3.8m in legal fees it ran up in its successful two-year legal battle against the latter’s claims it stole the design for Disney Lorcana. A US judge ruled in favour of Ravensburger last month in all of Upper Deck’s claims against it – which included allegations of copyright infringement, fraudulent misrepresentation and concealment, and unfair competition.
If anyone’s interested in hearing my dulcet tones in addition to reading my scribblings, the lovely Rascal News folx very kindly had me on as a podcast guest last week to chat about all the latest happenings in the board game industry. I also spent some time gushing about civilization-building word game Gibberers, having had a powerfully great introduction to it at Spiel Essen last month.
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Mike Didymus-True - Editor
“We’re not giving up”: Star Realms maker Wise Wizard Games lays off staff, citing rising costs, unstable US tariffs situation
Star Realms publisher Wise Wizard Games has laid off multiple full-time staff in a restructure aimed at helping it fulfill more than $2.5m in overdue crowdfunding projects in the face of “rising costs and unstable US tariffs”.
The company has let go of project director Danielle Reynolds and customer experience manager Derek Gill as part of the “heartbreaking” layoffs, which it said were necessary to ensure its long-term sustainability, adding that the company owners have been working without pay to “move things forward while keeping costs down”.
Wise Wizard said in a statement on its blog and across updates for its three undelivered Kickstarters that it remained committed to fulfilling all of its campaigns, which include the $1m-plus raising Hero Realms Dungeons it originally estimated would be delivered in February last year.
CMON share sale to raise company funds falls through for the second time this year
Financially-troubled board game publisher CMON‘s latest attempt to sell new shares to raise capital for the business has fallen through.
Hong Kong-listed CMON had hoped to sell more than 360 million newly-created shares in a process which would have valued the company at just over $5m, with the money raised going towards developing new games, marketing and events, and general working capital.
CMON has been scrambling to stem growing losses since the start of this year by laying off staff, halting new game development and crowdfunding launches, and selling off a string of its biggest IPs.
Ravensburger pushes for Upper Deck to pay $3.8m legal fees it racked up defeating ‘groundless but unrelenting’ Disney Lorcana lawsuit
Ravensburger is demanding Upper Deck pays the $3.8m in legal fees it ran up in its successful two-year legal battle against the latter’s claims it stole the design for its hugely successful Disney Lorcana TCG.
Upper Deck began its lawsuit against Ravensburger and Lorcana lead designer Ryan Miller in the summer of 2023, alleging the designer took his work on Upper Deck’s previously unannounced game Rush of Ikorr with him when he left the company in 2020 – and transported it to his new employer Ravensburger to create Lorcana.
Last month a US federal judge ruled in favour of Ravensburger in all of Upper Deck’s claims against it – which included allegations of copyright infringement, fraudulent misrepresentation and concealment, and unfair competition.
Amabel Holland wins 2025 Bobby Nunes Memorial Award for video essay on Kurt Vonnegut’s long-lost board game
Prolific board game designer Amabel Holland has won the second annual Bobby Nunes Memorial Award, created to recognise historical gaming’s most exceptional culture writers, podcasters and video essay makers.
Holland – the co-creator of publisher Hollandspiele and designer of games including Irish Gauge, The Field of the Cloth of Gold and City of Six Moons – triumphed in this year’s award with her video essay on author Kurt Vonnegut’s long-lost board game GHQ, its cultural relevance and the wider subject of game preservation.
High price complaints, sluggish start sees Steamforged slash Terra Mystica special edition all-in price by over $100 within hours of Gamefound launch
Steamforged Games slashed the all-in price for its deluxe special edition of eurogame Terra Mystica just three hours after launching the crowdfunding campaign, after a flurry of early complaints from potential backers about the high amount being charged.
Steamforged CEO Rich Loxam told BoardGameWire the company had been surprised by the weight of feeling from potential backers over the $389 price of the all-in ‘Town Founder’ pledge level, which he acknowledged “placed it out of reach for many”.
The title is the latest in a string of deluxified crowdfunds for popular eurogames, which began with Awaken Realms’ blinged-out version of Stefan Feld’s Castles of Burgundy three years ago.
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