Zombicide and Blood Rage publisher CMON has bought Japon Brand, the collective launched almost 20 years ago to promote Japanese board games around the world. Japon Brand was instrumental in bringing Japanese games such as Love Letter and Machi Koro to international markets, after being inspired by the surge in novel games from home-grown designers in the early 2000s. The collective began exhibiting a collection of Japanese designs annually at the Essen Game Fair from 2006, which it returned to in 2023 after a three-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic. CMON said Japon Brand would continue ..read more

I launched BoardGameWire exactly one year and a day ago, on a hunch that the industry had grown so large that there was a market for professionally written, business-focused news and features that just wasn’t being filled by other outlets. I told myself I’d give the project everything I could for the next 12 months, fitting in as much interviewing, investigation, news and feature writing as I could around my day job and taking care of my two children, and then take stock as to whether the project had legs. I’ve been a professional journalist for 16 years, writing for local newspapers and court ..read more

Wingspan and Scythe publisher Stonemaier Games has come out strongly against using AI in creative work, with co-founder Jamey Stegmaier telling BoardGameWire his company wants “nothing to do with it”. Stegmaier’s announcement that his company “does not, has not, and will not use any form of AI to replace or augment creative work” follows several high-profile instances of AI being used to generate artwork in the board game industry – all accompanied by a sizeable backlash from industry professionals and tabletop gamers. Just a few weeks ago Awaken Realms took down AI-generated promotional image ..read more

Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons owner Hasbro has recorded a jump in profits in the first quarter of 2024, on the back of continued strength from Wizards of the Coast and Magic, and an ongoing cost-cutting programme which has so far involved the planned layoffs of nearly 2,000 people. Wizards of the Coast, which includes both Magic and D&D, saw revenues rise 7% in Q1, continuing its outperformance for Hasbro across the whole of 2023. Its operating profit surged 60%, to $122.8m, compared to Q1 2023, greater than the total for the whole of Hasbro, after a $46.9m operating ..read more

One of the longest-running awards honouring conflict-focused tabletop games has shaken up its categories again, in an ongoing attempt to leave behind a traditionally narrow definition of ‘wargame’. This year’s Charles S Roberts Awards, which traces its history back to 1975, has removed mention of the word wargame from all but one of this year’s 20 categories, as well as splitting the awards into historical and design mechanic-focused segments and adding a specific award for the “best historical conflict simulation dealing primarily with a non-military conflict”. Categories removed this year in ..read more

Goliath, the veteran game company behind Rummikub and other child and family-weight games, is making a further push into the hobby games market by buying tabletop publisher Lucky Duck Games. Netherlands-headquartered Goliath is already a global toy and games heavyweight, although most of its designs are focused on kids and light family games including Sequence and Wheel of Fortune, as well as classics such as backgammon and checkers. But the 44-year-old company has been spreading itself from mass market into hobby gaming this year. Three months ago Goliath bought the board game assets of pop c ..read more

Asmodee’s troubled corporate owner Embracer Group has revealed plans to spin off the tabletop gaming giant, which will see the business take on the vast majority of its parent company’s hefty debt pile. Embracer will load up Asmodee with €900m of debt as part of the separation in order to pay down borrowing across the rest of its operations, which includes a suite of PC game studios and the worldwide rights to the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Embracer was primarily a video games-focused company before buying Asmodee in a €2.75bn deal in 2021, as part of a years-long acquisition spree aime ..read more

Cynthia Williams, the president of Hasbro’s digital gaming arm and Magic: The Gathering and D&D publisher Wizards of the Coast, has resigned from the company after two years in the role. Williams told Hasbro two days ago that she would be stepping down on April 26, according to a filing the company submitted to the US securities and exchange commission today. Hasbro said in the filing it is conducting a search for her successor, and will be considering both internal and external candidates, but is yet to make a further statement on Williams’ resignation. Hasbro hired Williams in February 2 ..read more

CMON, the crowdfunding board game specialist which left Kickstarter for rival Gamefound earlier this year, saw its profits soar to over $23m in 2023 amid a hefty drop in its sales-associated costs. The company, famous for miniatures-focused games such as Zombicide and Blood Rage, increased its gross profit by over 28% last year according to its latest annual report. It said that rise was largely due to a more than 20% drop in its cost of sales, with huge reductions coming via inventory, shipping and handling costs. Global shipping container rates more than halved across most of 2023, with pric ..read more

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. Embracer was primarily a video games-focused business before buying Asmodee in a €2.75bn deal in 2021, as part of a ..read more