Elf Creek Games has begun fulfilling a wave of overdue crowdfunding campaigns after returning to profitability under the leadership of Genius Games founder John Coveyou.
The publisher said it has broken a three-year run of losses since bringing in Coveyou to restructure the company last July, with the profits allowing it to get Santa’s Workshop into the hands of backers, as well as starting to pay some of the backlog of royalties it owes designers.
Elf Creek raised $1.6m through eight Kickstarter campaigns following its launch in 2017, scoring significant successes for games including Merchants of the Dark Road and Honey Buzz.
But the publisher entered years of turmoil after being hit with a $226,000 freight bill for shipping Merchants of the Dark Road in 2022 – more than four-times its initial $50,000 estimate – when global freight costs soared in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Rather than hold back fulfillment until prices fell, Elf Creek ploughed on in delivering the game at the vastly inflated cost, relying on the entirety of the game’s profits, credit, and forecasts for future sales – a decision from which company founder Brent Dickman admitted in 2024 the business had “never fully recovered”.
The announcement of Coveyou’s appointment last summer ended almost a year of silence from Elf Creek about the status of its undelivered crowdfunding projects – although company founder Brent Dickman confirmed to BoardGameWire in December 2024 that he was “actively looking for a home and way forward for all of our games, including our unpublished Kickstarter projects, and will make official statements when I am able”.
Genius Games founder and Elf Creek Games executive director John Coveyou
Coveyou founded Genius Games in 2013 following a career as an engineer, a science and chemistry teacher and a spell in the US Army. That company specialises in science-themed games with an educational bent, with its best known releases including 2019’s Ecosystem and 2021 release Genotype: A Mendelian Genetics Game (2021)
He is also the founder and director of accounting and tax firm Simple Financials, which Elf Creek said last year specialises in “helping small businesses recover from crises like ours”.
Elf Creek revealed at the end of February this year that it posted a 12.3% profit as a percentage of gross revenue in 2025, following losses of 8.8% in 2024, 33.25% in 2023 and 11.6% in 2022.
The detailed announcement from Coveyou and Dickman expounded on the extensive financial and operational changes the company had undertaken since the Genuis Games founder’s arrival.
It said, “Turning a business around isn’t about discovering a new or a secret playbook. It’s about returning to the fundamentals that every healthy business runs on. These are the things that, somewhere along the way, were deprioritized, deferred, or lost amid growth and day-to-day stressors.
“Most business crises are not sudden events; they are the outcome of the slow accumulation of small decisions that move a business away from the basics.
“None of this changes the impact on backers and partners who have been waiting, or the seriousness of outstanding obligations. The goal has been to restore operational stability so commitments can be met consistently and transparently.”
Those measures were listed by the company as:
Stop all non-essential spending immediately. Every expense was reviewed and non-essential spending was cut. Software subscriptions, agencies, marketing, new projects—anything that wasn’t directly tied to generating income or keeping the business operating was put on hold.
Gain visibility and control over cash flow and operations. A weekly cash and operations dashboard and tracking system was built so the team could see cash and inventory coming in, cash and inventory going out, and exactly where the business stood, in order to make proactive decisions instead of reactive ones.
Get to accurate financials. If the books are wrong, the decisions are wrong. The bookkeeping and accounting were caught up, reorganized for better insights, and reconciled back to the bank statements. Every decision going forward was then based on reality and insights instead of assumptions.
Prioritize and accelerate cash inflows. Core revenue channels were identified and reinforced, keeping the right inventory in stock, continuing to reconnect with key customers, and making sure the parts of the business generating cash had what they needed to keep doing so.
Generate cash from what’s already there. We made a focused effort to collect on outstanding invoices, liquidate dead or excess inventory, and find new ways to monetize existing IP or underutilized resources – with ongoing work still in progress.
Gain additional runway by renegotiating obligations. Many companies struggle under the weight of debt and accumulated obligations. The weight of this can be debilitating, and resolving it is often one of the most difficult steps. Keeping a company running is essential, because a shutdown stops repayment and harms all parties. We restructured debt, worked out new payment plans with vendors, and negotiated revised terms to ensure the company stayed viable and can continue paying back everything owed.
Focus on a few key priorities. Identify a few major “game changers” that will have the greatest impact, then stay focused while avoiding distractions. With the business more stable, we concentrated available time and energy on three key priorities: fulfillment of Santa’s Workshop, getting base games back in stock, and rebuilding critical sales channels to keep revenue flowing and support ongoing obligations.
The company added that it had also paid all outstanding 2025 designer royalties across the Elf Creek Games product line, and was making “steady payments” toward remaining balances from 2024 and earlier.
It said, “Our business exists because of the games we publish. And those games exist because of the designers who create them. Without great products, we simply don’t have a company.”
BoardGameWire reported last December that Paul Salomon, the designer of Elf Creek’s Honey Buzz and Stonemaier Games title Stamp Swap, had left the publisher in September 2024 while owed “an enormous and life changing amount of money”.
Speaking in the wake of Elf Creek’s new announcement, he told BoardGameWire, “I finally received a statement of all of the royalties that I am owed, which hadn’t happened in several years.
“Looking at it now, ‘life-changing’ may have been a bit hyperbolic, but it is definitely making a big difference in the financial reality for my family. I have in fact been paid all of my 2025 royalties! Amazing.
“And in fact, I have been receiving steady and substantial payments on back royalties. Again fantastic.
“Finally, I renegotiated my contract so that Elf Creek can continue to print and sell Honey Buzz products. I am really happy with how that worked out and there’s no question that John Coveyou has done an amazing job as executive director.”
Honey Buzz: Deluxe Edition
Elf Creek said that now fulfillment of Santa’s Workshop is complete in the US, and expected to be delivered worldwide in April, it would be prioritising small-batch fulfillment of Atlantis Rising Monstrosities, production of The Paradox Initiative, finalization and production of Secret Villages, and reprints of base games for Honey Buzz, Atlantis Rising, Merchants of the Dark Road, and Santa’s Workshop.
The company announcement said, “The hardest parts are mostly behind us, but there is still a long road ahead. We are hopeful that the future holds more opportunity than heartache.
“Our focus now is on executing the next phase responsibly and bringing the right people around the table to support long-term stability and reliable fulfillment.
“We’re looking to build a board of advisors, including those who have been in the trenches and understand what it takes to run and grow a business, as well as individuals who can contribute expertise, resources, or connections. If you have experience, resources, or a network that could help, we’d welcome a conversation.
“We’re open to exploring strategic partnerships, outside investment, or proposals that support operational stability and our next phase of growth. If there’s a business, brand, or operator out there who sees the value in what Elf Creek can become, the door is open.”
Two more significant hires in the board game industry across the marketing side of the hobby. If you have news of a new role, hire or job change within the hobby that you’d like mentioned on BoardGameWire, please send an email with the details to the editor, Mike Didymus-True, on:
Petrone brings several years of board game industry experience to the business, having previously worked across social media management, marketing and comms across roles at Incredible Dream, Calliope Games and GTS Distribution.
She spent just over a year at Lucky Duck after joining in the summer of 2024, with notable successes listed on her LinkedIn page including contributing to a 65% gross sales increase at Gen Con – where she was responsible for redesigning the company’s booth layout and driving new marketing ideas.
Petrone was also responsible for Lucky Duck’s striking exhibitor booth at GAMA Expo last year, which was fashioned in the style of a kitchen to show off Cardboard Alchemy’s release Critter Kitchen.
Risa Petrone and Cardboard Alchemy co-founder Peter Vaughan at the Critter Kitchen booth at GAMA Expo 2025 || Photo Credit: Lucky Duck Games
Prior to entering the board game industry in 2019, the former teacher also previously worked at the New York Renaissance Faire as a performer, director and choreographer.
Experienced board game industry graphic designer David Bock has left Red Raven Games after almost five years to become marketing director at Nature publisher NorthStar Games.
NorthStar said Bock will lead brand strategy, product launches, convention presence, and community engagement as Northstar looks to expand its hobby gaming catalogue.
Bock joined Sleeping Gods publisher Red Raven as a social media manager and web developer in 2021, before taking on a graphic designer role at the business two years later.
During that time he also took on graphic design contract work at Gloomhaven publisher Cephalofair Games and at PickPocket Games, where he worked on the company’s debut release Thief’s Market, according to his LinkedIn page.
Bock also worked as a marketing manager and consultant for TTRPG-focused Son of Oak Game Studio from June 2025, to guide the retail launch of Legend in the Mist and its marketing and comms rollout.
Cover image for the Legend in the Mist RPG from Son of Oak Game Studio
He began working in the tabletop industry in 2019 as marketing and comms manager at Japanime Games, and also undertook contract social media manager work at Arcane Wonders and graphic designer and art direction at Grandpa Beck’s Games.
Bock also founded his own publishing business Binxadinx Games in 2022, and raised just over $25,000 for its sole Kickstarter campaign for his design, Rocket Ranchers: Herding Cats in Space!, two years ago. He sold the intellectual property of Binxadinx to PickPocket Games earlier this year.
Speaking about his new role at NorthStar, Bock said, “NorthStar already makes games people connect with. I want to make sure future releases line up clearly with players’ expectations.
“My first major initiative is growing the Nature community by launching an annual, community-designed Nature mini-module contest. This will give players a real voice in shaping the future of the Nature game ecosystem.”
NorthStar CEO Dominic Crapuchettes added, “David knows this space because he’s been a part of it for years. He understands both the creative side and the player side, and that perspective helps ensure we’re speaking as members of the community, not just to it.”
Editor’s note: GAMA is one of the sponsors of the BoardGameWire newsletter
US-based board game stores have sealed another clean sweep of trade association GAMA‘s annual Power Retail Awards, which aim to recognise outstanding excellence in tabletop game retailing around the globe.
Arizona-based Silver Dragon Games scooped Retailer of the Year at this year’s awards, adding to the Innovation In Games (Retail) and Outstanding Store Design titles it won at the same awards in 2024.
They were joined this year by Illinois-based Fantasy Books and Games, which won the Innovation in Games (Retail) award, Minnesota’s The Gamers Den, which sealed Outstanding Contribution to the Games Industry (Retail), and Wisconsin-based Oddwillow’s Game Haven, which won Outstanding Store Design.
Team Members from Oddwillow’s Game Haven, the winner of this years’ Outstanding Store Design Power Retail Award || Photo Credit: GAMA
More than 750 retailers were submitted for inclusion in this year’s awards, with nominations coming from Friendly Local Game Store (FLGS) customers before being voted on by a GAMA committee of retailers and emeritus ‘team retail’ members.
This year’s Power Retail Awards also saw a special prize presented to awards committee chair Jax Ward – declaring her a ‘Knight of the Order of the Brass Squirrel’ – for her long-time service to GAMA’s retailer members.
Ward, who owns Crazy Squirrel Games in California, is a former GAMA board of directors member and ex-chair of its ‘team retail’ segment.
GAMA said her continuing service to the organisation and the tabletop retail included revitalising the Power Retail Awards and “promoting a standard of excellence throughout the retail community”.
GAMA president Nicole Brady said, “These retailers represent the very best of the global tabletop community. Their dedication to creating welcoming spaces and growing the hobby continues to strengthen the entire industry.”
The result is the second time in three years that US-based stores have won every category of the Power Retail Awards – and means retailers from the country have scooped 17 out of the last 23 awards handed out through the process.
That total does not include the 2021 Retailer of the Year award, which was presented to every GAMA retailer member at the time to recognise and celebrate them having survived the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Just one non-US store was among the 19 finalists for this year’s Power Retail Awards – UK-based Eclectic Games, which was the sole non-US winner in last year’s ceremony. Previous winners are not eligible for categories they have won, according to GAMA rules, but may be eligible for other categories.
UK-based game retailer Eclectic Games || Photo Credit: Eclectic Games
Last October GAMA set its sights on becoming the “epicentre” of global tabletop gaming through the unveiling of its first-ever 10-year plan, which includes expanding itself into a global organisation. That expansion is part of its ‘second phase’ of priorities, slated for between 2028 and 2030.
Such international expansion hopes are not new for the organisation. Brady’s predecessor as GAMA president, Eric Price, said in 2023 that he was focused on growing the organisation’s membership and adding more international connections, starting with European members and organizations.
At that time about 90% of GAMA’s membership hailed from the US, with just 5% coming from Canada and 5% from the rest of the world.
US-based GAMA’s other projects within the 10-year plan include boosting its membership within both hobby games and the mass market, shifting its finances away from their heavy reliance on the annual GAMA Expo and Origins shows, and leading the conversation on sustainability within the industry.
The world’s largest board game fair, Spiel Essen, says it has reached the limits of its expansion at its long-time home after boosting floor space again this year due to “overwhelming interest” from exhibitors.
Organiser Merz Verlag said it has expanded this year’s exhibition space to fill all eight main halls at Messe Essen, covering an area of 81,200 sq m – larger than 15 American football fields.
That expansion makes the massive game fair more than 50% larger than the exhibition space at US board game convention Gen Con – although its North American peer also boasts a vast, separate expanse of gaming tables, tournaments and live events that Spiel Essen does not.
Soaring interest in the show has now seen Spiel Essen boost its floor space four times in as many years, with this year’s event in October set to be about 30% larger than the already massive 62,500 sq m show which took place in 2023.
Merz Verlag said it had already received an “exceptionally high” number of registrations from exhibitors for the 2026 event, with eight weeks of the sign-up period still to go.
It added that demand had come both from long-term exhibitors keen to “significantly increase” their booth space, as well as an “impressive number” of first-time exhibitors hoping to attend this year.
A statement from the company said, “While the fair traditionally hosts many new small booths introducing their first games, the number of new exhibitors is particularly high this year.”
The show might have broken its attendance record in 2024 were it not for a self-imposed visitor cap, which limited the number of attendees each day to about 50,000 – a measure introduced alongside wider aisles post-pandemic to help visitors move around the often crowded halls more easily.
Carol Rapp, the Merz Verlag managing director responsible for Spiel Essen since 2023, said, “The fact that we can already plan the opening of a new hall and the full occupancy of the grounds is fantastic – it’s a sign of both the international importance of our fair and the vitality of the gaming industry.
“Spiel and the industry are growing, and we are creating the necessary space for this development.”
Merz Verlag managing director Carol Rapp
Rapp told BoardGameWire ahead of last year’s show in October that one of the most asked questions of her was whether Spiel Essen would look to expand into Hall 8, which was utilised as an empty area for people to queue while waiting for the show floor to open.
She told BoardGameWire at the time, “If I could, I want to stay having seven halls for at least two more years. But I was also saying that last year [2024] about the six halls, and then we had so many applications that were telling us ‘We want to grow. We are new, we want to be part of that’… ‘OK. But if we do that, we need to open another hall’.
“So who are we to decide for the market, if they want to grow, that we don’t do that – as long as we have the space for that? We want to make the best Spiel possible for everybody, so of course, if we are facing another year with so many applications, so many square metres booked that we should open another hall, we will think about it. But my personal wish is not to do it next year [2026].”
Merz Verlag says it now plans to use the underground Hall 1A for attendees waiting for the show to open each day.
That space was also considered as a potential expansion space for exhibitors, Rapp told BoardGameWire after last year’s show, saying there could be scope to expand its RPG and artists areas into the space.
She said at the time, “It feels a little bit like a dungeon, but a dungeon is quite a cool place for RPGs. So maybe that could be a good idea. That area is growing again, and it was growing from last year to this year [2025].”
But Spiel Essen replied to a Facebook comment this morning to say that it had ruled that out, saying, “We received feedback and realised that Hall 1A was not attractive as an exhibition hall for publishers and visitors. For this reason – and because a waiting hall is a nice thing to have – we removed Hall 1A from the plans.”
Update March 5, 2026: A Merz Verlag spokesperson told BoardGameWire, “There are various reasons that this hall is not suitable for exhibition space: It is lower than other halls and thus booth construction would be more complicated to plan, also hanging banners that give a lot of awareness are not possible there.
“The hall is not part of the overall hall structure, with entrances only in foyer south – apart from not easily usable entrance via stairways – which makes it a sort of cul-de-sac, impeding the flow of regular visitors.
“That is why this hall is not an option for regular exhibition halls and we might only think of it for special usage, logistics, and as waiting hall.”
Visitors waiting in Hall 8 for Spiel Essen to open in 2025, with show mascot Meeps
Spiel Essen previously implemented a shake-up of how its halls were organised three years ago, in an attempt to make it easier for visitors to navigate an event which Rapp said at the time had become “a little bit of a mess” after 40 years of growth.
That split the fair into separate segments for children’s, family and light-to-medium games, expert games, tabletop and miniature games, roleplaying games and trading card games, with a mix of small, medium and large booths in each zone – a decision which was initially criticised by some publishers, but seems to have ultimately gone down well.
Merz Verlag said the latest expansion would also necessitates “adjustments to the existing hall structure, which the fair team is currently working on at full speed”.
It said, “The team will not overhaul the general hall logic but will optimize certain areas to accommodate the growth wishes of large exhibitors as well as the increase in new, small booths.
“Despite some shifts in sections, the halls will remain divided into clear categories, and the familiar mix of major publishers and small developers will be maintained. The goal is to provide visitors with clear orientation and a first-class fair experience despite the increased size.”
As part of those changes, Spiel Essen will open its north entrance for the first time this year, which leads directly into Hall 5.
Rapp said, “For us, growth also means responsibility. We are working closely with the venue to ensure the experience remains positive for every fan.
“The experience of recent years shows that our planning has led to good visitor flow in the halls and that many routes at the fair have improved overall.
“I am absolutely confident that with the new measures, we will create an even better entry situation, allowing all visitors to enjoy Spiel in a relaxed atmosphere.”
Spiel’s fourth floor space expansion in as many years raises the question of how Merz Verlag will expand the fair further at Messe Essen, its home for the last 40 years, if interest from exhibitors continues to grow.
BoardGameWire has contacted the organiser to ask if other locations are being considered for the event, and will update this article if it receives a reply.
Update March 5, 2026: A Merz Verlag spokesperson told BoardGameWire, “We love Essen – as a venue and the city – and have no intention of leaving. For the foreseeable future SPIEL will remain in Essen as it has for more than 40 years now.”
Universal Distribution has agreed exclusive rights to distribute Stonemaier Games titles into US hobby retail, which amounts to about $1.5m of business each year.
Universal has become an authorised US hobby distributor for Stonemaier’s games, which include the massive-selling Wingspan series and other popular titles such as Scythe, and will take on sole distribution rights in August of this year.
The deal comes four years after Stonemaier picked GTS as its sole US hobby retailer distributor, in addition to retailers being able to buy directly from the publisher itself – something Stonemaier COO Alex Schmidt told BoardGameWire about half of its US hobby retailers choose to do.
He added that the $1.5m figure depended on the year and the company’s releases, saying that Stonemaier’s US business was “quite a bit larger than that” when also including the publisher’s website, selling direct to retailers, selling through Fulfillment By Amazon and the publisher’s US mass market distribution.
Universal, a long-time major player in Canadian board game, TCG and comics distribution, made a push south of the border last May through a takeover of US peer Alliance Game Distributors, following a tumultuous bankruptcy auction of the latter’s former owner Diamond Comics.
That acquisition has been followed by a recent flurry of exclusive US distribution deals from Universal, including tie-ups with Dice Throne and Isle of Cats publisher City of Games.
Wingspan || Photo Credit: Stonemaier Games
Schmidt told BoardGameWire, “There are certainly some synergies to be had with Universal. They’d already been our sole hobby distributor in Canada and have done a great job of that which made it an obvious choice to use them in the US as well. Them being one company across both countries allows programs to be implemented once in both regions.
“Universal is also supporting a lot of product lines from other companies that retailers want in their stores. While it’s not directly about our products, we want our distributor in a region to be a premier board game distributor who is filling the needs of our retailers across the board.
“One distributor won’t ever have everything, but Universal is doing a great job of being as much of a one-stop-shop for our retailers as they can be.”
Stonemaier CEO Jamey Stegmaier told BoardGameWire the company spent the first few years working with Aldo Ghiozzi as its distribution broker, before switching to Greater Than Games for a similar role – both of which sold to a variety of distributors.
He said Schmidt became the company’s distribution broker when he joined the company from Greater than Games in 2020, with Stonemaier signing up with GTS in the US and Universal in Canada “soon afterwards”.
That total eclipsed the company’s previous annual high from the post-Covid board game boom in 2021, and follows the publisher adding Connie Vogelmann’s Wyrmspan in 2024 and the David Gordon and Michael O’Connell design Finspan last year – creating a hefty boost for its overall sales.
Editor’s note: GAMA is one of the sponsors of the BoardGameWire newsletter
The Origins Awards, one of board gaming’s longest-running prizes voted on by industry professionals, has unveiled its latest slate of 120 nominees – and come under fire for failing to mention any of the games’ designers for the third year in a row.
The awards, which are organised by non-profit trade organisation GAMA, say they aim to reward “excellence in game design” across a string of categories including light, gateway and heavy games, solo and co-op titles and party games.
The Tabletop Game Designers Association, a professional organisation launched in 2024 to advocate for creators in North America, said it requested that year that GAMA begin including designer names in its Origins Award announcements – and reiterated the plea when designer names were left out again in 2025.
TTGDA posted to its BlueSky account last night after the 2026 nominees were unveiled: “Shame on GAMA for once again not including designers in their ‘Excellence in Game Design’ award announcement.
“Last year they promised that this would be corrected in 2026, but again designers are not given the recognition they deserve. The omission is no longer an oversight. It is a GAMA policy.”
GAMA’s communications director Eric Francis, who joined the organisation in May last year, has since responded to GAMA members on Facebook, calling the omission “unfortunate” and “unacceptable”.
Francis, who added that he is a member of TTGDA, said, “As press releases fall under my purview I accept the responsibility for it and I apologize. But it was not intentional nor is it policy.
“I believe in accountability and I believe in fixing problems. One of my tasks after GAMA Expo ends this week is revamping the processes for GAMA’s releases so this kind of thing stops happening, and I invite you to hold me to that.”
He added, “I’ve been with GAMA for less than a year and this is my first Expo. Each of the last two nights I’ve spent hours in a massive ballroom in Louisville, Kentucky, watching people play games, many of them new or unpublished, all of them created by passionate and talented people – a number of whom are GAMA members themselves.
“This organization supports creators, full stop. But as with any human endeavor it is fallible, as tonight’s release demonstrates. My job is to head off those shortcomings or, failing that, fix them so they don’t happen again. It’s your job to keep me apprised of how I’m doing. I look forward to that dynamic.”
The Origins awards, which were first presented in 1975, have been in heavy flux over the past few years, going from 10 categories in 2019 to 24 in 2024 – with the make-up of those categories significantly shaken up from year to year.
GAMA briefly introduced categories in 2024 which represented its membership having expanded beyond just retailers, publishers and wholesalers, including recognition for artists, writers and media.
But those segments were removed again in 2025, with categories cut including Best Media Production, Best Game Related Writing and Best 2D Artwork – although the miniatures segment was expanded from two categories to three, covering games, the miniatures themselves, and paint and accessories.
A total of 50 board games have again been nominated this year across five categories, with the full list of nominees presented at the end of this article.
Trading card games and collectible card games will compete in constructible and randomised categories – the latter of which awards booster boxes and displays – while RPGs are again represented across two categories, games and supplements.
Veteran board game designer Matt Leacock is nominated for two designs this year
Matt Leacock has picked up two nominations this year for his work on Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship and Animal Rescue Team, the latter co-designed by Lisa Towell.
Tyler J Brown has also picked up two nominations for Hercules and the 12 Labors and 23 Knives, as has David Gordon for his work on Crafting the Cosmos, alongside frequent collaborator TAM, and Finspan, which was co-designed by Michael O’Connell.
Capstone Games and The Op also each have a trio of games nominated this year – with Capstone’s titles Rowdy Partners (designed by Jason Hager and Darren Reckner), Sanctuary (Mathias Wigge) and Tea Garden (Tomáš Holek) all contesting the Light Strategy Game category.
The Op three nominations are Jason Tremblay’s Tacta, Matt Fantastic’s How Many What?!, and Manny Vega’s Tea Witches, across the Gateway Game, Party Game and Heavy Strategy Game categories respectively.
This year’s winners are set to be announced at the Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Ohio, which is due to take place between June 17 and 21.
Gateway Game • A Place for All My Books, Alex Cutler, Michael Mihealsick – Smirk & Dagger Games • Above and Below: Haunted, Ryan Laukat – Red Raven Games • Everdell Duo, James A. Wilson, Clarissa A. Wilson – Tycoon Games • Flamecraft Duals, Manny Vega – Cardboard Alchemy • Pergola, Michał Gołąb Gołębiowski, Przemek Wojtkowiak – Rebel Studio • Point Galaxy, Molly Johnson, Robert Melvin, Shawn Stankewich – Flatout Games, AEG • Railroad Tiles, Hjalmar Hach, Lorenzo Silva – Horrible Guild • Tacta, Jason Tremblay – The Op • Toy Battle, Paolo Mori, Alessandro Zucchini – Asmodee • Wine Cellar, Andrew Stiles – 25th Century Games
Light Strategy Game • 3 Witches, Corey Young – Allplay • Diatoms, Sabrina Culyba – Ludoliminal • Finspan, David Gordon, Michael O’Connell – Stonemaier Games • Rowdy Partners, Jason Hager, Darren Reckner – Capstone Games • Sanctuary, Mathias Wigge – Capstone Games • Star Wars: Battle of Hoth, Richard Borg, Adrien Martinot – Days of Wonder • Tag Team, Gricha German, Corentin Lebrat – Scorpion Masqué • Tea Garden, Tomáš Holek – Capstone Games • Timelancers, Juliana Chang, Kenny Heidt, Teresa Ho, Lee Ho – Party Tails • Winter Rabbit, William Thompson – Absurdist Productions
Stonemaier Games’ diversification of its flagship bestseller Wingspan into a trilogy of standalone titles powered the company to record revenues of more than $25m last year – eclipsing its previous annual high from the post-Covid board game boom in 2021.
While the bulk of that lifetime figure is from 2019 release Wingspan and ‘standalone expansion’ Wingspan Asia, at about 2.6 million copies, the addition of Connie Vogelmann’s Wyrmspan in 2024 and the David Gordon and Michael O’Connell design Finspan last year have created a hefty boost for Stonemaier’s overall sales.
The latter pair now have more than 685,000 copies in circulation – a figure which already outstrips the roughly 600,000 copies of Scythe, Stonemaier’s biggest seller outside of the ‘span’ trilogy, despite that game being in print for a decade.
Speaking to BoardGameWire about the latest annual results, company co-founder Jamey Stegmaier reiterated his regular refrain that “number go up” was “simply not on our list of goals at all”, adding, “I understand that the annual revenue is an interesting number to poke at, but honestly that number could go up or down by many millions of dollars and I wouldn’t care as long as we’re bring joy to people.”
He said at the time that 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.
“In that way, I think 2021 was an outlier (probably pandemic related) – not only was it a very strong year for Wingspan, but we also saw excellent evergreen sales for Viticulture and Scythe, and we had one of our biggest releases that year in Red Rising.”
But strong sales this year of the ‘span’ trio among a busy slate of other Stonemaier releases has pushed company revenue beyond those 2021 heights, with Stegmaier telling BoardGameWire yesterday, “After hearing from customers for a long time that they wanted the Wingspan model applied to other creatures, I’m really glad we’ve been able to serve them via Wyrmspan and Finspan.
“It also takes pressure off of Wingspan designer Elizabeth Hargrave. Also… it gives us some wiggle room to take on riskier projects, though any game is a risk – we never really know how a game will do.”
One game which could arguably be put in that category is Stonemaier’s 2025 release Vantage – a non-campaign, open-world-style exploration game designed by Stegmaier which was in development for seven years.
Stonemaier printed 64,000 copies of Vantage last year, with Stegmaier telling BoardGameWire: “There’s no other tabletop game that does what Vantage does, so I see it hitting tabletops for years to come.”
He said, “We’re currently initiating Vantage’s fourth reprint, which is remarkable for an expensive game just eight months into its lifecycle.
“I’m so glad this labor of love from the last eight years of my life is resonating with people who want to go on an open-world, first-person adventure without the need to commit to a campaign game.
“Also, unlike all other new releases, Vantage had so much text that it didn’t have any localization partners in 2025 – they needed a lot more time, so 10,000 units of non-English versions are coming in 2026.”
Vantage, published by Stonemaier Games
He also highlighted the success of superhero-themed, tableau-building trick-taker Origin Story, which printed 33,500 copies, and added that more quick-playing, smaller-box titles are on the way from the publisher – including a more lightweight Wingspan title which the company says is playable in about 30 minutes.
Stegmaier said, “I love Origin Story, and I’m excited that we’ve packed so much game into a smaller box that you can teach and play in 45 minutes.
“I would say that’s the realm of the smaller Wingspan game we’re releasing in mid-2026, and I’m wrapping up something kind of in the same realm (in terms of size and length) for 2027.”
Going smaller still, Stonemaier’s 18-card co-operative micro-game Smitten and its sequel also performed well last year, Stegmaier said, with the number of copies printed up 23,000 compared to 2024.
He said, “These are both very small, very humble games that serve well as add-ons, stocking stuffers, and suitcase inclusions for travel. I’m honestly kind of surprised they’ve sold so well, given how different they are from our core offerings.
“That said, they offer more of a trickle of sales through any sales partner – a dozen here each month to distributors, a dozen there to retailers, a few dozen on our webstores.”
Stegmaier added, “The one product for which we probably over-forecasted was Wyrmspan: Dragon Academy. It has sold very well (over 60,000 units for an expansion is remarkable), but I think we probably could have made 75,000 units and later reprinted 25,000 instead of printing 100,000 up front.
“Stamp Swap has done fine [BGW note: 34,000 copies printed in its 2024 release year, but none in 2025], but I think it’s indicative that it’s more difficult than ever for a good game to break through.”
Cards from 2025 Stonemaier release Wyrmspan: Dragon Academy
Stegmaier has been at the vocal forefront of the board game industry’s fight against volatile US tariff policy since President Trump’s inauguration last January, which has seen several board game businessesshutter their operations, lay off staff and hike the prices of their games to cover the unexpected costs.
He said in a blog post at the time, “Every day for the last ten months, I’ve lived in fear that the executive branch of my own country would raise our import taxes to an extreme level that would significantly damage Stonemaier Games and the thousands of small businesses seeking to serve their US customers, retailers, and employees.
“So when the Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the tariff taxes and the way they were implemented were unconstitutional, I had a huge sense of relief. Relief that small businesses can no longer be used as pawns in a global game. Relief that the whim of one person can no longer effectively change the landed cost of our product from $10 to $25.
“Yes, there are still legal ways for the executive branch to impose tariff taxes. They seem really passionate about making small businesses in the US pay more taxes. But these methods have limits: For example, the new tariff tax is 15% (that’s the max it can be), and it needs congressional approval to extend beyond 150 days.
“In the immediate future, I don’t think we’ll see much of an impact on prices, as anything in stock in the US already had its tariff tax paid when it entered the country (if it was manufactured elsewhere). My perception is that many businesses avoided raising prices and instead just ate the extra costs (that’s what we did; we did not increase any prices).
“There is also the possibility of tariff tax refunds. To date, Stonemaier Games has paid just under $300,000 in tariff taxes to the US government. I’m not counting on getting any of that back – it will be nice if we do, and I hope that other businesses do, but the level of uncertainty isn’t something for which we can plan.
“My hope, as always, is that what happens next will help me best serve my coworkers, our independent contractors and partners, and our customers in the US and around the world (consumers, retailers, and distributors). I wish the same for all other small businesses.”
Stegmaier told BoardGameWire that he was “really excited” about the company’s 2026 line-up, which kicked off with the Wingspan Americas and Viticulture: Bordeaux expansions, and also includes a two-player Scythe vs Expeditions duelling game which expands both those titles as well as working as a standalone design.
He said, “I’m excited for the opportunity to serve fans through expansions for Wingspan, Viticulture, Finspan, Scythe, and Expeditions, along with the new Euphoria board.
“The main challenge is communicating what makes these products unique and special. For the first time in a while (since Apiary, as I recall), we’ll have a new game in our original sweet spot of mid-weight euro games – that’s the Smoking Bones game in Q4.”
Stonemaier Lifetime and 2025 Sales
Wingspan & Wingspan Asia: 2,639,429 lifetime units, up 229,686 compared to 2024
Wyrmspan: 451,994 units +148,598
Finspan: 233,584 units (new release)
Vantage: 64,000 units (new release)
Scythe: 601,102 units +41,500
Origin Story: 33,500 units (new release)
Tokaido: 29,500 units (new release)
Tokaido Duo: 27,834 units (new release)
Smitten & Smitten 2: 38,000 units +23,000
Apiary: 55,004 units +8,500
Viticulture: 273,584 units +6,750
Rolling Realms & Rolling Realms Redux: 62,000 units +6,000
Tapestry: 91,650 units +4,000
Between Two Castles: (58,000 units) received an Essential Edition in 2025 – 8,000 copies made, about 5,000 sold
Games which did not receive new printings in 2025:
France’s highest-profile board game prize, the As d’Or, has unveiled Paolo Mori and Alessandro Zucchini’s Toy Battle as the winner of its main award for 2026.
The family weight, toy-themed wargame fought off competition from Flip 7 and Rebirth to scoop this year’s prize, while Stefan Feld design Civolution won out against Arcs and Ants to win the expert game award.
This year’s As d’Or saw a significant change to its rules, with organisers requiring entries to name artists on the game boxes for first time.
Paul Mafayon was the artist for Toy Battle, while Civolution was illustrated by Dennis Lohausen, Zenith by Xavier Gueniffey Durin and Mooki Island by Mélanie Bardin, also known as Seppyo.
The award, which traces its history back to 1988, has required entries to show designer names on their game boxes for several years, in addition to requirements for the game to be published in French and available in the French market during the preceding year.
A statement from Philippe Mouret and Julia Marcelin, both heads of studio at Toy Battle publisher Asmodee, said “Tonight’s recognition first belongs to the authors and illustrator whose talent and vision brought Toy Battle to life.
“We also want to thank all the teams involved for their dedication, as well as the Festival’s jury for this distinction. This award is a wonderful acknowledgment of the creativity and vitality of today’s tabletop industry.”
It added, “It also reflects the current trend: playing games as a couple, and smaller-format games are appealing to the public, and publishers are offering more and more of them.”
Viking-themed card shedding game Odin won last year’s As d’Or, while city-building eurogame Kutná Hora triumphed in the Expert Game category at the 2025 awards, Operation Noisettes won the children’s game prize, and Behind scooped the “Initié” award – which targets regular board game players ready for more challenging mechanisms.
The As d’Or was launched 38 years ago to highlight the best games available at France’s Festival International des Jeux in Cannes. The award was merged with the Jeu de l’Année in 2005.
More than 100,000 people attended this year’s FIJ between February 25 and March 1, down on the record 110,000 admissions across the five-day event last year.
The 2026 As d’Or Awards
As d’Or
Winner: Toy Battle, designed by Alessandro Zucchini and Paolo Mori, published by Repos (Asmodee) Flip 7, Eric Olsen – Catch Up Games Rebirth, Reiner Knizia – Lucky Duck Games and Mighty Boards
As d’Or-Jeu de l’Année – Enfant / Children
Winner: Mooki Island, Florian Sirieix – Le Scorpion Masqué Archeo, Thomas Favrelière, Adrien Pédron – Gigamic The Twisted Spooky Night, Wolfgang Dirscherl, Wolfgang Lehmann – Drei Magier Spiele
As d’Or-Jeu de l’Année – Initié / Intermediate
Winner: Zenith, Grégory Grard, Mathieu Roussel – PlayPunk First Rat, Gabriele Ausiello, Virginio Gigli – Pegasus Spiele Take Time Alexi Piovesan, Julien Prothière – Libellud
As d’Or-Jeu de l’Année – Expert / Expert Game
The supreme discipline for all strategists and frequent players.
Winner: Civolution, Stefan Feld–Grail Games, Deep Print Games Arcs, Cole Wehrle – Leder Games Ants, Renato Ciervo, Andrea Robbiani – Cranio Creations and Intrafin
Board game, TCG and comics distribution major Universal Distribution has agreed an exclusive deal with Dice Throne to become the sole distributor of the company’s products in the US and Canada.
Dice Throne games and add-on packs have previously been distributed by companies including Universal and ACD Distribution, as well as Alliance Game Distributors, which Universal acquired in May last year.
The dice and card-focused combat game has become a crowdfunding heavyweight following its original $180,000 Kickstarter project from Mind Bottling Games in 2018, going on to raise almost $13m across a string of subsequent campaigns.
Universal said the exclusive distribution deal “marks a significant step in supporting Dice Throne’s expanding presence in retail stores, especially as the brand continues to grow its Organized Play program and introduce new product formats designed to increase accessibility and drive community engagement”.
Dice Throne’s Organized Play program is designed to help stores build consistent communities and host recurring events, with kits on offer including promo items, prize support and products needed to run casual or competitive play.
The publisher has also recently introduced a new single hero pack format, with the aim of offering a lower entry point for new players and flexibility for collectors and Organized Play participants.
Dice Throne CEO Casey Sershon, who took on the top role at the company at the start of last year, said, “We are excited to partner with Universal Distribution as our exclusive distributor in the US and Canada.
“Their expertise and strong retail network will help bring Dice Throne to even more players across North America.”
The long-running Cardboard Edison Award, which aims to celebrate the best in unpublished board game designs, has revealed its latest finalists after whittling them down from a record-breaking 396 entries.
This year’s 20 finalists include a magnet-based vertical castle-building game, a medium-weight strategy title centred around wedding planning, and a Persian folklore-themed action selection design which sees players use astrolabes to read stars and hunt demons.
Cardboard Edison’s annual entry numbers have soared since the first competition attracted 109 designs in 2016 – almost doubling to 192 within the next two years, and more than doubling between the pandemic year of 2020 and this year’s contest.
Part of that growth has been down to the competition’s growing pedigree of winners that have gone on to be published by well-known studios.
They include Winter, published by Devir, Castell from Renegade Game Studios and Umbra Via from Pandasaurus Games, as well as 2023 champion Diatoms, which followed a successful Kickstarter campaign with retail publication by 25th Century Games in partnership with Ludoliminal.
Still from the pitch video for StrongHolds by Nelson de Castro, one of this year’s Cardboard Edison Award finalists
The rising numbers of entries has also been boosted by the international growth of the award, which attracted submissions from designers in 34 different countries this year.
Just over half of the submissions were from the US, about 8% from Australia, 6% from Canada and 4% from the UK, with “a decent number” from Germany, Spain, New Zealand and The Netherlands.
Cardboard Edison was launched in 2012 as a board game design studio and hub, which has since expanded from a well-read industry blog into a vast repository of information for board game designers.
Suzanne Zinsli, who created the award a decade ago with the help of fellow Cardboard Edison founder Chris Zinsli, told BoardGameWire it was “crazy” how it had grown globally, adding that she was “humbled that people from so many different countries trust us with their games and want our feedback”.
She said one of the major challenges around the award’s rapid growth was bringing in enough judges to properly assess the rising numbers of entries.
Zinsli said, “Honestly, finding enough people to judge all the entries has probably been the toughest part of running the Cardboard Edison Award every year.
Cardboard Edison co-founder Suzanne Zinsli
“It’s a big ask, and we’re very particular about who we invite. We want judges we can trust to be objective, provide great feedback, and who have the experience to back it up.
“That was our biggest hurdle this year, but it actually worked out great. We had enough judges, they were almost all able to hit their targets, and it ended up being one of our smoother years overall.”
When asked if any particular trends or themes were noticeable among this year’s cohort of entries, Zinsli told BoardGameWire, “I definitely noticed a few! For mechanisms, I saw several trick-taking legacy games, which is so cool. I love trick-taking and I like legacy games, so seeing them paired together felt brilliant.
“I was excited when I saw the first one, then I saw a second, and then a third! It’s something I haven’t really seen in the past, and now suddenly there were at least three entries, and there might have been more, since I only personally judged about 60 games. I love it – I’m totally here for it.
“As for themes, I wouldn’t say there was one ‘big’ topic, but I saw a lot of games that felt very personal, things based on the designers’ own lives or lifestyles.
“It felt like more games than ever had a message to send or a story to tell. It was really nice to get a glimpse into the designers’ lives and see what’s important to them through their work.”
The 2026 Cardboard Edison Award is its second since the organiser revealed it was changing its judging process, after a backlash over a colonisation-themed winner from 2024.
Suzanne and Chris Zinsli said it “became clear there was a blind spot in our judging process” after the response to the prize being given to Crowded Frontier, which was themed around the rush to colonise the American West.
Speaking to BoardGameWire this week about the impact of those changes, Suzanne Zinsli said, “I’m going to cautiously say I think the changes have helped, since we didn’t see any similar issues last year.
“As for the future, I’m sure things will continue to evolve. There’s nothing on the books right now, but as the industry and society change, we want to keep up.
“I’m also realistic, and I’m sure we’ll mess something up again at some point. But when we do, we’ll course-correct. We’re ready to change as needed.”
Still from the pitch video for Braggin’ Wranglers by Luke Wolyncewicz, one of this year’s Cardboard Edison Award finalists
In terms of advice for potential future applicants, Zinsli told BoardGameWire, “If I had to pick one thing to focus on: have your game blind (or unguided) playtested.
“Every year, I read rulebooks where I simply can’t figure out how to play. That really hurts your chances! You might have a fantastic game, but if I can’t play it without you there to teach me, I’ll never know how good it is.
“On the flip side, the biggest thing to avoid is ignoring the three-minute video limit. We ask for three minutes, but we often get videos that are seven, 10, or even 20 minutes long. Also, don’t send us a video from five years ago.
“If the video hasn’t changed in five years, it makes me think the game hasn’t made any progress either. We want to see the current version of your work!”
This year’s finalists will now enter a second round of judging in order to crown the winner, with a champion usually announced in May of each year.
The game, designed by former Ravensburger game development intern Sammy Salkind, puts players in the shoes of startup founders battling to build their internet startups during the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s.
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Cardboard Edison finalists 2026:
Astrolabe by Yasaman Farazan 2-5 players 45-90 minutes Players are exorcists in a Persian folklore world, using astrolabes to read the stars, hunt demons, and bind them into artifacts. Each round, players secretly rotate their astrolabe to choose an action, a number, and a time of day, then reveal and resolve actions in ascending order. Pitch video
Black Ruth of Dogtown by Keith DeViere Donaldson 1-4 players 30 minutes Black Ruth of Dogtown is a procedural oracle system driven by a circular mancala drafting mechanism, where players construct a three-by-three grid to optimize set collection and speculative scoring in service of a final narrative divination resolution. Pitch video
Braggin’ Wranglers by Luke Wolyncewicz 2-8 players 15 minutes Braggin’ Wranglers sees players catching animals to score points using a unique adjustable lasso—but there’s a twist! Turn order is decided by your lasso size, which you secretly set at the start of each round! Pitch video
Catacombes de Paris by Nicholas Henning 2-5 players 70-110 minutes In Catacombes de Paris, players take on the solemn duty of transporting the remains of millions through the bustling streets of 18th-century Paris to build their personal ossuary in the famed Catacombs. This highly thematic experience combines a strategic pick-up-and-deliver system with an engaging polyomino mini-game for building out your ossuary board. Pitch video
Deductive Seasoning by Eric Ledger 2-5 players 20-40 minutes Deductive Seasoning is a family-friendly deduction card game where you are a food scientist who has concocted a dish using a secret ingredient from the Periodic Table of Flavor. You must figure out other players’ secret ingredient through careful play and observation. Pitch video
Goa Kranti by Andy Desa 2-4 players 60-90 minutes A cooperative game about an overlooked chapter in history: Goa’s struggle for independence from Portugal (1932-1961). Players embody historical freedom fighters choosing between violent resistance and peaceful satyagraha. Core mechanisms include push-your-luck resource gathering, deck improvement, and bag-building for a pivotal mid-game check when India gains independence. Pitch video
Hatchlings by Alan Leduc 2-5 players 30 minutes You’re a Nature Spirit with one job. Get your baby sea turtles out of their comfortable nest, across the beach, and into the water where they belong, thus earning praise from Mother Nature. It would be easy if it weren’t for the relentless bully Steven Seagull and the other Spirits competing for glory. Pitch video
Hybrid Hijinks by Jena Keesee 3-5 players 60 minutes A competitive game, creating hybrid creatures and utilizing variable, configurable player powers to impress visitors and earn the most approval for shifting prowess. Pitch video
Ladybugs by Michael Posada 1-4 players 30 minutes Push your luck by rolling dice that represent a colony of ladybugs flying over a field of flowers. Your rolls determine which flowers you add to your garden, which scoring conditions you unlock, and how many points you earn. Pitch video
Limelight by Cameron Fleming 3-6 players 45 minutes Limelight is a push-your-luck deckbuilder about staging a Broadway show. Over three Acts, you’ll audition talent, hire crew, and rehearse your show, trying to achieve the perfect mix of cards on Opening Night. Pitch video
Match Patch by Jack Rosen 3-5 players 20 minutes Match Patch is a game about the benefits of farming using companion planting methods. Mechanically, it is a card-matching race game where players try to diversify their harvested crops. Pitch video
Midnight Spawn by Jayson Farrell 1-4 players 60 minutes Midnight Spawn is a game about the mysterious and incredible deep sea. In this game you’re a researcher in your deep-submergence vehicle, or DSV. You’ll discover strange creatures and observe them eat or move other creatures, manipulating the shared board. You can also upgrade your DSV with tech cards or boost your score with research cards. Pitch video
Moonforge by Pawel Owsianka 1-4 players 90 minutes In Moonforge, players command large space facilities capable of capturing asteroids, extracting valuable resources (energy, metal and minerals), and upgrading their operations with new modules and functions. Resources can be sold for currency points, while depleted asteroids contribute material toward the creation of a new moon. Pitch video
PiramiDuel by Guillermo Viciano 2 players 20-30 minutes A game for two players where you will explore Ancient Egypt, fighting to claim the most influential pyramids. Pitch video
Possessions by Dan Nichols 2-4 players 60-90 minutes Possessions is a competitive strategy game where you play as ghosts with one hour to finish your unfinished business and fulfill your final wishes. As the clock ticks down, strive to get the most value from your secret ambitions by possessing your family’s last living heirs. Pitch video
StrongHolds by Nelson de Castro 2 players 40-60 minutes StrongHolds is a competitive castle-building game featuring magnetic tiles that allow players to build vertically unlike any other game. Harness your creativity and vision as a Medieval Architect, while sabotaging your opponent by tossing and sliding siege tiles to topple their progress. Pitch video
The Leftovers by Larry Ted McBride 2-4 players 25 minutes The Leftovers is a cooperative trick-taking game of community deck-building, resource management, strategy, and story. With your party of magical foodfolk, you will work together to complete objectives and avoid vicious food fiends as you explore the abandoned halls of the Enchanted Ladle. Pitch video
The Roots of All Evil by Dean Burry 2-4 players 15-20 minutes Be the first animal cultist to summon the tree demon Blackthorn by creating ever-expanding rings of root cards in which to place your sacred offerings. Pitch video
The Wedding Planner by Jose Lema 2-4 players 60-90 minutes You just got engaged! Now you have 12 months to plan the wedding of your dreams. The Wedding Planner is a medium-weight strategy game that captures the authentic pressure of the process: an overwhelming workload, finite resources, and the constant tension between vision and reality. Pitch video
Wunderkammer by Rosco Schock 2-4 players 45 minutes Wunderkammer is a set collection style game with a unique simultaneous silent auction acquisition mechanism. Each curiosity that you collect also has two attributes so the scoring of your collection is scored in each dimension. Pitch video
Cardboard Alchemy has taken the next step in its rapid expansion by shifting to distribute its own games into retail, powered by the evergreen success of its dragon-themed design Flamecraft.
More than 400,000 copies of the worker placement game have now been sold, company co-founder Peter Vaughan told BoardGameWire, creating an early smash hit which has underpinned Cardboard Alchemy’s growth since the game’s $2m Kickstarter campaign five years ago.
Vaughan said Flamecraft “and the fans that love it” had been a “game changer” for the company, allowing it to quickly expand from its original two-person team of Vaughan and fellow co-founder Brad Brooks, and paving the way for subsequent successful releases such as Andromeda’s Edge and Critter Kitchen.
He said, “We knew soon after the first crowdfunding campaign that this game would be an evergreen game in our line. At that point, we committed to making more promos, an expansion, merchandise that our fans wanted, and have started work on a standalone sequel game, FlameBound.”
The publisher has decided to make the two-player travel-friendly title its first to be self-released and distributed into retail, ending a five-year partnership with Lucky Duck Games and its worldwide localization and licensing division GPN.
Flamecraft Duals || Kickstarter image
The new system sees it enter a partner programme with publisher Allplay, in which Cardboard Alchemy will handle and manage its own retail sales, distribution, conventions and localization, with the latter providing global warehouses, pledge management and e-commerce services.
Vaughan said, “We are excited that retailers can get access to our games and other publishers’ games in one hub, for optimum savings”, adding: “The biggest challenges so far are the ramp up of logistics, operations and sales responsibilities.
“This can be a tough task for a mostly creative team, but we have the players in place and have taken our time to implement this stage.
“We know there will be many things to learn along the way for our small company, but we feel our great games will continue to thrive in retail environments.”
Part of Cardboard Alchemy’s expansion to direct retail has included the recent hire of Patrick Fitzgibbon as hobby retail manager, following seven years of sales at companies including Genius Games, Elf Creek Games, Greater than Games and, most recently, Quartermaster Logistics.
The team also includes Nicole Cutler, who joined the business as director of operations at the end of 2024 after several years working on production and logistics at Arcane Wonders and Pandasaurus Games.
Cutler said that demand for Flamecraft Duals had “far exceeded even our expectations” ahead of its official January 28 release date, with the company moving forward with a third print run of the game before it was even available in wider retail.
That confidence was partly inspired by Cardboard Alchemy’s picking up a big early win in the mass market, with the company agreeing a deal with retail giant Barnes & Noble to get the game on its shelves from early last month.
Vaughan told BoardGameWire, “It is a thrill to see our third title in Barnes & Noble. There has been such a growing diversity of games carried by this strong player in the mass market space.
“Flamecraft and Critter Kitchen are on the shelves at B&N and it seemed a natural fit to add Flamecraft Duals to the party.
“We are honored that Barnes & Noble would commit so early to Flamecraft Duals, and place it prominently in their stores to start the year.”
For global distribution, Vaughan said, “Cardboard Alchemy localized our games previously via the Global Publishing Network, a part of Lucky Duck Games.
“We are thankful for that network, as it has placed Flamecraft in 25-plus languages, Critter Kitchen in a ‘baker’s dozen’ of regions and Andromeda’s Edge in 11 languages so far.
“We now look to work with these publishers directly and invite more partnerships worldwide to distribute our titles.”
Those partners will include existing Cardboard Alchemy collaborator CrowD Games, which previously localised Flamecraft into Russian via GPN, and will now do so for Andromeda’s Edge, Critter Kitchen and Flamecraft Duals.
Manny Vega design Flamecraft, published by Cardboard Alchemy
Like many overnight successes, Cardboard Alchemy’s was actually multiple years in the making. The company was launched by Vaughan and Brooks in 2020 after years of collaboration between the pair across Vaughan’s indie design and development studio Squirmy Beast and Dwellings of Eldervale publisher Breaking Games.
Squirmy Beast partnered with Breaking Games to publish Letter Tycoon in 2015 – with Vaughan providing some of the artwork – and a year later Vaughan joined Breaking as director of development, overseeing games including Brooks’ Rise of Tribes.
Cardboard Alchemy’s first Kickstarter, for Mission Catastrophe in 2020, raised just over $100,000, before the success of the Flamecraft campaign a year later catapulted the company into ongoing success.
The publisher’s next planned Kickstarter will see it crank up the complexity compared to its Flamecraft titles, with the launch of a campaign for Brooks’ co-design Whisperwood, a bag-building heavy strategy game, later this spring.
That game has been co-designed by Asking for Trobils designers Erin McDonald and Cardboard Alchemy developer Christian Strain, the latter of whom also co-designed the solo mode for Critter Kitchen.
Vaughan said, “We’ll be planning over-the-top production (as usual), bringing everything we know about game production to date to the forefront of crowdfunding.”
Asmodee posted record sales of €524m during the last quarter of 2025 despite a slump in its US performance, with trading card game earnings in Europe acting as a driving force for the business.
The board game giant’s overall net sales jumped 22.2% across October to December 2025 compared to the same period a year earlier, with the performance of products it distributes for other companies surging more than 50%.
Net sales for games published by Asmodee itself fell almost 13% year-on-year in the quarter, however, weighed down by US net sales slumping 23% to €70.4m.
That drop saw the US fall behind both France and the UK in Q3 in terms of the company’s highest-performing countries for net sales, with France surging 47% year-on-year to over €111m, and the UK growing 41% to €82.7m.
The US had previously outperformed all other countries for Q3 net sales for at least the past two years, Asmodee’s quarterly sales results show. Prior to that, individual country data for Asmodee was not publicly released while under former owner Embracer Group.
Asmodee CEO Thomas Koegler said in the company’s latest quarterly report that successful TCG releases in Europe across Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering and One Piece had driven the record Q3 results.
He added that lower sell-in to larger retailer for some of its own products had contributed to the sinking US result in Q3, despite saying that “overall consumer demand on our products remained stable”.
Asmodee CEO Thomas Koegler
The company’ chief financial officer, Andrea Gasperini, added in the company’s Q3 earnings call that “unfavorable FX exchange rate exposure since the beginning of the year” was also to blame, as was a “normalising” of the performance of Asmodee’s own TCG Star Wars Unlimited compared to its launch year of 2024.
Koegler added during the Q3 earnings call, “Let’s remember also that the beginning of the year has been quite shaken up in everybody’s supply strategies – ours, the retailers – by the various announcements on the tariffs. And I think that it has been a constantly evolving situation where I’m quite proud of how the teams reacted.
“Once we’ve said that, of course, let’s not underestimate the impact of foreign exchange, which is quite material in the decrease. And secondly, what’s important to look at beyond our own sell-in performance, which is what we sell to retailers, is the sell-out.
“As I did say we have, since the beginning of the year, overperformed the market, and even in Q3 it was a quarter for the Christmas period that was very much focused on lower price point products. We captured very strong growth with Exploding Kittens and did have some headwinds on higher price point products.
“But I would say in the grand scheme of things: first of all, it’s fine, our portfolio is diversified, and secondly, it’s limited to the US, so we should expect some better trends in the future.”
When asked in the Q3 earnings call how confident he was in Asmodee’s own studios’ ability to return to growth, Koegler said, “Yes, we had some negative developments on the games, but if you look at the sellout, which is the sales to consumers in the US, for instance, the market was relatively flat, and our sellout was in line with this, which means that we still have positive outlooks for the future.
“Our performance was impacted, especially by, I would say, some inventory positions and retailers’ purchase strategies. Now, if we look forward, first of all, the vast majority of our revenue is coming from existing titles. That’s the first thing that’s important, and we are constantly working on engaging consumers on those.
“You saw the recent announcements on Catan and Ticket to Ride with Netflix, all of this with the objective to further increase brand awareness and visibility, and in the future, generate additional sales.
“If we look at some of the products we’re looking forward to in terms of new releases for next year, we have announced the new LEGO game in the Ninjago franchise being released the same time as the Ninjago anniversary.
“We have Azul Kids coming out. We have Dino Picnic, we have the future sets of Star Wars Unlimited. We have a refresh of Ticket to Ride Europe. So I would say that it will be still an active year.
“What’s important, if you look back at the historical performance of Asmodee, is that some years it’s strongly driven by trading cards, and in the other years, usually when trading cards are less strong, you have a relay that’s coming from board games.”
Asmodee CEO Thomas Koegler was asked during the company’s quarterly results presentation whether the company was ready to make “more meaningful” acquisitions rather than small bolt-on deals.
He said, “Without being specific, the activity in the pipeline is in accordance with our plan. The smaller acquisitions are faster. IP acquisitions and asset deals are faster to execute. I’m satisfied.”
Board game crowdfunding major CMON has continued its battle to recover from heavy losses by selling Sheriff of Nottingham to Asmodee – its third IP sale to the company in the past eight months.
The bluffing and set collection game will become part of the Z-Man Games studio, a spokesperson for Asmodee told BoardGameWire, joining titles including Pandemic, Citadels and Love Letter.
CMON bought Sheriff of Nottingham from Brazilian publisher Galapagos Jogos in 2016 following the success of the English version of the game, published by Arcane Wonders two years earlier as the first game in the Dice Tower Essentials line – games Dice Tower founder Tom Vasel “personally loves and believes should be an essential part of any gamer’s collection”.
CMON announced towards the end of last month that more IP sales could be on the way, alongside making an apology for delays to its outstanding crowdfunds – some of which are now running almost two years beyond initial delivery estimates.
More details on the effectiveness of CMON’s fight to stem its losses should become clear by the end of next month, with the publisher required by Hong Kong stock exchange rules to submit its annual results by that date.
Asmodee’s reignited acquisitions strategy, meanwhile, has so far been limited to the three IP purchases from CMON – a far cry from the explosive growth the company undertook after being bought by private equity firm Eurazeo in 2014.
Its previous buying spree saw it acquire more than 40 companies and IPs, including over 20 game studios such as Days of Wonder, Fantasy Flight Games, Lookout Games, Catan Studio and Z-Man Games.
Asmodee CEO Thomas Koegler was asked during the company’s quarterly results presentation yesterday whether the company was ready to make “more meaningful” acquisitions rather than small bolt-on deals.
Asmodee CEO Thomas Koegler
He said, “Without being specific, the activity in the pipeline is in accordance with our plan. The smaller acquisitions are faster. IP acquisitions and asset deals are faster to execute. I’m satisfied.”
He added in response to a later question about Asmodee’s acquisition plans, “Our M&A engine is nicely running up. I will not comment on specific ongoing projects, but as I did say, I’m satisfied with what we have in the workings.
“What we’re looking for, as you asked, is in priority studios and intellectual properties, because we already have a very strong distribution reach. And then maybe to complement some distribution reach here and there, depending on the strategic advantages this would provide us in specific territories.
“But again, I think the priority is on IPs and creative capabilities, which is what we have been delivering up until now.”
Speaking on the Sheriff of Nottingham acquisitions, an Asmodee spokesperson told BoardGameWire, “Sheriff of Nottingham is a well-established evergreen card game centered on bluffing, negotiation, and high player interaction.
“We believe this game will be complementing and strengthening our existing portfolio within our social playtype, a category that is growing.”
Ryan Dancey, a more than 30-year veteran of the tabletop gaming industry, has lost his COO job at publisher Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG) a day after saying AI could generate game ideas as good as his company’s titles Tiny Towns and Cubitos.
Much of the ire was directed at Dancey’s response to a post comment which argued that “AI wouldn’t come up with Tiny Towns or Flip Seven or Cubitos because it doesn’t understand the human element of fun”.
Dancey posted in reply, “I have zero reason to believe that an AI couldn’t ‘come up with Tiny Towns or Flip Seven or Cubitos’. I can prompt any of several AIs RIGHT NOW [Dancey’s emphasis] and get ideas for games as good as those.
“The gaming industry doesn’t exist because humans create otherwise unobtainable ideas. It exists because many many previous games exist, feed into the minds of designers, who produce new variants on those themes. People then apply risk capital against those ideas to see if there’s a product market fit. Sometimes there is, and sometimes there is not. (In fact, much more often than not).”
“Extremely occasionally (twice in my lifetime: D&D and Magic: the Gathering) a human has produced an all new form of gaming entertainment. Those moments are so rare and incandescent that they echo across decades.
“Game publishing isn’t an industry of unique special ideas. It’s an industry about execution, marketing, and attention to detail. All things AIs are great at.”
Alderac CEO John Zinser, who has led the Space Base and Love Letter publisher for three decades, moved quickly to distance the company from Dancey’s comments, posting on BlueSky yesterday, “I want to be clear where I stand. For 30+ years, AEG has worked with human designers to bring games to life.
“That creative partnership, the collaboration, the shared spark, is what makes tabletop special. That is not changing.”
Several hours later, Zinser confirmed in a Facebook post that Dancey and AEG had “parted ways” after more than a decade.
Zinser said, “This is not an easy post to write. Ryan is my best friend and has been a significant part of AEG’s story, and I am personally grateful for the years of work, passion, and intensity he brought to the company. We have built a lot together.
“As AEG moves into its next chapter, leadership alignment and clarity matter more than ever. This transition reflects that reality.
“Our commitment to our designers, partners, retailers, and players remains unchanged. We will continue building great games through collaboration, creativity, and trust.
“I expect Ryan will have much success in whatever he builds next.”
BoardGameWire contacted Zinser to ask for further comment on the situation, its affect on AEG, the company’s plans to recruit a replacement, and for Zinser’s take on Dancey’s achievements during his decade at the business, but is yet to receive a reply.
“This tide is, in my opinion, only running one way, and AEG is going to have to fight hard to hold it’s [sic] position.”
Former Alderac COO Ryan Dancey
Dancey, however, provided an extensive response to BoardGameWire’s questions, including denying that he believed AI could “come up with Tiny Towns or Flip 7 or Cubitos” – instead emphasising that he was speaking about the technology being able to produce “ideas” rather than completed designs.
He told BoardGameWire, “I am not saying that an AI could turn over a finished game design ready for publication. I’m not even saying that an AI could produce work ripe enough to be pitched to a publisher. But the idea that it could not be used to generate ideas on the level as those embodied by those three games is already demonstrably false (in my opinion).
“This language ‘come up with’ is pretty nonspecific and I understand people who chose to take it at its most extreme level even though that was not my intent. I could have done a better job of being more explicit about the level of work I think an AI can do.”
Dancey added that he had contacted Tiny Towns designer Peter McPherson and Cubitos creator John D Clair in the wake of his comments discussing their games, saying, “Among other things I told them: ‘I don’t think AI is capable of doing your jobs, I would much rather work you with than a robot, I think you’re both top-tier designers that I feel privileged to work with, and I apologize if you found anything in my remarks to be hurtful’.
“I don’t have a working relationship with [Flip 7 designer Eric Olsen], but I would say the same to him if I did.”
Tiny Towns: Villagers || Photo Credit: AEG
Commenting on his suggestion in the LinkedIn post that all current board game design is based on designers taking existing games and producing variants on those themes, Dancey said, “Everything we do as humans is derived from experience. All art is derived. We all stand on the shoulders of every generation who went before us.
“Specifically I wrote: ‘The gaming industry doesn’t exist because humans create otherwise unobtainable ideas. It exists because many many previous games exist, feed into the minds of designers, who produce new variants on those themes’.
“I stand by that statement. It seems axiomatic to me.
“The game industry is overflowing with great ideas for games. We don’t lack for ideas. The hard part is deciding which great ideas can be commercialized, and how to do that. The incredible skill that someone like Pete or John brings is knowing how to evolve ‘a good idea’ into a ‘great game’.”
No AI at AEG
Dancey also told BoardGameWire that AEG’s leadership team made a policy decision “several years ago” not to use generative AI in its products or its “creative pipeline”.
He said, “I supported that decision – it was a consensus. I believed then and I believe now that it’s not appropriate to use AI in those ways in tabletop games.
“Since then I have been responsible for developing and adding language to our boilerplate contracts with people who freelance for AEG, who develop for AEG and who create artwork for AEG which specifically prohibits them from using generative AI in their work without permission, which AEG does not provide, and that specifies pretty harsh penalties for failure to comply with those policies.
“I fully support the inclusion of that language in our contracts. I took the initiative to write that language and I took the initiative to enforce its inclusion.
“We have already had pushback from creative workers who don’t like the harsh penalties. We’ve had pushback from people who want to water down their affirmative responsibility to ensure that they and anyone they’re working with or subcontracting work to adheres to this policy.
“This tide is, in my opinion, only running one way, and AEG is going to have to fight hard to hold it’s [sic] position.”
He continued, “I am not championing the use of generative AI in the gaming industry to design, develop or illustrate games. I believe we must talk about the real abilities of this technology, honestly, so that we can think about the impacts it will have on our lives.
“Making decisions to use it, how to use it, how to restrict it, and how to enforce those decisions is something that every publisher in the industry should already have done and should be revisiting on a regular basis.
“The time for these conversations is now. Not next year. Now.”
“I’m writing this for the people in my life who don’t [work with AI]… my family, my friends, the people I care about who keep asking me “so what’s the deal with AI?” and getting an answer that doesn’t do justice to what’s actually happening. I keep giving them the polite version. The cocktail-party version. Because the honest version sounds like I’ve lost my mind. And for a while, I told myself that was a good enough reason to keep what’s truly happening to myself. But the gap between what I’ve been saying and what is actually happening has gotten far too big. The people I care about deserve to hear what is coming, even if it sounds crazy.”
Dancey told BoardGameWire, “I believe I am in touch with enough of this tech and have done enough research to feel the same as author Matt Schumer. I feel like I have an obligation to discuss this technology as widely and as honestly as possible. If I do not, I am doing harm to those I care about.
“I’m sorry if having this conversation makes people uncomfortable. I know there are people who want it to go away, or believe it’s unfixably tainted by the unethical circumstances of its birth. I know that there are people who want to have a fight about this and want to use proxies if they have to (which is what I feel has happened in this particular case). But I still feel compelled to speak. If I do not, I will go insane.
“I’m incredibly sad that this episode has resulted in my separation from AEG, a company I have worked with for more than 10 years. And I’m really frustrated and hurt that it’s happening because of something people think I said, not something I actually said.”
Wider Issue
Wingspan designer Elizabeth Hargrave, the co-founder of non-profit support organisation the Tabletop Game Designers Association, dismissed Dancey’s suggestion that AI could generate ideas for games such as Tiny Towns and Cubitos.
TTGDA co-founder Elizabeth Hargrave
She told BoardGameWire, “I absolutely do not think AI could be prompted to come up with even the basic idea for those games, let alone a fully fleshed out ruleset for them. For fun, I’ve prompted several different options for ideas for Wingspan cards and not one of them has given me an actionable idea.
“I had a friend who ran a rulebook through AI for proofreading and it hallucinated that people needed to shout ‘bingo’. Apparently that’s AI’s conception of board games right now.”
She added, “Designers do pull from existing games but when it’s done well it’s because those existing mechanisms serve some original idea, and then they’re remixed so thoroughly with other mechanisms and with the subject matter that it feels new.
“Sanibel has pieces of Tokaido and Tetris and many tile-laying games. But it wasn’t a prompt of ‘I’m going to remix these games’. It was ‘what would work well in service of this idea that I have?’.
“That requires understanding how games actually feel when you play them, and anticipating how different pieces can fit together.”
Hargrave said that the TTGDA board had been discussing the use of AI in board game design, adding that it was “a conversation we need to have with our membership”.
She said, “We’re working on a model contract to offer to our members right now, and that will offer a clause that designers can request that will require publishers not to use AI in their final product. A lot of contracts ask us to certify that a board game design is our own, and not plagiarized.
“It’s my opinion that using AI in a final product goes against that, because it’s using a machine that’s built entirely on plagiarism.”
Hargrave added, “I do see people using AI for things like generating a bunch of placeholder names in a prototype. They’re often clunky options but they do the job when you know everything will change 50 times before you’re done anyway. I’m not aware of anyone who has successfully actually gotten good, original ideas for mechanisms from AI.
“What I wish we were talking about is how AI could be built to help designers run models of their games repeatedly to catch weird edge cases or broken strategies. I wish someone would build that tool instead of the language models that just focus on advanced auto-complete.
“This would never replace actual playtesting with humans for psychology and actual fun, but it might save me some repetitions.”
Previous apology
Dancey’s exit from Alderac comes three years after he publicly apologised for saying that male board game designers vastly outnumber women because “females are socialized in the West to avoid situations where they’re subjected to fairly harsh criticism of their abilities and creative ideas”.
He had made those comments on Twitter in response to a thread from Elizabeth Hargrave, who had presented data criticising the structural issues in board gaming which had seen so few women nominated for the Spiel des Jahres prize – widely considered the biggest award in board gaming.
Dancey’s comment in the thread included him saying, “Males are socialized to take the punches and keep moving forward. Getting across the gap is how you turn someone into a ‘real game designer’ who gets paid for their work and who makes designs that are attractive to publishers.”
In addition to saying the post “doesn’t reflect my views and it certainly doesn’t reflect the views of the company I work for”, Dancey outlined “concrete steps” he said AEG would be taking “to do better in this regard”, and called on readers to “check back with me in a year and hold me accountable”.
When BoardGameWire contacted Dancey on the anniversary of the apology for an update, he said, “When I’m ready to speak more on this topic I’ll do it on X as a followup to that original post.”
No follow-up to that original post from Dancey appears to exist.
Update 19/2/26: Dancey contacted BoardGameWire to say that he wrote a follow-up to the original post on Twitter in May of 2024, but deleted some of his Twitter posts when he stopped using the site in November of that year.That response no longer exists online following Dancey’s deletion of it, but a full version of the text has now been included at the end of this article.
Dancey’s career in the tabletop space dates back more than 30 years, when he was part of the team developing the Legend of the Five Rings TCG.
In 1997 he helped negotiate Wizards of the Coast’s takeover of the bankruptcy-threatened Dungeons & Dragons publisher TSR, becoming head of D&D following the deal.
Dancey also previously worked as chief marketing officer for CCP Games, the Icelandic video game producer of space sandbox MMO Eve Online, following its acquisition of roleplaying game and book publisher White Wolf Publishing in 2006.
He was also the CEO of Goblinworks, the company behind development of a massively multiplayer online game based on Paizo’s Pathfinder RPG, between 2011 and 2015.
That title raised about $1.4m across a pair of Kickstarter campaigns, but after Dancey left for “personal reasons” all but three of the company’s staff were almost immediately laid off, with then-Paizo CEO Lisa Stevens saying “delays in getting the game to market coupled with some anticipated funding falling through have left us about 75% short of the money we need to finish the game”.
Dancey told BoardGameWire yesterday that he did not have any specific plans for the future following his departure from AEG.
—
Update 19/2/26:Ryan Dancey’s now deleted Twitter post from May 2024, a year after his apology for saying that male board game designers vastly outnumber women because “females are socialized in the West to avoid situations where they’re subjected to fairly harsh criticism of their abilities and creative ideas”:
Last year I hastily wrote out some thoughts about the challenges that women face in succeeding as game designers and the hurdles they face moving past the pitch process and getting their games published. I managed to pretty thoroughly mangle my thoughts, anger a lot of people, and disrupt that dialog. I was clumsy in my writing, and poorly communicated what I wanted to express. In the aftermath I apologized, and I said I would return to the topic after a year spent in reflection and in working on these issues.
This is that update.
Since I joined AEG as a full time staff member in 2016 one of the things I have been working on is improving the diversity of our staff. From 2016 into the pandemic, we had fairly low staff turnover. During that time the most significant staff change was the addition of a VP of Sales & Marketing, who is a woman, but we parted ways with her in 2019. During the pandemic we had no significant staff changes.
Currently of 13 full time staff at AEG, five are women. Of the most recent hires since 2021, four of five hires have been women. Of the departures since 2021, none have been women. Since 2023 we have hired one person into a full time staff role, and that person is a woman. As we turned the calendar page to 2024, we promoted Adelheid Zimmerman to our Leadership team. This five person team sets overall direction for the company, and reviews and approves things like the schedule of new product releases, budgets, staff compensation and hiring and separations, etc.
We continue to struggle with racial and ethnic diversity and are also concerned about our internal and external connections with all people who might feel marginalized or face obstacles in the profession of game publishing. This is a significant problem that our Leadership team has discussed at length and it is an area where we need to show improvement.
AEG affirmatively seeks to diversify its workplace by providing opportunities to candidates who identify with underrepresented groups and we provide a pathway through our application process for candidates who may have experience and backgrounds that bypass some of the requirements in our job postings.
I am confident that we will continue to become a more diverse employer over time.
Our pipeline for new products has mostly been closed over this period. We have a backlog of amazing games in development and have not been actively pursuing new pitches in the way that we did earlier in the decade and before the pandemic. Much of the new work we have been pursuing has involved designers already working with us on previous products. This has significantly curtailed our footprint in the spaces where designers interface with publishers as a part of the pitch process. We did take a few outside pitches this year including several from designers who don’t identify as male, but none of those pitches progressed to an option or offer.
In 2023 and 2024 AEG released four all new games: Rolling Heights, Number Drop, Shake that City and Waffle Time. We have two more games that are just now going into wide release: Let’s Go! To Japan and Undergrove. Of those games Undergrove which was co-designed by Elizabeth Hargrave and Mark Wootton is the only game in that list designed by a woman.
We have been trying to find proactive ways to connect with people who have been working on diversity initiatives in the industry. It’s been a good year for forward momentum in this area. Organizations like the Tabletop Game Designers Association will hopefully gain traction and AEG intends to provide support when they are ready to connect with the publisher tier. We have also connected with and provided support to the Rose Gauntlet Foundation.
We have plans to directly contact some of the communities which have self-organized for groups that are underrepresented in the design pipeline and establish a system by which we can both provide opportunities for constructive feedback (both directions) and hear pitches from designers in those communities who feel they are ready to make them. We’re hopeful that this will result in some games in development coming from those communities for publication in the latter half of this decade.
We have done some work behind the scenes providing counsel and advice to a number of women and BIPOC individuals who have approached us seeking insights about the industry and when possible we’ve been happy to provide as much assistance as we can. These kinds of interactions are usually confidential and we respect the secure nature of these relationships; if you or someone you know would like to engage with us confidentially and ask for our thoughts about how the industry works, have us make introductions to our network of contacts, share some of our quantitative information or get our perspective on the current state of the industry please feel free to reach out to anyone on the AEG team.
I believe that the design pipeline is unbalanced and the predominant cohort of designers who succeed in finding a partner to get their games into print are stereotypically middle aged white men. Over the more than thirty years I have been a gaming industry professional this has improved and not remained static but a lot of work remains to be done. My personal opinion is that the biggest obstacle to a more representative market of designers begins upstream of the pitch meeting. I think that like AEG, most of our peers are very receptive to the idea of working with designers who are not middle aged white men. The challenge all publishers face is increasing the quantity and quality of pitches that we are receiving from designers from a wider demographic base.
We need to see more designers get past their first design efforts even if those efforts don’t result in a published game. It’s possible that a person’s first design is a winner but It is much more common that it often takes several swings before a designer makes a winning design idea. One thing I think a lot about is how to help people get over that first hurdle of rejection, recycle, and come back with a better second (third, fourth, etc.) effort. Game design is an inherently and intensely personal creative effort and nobody likes the feeling of being told their ideas aren’t good enough or marketable enough. I wish I had better answers for how to support people going through the transition from someone with good ideas about games to someone who is a professional game designer. This is a subject I think about often and am very interested in having more dialog about to craft viable ideas.
As a publisher that mostly publishes games from outside designers, we have a responsibility to try to find designers who are not a part of that traditional cohort of white male designers. We believe making connections with as diverse a community of designers as possible is likely to result in enabling us to publish games that don’t feel like iterations on older game tropes and inject new ideas and new voices that hopefully will connect with an ever wider audience.
At our leadership summit at the end of January this year our team recommitted ourselves to the goal of widening our reach when prospecting for new game pitches. When we’re ready to re-open our pitch pipeline we plan to be more actively visible in the spaces where we believe we can find and connect with an ever more diverse designer community. Coincidentally and beneficially it appears the industry is self-generating many new venues where these connections may occur and we’re going to seek to take advantage of those opportunities.
Another part of that is finding ways to support people at the beginning of their design careers, when they are making their first forays into the business of game design. We continue to research and evaluate opportunities AEG may be able to assist with in this area, but progress so far has been slow other than relationship building with individuals.
We’d like to find ways to engage at a systems level, so we can multiply our investment of time and resources to reach many people at the same time. This is a tough nut to crack, but we’ll continue to work on it.
Diversity is both an objective and a set of values. I’m proud to work for a company that has embraced the challenge of being a part of the change that the industry needs and is experiencing and I’m happy that we are on a path of continuous improvement in this area that is generating results.
I would like to thank all the people who helped me craft this message. Those people included AEG staff members and people in our larger stakeholder community. Your feedback was invaluable.
For various reasons mostly related to current ownership of this platform, I don’t interact much on X any longer but since this was the place where the initial interactions which triggered this response occurred I felt it appropriate to post this message here. I would be happy to respond to anyone who wishes to have a dialog about any of the issues raised in this message; the best way to reach me is via email at rsdancey at gmail dot com.
Asmodee‘s push to get its best-known board games turned into films and television shows continues, with streaming giant Netflix picking up exclusive global rights for screen-based adaptations of the huge-selling Ticket to Ride series.
The deal, which covers “scripted and unscripted projects” across film, television series, and other formats, comes four months after Asmodee agreed a similar deal with Netflix for screen adaptations of its fellow bestseller Catan – a 45 million-selling title which has already successfully broken out from the hobby board gaming space and into wider pop culture.
The company added that the Ticket to Ride deal reinforces it strategy to “broaden the reach of its tabletop games IPs, from the gaming tables around the world to millions of screens”.
Alan R Moon, the designer of the 20-million-selling Ticket to Ride series, will be an executive producer on Netflix’s planned titles as part of the partnership agreement.
He said, “Just when I thought life couldn’t get more exciting, Ticket to Ride is teaming up with Netflix. I can’t wait to help bring these exciting projects to the millions of fans of the game.”
Details of the upcoming film’s plot are yet to be revealed, although the game itself does feature a storyline at the beginning of the rulebook which may provide clues to the movie’s direction.
That story involves several friends meeting each year to celebrate the anniversary of Phileas Fogg’s successful trip around the world in 80 days – and agreeing a $1m wager in their 1900 gathering to see which of them can travel by rail to the most cities in North America within seven days.
Netflix first teamed up with Asmodee in 2022, when the board game giant worked in the other direction to create a trio of titles based on Netflix shows Squid Game, Stranger Things and Ozark.
Those games have been followed by a Bridgerton-themed version of Love Letter, while Netflix brought Asmodee’s creations to screens for the first time in 2024 with French film Family Pack, which is based on the Werewolves of Miller’s Hollow card game.
That movie has a 38% audience rating on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes, however, and other tabletop-based films from the last couple of decades have experienced very mixed success.
Hasbro’s 2008 deal with Universal Pictures to make a series of films based on the company’s toy and game brands ended two years early, after 2012 release Battleship bombed at the box office.
Netflix’s other adaptations of tabletop and video game titles in recent years have included an adult animated fantasy comedy based on Asmodee-owned Exploding Kittens, as well as adaptations of Arcane and Castlevania and upcoming series based on Assassin’s Creed and Monopoly – the latter of which is a live-action competition.
That deal sees Catan introduce “interactive concourse activations” at some of the Timberwolves home games this season, with Asmodee saying the move would give fans the opportunity to “test their strategy, challenge friends, and take home exclusive Catan giveaways and prizes”.
Asmodee is set to reveal its latest quarterly earnings tomorrow, covering the final three months of 2026 – including the hugely-important Christmas period.
Kosmos, the German publisher of board games including Catan and the Exit series, has taken full ownership of distribution arm Thames & Kosmos UK amid the retirement of the latter’s founding directors Stephen O’Connor and Joanna Drage.
O’Connor and Drage launched the business as Science Shop in 2009, with Kosmos making the company a subsidiary by buying an 80% stake four years later.
The deal makes T&K UK the German company’s first wholly-owned foreign subsidiary. Kosmos currently has another foreign branch in the USA, named Thames & Kosmos.
Kosmos said in a press release that the buyout of the UK operation was part of the company “consistently pursuing its internationalisation strategy and further expanding its international activities”.
It added that the British market remains “a key component” of Kosmos’ international growth strategy.
Emma Hanlon – T&K UK’s first employee who has been with the business 12 years – and Andrew Morris have taken over as managing directors of the subsidiary.
Kosmos managing director Thilan Tran said, “Stephen O’Connor and Joanna Drage built and successfully led Thames & Kosmos UK with entrepreneurial vision, high personal integrity, and great dedication.
“They have sustainably established the Kosmos brand in the United Kingdom and thus made a significant contribution to the international development of our company. We thank them very much for this achievement and the many years of trusting collaboration.”
Fellow Kosmos managing director Matthias Kienzle, who runs the company in a dual leadership role with Tran, added, “With the new ownership structure and the newly formed management team, we aim to further scale and continuously expand our international sales activities.
“Our focus is on further market penetration of existing product categories and the development of additional growth potential.”
Last year Heiko Windfelder, the Kosmos board game lead who played a key role building up brands including Catan and the Exit family of games, retired after 30 years at the company – making Tran and Kienzle joint leaders of the business.
Two years earlier long-time managing director Michael Fleissner retired, handing over operational management of the German company to Windfelder, Tran and Kienzle.
W Eric Martin from Board Game Beat reported last week that Kosmos’ board game releases this year are set to include Bernhard Weber design Temple Twist, and Happy Holiday by Matthew Dunstan and Brett J Gilbert.
Kosmos is also celebrating the 10th anniversary of its Exit series of games, which have sold more than 30 million copies worldwide across more than 50 titles.
New Exit releases this year will include a young children-focused Puzzle Fun in the Sea title and a Fourth Wing game based on the Empyrean novels by Rebecca Yarros, while the company will also be sending an armoured truck around Germany in which players can solve Exit puzzles.
Kosmos’ Exit-themed armoured truck, which will tour Germany this year
Root publisher Leder Games has named its solo game design specialist Liz Davidson as the company’s new creative director, a month after former incumbent Cole Wehrle left to launch new board game studio Buried Giant.
Davidson’s non-Leder design work to date comprises Night Witches, a solitaire or two-player coop game about female Soviet bomber pilots flying harassment missions on the Eastern Front during the second world war, and Queen of Spies, a solitaire story-driven game of espionage missions set in occupied Belgium during World War I.
Both of those titles were designed alongside Undaunted co-creator David Thompson.
Davidson is also the host of award-winning podcastBeyond Solitaire, which has put out 225 episodes across 12 seasons exploring gaming history, historical games and their cultural significance with a string of guest interviewees.
Leder Games founder Patrick Leder told BoardGameWire, “When we hired Liz as our solo games specialist, I knew we were getting someone special: a designer, educator, and storyteller all in one. Beyond her work at the studio, Liz has designed Night Witches and Queen of Spies independently, and she’s spent years podcasting and immersing herself in the industry.
“Liz has a unique creative vision, with a talent for understanding what makes a game resonate with players. She shares my passion for cooperative games, which is an area I’ve wanted Leder Games to explore for a number of years. She’s earned the trust and respect of everyone on the team, as well as our audience.
“In her new role, she’ll be helping to shape the creative direction of Leder Games going forward, as well as lending her editorial eye to rulebooks and game boards. And without spoiling anything, I’ll just say that her work on solo games is far from over. I’m thrilled to have her leading on that front.”
Davidson added, “My job at Leder Games is the best I have ever had, and I am very excited to help the creative team keep doing what we do best – designing and developing great games.
“I’ll have more specifics soon, but for now, I can say that we are looking at some cool projects and that there is a lot to look forward to.”
Leder has also brought in Tyler Exsted as a game developer in the wake of losing multiple staff members to Buried Giant, including Root, Arcs and Oath designer Cole Wehrle, Leder’s long-time lead artist Kyle Ferrin and the company’s former director of operations Ted Caya, who left in December along with his design for the Leder’s now axed Kickstarter Take.
Other Leder staff who have moved across to Buried Giant include Josh Yearsley, who designed the most recent Root expansion Homeland, senior graphic designer Pati Hyun, event coordinator and community manager Matt Martens and graphic designer Megan Ganey.
The exodus left Leder with a design and development team comprising Patrick Leder – the co-creator of its debut release Vast: The Crystal Caverns and co-designer of multiple Root expansions – Davidson, and Nick Brachmann, who has worked on expansions for Root, Ahoy and Fort.
Patrick Leder said of Exsted’s hire, “I’m really excited to welcome Tyler to the team. Finding developers who share our love of meaningful, story-driven experiences is always a joy, and Tyler definitely understands the Leder Games vision.
“He’s done great work previously with Studio Midhall, and he’s been a regular at our testing nights in the studio. With over 400 games of Root under his belt, he’s right up there with some of our core creative staff in terms of deep knowledge of our games.
“Since coming onboard, Tyler’s already been a huge help working alongside the creative team on a wide array of prototypes for our line-up of future games.
“He’s also getting up to speed on our Discord community and will be stepping in to handle Root questions there. I can’t wait to see what he brings to the table.”
Leder has yet to comment on how the significant changes at the company will affect its 2026 release slate, which was due to kick off with a crowdfunding campaign for Take before the project’s surprise cancellation amid Caya’s exit.
The publisher agreed to sell well-known designs Arcs and Oath to Buried Giant as part of the shake-up, while keeping hold of its huge-selling star title Root, a game which despite its complexity has broken out of the hobby game bubble and onto the shelves of major retailers such as Walmart and Target.
Board game crowdfunding major CMON has secured new capital for game development thanks to a successful share sale, which values the business at more than $7.5m.
The much-needed capital raise is the latest move by CMON as it continues its attempt to recover from massive losses racked up over the past two years.
CMON said in a stock exchange filing that more than half of the HK$9.4m ($1.2m) proceeds would go towards game development, including prototype design, content development and artwork creation, while another HK$2.35m would be used for marketing and events, including participation in trade fairs and promotional campaigns.
CMON announced towards the end of last month that more IP sales could be on the way, alongside making an apology for delays to its outstanding crowdfunds – some of which are now running almost two years beyond initial delivery estimates.
The company’s remaining significant IP includes the Massive Darkness series, with the most recent installment, Massive Darkness: Dungeons of Shadowreach, completing a $2.85m crowdfund on Gamefound early last year – a figure which rose to more than $3.7m including late pledges.
More details about CMON’s current financial situation are set to be unveiled by the end of next month, with the publisher required by Hong Kong stock exchange rules to submit its annual results by that date.
The company announced last July that rather than focusing on large scale, miniatures heavy crowdfunding campaigns, it had pivoted to releasing several small-box games direct to retail, which it showed off at the Spiel Essen game fair last October.
Veteran toy and game maker Hasbro‘s increasing reliance on Magic: The Gathering’s runaway success continued last year, with the trading card game’s revenue soaring 59% to mark its strongest annual performance yet.
Hasbro saw its overall revenue rise almost 14% last year to $4.7bn, driven by record 45% growth in its Magic, D&D and digital gaming division Wizards of the Coast.
“Wizards was a standout, anchored by record Magic revenue”, said Hasbro CFO and COO Gina Goetter, who added in an earnings call following the company’s 2025 financial results reveal that Wizards “remains our primary growth engine”.
Magic’s record-breaking year was capped off by a storming fourth quarter, which saw revenues from the game up 141% compared to Q4 2024 on the strength of the Avatar: The Last Airbender and Final Fantasy releases.
Wizards’ revenue increased 45% to almost $2.2bn across all of 2025, with operating profit of just over $1bn – while Magic’s revenue grew nearly 60% across 2025 powered by Universes Beyond sets, as well as “ongoing strength in backlist and Secret Lair”, Hasbro said.
The stellar performance of Wizards, and Magic in particular, is in stark contrast to Hasbro’s consumer products segment – which includes Nerf guns, Transformers and Peppa Pig toys.
That segment saw revenues drop 4% last year “amongst macro and retailer volatility brought on by tariff announcements in Q2”.
Goetter said Hasbro expects Wizards to deliver mid-single-digit revenue growth in 2026, “supported by a healthy release cadence and continued engagement across the Magic ecosystem”, while Hasbro as a wider business is expecting revenue growth of 3% to 5% this year.
Speaking about expectations for Magic’s continued success in 2026 Hasbro CEO and director Chris Cocks told the earnings call, “I think it really comes down to several growth vectors. The first one is distribution growth.
Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks
“We’re seeing meaningful growth in our Wizards Play Network. That was up 20% last year. We think it’s going to be up double digits this year again. We’re seeing incremental distribution as the brand expands and the player base expands. So I think mass market and non-WPN-based distribution growth exceeded last year WPN growth and will exceed it again this year.
“Player growth has been robust. I think the organized play metrics we’re giving you are just kind of hardcore or core player growth, the people who play in stores. Our metrics for non… kind of ‘hardcore’ players are a little more loose, but we think that those are growing well in excess of that 20%. And importantly, as we’re bringing on new kind of casual fans or new to MAGIC fans and collectors, they are sticking around. And you’re seeing that evidenced in robust backlist and higher organized play participation.
“So what we’re seeing going on with Magic is a virtuous cycle of there’s more places to buy, there’s more people playing. They’re engaging longer and sticking around. And that just leads to increased set over set performance like we’re seeing with Lorwyn. And we see that continuing into 2026.
“Not to mention, we’ve got a stacked lineup of partners. You’ve got Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Hobbit, Marvel Super Heroes and Star Trek plus some real fan-favorite sets like Lorwyn and Strixhaven on tap for this year.”
Hasbro’s annual results reveal came the same day it announced it had signed a multi-year licensing partnership to make it “the global primary toy licensee for the world of Harry Potter” and the upcoming HBO series.
That partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery Global Consumer Product begins in 2027, covering “dolls, role play, action figures & collectibles, interactive plush, board games and more”, Hasbro said.
But the Harry Potter franchise won’t yet be making its way to Magic, according to the Wizards of the Coast community team, who posted to Reddit to say, “The Magic Multiverse has its own school of Magic at Strixhaven with plenty of secrets still to explore. Our Universes Beyond roadmap currently doesn’t have us visiting any others.”
Harry Potter-related deals have come under fire from parts of the board game hobby in the last year due to ongoing anti-trans campaigning from the character’s creator, JK Rowling.
CGE has since apologised “unreservedly” for failing to take into account how “the harmful views of the story’s creator have escalated into harmful actions”, and committed to donating 100% of the game’s profits to appropriate charities.
Last month Upper Deck, the publisher of the Legendary series of deck-building board games, was urged by the Tabletop Game Designers Association not to create a Harry Potter-based tabletop title, after the company announced a deal for the “coveted” Harry Potter licence.
Upper Deck said on January 7 that it would begin creating collectibles for the Harry Potter franchise, starting with two sets of trading cards due for release later this year, adding that it was “excited to bring its iconic brands and flagship products to the world of Harry Potter”.
Following the TTGDA plea and rising numbers of comments across Upper Deck’s social media calling out the decision, the publisher made a single-sentence response on BlueSky and a BGG thread saying “Upper Deck has no plans to produce Harry Potter games at this time”.
Rodney Smith, the founder and host of board game ‘how to play’ video giant Watch It Played, has accused long-time site colleague Chaz Marler of misleading advertisers on the latter’s Game Night Picks YouTube channel by paying to boost viewer numbers on its videos.
A detailed report distributed by Smith to board game publishers yesterday said Marler had used YouTube advertising to boost views on Game Night Picks – formerly known as Pair of Dice Paradise – in November and December last year, with typical viewers per video rising from the low thousands to an average of 36,700 across those months.
While that might seem ideal for publisher advertisers, Smith added that Game Night Picks had establised a ‘per view’ fee structure early last year – and said more than 90% of viewers in November and December left the videos within the first minute, well short of the point at which publisher advertising was shown.
A graph distributed by Rodney Smith showing the fall in viewership over time for an unspecified YouTube video, which he said made use of YouTube Advertising to boost viewer numbers
Smith said in the report, “Despite the sudden influx of 145,300 subscribers, the behind-the-scenes analytics (which only those with access to the YouTube account can see) showed that traffic ‘from subscribers’ did not change in any perceptible way.
“If even 1% of the new subscribers had returned to watch future videos with some regularity, traffic ‘from subscribers’ would have increased by roughly 1,453, but there was no noticeable change. It suggests that you can pay to have the ‘YouTube Advertising’ feature provide you with subscribers and/or views, but it cannot make those subscribers (or viewers) engage with your content.”
He added, “Would a publisher agree to pay a ‘per view’ fee if they knew only 3% to 6% of the viewers were still watching a video by the time their ad aired?
“It would seem that this advertising model can only be effective if the publisher remains unaware of the underlying data (which only the channel owner has access to) – I also had access to it, due to our working relationship.”
Data from social media analytics website SocialBlade, showing the surge in subscribers for Board Game Picks in the last two months of 2025
Smith said that after he noticed the change in analytics he approached Marler in December, telling him he believed the latter was “engaged in a deceptive practice” – and was told some publishers who bought ads in November and December had been issued discounts of ‘half or more’.
“He expressed that providing discounts to publishers would fix what he was doing, but it was clear in my mind that discounting unethical practices do not make them ethical.”
Smith continued in his written report, “I assured [Marler] that his activities would be discovered due to the overt and unnatural viewer and subscriber growth he had obtained through ‘YouTube Advertising’.
“Once uncovered, publishers might reasonably (but incorrectly) assume I was also engaged in this practice due to his six-year association with Watch It Played. They might reasonably assume I’d instructed him on how to do it.
“Although I have never engaged in any of these activities personally, his actions threatened to undermine the relationships and trust I have cultivated with publishers and viewers over the past 15 years – risking irreparable damage to my career and reputation.”
Chaz Marler hosting one of the videos on his Game Night Picks YouTube channel
Marler confirmed to BoardGameWire yesterday that he had made use of YouTube’s built-in promotions tools in November for Game Night Picks “to see how it works”, but added that the tool “didn’t produce the results I was looking for, in terms of viewership quality or sustainability” and was no longer being used by the site.
Update 10/2/26: Rodney Smith contacted BoardGameWire in the wake of reading Marler’s response here to add the following statement:
“The owner of Game Night Picks first used the YouTube Advertising feature in August, and then again in October. One would reasonably presume that the first and second time a tool like this is used, a creator would be paying close attention to the effects of how it works – especially as they are paying to influence the final resulting views.
“In November, the owner of Game Night Picks started using the YouTube Advertising feature again, but this time did not stop. It was used on each of the following 19 videos one, after the other. Each showing the same relative viewer retention within the document I shared, and this article.
“As I said to him in December: after three or four, or maybe five of these videos, the pattern was clear. Why continue the ‘experiment’ 15 more times (which does not include the experiments in August and October)? To my mind, he had lost plausible deniability about the effects of this tool after the fifth attempt. And I would say that’s being generous.
“I would want to remind readers, the issue is not that the tool was used. The document I presented was to show how ‘in combination’ with the YouTube advertising tool, the lack of information the publishers had, and the fee structure, unethical and legal implications were introduced.”
Update ends
Marler would not comment on the accusation he had willingly engaged in unethical behaviour towards advertisers, or say whether he had properly reimbursed advertisers featured on Game Night Picks during the period in question after the issue was raised with him by Smith.
Marler did tell BoardGameWire, “While I’m not going to detail specific invoices here, I can say that each invoice and project has always been taken on a case-by-case basis.
“That same approach was applied to the invoices incurred during the time in question. It would gain a channel nothing to overcharge clients, especially in an industry as intimate as ours.”
He said that while he had stopped using YouTube advertising, “if a solution does become available that benefits the sponsors, viewers, and the channel, while removing ambiguity, I think that would be worth looking into. The trick would be accomplishing that, while also ensuring clarity and transparency for all parties.”
He added, “I don’t think that anyone is making the case that investing in promotion in-and-of itself is unacceptable. The objective, as with any endeavor, is to set expectations and responsibly provide value to those you’re serving (including both viewers and sponsors).”
When asked what changes Marler planned to make to Game Night Picks, and how it offers advertising to publishers, he said, “Part of the plan is to continue communicating as openly as possible to sponsors, colleagues, and viewers. For example, in late November, a newsletter was sent to all the sponsors I work with informing them of the surge in viewership numbers that was being experienced.
“Subsequent newsletters have outlined updates to the way sponsorships are billed, to accommodate when experiencing lower overall viewer retention due to any reason.
“The channel’s ‘Video Services’ document, which is provided to sponsors, was also updated during that time to restate this updated policy. That policy is also included in cold-call and follow-up emails related to advertising that are sent out.
“The cornerstone of any collaboration process is communication and mutually setting expectations between colleagues, viewers, and sponsors. That has been the focus since the sponsorship system was launched, and it will continue to be, into the future.”
He did not respond to BoardGameWire’s request to see copies of those sponsor-focused newsletters or the channel’s ‘video services’ document.
Marler also runs the website TableTop Media Makers, which says it aims to handle the “sponsorship grunt-work” of running a board game-focused YouTube channel by “securing sponsorships, tracking down ad assets, writing ad copy, reporting video views, billing advertisers, and managing the financials”.
Further Fallout
Watch It Played, which was launched by Smith in 2011, has grown to become the hobby’s biggest YouTube channel for videos explaining how to play specific games, with more than 413,000 subscribers.
The vast majority of its videos up to 2020 were fronted by Smith, with support from members of his family, and Pep MacDonald also involved in making instructional and gameplay videos for the site between 2015 and 2019.
A slew of new faces began appearing on the site from 2020, however, as Smith expanded its scope to include content such as news roundups and top ten lists.
Smith announced seven days ago during a Marler-fronted video on Watch It Played that the site would return to a solo operation exclusively focused on tutorial videos – without offering an explanation as to why – with the rest of its hosts leaving to continue at their other respective outlets.
They include Marler, Deming and Jude, as well as Monique Macasaet and Naveen Sharma from board game playthrough and review YouTube channel Before You Play.
Of those, Deming and Jude also both appear on Game Night Picks videos – but Smith said in his statement, “I have no reason to believe any of the other people appearing in Game Night Picks videos have knowledge of the underlying data that would demonstrate how these inflated channel numbers were gained, nor would I imagine they know the full extent of the advertising practices the owner of Game Night Picks is using.
“Unless they chose to share it, only the YouTube channel owner would have access to that data.”
He added, “I also do not believe this is a widespread problem in the board game media community. I do not want the actions taken by the owner of Game Night Picks to reflect on other media creators who have grown their channels organically through the creative work they have published.”
Smith also spoke on yesterday’s video about his decision to pare back the site to a solo operation, saying, “This whole situation brought me to another hard-learned realization. I’m just not comfortable having my channel, and my reputation, entangled in the decisions other people might decide to make.
“Again, I have no reason to doubt the character of Matthew, Paula, Monique or Naveen – quite the opposite.
“But I would have said the same about the person who did engage in unethical behaviour that we’re now discussing. I imagine you can appreciate, my trust has been a bit shaken.
“I don’t want what has happened to make me cynical, and I would like to believe I could revisit collaborations in the future. But you’ll likely understand if I would just like Watch It Played to go back to being fully my responsibility, and not tied to the actions of anyone else.”
Anmelden
