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
Bis Ende Februar konntet ihr bei den Abenteuer Brettspiele Community Awards ’25 für eure Favoriten abstimmen und nun stehen die 4 Preisträger fest. Wie die Abstimmung gelaufen ist und welche Spiele in den 4 Community Awards Kategorien gewonnen haben, erfahrt ihr im Folgenden. Die 4 Gewinner der Abenteuer Brettspiele Community Awards ’25 Bereits zum vierten […]
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