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”.

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.

That situation echoed Ravensburger’s assessment of its flagship trading card game Disney Lorcana last month, with performance falling following an explosive start on its August 2023 launch that had quickly made the title a “long-term pillar” of the company’s products.

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 also revealed in its Q3 results that it had bought bluffing and set collection game Sheriff of Nottingham from CMON – its third IP purchase from the company in the past eight months.

CMON’s IP sales have been part of its ongoing drive to combat the huge losses the business has chalked up in the past couple of years.

Asmodee kicked off its reignited strategy of buying up smaller board game publishers, distributors and IPs in June last year by acquiring CMON’s flagship IP Zombicide, a series which had raised more than $40m on Kickstarter since its 2012 launch.

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.”

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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.

“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.

Last summer Codenames publisher Czech Games Edition faced a boycott from some of board gaming’s biggest and most influential reviewers, including Shut Up & Sit Down and No Pun Included, after deciding to release a new Harry Potter-themed version of the title.

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”.

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Ravensburger said sales of its flagship trading card game Disney Lorcana fell last year, “settling at a high level” following an explosive start which quickly made the title a ‘long-term pillar’ of the company’s products.

The company said demand for the TCG had “normalised” in the wake of “initial hype” for the game after its August 2023 release, which saw it power to more than a billion cards sold by the beginning of 2025 – making it the most successful product launch in Ravensburger’s history.

Ravensburger said game buyers whose primary interest was in its investment prospects “have withdrawn”, adding that the game “continues to enjoy growing popularity among its core target group of players and collectors”.

It added that card sets released in the second half of 2025 were “sell-outs” and that the number of players continues to grow, aided by organised play events offered in specialist hobby and game stores.

Ravensburger said, “From its debut in 2023, Disney Lorcana has developed into a sustainable business segment and therefore a long-term pillar of the Ravensburger product portfolio.

“The company continues to expand the realm with new products such as puzzles and books. Beginning with Set 12, which will launch in May 2026, fans can also look forward to the first Pixar characters, including those from the animated film ‘Toy Story’.”

Ravensburger’s overall sales fell for the first time since 2022 last year, dropping 5.9% to €744m – but the company said its core business of games, puzzles and books grew by 3%.

The company said that international toy markets were showing “positive developments” despite global challenges, driven particularly by a growth in purchases for families and adults – with card games among products which “benefited significantly” from the trend.

Ravensburger chief sales officer Susanne Knoche added that she was particularly pleased with the development of the core business in two regions, saying, “Despite adverse trading conditions, such as numerous new customs regulations, we were able to achieve above-average growth of 11% in the USA and Canada.

“We also saw strong results in Eastern Europe (Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia) with an increase of 12%.”

A statement from Ravensburger accompanying its 2025 results said, “The international market environment is currently undergoing fundamental changes: trade barriers, technological upheavals, changing consumer behavior, and increasing global competition are key factors.

“This is accompanied by rising cost pressure for the company across the entire value chain. In addressing these developments, Ravensburger is adapting its structures and cost base.

Alongside these operational changes, the company is investing more heavily in experiential concepts that go beyond the product and bring fans and communities together.”

That includes the company’s event portfolio, including retailer and trade-fair events as well as tournaments and community formats around Disney Lorcana, which it said were often booked out within a short time.

Lorcana’s next set, Winterspell, is due for prerelease at local game stores and Disney stores on February 13, and for wider release on February 20.

Two months ago Ravensburger demanded trading card company Upper Deck pay $3.8m in legal fees it ran up in its successful two-year legal battle against the latter’s claims it stole the design Lorcana.

Upper Deck had begun its unsuccessful lawsuit against Ravensburger and Lorcana lead designer Ryan Miller in the summer of 2023, alleging the designer took his work on Upper Deck’s previously unannounced game Rush of Ikorr with him when he left the company in 2020 – and transported it to his new employer Ravensburger to create Lorcana.

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Last year’s Kinderspiel des Jahres-winning publisher Schmidt Spiele saw its sales rise nearly 8% to €61.5m in 2025, citing children’s and family games as a key driver of its growth.

The veteran board game maker, which has a history stretching back to 1907, said its “core area” of children’s and family games grew 6% last year, with Wolfgang Warsch-designed 2025 Kinderspiel winner Topp Die Torte highlighted for achieving “encouraging sales figures”.

Schmidt Spiele said its classic board game brands Mensch ärgere Dich nicht and Yahtzee – known as Kniffel in Germany – were key contributors to that result, as were popular titles from its Klein & Fein series of small-box dice games, which includes the Warsch-designed Ganz Schön Clever! (That’s Pretty Clever!) range.

The publisher, which also makes puzzles, plushies and toys, is best known in hobby board games for critical and commercial successes Quacks of Quedlinburg and Daybreak – winners of the Spiel des Jahres and Kennerspiel respectively – and Ganz Schön Clever, a Kennerspiel des Jahres nominee in 2018.

Schmidt Spiele previously scored sales of about €57.5m in 2024, a total it said was almost identical to the previous year, despite a tricky 2024 domestically amid the closure or shrinkage of two major retailers stocking its games and puzzles.

The company said during the unveiling of its 2023 results that sales for its family and children-focused division had remained flat, albeit at a level it said has been on a high since 2020.

Schmidt Spiele managing director Axel Kaldenhoven said of the 2025 results, “The growth across all product ranges confirms both our strategic direction and the strength of our brands and products.

“Classic games, strong licensed themes, and innovative new products complement each other perfectly and form the basis of our success.”

Schmidt added that a key component of its ongoing success was its commitment to attending trade fairs including Spielwarenmesse, Spiel Essen, SPIEL DOCH! Dortmund, Brettspiel Con Berlin, Hobbymesse Leipzig and SPIELidee Rostock, which allowed it to cultivated exchanges with partners and game designers and continuously expanded its network, in addition to making sales to consumers.

The company’s 2026 releases are set to include Reiner Knizia-designed Kniffel: Das Duell, a tenth-anniversary re-design of Inka and Markus Brand’s Encore! (Noch Mal!), titled Noch X-Mal!, and magical ingredients tile placement game Morty Sorty Magic Shop from Challengers co-designer Markus Slawitscheck.

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