Board game companies across the industry are bracing for price hikes, job losses and the potential shuttering of their businesses after US President Donald Trump unveiled sweeping import tariffs targeting countries across the world yesterday.
Modern board gaming's boom over the past 20 years has been accompanied by an avalanche of creatives reviewing, discussing and celebrating the growing hobby. That media continues to be dominated by video reviews and previews - but five years ago long-time film magazine editor Dan Jolin and art director James Hunter took a chance that there was room in the industry for a beautiful, high-quality magazine "celebrating the craft, creativity and community" of tabletop gaming. That hunch has proven well judged, with the magazine's readership having grown five-fold compared to its original Kickstarter campaign thanks to its beautiful presentation, thoughtful reviews and articles, and interviews with the biggest names in board gaming. Editor Dan Jolin spoke to BoardGameWire about the magazine's journey so far, how the industry has changed and what the future holds for Senet.
One of North America’s biggest tabletop gaming distributors, Alliance Game Distributors, has been bought by its namesake but unrelated company Alliance Entertainment Holdings as part of the bankruptcy auction for its fallen owner Diamond Comics.
Board game crowdfunding major CMON has followed its profit warning from earlier this month by revealing it is likely to miss its stock exchange deadline for publishing its annual financial results, saying its finance department is currently understaffed.
Co-operative card game The Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking Game has claimed the most new owners adding it to their collections on BoardGameGeek for February, supplanting 2024 Spiel des Jahres winner Sky Team just a few weeks after its release.
A 17-year-old German children's game has won this year's Japan Boardgame Prize, almost two decades after it picked up a recommendation in the kids segment of the much lauded Spiel des Jahres competition.
Crowdfunded board game heavyweight CMON has warned it could face losses of more than $2m for its business activity last year, saying the rising cost of living had eaten into its revenues from tabletop game sales.
The Origins Awards, one of board gaming's longest-running prizes voted on by industry professionals, has picked out a huge slate of 120 nominees for its 2024 competition - which coincides with the 50th anniversary of its namesake gaming convention.
Wingspan publisher Stonemaier Games' revenue soared more than 40% to $23.7m last year, after a gamble on a hefty initial print run for new release Wyrmspan led to the game having the best first year for sales in the company's 13-year history.
Another record attendance at North America's biggest board games industry trade show, GAMA Expo, has left the event pressed for space once again - just a year after the show was transported to Louisville in an attempt to handle surging interest.
Board game publishers already battling the financial fallout of Donald Trump's trade war are now facing an even more volatile future, after the US President doubled the country's tariffs on Chinese imports to 20% and brought in 25% tariffs for goods from Canada and Mexico.
Heiko Windfelder, the Kosmos board game lead who played a key role building up brands including Catan and the Exit family of games, is retiring after 30 years at the company.
