Asmodee’s push into crowdfunding scores first success with $4.1m for Zombicide: Dead Men Tales

Board game giant Asmodee’s strategic push into crowdfunding has passed its first major test, with its debut campaign in the Zombicide universe raising more than $4.1m on Gamefound.

The total for pirate-themed Dead Men Tales cements the campaign as the biggest main line Zombicide crowdfund in almost a decade, with Zombicide: Green Horde having picked up just over $5m in 2017 – although the biggest crowdfunding success in the range remains licensed spin-off Marvel Zombies at just over $9m.

Asmodee’s acquisition of Zombicide from financially troubled CMON last June set the stage for the company’s drive into crowdfunding – an area it had previously barely touched through any of its myriad studios.

The buyout came a month after Asmodee had hired ex-CMON COO David Preti – the architect of the latter company’s growth into one of board gaming’s biggest crowdfunding-focused publishers – to head up its own newly-launched crowdfunding and miniatures strategy.

Asmodee doubled down on its crowdfunding-focused acquisitions in October last year by picking up the Cthulhu: Death May Die IP and games from CMON – a series which has raised almost $10m from backers to date.

Asmodee had not publicly discussed details of its crowdfunding strategy ahead of completing the Dead Men Tales campaign, but said in a press release celebrating that success that crowdfunding “gives publishers clearer demand visibility, a direct line to engaged communities, and a healthier financial setup – with production sized to actual demand rather than to forecasts”.

That statement is notable given Asmodee studio Fantasy Flight Games’ decision last month to discontinue the latest iteration of veteran dungeon crawler Descent, citing rising manufacturing costs, “global economic shifts” and the expense of developing the game’s companion app.

It is thought FFG may resurrect Descent through a crowdfunding strategy in the future, although it is yet to confirm or deny this, saying in April, “While we don’t have anything to share at this time, there is always a possibility that we will revisit Descent in the future. It would take a different form and would not be Legends of the Dark, but this game universe is near and dear to FFG’s heart.”

Asmodee CEO Thomas Koegler said of the Dead Men Tales crowdfund, “This first campaign means a lot to me, and I think it sends a clear signal.

“Zombicide is a beloved franchise that joined the group less than a year ago, and Dead Men Tales is already proving the model works: the original Guillotine Games team back at the helm, Fantasy Flight Games executing the campaign with remarkable skill, and a community of more than 11,000 backers who chose to trust us early.

“That trust is something we take seriously. There’s still careful work ahead on delivery, a crowdfunding campaign is only as good as what arrives at your door, but I have full confidence in our teams to see it through.”

The campaign also helped underscore Gamefound’s rise as a crowdfunding peer to Kickstarter – and reinforced the trend for large, miniatures-heavy releases choosing the platform for their projects.

Dead Men Tales was the latest Gamefound campaign to make use of the platform’s Endgame feature, which is designed to extend the final moments of campaigns that are still actively receiving pledges even as the original countdown ends.

The Dead Men Tales campaign had collected more than $3m by the end of the official crowdfunding period, but Endgame extended the raise by more than five extra days and about $1m due to new pledges consistently being made.

Prior to Dead Men Tales, the only previous crowdfunding campaign from an Asmodee-owned company was Lookout Games’ Kickstarter for the Grand Austria Hotel: Let’s Waltz! Expansion & Deluxe Upgrade, which raised about €383,000 during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

Asmodee’s only other direct exposure to crowdfunding is thought to be via the company Exploding Kittens, in which it made a strategic investment short of a buyout in 2021. That business has since raised more than $977,000 in a Kickstarter campaign for Hand to Hand Wombat.

More tenuously, YouTube reviewer The Professor raised about $4m for his Academic 133+ XL deckbox in 2022, which was designed ‘in collaboration’ with Asmodee’s game supplies and accessories unit Gamegenic.

Gamegenic also previously provided accessories in partnership with the Altered TCG during its record-breaking crowdfund three years ago.

Last month BoardGameWire reported that Asmodee’s net sales had surged 23% year-on-year to more than €1.68bn, driven by the company’s escalating power as a global TCG distribution giant.

Asmodee’s own board game publishing operation, meanwhile, saw its net sales fall 5.8% in the last financial year – while net sales for the first quarter of this year were down 9.8% compared to the same period in 2025.