Matagot stops publishing heavier games like Kemet, Inis, shifts focus to family and children’s titles

Veteran French board game publisher Matagot is pulling out of publishing heavier games such as Kemet and Inis, instead focusing the company’s future on the family, beginner and children’s games market.

Matagot has made the move citing low demand for heavier games in its home market of France, as well as in an attempt to give the company a more recognisable editorial focus, Auguste, a spokesperson for Matagot, told BoardGameWire.

He said the need for a shift had become more obvious over the last few years, adding that things came to a head this summer through the collision of two separate events.

He said, “First, a lot of resources were pulled into the Kemet Rise of the Gods crowdfunding campaign, and with a need to support our retail releases and prepare for massive events such as Gen Con and Essen at the same time, the team felt stretched too thin.

“We also noticed that whenever we announced new games, even family-oriented ones like Kyoto no Neko, the public’s first assumption was that they would be heavier games due to our long-standing reputation.

“Simultaneously, the overwhelming success of the microgames line [Matagot’s series of wallet-sized games, some from Button Shy, others original creations] further increased our visibility among the family-oriented market.”

Matagot has signed partnership deals with Western Legends publisher Kolossal Games and Australia-based Grail Games to take on publication of its heavier titles.

Kolossal will handle games in the Kemet, Inis, Yucatan and Galactic Renaissance lines, and in return has transferred titles including Papillon, Almost Innocent and Reload to Matagot.

Matagot said the recent Kemet: Rise of the Gods Gamefound campaign served as an “operational transition”, with experienced board game crowdfunding specialist Kolossal working on the project in the background “from the start”.

Grail Games, meanwhile, will take on publication of Matagot’s eurogames and strategic card games such as Level 10, which was already a collaboration with the company, classics such as Rapa Nui, and future titles including an upcoming game by Lewis and Clark designer Cédrick Chaboussit.

Matagot said it had already been working with Grail on titles including the new edition of dexterity game Hibachi, adding that several of these games had been traded between the publishers.

The spokesperson said, “It’s important to point out that the Matagot team loves and has enjoyed clear success in the heavy games category with titles such as Kemet, Inis or more recently Galactic Renaissance.

“At the same time, the company has also been recognized for publishing games aimed at a broader audience, such as Takenoko, River Dragons, Raptor, and Captain Sonar, dating back to the early 2010s.

“This created an unclear editorial direction, with the catalog ranging from children’s games to massive crowdfunding projects. A choice needed to be made.

“The second factor is tied to our home market: Matagot, being a French publisher firmly rooted in its domestic market, recognizes that said market, unlike its English-speaking counterparts, shows less interest in heavy games.

“While niche expert player groups exist in France, they are relatively small and highly demanding. Sales are usually in the hundreds of copies, rarely surpassing even a thousand, leading to a growing weariness from specialised shops.

“Even Matagot’s biggest successes in that category, such as Kemet Blood & Sand or Inis, despite steady sales worldwide, never sold really well in France. As a French publisher, making French versions of these titles was a ‘must’ but also taxing and wasteful.”

Matagot’s move mirrors that of another French publisher, FunForge, whose CEO Philippe Nouhra told BoardGameWire earlier this month that it had shifted its focus to smaller box, lighter titles as part of its financial recovery from years of struggling to deliver large-scale Kickstarter projects.

Nouhra said, “For the moment, yeah, this is what the market wants. And we see with all the discussions we have with our distribution partners worldwide, they all say the price point is perfect. So yes, for the moment, we are focusing on these kind of products.”

Mass-market major Hasbro is also making a push into family-weight games, with last year’s Eric Lang design Life in Reterra and the upcoming release of Reiner Knizia’s Cosmolancer, a retheme of his 1994 design Auf Heller und Pfennig, more widely known as Kingdoms.

But the Matagot spokesperson said he was not concerned about the rising competition in the light and family gaming space.

He said, “Kyoto No Neko‘s stellar launch at Essen Spiel confirmed that as long as Matagot remains committed to three key pillars – original artwork, strong themes, and finely tuned mechanics – things will be good.

“Feedback on our recent releases has been overwhelmingly positive, and we have exciting titles planned for 2025, including a new edition of Mission: Red Planet by Bruno Faidutti and Bruno Cathala, as well as a cooperative game by Scott Almes scheduled for Essen Spiel 2025.”