Renegade Game Studios boosts European distribution amid US tariffs uncertainty with new Saga Alliance, HEO tie-ups

US board game publisher Renegade Game Studios has expanded its distribution in Europe by teaming up with Saga Alliance and HEO, amid ongoing volatility in its home US market due to President Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports.

Renegade, which publishes the Heroscape and Axis & Allies lines and board games including Search for Planet X, said the deal would ensure “greater accessibility and availability of Renegade titles throughout the European market”.

Saga Alliance was launched in February last year by ADC Blackfire founder Alexander Dubynski, former Asmodee Germany CEO Alexis Desplats, and Gregory Benassar, who previously spent more than a decade as Asmodee’s head of new business and licensing.

The company focuses on hobby games and collectibles distribution across Germany, France and the Balkans.

Germany-headquartered HEO, meanwhile, says it distributes pop culture and hobby products to more than 5,000 retail partners across Europe and North America.

Renegade president Scott Gaeta said, “Our mission has always been to make great games and get them into the hands of fans around the world.

“These partnerships with Saga Alliance and HEO are the next big step in that journey. We’re thrilled to be working with such experienced and respected teams to broaden our footprint in Europe.”

Renegade said the new partnerships put it in a better position to support European retailers and grow its organised play programs for games such as Heroscape.

The company’s products are currently distributed widely across Europe through Asmodee and its ADC Blackfire subsidiary, as well as companies including Pegasus Spiele, BNW Distribution and Intrafin, according to its website.

Renegade has recently announced US price increases across its next wave of Heroscape releases and games including Axis & Allies: Stalingrad, Diplomacy, Naishi and Arboretum due to US tariffs on China, which soared as high as 145% last month before a 90-day ‘truce’ was announced in mid-May.

The tariffs remain at an elevated 30% amid the truce, however, and publishers are now facing a spike in shipping prices and a battle for limited container space as businesses race to take advantage of the lower-tariff window.

Gaeta told BoardGameWire just after the 90-day pause was announced, “In the short term we will move more product from China. But even though 30% is much better, let’s be clear, we’ve come from a level (145%) that was absurd and devastating. 30% is still problematic but more manageable.

“The disruption caused in the supply chain the last month will now likely lead to importers paying extremely high rates to move that freight as the world rushes to take advantage of this 90-day window. We’ve traded one self-inflicted problem for another.

“Long term planning is still not possible. Now we wait and see what happens in 90 days while trying to salvage Q3 and Q4 as best we can.”

About 18 months ago Renegade re-established its partnership with US-based GTS Distribution, three years after dropping the company as one of its distributors.

The publisher had previously pared down its US distribution partners in January 2020 to just Alliance Game Distributors and ACD Distribution, ending its deals with GTS as well as Peachstate Hobby Distribution and Southern Hobby Supply.