IELLO signs US distribution deal with Blue Orange in shift away from tariffs-battered Flat River Games

French board game publisher IELLO has given Blue Orange USA exclusive first pick on bringing its titles to the US, having left former partner Flat River Group after it slashed its North American hobby game distribution operation.

IELLO spokesperson Roger Anthony-Gerroldt told BoardGameWire US tariffs volatility had caused the company to miss its expected 2025 window for getting new games including Popcorn into the US, adding that it now expected the first wave of new titles to reach the country from November.

Those titles include Little Soldiers, King of Tokyo Mindbug, Popcorn and the King of Tokyo Luchador monster pack, he said – adding that a key part of the Blue Orange deal would be in growing the company’s King of Tokyo brand.

IELLO signed with Flat River Group in 2022 as its exclusive distributor for the English-speaking US and Canada market – the same year Flat River bought Luma Imports, a specialist in bringing French-language games to the US, as part of a series of private equity-fuelled acquisitions.

But in April this year Flat River launched a massive downsizing of its board game publishing and distribution operation amid volatility around US tariff charges, beginning with laying off the vast majority of staff and suspending new projects at Spirit Island publisher Greater than Games.

Earlier this month industry veterans Jules Vautour, Colin Young and Danni Loe left Flat River Games to revive Luma Imports as part of ACD Distribution, while Flat River also sold Canadian publisher and design house Synapses Games to ACD.

IELLO’s exclusivity deal with Flat River had expired at the end of 2023, and by the end of last year the company had begun also publishing games such as Piña Coladice and Mythical Dice with Hachette Board Games USA.

Blue Orange was launched in the US in 1999 by Thierry Denoual, the inventor of Gobblet. The company partnered with French publisher Jactalea in 2013, with the latter changing its name and becoming responsible for distribution outside of the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Anthony-Gerroldt said, “With the tariffs situation and Flat River Group closing their hobby brand ‘Flat River Games’, we decided to look out for new opportunities.

“…Blue Orange has really strong connections with the stores member of the Astra Organization and aims to become a major and trusted distributor inside the hobby market as well.

“Our connection with Blue Orange will be stronger than ever thanks to the fact that they are our geographic neighbours, here in France. This deep connection will clearly help both companies.”

He added, “Working with Blue Orange is a clear opportunity to bring our novelties back in the US with a new partner that has high ambitions and with whom we share deep values.

“IELLO wants to bring original and quality games at fair prices as we want to avoid as much as possible that players pay the price of the US tariffs situation.”

IELLO sales director Laurence Grau said, “[Blue Orange’s] strong presence in the ASTRA retail network and their proven expertise in family games make them an ideal partner for expanding IELLO’s footprint in the US market.”

Florian Binet, COO at Blue Orange USA, said his company was “committed to becoming a major and trusted distributor in the US market”.

He said, “This partnership with IELLO is a significant step in that direction, reinforcing our long-term vision to offer retailers a strong, diverse, and complementary portfolio of high-quality games.”

Companies and individuals from across the board game industry – from publishers and manufacturers to retailers, distributors and designers – were left reeling earlier this year by the rapidly escalating trade war between the two countries, which saw US tariffs on China reach 145% on April 9.

That figure was cut to 30% in May as China and the US engaged in talks to bring the trade war to an end, and the industry is now waiting to see if tariffs will bounce back up again as the August 12 deadline for those talks looms.

Last week the Game Manufacturer’s Association called Donald Trump’s emergency tariffs an “existential crisis” to board game companies which threaten tens of thousands of jobs in the industry, amid joining its second lawsuit fighting the US President’s ability to unilaterally impose the import charges.