A long list of more than 20 titles has been whittled down to six challengers for the complex game category for this year: Galactic Cruise, Luthier, Shackleton Base, Speakeasy, Thebai and Thesauros, all of which have been released in Germany since Spiel Essen last October.
CMON announced more IP sales could be on the way alongside making an apology for the delays to its outstanding crowdfunds - some of which are now running almost two years beyond initial delivery estimates.
The company's previous collaboration with Warner Bros Discovery Global Consumer Products saw it launch a DC trading card set in March last year, which was followed in October with the announcement of Legendary: A DC Deckbuilding Game.
A trio of comings and goings from the board game industry for the year so far - if you have news of a new role, hire or job change within the industry that you'd like mentioned on BoardGameWire, please send an email with the details to the editor, Mike Didymus-True, on mike@boardgamewire.com
The publisher, which also makes puzzles, plushies and toys, is best known in hobby board games for critical and commercial successes Quacks of Quedlinburg and Daybreak - winners of the Spiel des Jahres and Kennerspiel respectively - and Ganz Schön Clever, a Kennerspiel des Jahres nominee in 2018.
The deal comes a month after Codenames and SETI publisher Czech Games Edition signed its first-ever distribution agreement with Hachette - for the UK distribution of its new title Wispwood - after a decade of Asmodee being the sole distribution partner for its titles in the UK.
Company CEO Kevin Rountree said the £6bn business was strongly committed to protecting its IP and respecting its human creators.
Company co-founder and CEO Jamey Stegmaier told BoardGameWire the prevalence of smaller box releases, expansions and re-releases in its 2026 plan was not a response to US tariff concerns or other economic factors.
The War of the Ring publisher has added Europe to its distribution partnerships with Poland's Galakta Games, Italy's Tabula Games, Czech Republic-based Albi, and France's Nuts! Publishing and Don't Panic Games, for which it already has distribution deals in North America.
Homebrew designs and fan-made rules and variants have been part of hobby board gaming for as long as the pastime has existed - and some publishers have leaned into utilising design work from fans in their published games. BoardGameWire spoke to Jamey Stegmaier from Stonemaier Games, Alex Hague from CMYK Games, and Jackson Pope from Eurydice Games about how they've approached bringing in fan-made ideas for their titles.
