Plaid Hat said it had failed to give prospective backers enough reasons to pledge rather than wait for retail.
The move broadens Awaken Realms' publishing portfolio beyond the large-scale, narrative-driven and miniature-heavy titles for which it is best known, such as the hugely lucrative Nemesis series, Tainted Grail and ISS Vanguard.
The company has been one of tabletop crowdfunding's biggest success stories over the past decade, raising tens of millions of pounds across campaigns based on major video game licences such as Resident Evil, Monster Hunter, Horizon Zero Dawn and Elden Ring.
Isle of Penguins creator Frank West told BoardGameWire he used data from over a million plays to create a game that plays 20% to 30% faster than The Isle of Cats standard mode, while also giving players more to do.
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.
Chad Krizan told Possess Me, Satan publisher Falling Whale Games that he couldn't "in good conscience" approve ads for its Gamefound campaign as "the thought of displaying this subject matter makes me sick to my stomach".
Roxley Games' Brass: Pittsburgh has raised $9.1m in the biggest board game crowdfund of 2026 so far - and one of the top ten tabletop gaming raises of all time. Roxley CEO Gavan Brown, who co-designed the game alongside original Brass creator Martin Wallace, spoke to BoardGameWire about soaring past his expectations for the crowdfund, avoiding the 'arms race' of deluxe editions, the advantages of Gamefound over Kickstarter and overcoming the campaign's biggest mis-step.
Childres founded Cephalofair in 2014 to self-publish his first game, Forge War, and subsequently struck huge success with his fantasy co-op campaign designs Gloomhaven and Frosthaven.
CMON's board said it planned to transition its titles such as Massive Darkness and Super Fantasy Brawl Reborn into "high-quality digital assets", adding that it believed integrating its board games with digital and Web3 technologies "would enhance the long-term commercial value of the group’s portfolio".
Lucky Duck has a big hitter of its own in the Chronicles of Crime series of games, which have sold more than one million copies worldwide.
