![\"\"](\"https:\/\/boardgamewire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Ludonaute-sdj-2022-820x1024.jpg\")
The statement from the team said, “In recent years, we have seen our profession slide from a small circle of enthusiasts to a professional economic sector where passion has given way to what we call ‘economic reality’. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The decisions made in the name of this ‘economic realism’ are increasingly difficult to accept. What we need to learn to progress no longer really stems from a passion for gaming, but rather from fields like marketing, which do not appeal to us at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It must also be said that the emotional and human commitment required to publish a game leads to a deep feeling of disappointment when success is not forthcoming. The frantic pace of releases to keep the company afloat forces us to bounce back very quickly, to move on too quickly, which can be difficult to live with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Furthermore, we have observed that there are too many games being produced today, and behind this
logic of overproduction lies a broader consumer society. We no longer find our way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We are therefore taking responsibility by deciding to no longer produce more, and, faced with the dilemma of ‘fighting within the system or getting out of it’, the response C\u00e9dric and Anne-C\u00e9cile want to provide is to take a step back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“C\u00e9dric is also convinced that an economic contraction – sudden or gradual – is inevitable. From a personal perspective, he therefore prefers to begin to withdraw gently.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ludonaute is the second French board game publisher to call time on its business in the last month, with Tokaido publisher FunForge shutting down in August after 17 years of making games<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n FunForge had faced years of financial struggles, which culminated in the drastic step of selling its entire line of Tokaido games to Wingspan publisher\u00a0Stonemaier Games<\/a> last year in a move it hoped would give the company breathing space to rebuild \u2013 and refocus \u2013 its business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fellow French publisher Mythic Games is also facing its end<\/a> after years of high-profile financial struggles<\/a>, although the company is yet to formally announce its dissolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Ludonaute team said of its decision to sell its most popular titles last month, “We didn’t want to sell the company, but rather for it to gradually cease its publishing of new games. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “This company, which we created and grew, is a reflection of us. We don’t want it to fall into the hands of a large capitalist group. Symbolically, it’s a beautiful message of degrowth to say: we have decided to stop producing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “So why did we sell Colt Express, Living Forest, and Lewis & Clark? For two main reasons. First, to ensure the continued income of the authors and illustrators who worked on these games. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “This guarantees that their creations will continue to live and generate income. Secondly, because the money from this sale allows Ludonaute to make this decision without financial stress, to give employees the opportunity to leave with greater peace of mind, and to finance a new, more personal project for Anne-C\u00e9cile and C\u00e9dric, with greater economic meaning.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ludonaute’s final two titles will be feudal Japan-themed card game Arigato, designed by M\u00e9lodye Ladrat and Florian Sirieix, and strategy title Limit, created by Alexandre Poy\u00e9<\/a>, which sees players acting as nations facing crucial political decisions, resource management and anticipation of global crises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The company said, “For us, gaming has always been both entertainment and a means of expression. Finishing with Arigato and Limit is to highlight these two facets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Arigato is the ultimate thrill, it’s the type of game C\u00e9dric prefers to develop. It was created by friends, and it embodies a desire that’s been latent since the beginning of Ludonaute. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “Arigat\u014d is kind of the company’s latest guilty pleasure. We published it in record time, compared to other titles, a sign that this card combo game is, for us, an obvious play: addictive, interactive, a source of good times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Limit, for its part, has a truly political dimension, in the noblest sense of the term, meaning it talks about how relationships between people and with the planet are structured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “It’s a game we also love for this aspect, and we are convinced that it can help us better understand the world we live in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “It’s not moralistic: You can behave as you wish, but it does establish clear relationships between actions and results.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/boardgamewire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Colt-Express.png\")