{"id":7472,"date":"2026-09-17T10:33:33","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T09:33:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/boardgamewire.com\/?p=7472"},"modified":"2026-09-17T10:33:34","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T09:33:34","slug":"new-exploding-kittens-studio-boss-sets-sights-on-expanding-namesake-ip-into-long-lasting-evergreen-brand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/boardgamewire.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/17\/new-exploding-kittens-studio-boss-sets-sights-on-expanding-namesake-ip-into-long-lasting-evergreen-brand\/","title":{"rendered":"New Exploding Kittens studio boss sets sights on expanding namesake IP into “long-lasting evergreen brand”"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Exploding Kittens<\/a> has named chief commercial officer Joeri Hoste as its new head of studio, with the long-time game industry exec eyeing further expansion of the company’s namesake hit into a \u201clong-lasting evergreen brand\u201d beyond its big-selling card game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hoste joined Exploding Kittens to lead its international business in 2020, following multi-year stints at companies including Hong Kong based board game publisher and manufacturer Ooba Games<\/a>, toy company BOTI<\/a> and trading card and collectibles specialist Upper Deck<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He takes the head of studio role at the Asmodee-owned business as former Exploding Kittens CEO Carly McGinnis was named head of the parent company’s global publishing operation<\/a> last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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New Exploding Kittens studio head Joeri Hoste<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hoste said in a LinkedIn post that the past six years at Exploding Kittens had been the most rewarding of his career, adding that he was “ecstatic and humbled” to take responsibility for leading the company into the next stage of its development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said, “We\u2019ll continue our mission of making great games and creating experiences that bring people together. Exploding Kittens is the game that built its namesake company, and our next challenge will be to develop the IP into a long-lasting evergreen brand that outgrows its original format.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Exploding Kittens is unique within Asmodee as we combine deep commercial mass market expertise with publishing quirky and irreverent games that disrupt the games category. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We did not get here by blending in. We succeed because of the talented team that\u2019s willing to be different.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exploding Kittens has been a huge commercial success in the wake of its debut title raising almost $8.8m on Kickstarter in 2015<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year Exploding Kittens revealed it had sold more than 60 million games as it marked a decade in business – with the company\u2019s growth having already extended well beyond the tabletop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That has included a partnership with Netflix which expanded the property into mobile gaming and an animated series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asmodee bought a 55% majority stake in Exploding Kittens at the end of 2021, and exercised its option to purchase the remaining 45% minority stake last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Exploding Kittens has continued to stand out within Asmodee\u2019s portfolio during a difficult period for parts of the US board game market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asmodee CEO Thomas Koegler\u00a0singled the company out last November as a particularly strong performer<\/a>\u00a0amid economic uncertainty caused by rising prices and US tariffs, adding that US consumers were favouring lower-priced games. Asmodee again highlighted strong Exploding Kittens growth\u00a0while discussing a 23% year-on-year fall in its US quarterly sales<\/a>\u00a0earlier this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The promotion comes as Asmodee is making a wider push into social and party games \u2013 a category where Exploding Kittens has been one of its strongest brands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In March the company\u00a0agreed to pay up to \u20ac250m for French social and party game publisher ATM Gaming<\/a>, with Koegler saying the acquisition would combine ATM\u2019s strength in Europe with Exploding Kittens\u2019 strong position in the US. Asmodee has said it expects the social games category to grow at between 4% and 8% annually between 2025 and 2030, compared with about 4% for the broader board games market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also launched US party game studio Moodbox Games last year<\/a>, a move de Barros described at the time as strengthening Asmodee\u2019s presence in a category where Exploding Kittens and Zygomatic were already seeing strong success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more stories like this direct to your email inbox, click here to sign up for BoardGameWire’s free email newsletter. \n\nAnd if you’ve found our reporting interesting or useful, please consider a paid subscription to help support our journalism!<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Joeri Hoste joined Exploding Kittens to lead its international business in 2020, following multi-year stints at companies including Hong Kong based board game publisher and manufacturer Ooba Games, toy company BOTI and trading card and collectibles specialist Upper Deck.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[97,6,135,2741,28,2646,233,2740,1080,2739,659,2738,58,1976],"class_list":["post-7472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-asmodee","tag-board-game","tag-board-games","tag-brand","tag-card-game","tag-carly-mcginnis","tag-ceo","tag-evergreen","tag-exploding-kittens","tag-head-of-studio","tag-ip","tag-joeri-hoste","tag-kickstarter","tag-netflix"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t