CMON announces layoffs, will stop ‘all future game development’ and crowdfunding efforts

CMON, among the most well-established modern board game publishers, will pause “all future game development” effective immediately. In an unsigned statement issued Thursday on its website, the Singapore-based company blamed in part the tariffs imposed by United States President Donald Trump, noting that it is also making layoffs across all of its creative teams. The company said it would “focus on our current commitments to our customers and partners” and not launch any “new crowdfunding campaigns until trade conditions have stabilized.” Polygon has reached out for additional comment.

CMON burst on to the scene in 2012 with Zombicide, a tactical action board game that has since been released in many different expressions. The company is well-known for its prolific use of crowdfunding. As of February 2024, it had run nearly 60 successful campaigns on Kickstarter alone, earning an impressive $108,628,027 from backers. That same month it signed an exclusivity agreement with Gamefound, among the first in the tabletop industry. Polygon has reached out to Gamefound for additional comment.

As reported by BoardGameWire, CMON has shown signs of instability in recent months. The company issued a profit warning via the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on March 12, noting potential losses of up to $2.1 million. Its financial statements have also been delayed in reaching investors.

For existing customers, however, the concern is over the 10 outstanding board game projects the company has yet to deliver. They include several games in the Zombicide universe, licensed products based on DC comics characters, George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire universe, and the He-Man universe, and a board game based on the God of War video games. In total, backers pledged more than $26.1 million to those campaigns across both Kickstarter and Gamefound. It’s unclear how the tariffs will impact their expected delivery timeline.

“The industry continues to rapidly evolve, and unpredictable situations like the recent tariffs, or COVID just a few years ago, present challenges for everyone in board games,” read the statement. “With that said, it is our responsibility to take these difficult measures to ensure that we can keep current projects on track and deliver them in a timely manner. We will of course resume new development as soon as possible.”