Asmodee Acquires Zombicide IP from CMON Amidst Financial Struggles

In a significant shake-up for the tabletop gaming industry, Asmodee, a global leader in board games, has announced the acquisition of the highly popular Zombicide intellectual property (IP) from the financially embattled publisher, CMON. This strategic move strips CMON of its most successful series, which has generated over $40 million on Kickstarter since its debut in 2012.

A New Chapter for Asmodee’s Acquisition Strategy

This deal marks the reopening of Asmodee’s ambitious strategy to acquire smaller board game publishers, distributors, and key IPs. The company aims to replicate its aggressive expansion of the 2010s, which transformed it from a niche French operation into a dominant force in the global board game market.

Zombicide, a miniatures-heavy cooperative zombie-battling game, played a pivotal role in pioneering the crowdfunded board game boom. Its initial Kickstarter campaign in 2012 raised an impressive $780,000, setting a new standard for crowdfunding success in the industry. Asmodee reports that the series has since sold over 2 million copies, placing it in a similar league to other top-selling franchises like the “Wingspan” series, which has sold approximately 2.4 million copies.

CMON has launched nearly a dozen Zombicide crowdfunding campaigns, accumulating just under $41 million in total. The most successful of these, “Marvel Zombies,” alone pulled in over $9 million.

CMON’s Financial Woes Lead to Major Sale

CMON’s decision to sell its most famous and profitable title comes in the wake of significant financial difficulties. The company reported a $3 million loss last year, nearly double its combined profits from the previous three years. This downturn has forced CMON to halt new game development and campaign launches due to unpredictability surrounding US tariffs.

Asmodee CEO Thomas Koegler expressed enthusiasm about the acquisition, stating, “We are proud the iconic Zombicide IP further strengthens our tabletop games portfolio and allows us to reinforce our presence in key geographies. I can’t wait for the team to get to work at what’s coming next for this fantastic IP.” Just two weeks prior, Koegler emphasized that Asmodee’s acquisition plans remain “completely unchanged” by market volatility, viewing uncertain times as “opportunities for strategic acquisitions.” Asmodee has reportedly identified a pipeline of over 20 potential acquisition targets, reminiscent of its decade-long spree that saw it acquire studios such as Days of Wonder, Fantasy Flight Games, Lookout Games, Catan Studio, and Z-Man Games, alongside numerous global distribution companies.

CMON’s Remaining Library and Future Plans

The sale of Zombicide follows closely on the heels of CMON’s recent divestment of five other board game titles to Tabletop Tycoon. These included popular Eric Lang designs such as “Blood Rage,” “Rising Sun,” and “Ankh: Gods of Egypt,” as well as “Arcadia Quest” and “Starcadia Quest,” co-designed with Thiago Aranha, Guilherme Goulart, and Fred Parret.

Despite these sales, CMON’s remaining library still includes successful franchises like the Marvel United range and DC Super Heroes United, which have collectively raised over $18 million across four crowdfunding campaigns. The company also recently secured over $3.9 million for “Cthulhu: Death May Die – Forbidden Reaches” last year and completed a $2.85 million crowdfund for “Massive Darkness: Dungeons of Shadowreach” on Gamefound earlier this year.

CMON had previously attempted to sell $12 million of unspecified IP last year—widely believed to be Zombicide—but the deal fell through due to a failure to agree on terms with the unnamed buyer. In its annual report in April, CMON outlined a revised development strategy, focusing on fewer, higher-impact titles that “align more tightly with our creative strengths and market demand.” The company’s near-term plans include reducing development costs by concentrating on the development and fulfillment of already launched games, expanding into the European wholesale market, and initiating production of smaller games in Europe to reduce logistics costs. CMON also intends to debut several retail games at Spiel Essen this year.

Currently, CMON has nine undelivered crowdfunding campaigns, totaling over $18 million, in various stages of production. Six crowdfunded titles and seven pre-orders are slated for delivery in 2025, including “DC Super Heroes United” (which raised over $4.4 million on Gamefound) and “DCeased: A Zombicide Game” (which secured over $2.5 million on Kickstarter).

Financial Performance and Challenges

CMON attributes a 17% drop in revenue last year, from $45 million in 2023 to approximately $37.4 million, to rising living costs impacting customers’ ability to purchase games. Revenue from its crowdfunding campaigns specifically fell by almost 25% to about $20 million in 2024, its first year under an exclusivity deal with Gamefound after more than a decade of raising $108 million through Kickstarter.

In March, CMON issued a profit warning, initially estimating 2024 losses between $1.4 million and $2.1 million, a figure that ultimately escalated to over $3 million. The company’s shares were also suspended from trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for a month earlier this year due to missing the deadline for publishing its annual financial report, which CMON attributed to an understaffed finance department.

Further compounding its difficulties, CMON has had to seek legal advice in 2025 after two new shareholders, Drum Group Limited and Mana Pool Investments, failed to hand over approximately $1.39 million for their stakes. CMON announced it is “now seeking other fundraising means to increase its general working capital” to strengthen its financial position.

The stark 2024 loss reverses three years of improved performance for CMON, following a nearly $5 million loss in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The company had seen modest profits of $420,000 in 2021, $510,000 in 2022, and approximately $750,000 in 2023, though these figures remained well below its pre-pandemic performance. Prior to 2020, CMON reported profits of approximately $3.5 million in 2017, $2 million in 2018, and $1.88 million in 2019 (excluding one-off costs related to its transfer to the main board of the Hong Kong stock exchange).

CMON’s cash reserves have also steadily declined, from $3.9 million at the end of 2022 to $3.1 million at the end of 2023, and further to approximately $2.1 million by the end of last year. Its borrowing currently stands at around $4 million, down from roughly $5.8 million last year.

Zombicide’s Crowdfunding Success by the Numbers:

The “Zombicide” series has been a crowdfunding powerhouse. Here’s a look at its top-performing campaigns:

• Marvel Zombies – A Zombicide Game: $9,032,583
• Zombicide: Green Horde: $5,004,614
• Zombicide: Black Plague: $4,079,204
• Zombicide: White Death: $3,839,614
• Zombicide: 2nd Edition: $3,410,084
• Zombicide: Invader: $3,352,208
• Zombicide: Undead or Alive: $3,310,872
• Zombicide: Season 3: $2,849,064
• DCeased – A Zombicide Game: $2,564,789
• Zombicide: Season 2: $2,255,018
• Zombicide: $781,597
• Night of the Living Dead: A Zombicide Game: $430,154

What do you think this acquisition means for the future of the Zombicide franchise and for CMON as a publisher?