CMON Announces Pause on Future Game Development and Staff Reductions Amid Tariff Concerns

Popular tabletop game publisher CMON (Cool Mini Or Not) today announced a significant shift in company focus, citing challenging global economic conditions, particularly the ongoing impact of tariffs. In a statement released this morning, the company revealed an immediate pause on all future game development and new crowdfunding campaigns.

The decision comes as CMON aims to prioritize its current commitments to customers and partners, ensuring the timely delivery of existing projects. The company emphasized the need to navigate the unpredictable economic landscape, drawing parallels to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic in recent years.

This strategic realignment, unfortunately, involves difficult staffing decisions across all of CMON’s creative teams, resulting in workforce reductions. The company expressed deep regret over this necessity, stating,

“We did not make this choice lightly, and our thoughts are with everyone impacted. We are incredibly grateful for their roles in our success over the years, and these talented people will be missed both professionally and personally.”

CMON assured its community that these measures are temporary and intended to safeguard the company’s ability to fulfill its current obligations to backers, partners, and the wider gaming community. The publisher stated its intention to resume new game development and crowdfunding initiatives as soon as trade conditions stabilize.

“The industry continues to rapidly evolve, and unpredictable situations like the recent tariffs… present challenges for everyone in board games,” the statement read. “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.”

CMON currently has 10 yet-to-deliver crowdfunding projects, which raised more than $22m, in various stages of production, with the $3.8m Zombicide: White Death the next game due to reach backers in Q2 of this year.

Another seven titles are currently due for delivery later in 2025, including DC Super Heroes United, which raised more than $4.4m on Gamefound, and DCeased: A Zombicide Game, which raised more than $2.5m in a Kickstarter campaign.

CMON also has seven more titles outstanding that were made available through pre-order – five of which are currently slated for Q2 delivery.

The announcement will likely send ripples through the tabletop gaming community, particularly among backers eagerly awaiting new CMON projects. However, the company’s commitment to fulfilling existing obligations may be seen as a reassuring sign during a period of economic uncertainty. The timeline for the resumption of new development remains unclear, contingent on the stabilization of global trade conditions.

Read the full announcement below

“Our CMON community means a lot to us, so we felt it was important to share with you some difficult decisions at our company today. Given global conditions, and most notably the situation with tariffs, CMON has decided to focus on our current commitments to our customers and partners, and prioritize the timely delivery of existing projects. So effective immediately, we will be pausing all future game development and new crowdfunding campaigns until trade conditions have stabilized.

Unfortunately, this involves extremely difficult staffing decisions, affecting all of our creative teams with reductions. We did not make this choice lightly, and our thoughts are with everyone impacted. We are incredibly grateful for their roles in our success over the years, and these talented people will be missed both professionally and personally.

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. 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.

Please rest assured that these decisions will help ensure that we keep our commitments to our backers, partners, and community.”